The Joys of Living With a Cat

To get caught up, I attended the week-long International Organization of Lace, Inc. (IOLI) in the hotel across the parking lot - how could I turn it down?  I signed up for a lace knitting class, figuring how hard can that be, I already know how to knit.  Well, I found out quick enough.  The teacher had suggested we practice stitching twenty rows of twenty stitches, which I did, but that took much ripping out and starting over and starting over and starting over.  And then during the class time, we practiced stitching patterns,which again meant starting over and over and over again.  The upshot was, I spent so much time practicing that I sprained my right hand and could hardly bend my hand or grasp anything.  Fortunately, some pain killers and rest, and I was back to normal in due time.

It may not look like it, but this is my week's accomplishment!

Then, the area around our condo was the center of activities for the over night stop for this year's week-long bike ride across Iowa (each year is a different route) attended by many thousands of bike riders and their support teams.   The street in front of our building was closed to vehicle traffic, and lined with food vendors of all sorts, there was a concert in the parking lot behind our building, and much much activity during the day and night.

Where does living with a cat come in?  Well, take a look at this photo.

My morning routine is to get up, turn on the coffee maker, feed Max, and then settle into my living room chair to drink my coffee and watch the news on TV.  Well, sometimes Max, feeling well fed, decides to snooze in a sunny spot while I'm drinking my coffee.  In that case, I leave my cup on the end table next to my chair.  Other mornings, Max is feeling frisky and wants to cuddle, in which case I put my coffee cup on the floor is avoid a spill.  Well, there came the morning when Max decided to hop onto the end table, and in the process knocked my telephone onto the floor.  I had my cup of coffee on the floor, and guess what, Max knocked my phone right into my cup of coffee!  We couldn't have managed that again if we tried!  Fortunately, my phone has survived; it took a couple of weeks to dry out completely, but it seems to be working fine now.

I have a couple of quick finishes to report.  Small projects like these are good "stash busters," that is, one can use up leftover canvas and threads.

Little Autumn Ornament #1 from Laura J. Perin Designs

Gingerbread Quilt Ornament from The Victoria Sampler