The corgi from CorgiPants wears Pants! Sully is such a good sport, he posed for this photo wearing not his pants, but the CAT'S pants. That's right, here at CorgiPants there is also a cat. You'll have to visit my Flickr to see pictures of the cat shunning his pants. But these pants are my entry for Crazy Aunt Purl's Cat Sweater Sweepstakes. Not that they are a sweater or that I got the cat to actually wear them. But what the heck! Here's the story I emailed her about the pants:
Ok, so here's the story. I wanted to make my cat a pair of pants, like you know, lounging around pajama pants. Where I got the idea that I would EVER get pants on my cat, of all cats, is beyond me. Red is a terrible cat, truly, he loves no one, smells (found that out today trying to put the pants on him one last time), bites and scratches when unprovoked so don't even start provoking him! Anyway, I made the pants. With a little tail hole that closes up with Velcro and everything. Back when I originally made the pants, maybe two years ago, I respected the cat too much to try and force them on him other than a cursory try. But today I tried again, in earnest! Because the cat has screwed me over enough times for me to know he is a true adversary and if he doesn't want to wear the pants, he won't. But by God I'm going to try! I got one leg in! Then I thought the smartest route would be to get the tail in to sort of lock them on and then shimmy the other pantleg onto the other leg. But the tail was the hardest bit. The cat HATES having his back end touched. The tail is off limits and every time I bent the tail to get it in, he made terrible gurgley hissing noises and let off a real stink, which was coming from under his tail. (Sometimes, out of spite, the cat leaks on the bed and leaves a little poo stain on my pillow and right about now, he was leaking onto the pants.) I got the tail in not once but twice but once the tail was firmly in position with the velcro gripping it at its base, he would shoot away from my grip, gasping and hissing and throwing up his back legs in horror! Once I saw the stain on the pants, I knew it was time to quit. Sully (our ever-loving corgi) glanced at me, knew what I was thinking and sidled up to me slowly. "Yes, ok, I will wear the pants. To please you and because I've never really seen you so riled up, please calm down, you're scaring me." 30 seconds later, the pants had been on, I had taken a picture and the pants had been removed. Gotta love an obedient dog. The cat on the other hand, I suppose I love him too. Not sure why though.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Fall into Autumn Weekly Topic
This week's Fall into Autumn topic is about yarn and seasonal changes.
I tend to knit more in the winter, as I'm sure many people do. I'm
getting so excited for fall, I wore my rainbow fingerless gloves for
the first time to walk the dog this morning! In the warmer seasons I
knit smaller items so they aren't so stifling laying across your lap.
But I don'tnecessarily change the yarn I use with the seasons. I always
use a lot of cotton yarn no matter what the weather, and I think
worsted wool is pretty all seasonyarn to knit with. This summer, most of my knitting/crocheting was done with acrylic, though, for all that play food. (Check out Ravelry for all my projects.) I think any season will do for getting frustrated with acrylic!
I tend to knit more in the winter, as I'm sure many people do. I'm
getting so excited for fall, I wore my rainbow fingerless gloves for
the first time to walk the dog this morning! In the warmer seasons I
knit smaller items so they aren't so stifling laying across your lap.
But I don'tnecessarily change the yarn I use with the seasons. I always
use a lot of cotton yarn no matter what the weather, and I think
worsted wool is pretty all seasonyarn to knit with. This summer, most of my knitting/crocheting was done with acrylic, though, for all that play food. (Check out Ravelry for all my projects.) I think any season will do for getting frustrated with acrylic!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Giveaway madness
For all of us who didn't win that fantastic vintage package over at FreshVintage, we've got a second chance with Girl Land's giveaway! Head on over and enter to win!
And Garboodles Soup is having a 200 post Anniversary giveaway too! So many fun giveaways this month!
And Garboodles Soup is having a 200 post Anniversary giveaway too! So many fun giveaways this month!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Shout out to my Fall into Autumn secret pal
To the wonderful person who will be sending to me:
Hello! I got my pal this morning so you have probably glanced at my blog already. I just wanted to say hi and thank you for signing up to spoil me!
About soaps: I don't really like flowered scents and it's coming up on fall so spicy, fall baking or fruity smells would be awesome! Also, I like clean smells (fresh cotton, general soap smell) and oatmeal milk and honey fragranced items.
About yarn: I like any and all yarn. I am frugal and if left to my own devices will go for more but cheaper yarn rather than buying smaller quantities of more posh yarn. But that doesn't mean I don't like posh yarn! (I do like to bend the spending rules for spoiling my own swap partners! I'm just very frugal when it comes to spending on myself.)
About other treats: It's still kind of warm here and chocolate, much as I like it, would probably melt and mess. I like hard candies though, and sugar free gum and lollies and twizzlers and real licorice and gummy candies! I don't generally like sour candy. I LOVE fun memo pads, stationery items, stickers, post-its, recipe cards, and I collect the stickers that come on fruits and veggies. If you'd send me a few of those, boy, you'd rank in my book!
Hello! I got my pal this morning so you have probably glanced at my blog already. I just wanted to say hi and thank you for signing up to spoil me!
About soaps: I don't really like flowered scents and it's coming up on fall so spicy, fall baking or fruity smells would be awesome! Also, I like clean smells (fresh cotton, general soap smell) and oatmeal milk and honey fragranced items.
About yarn: I like any and all yarn. I am frugal and if left to my own devices will go for more but cheaper yarn rather than buying smaller quantities of more posh yarn. But that doesn't mean I don't like posh yarn! (I do like to bend the spending rules for spoiling my own swap partners! I'm just very frugal when it comes to spending on myself.)
About other treats: It's still kind of warm here and chocolate, much as I like it, would probably melt and mess. I like hard candies though, and sugar free gum and lollies and twizzlers and real licorice and gummy candies! I don't generally like sour candy. I LOVE fun memo pads, stationery items, stickers, post-its, recipe cards, and I collect the stickers that come on fruits and veggies. If you'd send me a few of those, boy, you'd rank in my book!
Auditory memory of the day
There is a storage cabinet here at work, one of those metal ones with the squeaky handles. When it opens and closes, it makes the sound that kids playing on an old swing set makes. Remember being in class while another class was at recess and hearing that squeeee squeeee squeeee? It's making me antsy to grab my Wuzzles lunchbox, eat my applesauce cup and run outside to swing!
Also making me antsy today: I got my Fall into Autumn Dishcloth Swap partner in my email! Hooray!
Also making me antsy today: I got my Fall into Autumn Dishcloth Swap partner in my email! Hooray!
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Dog Show Report
Thank you so much to everyone who wished us well and good luck for our trial this weekend! It was a great feeling to know people were hoping the best for us. And all those "break a legs" worked! We got third place in out Level 1 class and first place in our first Level 2 class! He ignored the foodbowls like a pro, excelled at both bonus exercises, and was a generally good boy around all those strange dogs all day!
Our second Level 2 class of the day didn't go so well, with Sully opting to not jump the jump until the third time I told him "over". But by that time he was tired and a little fed up with the rain. It rained (poured!) all day Saturday! Our trial was indoors but inside a Morton-type building so it was echo-y and loud.
Each time you place, you get to pick a toy out so Sully picked a spiny ball that honks and a squeaky cat with a fluffy tail. Check out my flickr for a picture of why next time I will be opting out of the free toy if we place again. Too many toys taking over the living room floor!
Our second Level 2 class of the day didn't go so well, with Sully opting to not jump the jump until the third time I told him "over". But by that time he was tired and a little fed up with the rain. It rained (poured!) all day Saturday! Our trial was indoors but inside a Morton-type building so it was echo-y and loud.
Each time you place, you get to pick a toy out so Sully picked a spiny ball that honks and a squeaky cat with a fluffy tail. Check out my flickr for a picture of why next time I will be opting out of the free toy if we place again. Too many toys taking over the living room floor!
Chickens have feelings
I was watching Animal Cops the other night and while they were raiding a cockfight in Texas, one of the officers said the only two states where cockfighting is still legal are New Mexico and Louisiana so often Texas offenders will say they are only raising birds to use in fights in those states. I could not believe my ears, I had no idea cockfighting was legal in any state! So tonight I did a big of research and was happy to find out the New Mexico banned the "sport" just this past spring. And very recently Louisiana has also passed a law that will become effective in August 2008. Can you imagine that cockfighting was still legal in two states this time last year? It's been illegal in the UK for over 150 years! Unfathomable!
The picture is an illustration of one of my favorite breeds of chicken, the Cochin. They have feathered feet and are a very sweet, puffball of a chicken!
Friday, September 7, 2007
Neigh?
What breed of horse would you be? Not what breed would you like to be? Or what breed is your favorite but what breed would you be if on the day you were born your mother happened to be a horse? I, being a very horsey girl most of my life, have put much thought into this.
First you must consider certain physical characteristics. I am tall for a female, so I could never have been a pony of any sort no matter how cute they are. Yet I'm stocky, so I could also never be a wispy Arabian or a lanky gaited breed. I have big feet (size 10) which would knock out stock breeds and make me think warmblood or draft horse.
Work ethic/style wise, I would much prefer the steady day to day workload of pulling a wagon or fieldwork over the extreme highs and lows of something like three day eventing or reining competitions. I'm steady, hardworking, level-headed most of the time. I'd prefer to be in a pasture than in an air-conditioned barn. (But please give me a fly mask!) I don't like the spotlight terribly and am not very flashy looking. I often think of myself as plodding along. Plodding along to the grocery store, plodding along with a 50 lb bag of books at work, plodding along through the day the best I can. This would lead me to believe I would be a draft horse, but not one with a lot of flash like Shires and Clydesdales. No, I'm more of a Belgian, with minimal feathering, a common chestnut coat and a soft eye.
BUT! Given my proclivity for not reproducing and my general goofiness/tendency to be just a bit different, in reality I am fairly certain I would have been born a Belgian Mule. You can't take yourself too seriously with giant ears that flop around when you shake the flies off your head. But a mule can also be stately. A big draft mule can have the same presence as a draft horse, the same powerful step, the same massive haunches, but you can't help but smile when you hear a mule bray good morning to you!
I don't think this is only because I like mules. I think maybe I like mules because I share so much with them. I wish most horse people weren't so snobby and would stop thinking mules are something so below them. In 4-H, I was never allowed to show my mules because the rules only allow horses and ponies. They told me they thought mules would disrupt the grounds and put the horses out of whack. Horse people!
First you must consider certain physical characteristics. I am tall for a female, so I could never have been a pony of any sort no matter how cute they are. Yet I'm stocky, so I could also never be a wispy Arabian or a lanky gaited breed. I have big feet (size 10) which would knock out stock breeds and make me think warmblood or draft horse.
Work ethic/style wise, I would much prefer the steady day to day workload of pulling a wagon or fieldwork over the extreme highs and lows of something like three day eventing or reining competitions. I'm steady, hardworking, level-headed most of the time. I'd prefer to be in a pasture than in an air-conditioned barn. (But please give me a fly mask!) I don't like the spotlight terribly and am not very flashy looking. I often think of myself as plodding along. Plodding along to the grocery store, plodding along with a 50 lb bag of books at work, plodding along through the day the best I can. This would lead me to believe I would be a draft horse, but not one with a lot of flash like Shires and Clydesdales. No, I'm more of a Belgian, with minimal feathering, a common chestnut coat and a soft eye.
BUT! Given my proclivity for not reproducing and my general goofiness/tendency to be just a bit different, in reality I am fairly certain I would have been born a Belgian Mule. You can't take yourself too seriously with giant ears that flop around when you shake the flies off your head. But a mule can also be stately. A big draft mule can have the same presence as a draft horse, the same powerful step, the same massive haunches, but you can't help but smile when you hear a mule bray good morning to you!
I don't think this is only because I like mules. I think maybe I like mules because I share so much with them. I wish most horse people weren't so snobby and would stop thinking mules are something so below them. In 4-H, I was never allowed to show my mules because the rules only allow horses and ponies. They told me they thought mules would disrupt the grounds and put the horses out of whack. Horse people!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Dog show Days of Summer
I am so mellow right now from Yoga tonight. I need to keep this mellow groove until Saturday for our first dog show of the season. I tend to get really antsy, nervous and over think everything before a dog show. But when it's all over, I remember that it's only a dog show, no one will die, no one will make a life-altering decision or face some terrific challenge. It's supposed to be fun and relaxing, it's my own free time, no one is forcing me to go. And I do enjoy it, mostly, except for those couple of days beforehand when I dream up every possible terrible thing that could happen and play them through my mind. So this time I'm trying not to do that. Sully is a great dog, we have worked hard and come a long way. We practice all we can but if something goes wrong in the ring, it goes wrong and it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. As long as I still have a great dog afterwards, maybe we learn something new, maybe we get a ribbon, maybe we don't, it shouldn't really make a difference. He doesn't care, I can tell you that. Saturday night, after our classes are over, he'll still want dinner and a walk and he'll still zonk out on the sofa and his mind won't be cluttered with should haves and would haves. To keep this mellow mood, here is a picture of a sleepy, snuggled Sully.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
A-Z of me
Z is for Zumba
I LOVE Zumba, which is a class our gym offers. But it involves a lot of salsa and other dance moves that are hard on my knee, so I can't do it very often. More often I can be found at Pure Energy (lower impact aerobics) and yoga. Here's a picture of Sully "helping" me out with the downward facing dog.
Now that my alphabet is over, I think I might start again! Or maybe this time I won't go in ABC order.
I LOVE Zumba, which is a class our gym offers. But it involves a lot of salsa and other dance moves that are hard on my knee, so I can't do it very often. More often I can be found at Pure Energy (lower impact aerobics) and yoga. Here's a picture of Sully "helping" me out with the downward facing dog.
Now that my alphabet is over, I think I might start again! Or maybe this time I won't go in ABC order.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)