What A Cat Would Collect

Meet Henry

He's a Katrina hurricane survivor.

He came to us from the Lamar Dixon shelter in Louisiana through the Marin Humane Society's "Operation Orphans of the Storm."

We're fostering him until he's a little more adjusted to life away from the bayou in Northern California. (Read: F.O.S.T.E.R.I.N.G. he will not become kitty number 7 in our house...) Not that I don't love him. But six cats are plenty for me.

Henry looks like he's been through a lot. He's super skinny. (So much so that he has kind of a bobble-head that Hollywood celebrities get when they decide that a size 0 is fashionable.)

He's cut some cuts and missing fur. But he is SUPER friendly and loves people. And he's a big head butt-er. His table manners could be a bit more refined, as he tends to chew with his mouth open and spill out food, but hey, we don't know much about his family upbringing.

We named him Henry because his head reminds me of Pink Panther. Originally I wanted to name him "Mancini" for Henry Mancini who did the score for the movies. But my husband thought that was just way too stupid (considering I had just come back from my Italian class when I had this brilliant idea) and he suggested "Henry."

Perfect. He looks just like a Henry.

And coincidentally -- he is.

Because his original guardian from New Orleans found his profile on Petfinders.com the day after we took him home. And guess what her name for him was? Hank. How coincidental is that?

This woman unfortunately can't take him back because she's elderly, recently had a stroke and lost her husband earlier this year. She's a bit of a crazy cat lady, as she claims to have owned 16 cats when the storm hit. (Not that there's anything wrong with crazy cat ladies...)

So luckily Henry found his way safely to the Bay Area and is now happily living with us in Marin --soon to find a new family he will adopt full time.

Anyone looking for a handsome, white, people-loving kitty from the South who just needs a little more meat on his bones?

Knit and Wine

My husband collects cars. Some of them are named after cats. (For any of you who know my husband's CrazyCatMan escapades, you will not be shocked by that last sentence.)

One of his cars is a 1967 Mercury Cougar.



Once a year, other folks who own classic Cougars get together in wine country for what's known as the Catistoga Run. (Get it? A play on words with the wine country town of Calistoga and "run" because cougars run fast. So very clevah, as my mother would say.)

This past Saturday was this year's Catistoga Run.

What do I do? Bring my knitting. Because, hey. I'm going to be in a car for a while, I'm not the one doing the driving...and I've got a poncho to finish.


There's a glass of Zinfandel with my name on it in the next tasting room. Gotta hurry and finish this row.



They're pretty impressive all lined up in a row. (Row. Knitting. Ha! I made a funny.) Anyone need to use the litter box before the next winery?



So I wined a little. And knitted a little. All-in-all it was a pretty nice day as my poncho nears the finish line.

Progress, If Ever So Slowly

It's been a while since I've blogged. My apologies to any of you who read this blog regularly and were sick of that ostrich photo that lingered for weeks...

I've been quite busy what with a new job, knitting a zillion things, and taking a new Italian class at the local community college. Blogging just fell by the wayside. I'll try to keep up more frequently.

Here's the update on my latest project(s) -- my Rowan Plaid obsession: Zephyr, Wind and Cool. (Poncho, scarf and hat.)

Wind and Cool are done! Yay! (OK, so I have to re-seem the hat because I screwed it up, but that's a quick fix.)

Zephyr is about 52% done as the pictures below show. Who knew that cats who never venture outdoors could get so excited about a poncho?















Well, no Chance. It's actually my poncho. I know you like it, but you're a cat, you're a boy, this poncho is purple, and, um, you're short. You'd trip on the fringe. But I'll let you sleep on it if you promise not to bite.

I Guess They Took Some Crap

This arrived in my inbox yesterday:



Hmmm. I wonder what could have prompted such a communique? Berroco has been consistently sending free patterns via emails containing the most beautiful projects. Maybe they finally got wind of some blog bashing going on in which they were a frequent feature.

Can't say I know for sure, I'm just guessing...