World's Biggest Fish Fry - Catfish Races

Amigurumi and Nuigurumi explained nicely at:Mkcarroll and ShopSwichboards
Big Crowd
The World's Biggest Fish Fry is going on in town, and it is hard to miss! Especially, since we live a few blocks from downtown!

This morning, I was going through the crowd to the post office to mail my Mom's owl magnets, and drop off a Netflix -- when I saw kittens that I knew (Willow-doppleganger striped manx girl, very distinctive!) going by in someone else's hands! Our boss had brought the kittens to the Catfish Races to give away -- so I took pictures of the crowd and the strange ritual of racing catfish down long plexiglas tubes...

news story on the event

And, they're off!
Winners received mardi-gras necklaces with plastic catfish strung on them.
catfish holding tank
They 'race' the fish down these tubes
The newspaper mascot says 'Hello.'

All but two of the kittens were given away. It is nice to see them have good homes! The little wild one (dark gray manx girl) is going to be a shop cat at a place not three blocks from here ;o)!!!

I want to get this done today:

1. blue mommy softie
2. 3 red bird softies (DONE)
3. blue gingham kitty softie

I'm off to my own races!
Linky: pedavision's Paris, France set on Flickr
Another site about the fish fry
Linky: Never Enough Hours softie shop at etsy.
Linky: Absolutely wonderful artist selling Mayan inspired hand-pullled prints -- Diane Cutter (blog)

A peek at my SewIKnit bag, and another mommy softie

I bought my sock yarn today for the Knitters' Tea Swap!
I'll be waiting until I get an email for the tea and treats.

Below, Willow checks out the bag I was working on this morning.

She thought I should have been making her a pillow... see other pic below.
A blurry 'inside' pic

New Softie
Mommy Bear and Cub
available at KnitOwl and friends

Where's Willowpede?
She was here a second ago...
Sally-Mander starts to wake up
and realize she is missing all the fun.

I'm in a bad code-funk today. I need a coding teddybear, that I can put sunglasses on and tell him all the problems that I'm trying to work out. I'll name him Bob. He will have all the answers. His cool collected sunglassed stare will tell me the secrets of the universe.. or at least of Python. (J says this is paraphrased from his 'C Unleased' book) -- He says I need a 'Bob', quick, because he (J) doesn't know Python and it hurts his brain when I bounce these questions off of him ;o)

For another possible source of this reference to sunglassed teddybears -- look at the end of this post by Peter Bartal.

Linky: A parade of elephant pillows at Craft Itch blog.
And - linky the place she said she bought her Japanese Nuigurumi Books

Rant

---

Thing that bugs me: 'Inside-Out' seaming on toys -- even if its neat, even if it looks 'kinda cool'... it bugs me. You might have seen it in lots of popular places -- like wearing sweatshirts inside-out was cool for a while in high school.

What bugs me is that object is just screaming 'I'm gonna fall apart, you just watch!' If you do exterior seaming on your project and the recipient likes it, well.. okay -- but all of my seams are going to be neat and right-side in.

And that was a little KnitOwl rant.. which I'm probably going to get an earful on ;o)

KnitOwl in Progress

I'm in progress:

coding a paginator for an online petition signup that is live and smart enough to drop files in the right spot, depending on how many signups there are (no database, gotta code this from text html files and back to text html files....)

getting a domain name! and the official registration for my shop to be a Tennessee small business. Got good advice on this today.

making two more 'mommy' softies, lavendar and blue, for mother's day in the shop

J wants me to cut ceiling tiles in the workshop here...

back to work Rhe.. back to work...
in the meantime go see Dacia Ray's new bears
and this cute overload post which for some reason reminded me of Chaos ;o)

Okay I did work! -- now for the kitten parade.
It was very cold here yesterday for kittens, 40°, so they were all huddled up in an old computer case that had a nice blanket (somehow that wandered in there)

The Willow-looking one has such a sweet face ;o)
But I'm biased!
this little guy (orange-whiteface) was
curled up on my lap for a bit today
I think you can only count six here(but there were seven).
The yellow manx was playing near the office door.

Mommy kitty and baby kitten (softie)

SOLD! 4/26 thanks ;o)

Mommy and baby kitten I did this yesterday, when I should have gotten further on coding :o{ So, now I'm off to code Python again. If you see my shoelaces sticking out of the puddle, send down an airhose please?

Kitten has embroidered little paws! I was way too inspired by all those kittens wandering around here ;o)

(before) in progress

Miss Sally says she is as cute as any kitten!

you can really tell I'm in the coding mood, right? ;P
Linky: Mkcarroll blog 'Amigurumi' and 'Nuigurumi' explained nicely!
Linky: Kitty Genius blog <-- neat embroidery
Linky (etsy): I seriously need one of these signs!

Carrie K, is this what you had in mind?
Let me know!

Eight kittens! Count 'em ;o)

Get ready for cute kitten overload!
We had them all 'contained' tonight, very briefly. Each one got scratched behind the ears some, and even the 'wildest' laid back and had her tummy scratched.
I look a LOT like Willowpede, but I'm a true manx!
We were previously left out of photographs ;o)
the one on the left kept us up until 5 am a few weeks back,
and is the 'wild' one mentioned earlier.
Sally-doppleganger might have a new name tonight,
we'll see if it sticks -- btw, he's a boy!

The count:
1 Sally-doppleganger boy,
1 Willow-doppleganger girl manx,
2 gray girl manxes (one lighter than the other and striped),
2 all-yellow tailed boys (one fluffy, one not),
1 yellow tailed boy with a white face and belly,
1 yellow boy manx

After all of this scampering around (they were all out of the cage in the workshop here at the office -- they were all returned to their respective mothers, who were only half-thrilled to take this much responsibility back on! ;o)

I think I have a lot of 'making up' to do with my girls (Willow and Sally) though, they were not happy at all to have a whole TROOP of kittens invading 'their' office. They don't know that they are the visitors in the office here -- they think it is their 'other house.' ;P

Yellow kitties and auction fabric

Big Brother and Mini Kitty
yellow for Project Spectrum!
softie toys by
KnitOwl and friends

I finished sewing these two kitties this weekend and hope to make a few more sets soon! J was already playing with them ;o) bouncing them around in the window here.

We walked around an antique mall near our house, but only bought a few old owl magnets to send up to my mom. They are really cute, maybe I can get a picture of them tomorrow ;o)

Here are some pictures at photobucket of the fabric, until I can upload them to blogger --


There is even more fabric than this, six+yards of navy and black striped fabric, some shiny green stuff and the grey velvet.

Great link: Cinnamonsnail's etsy

Saturday at the Auction

Auction!

---

We spent a little over six hours today wandering around a local auction, and managed to make out with a few nice household things! Part of what we picked up were two large boxes of fabric yardage (nice stuff!) It is going through the washing machine now in batches ;o)

There was also a nice little box of notions inside, with lots of old buttons, cover-your-own buttons and a few other odds and ends. I was happy we stayed until almost the end (eighty degree day too!) to wait for these.

We also have new neighbors today. People are moving in again to the other side of our duplex. The girls are not happy about all the unidentified noise. Willow is walking around on tiptoe and hiding behind things. It is as if she looks at me and says 'I'm worried, why aren't you?'

Yellow happy kitty is finished (I brought him to the auction in my sewing kit) and has had his photoshoot. I need to get the pictures to upload tomorrow. A large yellow happy kitty is cut out and being stitched now as well.

MOS Linkys:

---

brown Peter Rabbit at bigandlittle's flickr stream
Cute and simple bird at *Mirre*'s flickr stream
Little Gray Mice at emily999's flickr stream <--(these look great! I have some soft grey velvet in one of those boxes... now how to wash it?) washing velvet at Stefan's Florilegium. Any other suggestions are welcome!
That grey velvet may be good for Carrie K's sloth idea too!

handwriting and knitowl in progress

Happy and Unhappy Unfinished Cats
I'm unhappy with 'unhappy' too, but I'll finish him.. maybe he'll be a primitive toy ;o) I like how 'happy' is turning out though! Both of these are based on the same pattern as the owl toy from a while back.

A panagram of my handwriting, via a meme Chris did at her blog ;o)
if you don't see it, try clicking to enlarge
Some drawings I'm fiddling with for new toys
side view

I really need to get working and make new toys for the shop! I'll have to have a 'sit-down' weekend. Northern Exposure and Full Metal Alchemist came in the mail from Netflix -- so there is apt to be plenty of time for stitching during those ;o)

It seems like, eventually, I'll have to stop making tiny toys and get into larger ones, but small things are so great for breaking stress, which is my whole reason for making them. I'll just finish these happy and unhappy cats and see what comes next.

Linky: Hop Skip Jump has beautiful well-crafted bunnies for sale.
Linky: More cuteness at While She Naps blog --> bear and kangaroo

April bunnies and hard-to-resist kittens!

Two more of the little bunnies I make for Knitowl and friends
They finally got their photoshoot ;o)
at etsy
floral bunny sold!

Look who else did too!
What is that thing you're holding?
Let me get up there so I can see it, please?

What big teeth you have!

For Inspiration and Cuteness:

---

Beautiful Art: Dennis Wojtkieicz' at lines and colors blog
Linky: this little cat at Etsy is beautiful and SO TINY!
Linky: This lady has some very cute animal dolls at Etsy too.

Office Creatures

You may know, but our office has a menagerie all of its own, including many many cats (because of kittens), about a dozen dogs (between three households) and a goat. This isn't counting our household, which has just the two cats, Willow and Sally. Here are a few good pictures from the last two days.

Newt and her kitten
in the kitchen of the new office building

I rescued this particular kitten today, after she/he wandered
away and got lost in a woodpile outside the main fence.
It came right up to me when I called though, which is very cool!
Oh I wish we could have another cat, this one would be it.

This is one happy dog! Abby the Great Dane rolling around by the lake, playing with bubbles

Sally is confused! (and some things about her)

Where did you get this mini-me?
Sad News: Radar (kitten above) died in June, 2006 :o(

The girls are much more accepting, for some reason, of this little kitten than they were of the Grey manx! It is in dispute if this is their brother or sister atm.. we thought it was a girl, but it might be a boy.. The kittens will go to flea market next week --- we were too wrapped up in bashing code last night to get up early this morning.

I got my sample of gunpowder tea from Tea Chef. It smells very good! They reccommend some seafood recipes, among others.. which I'll have to try. The smell brings to mind oranges and either a robust cinnamon or a strong black raspberry with cream... I'll have to try my own recipe too.

If you really want to look at my math problem (not the pretty diagram, but a different one) I'll post a link to it in comments. It has to deal slightly with a part of Epicycloidal curves.

Link: dinosaur news

Some things about Sally:
in no particular order

---

1. Her full name is Salamander.. but we call her Sally, Mander, Sally-Mander, Mander-Pander and sometimes Sally-Mandarin (her sister comes to the last one too.. she thinks it's the plural for cat...:o})
   
2. Sally comes when she is called, most of the time. She will come right up to you and look up, even if you call her from just a few feet away. She does this for affection and praise, not for food.
   
3. She is the lap cat of the two. Being draped across two laps is the best thing in the world.
   
4. She will eat dry cat food, bread, cheese and tuna. Nothing else is food.
   
5. Sally can turn on faucets. She would rather turn on the faucet to drink than drink out of a bowl (even right next to the faucet). She is not good at turning faucets off.
   
6. Salamander opens up the closet door any time it is not barricaded. Sometimes she opens the door just for the fun of it, and doesn't even go inside.
   
7. Sally wants all the toys -- no one else can have them until she is done with them. Sometimes she hides them.
   
8. She races around like a little spider monkey when she is playing hop-chase.
   
9. Her other nickname is Lemur, see #8.
   
10. Salamander follows us(me) from room to room in the house, always wanting to be within sight of her 'people.'
    
11. Sally is a very loud cat.
    
12. She hates to be left alone, even if it is just in another room. If Willow is also out of sight, the world has ended. See #11.
    
13. At first, we could only have one cat in our apartment. We asked for a second-cat clause for Sally. Our landlord was very cool.
    
14. She was the last kitten in her litter to find a home.
    
15. Sally kneesurfs in the car
    
16. For a while, after we drove up North to Minnesota in December, Sally hated car rides. She is over most of it now, which is good as both cats ride to work with us!
    
17. Sally finds a place to hide when she hears keys or jingly things.
    
18. She is a 'gray tuxedo cat,' according to Wikipedia.
    
19. Sally runs to hide when the vacuum or hairdryer are turned on. When they get turned off, she is back to bat them and make sure they are 'dead.'
    
20. Sally licks Willow's head when she is sick.
    
21. Sally bats Willow over the head when she thinks Willow has done something wrong.
    
22. We are convinced Sally thinks I (Rhe Lynn) am her mommy, and she is Willow's mommy.
    
23. Sally dives into the empty grocery bags when we come home from the store.
    
24. Sally has 'words' for water, Willow, 'hungry' and 'want in closed place' -- they are very distinct. They are actually specialized cries - but we responded to them enough when she was little that now she uses them to get those things. Willow comes running when her sister makes the 'Willow' cry, even if she is in another room.
    
25. Both Salamander and Willowpede will be 1 year old on May 15, 2006.
    

I'll do Willow's list later ;o)

Easter!

I coded Python yesterday, helped along by the kind words of Chris and Susan (and large doses of coffee and chocolate)...

Today I'm doing math on the kitchen table - after a lunch of biscuits, jam and coffee. J is asleep (he stayed up ALL night chatting on IRC and playing DragonWarrior) We watched two Japanese movies from Netflix before he crashed at 4 pm. So, it is a pretty odd Easter Sunday here. Even the church across the street has been pretty quiet all day.

J played with the cats last night with soap bubbles -- eventually they went from 'eww it popped on my nose' to 'I'm hunting bubbles!' It was dangerously cute ;o)

I hope to get some more work done on the yellow-orange skirt, if I can satisfy my curiosity with the geometry problem before too long here... I was in our boxes in the front room (from unpacking, still) and found a key book I had been complaining was missing. The little joys in life ;o)

I'm pretty boring when I get in a coding and math geekmode...

Softies Links :
Bunny <--of course for Easter ;o)
Dachsund <--well done! (err.. well crafted!) ;oP
houdstooth bunny (imagine it in a solid color, good form!)
and Wee Wonderful's has more cute bunnies in a row

Japanese Movies

---

Rhapsody in August written and directed by Akira Kurosawa
Rating: (Good)(subt in English)
Great up until the very end where the main character goes very much out of character, and it is not explained at all.. it just ends there...it might be a cultural thing we didn't catch.

My Neighbors the Yamadas an animated comic strip
Rating: (Not Bad - we laughed a few times) (dubbed in English)
The same guy did Only Yesterday and Pom Poko, both of which I've spoke of here before as wonderful. I think the disconnectedness(it was after all comic bits strung together) is bringing my rating down some, although it is a trait of the genre.

Crunch time at work

We're in crunch time, and by that I mean code crunching my brain ;o) There are other things crunching on parts of my brain, geeky philosophy and mathematics that I won't bore anyone here with -- and we are rushing to put our garden in as well.

It is all taking up my craft time.. which already contains so little knitting lately. KnitPicks catalog came in the mail to tempt me today with 'warm weather knitting'.. but I can't even think about that at the moment ....

:o( :o( I wish I had crafts to post!
Can I look at all of yours instead for a while?

anyway.. I'll leave you with another cute kitten picture or two, does that count?

The new batch of kittens

If you live near Huntingdon, TN - you may see us at the flea market!
We need good loving homes!
The 'Sally-looking' one on the left is a girl, all of the oranges are boys. 'Sally-doppleganger' has a dirty nose from nosing around in the leaves under one of the wooden pallets. However, orange boy has her tail! ;o)
A little out-of-focus, but I'm cute!
Little gray-manx girl was nowhere to be seen...
at least when the camera was out!
I'm not sure about this camera thingie you've got...
Oh, sit and look cute? How can I not?

Hey, do the orange ones count for Project Spectrum ;o)?

Assorted pictures

I am so very tired today. We brought one of our girls' new siblings home for 'civilizing' (she bit someone at the office), and she kept us up until 5 am... then we left the house at 10:30 am... but she did improve some. No pictures of her though, our batteries need to be recharged :o( She was an almost-all gray manx girl, with a white spot on her chest and big fluffy pointy ears. We haven't seen her since we gave her back to her mom -- but we have heard her plenty.

The girls HATED the very idea of a kitten in their house. Sally had to go in the bathroom after it was obvious she was not playing. Willow hissed at Sally for that.. good girl Willow. Later though, she knocked the little one over for batting at her tail and spit loud at her. That was when the kitten went in a big box, and I went to sleep. So much for blood relation, eh?

I've been trying to code Python on a somewhat operating brain, but right now it is time to go home. I got a bit upset today about office politics -- when I'm tired my tolerance goes down :o( and there is a staff meeting tomorrow, too. Hope you are having a good day, and that these pics are cute ;o)

Pictures from the Weekend

The candlelight dinner
sweet potatoes, brown rice, veggies
fresh baked brown bread, bottle of wine
We could have used those chopstick rests!
Sally helps out with the tablecloth-check
Both of the cats had to sit on the chairs, under the tablecloth, until dinner was ready.
'This is new, gotta see what it is all about!'
Laying out the fabric to cut the skirt
There are actually 8 gores to cut out, but they are cut double-layer.
The skirt is pinned up and ready to sew now.
And very yellow-orange for Project Spectrum!
Willow says she helped too!
She is laying on top of my coat, which is on top of an old pillow,
on a wooden chair... and boy, is she zonked!
The girls both had a busy day of pouncing, running through the house
and watching birds out the window.

very cool: Japanese sewing box
Someone else's beautiful dogwoods : at flickr, kind of has a Japanese flair, how they framed the picture ;o)

J says my previously-broken wrist is hurting because I drink too much coffee, and it is depleting calcium from my bones... really now...
Coffee and Bone Health article.
and Coffee - some health benefits article.