Do You Believe in Miracles?

Since losing my little Finn Tuesday, I've been forcing myself to try to maintain some semblance of normalcy - going to knit night, going to the quilt show, etc. Saturday, after sleeping in a bit (quilt show did me in) I straggled up to the knit shop where the usual group was in and out. Nothing out of the ordinary unless you count that I'm sitting there feeling rather blah. Until Mary left.

Now there was nothing extraordinary about Mary's departure, she was going home, I think she said she had plans with her husband. A short while later, however, the shop phone rang. I wasn't paying much attention until Kathe was standing next to me saying "Here, I'll let you talk to her". Mary was on the phone. "I know it may be too soon, but I wanted to call you..." Her neighbor across the street had a stray ferret in their yard!

I rushed home, grabbed the crate, a baggie of ferret food and some treats and headed over. Mary led me across the street to where her neighbor was waiting. There, next to the bowl of cat food, was a thin, weak, dehydrated baby girl ferret! The poor thing had fleas, and had lost a good bit of the fur from her back, so she had been on her own for a while. From the way she shakes when she's first picked up, I suspect maybe she fled from a not-so-good home life.

She's been named Angel, and everyone seems to agree that somehow Finn had a paw in bringing us together. Right now Angel (and her remaining fleas which we're working on getting rid of!) is quarantined upstairs until she gets a bit stronger. Food is disappearing at a rapid rate, and she's already made tremendous progress - her eyes are brighter and she can make almost a full circuit of the bathroom without falling over.

Do you believe in miracles? I do.

Busy, Busy!

Welcome to the Holiday season, and the season of drive-by blogging! In addition to all the projects I have going, I discovered I have apparently turned into one of "those people". I took the IWP out today to have their pictures made with Santa. I don't think Santa or his photographers had dealt with ferrets before. We managed to get a couple of cute poses out of the general mayhem induced by a man in a white beard and red coat and four ferrets going "Whee! New peeples! New places! Did you brings us chickenses?"

On the creative front, I finally finished the Pillar socks.

The former grungy macrame board is well on the way to becoming a landscape. (I think it might end up having sheep made from yarn tags and ball bands added.)

The former musty old book is well along in the altering process. The photos on this one didn't come out too well, I think due to the reflective glazes and embellishments. I'll have to try again on a day with better light.

And while we're in the Holiday season, don't forget our furry, feathered, and scaly friends. Many shelters and rescue agencies are in need of donations. A gift of something as simple as your old towels can make a huge difference. Check with your local shelters and agencies (if you're not sure where they are, you can go to Petfinder and put in your zip code to find out what is available in your area). If you'd like to help make a Holiday happy for a weezul, there is the Ferret Giving Tree. Many of these are older or special needs ferrets, so any act of kindness you can show them is especially appreciated!

Randomness

This week is all over the map. I haven't been able to seem to settle down and focus on any one thing, so here goes a series of random updates. There may or may not be follow ups on any of these items later.

Finn did just fine with his distemper shot (this is the one that ferrets can potentially have a reaction to). He wasn't quite as well behaved as last week, but I think that was mostly due to a dog in another room having hysterics. The barking seemed to freak him out a little.

Finished the Broadripple socks. I think they'd have done better with a stretchier yarn (which is what they're designed for). I've been too lazy to take pictures, but will update to Ravelry (hopefully) some time this week. May post pictures here if I do an update that I can manage to relate them to.

I think I have a yarn problem. Seriously. I found a stash of sock yarn I don't remember. I have no recollection of when, where, or why I bought it. Some of it even had patterns packaged up with the yarn (PIGS for those familiar with the term). I'm still trying to figure out why I have over 800 yards of one of them though. No pattern, no clue with that one.

My workplace had free admission for employees at the Cummer museum. This was the last days of the Quilts of Gees Bend exhibit, so was fortunate enough to see those. There was also an exhibit by Paul Jenkins. I wasn't familiar with his work, but took some notes and intend to do some research. That one is still there through August 9th if you happen to like abstract works. A couple of my favorite paintings from the permanent exhibits were MIA however. One of the guard/docent/whatever gentlemen told me that some were on loan, and some were currently off exhibit due to having to clear part of some of the galleries due to roof leaks and repair work.

I think I'm about to fall off the finish-itis wagon. I had been doing pretty well with the finish two, start one goal. The above mentioned sock yarn find may have killed that though. On the bright side, socks are a comparitively quick knit, so that theoretically will help the FO to UFO ratio. (Also the stash to PIG to FO ratio.)

With that, I think I'll wander back to what I've been doing for the last week - randomly picking at projects a seam, a row, a chapter, or a dabble at a time. (Which incidentally is why everything gets finished eventually. Some things just take longer than others if they can't hold my attention for more than a couple of minutes. Things that can interest me for more than that get finished proportionally faster. Level of interest on anything subject to change/demotion to dabbling/promotion to finishing without notice.)

...too quiet

I must say, following a ferret with a plastic bag and a magazine subscription card to get a "sample" is a lovely way to start a weekend. As mentioned last week, Finn had his annual checkup today. After procuring the "sample", I loaded him in the carrier and we headed out. He promptly resorted to hiding under the cozy faux sheepskin cushion and declaring "No weezuls in here! Vet can't give shots to empty crate! We go home now, right?" Um, no sweetie.

The ferrets and I are actually quite lucky in our vet. Dr. Rossi is a top notch exotic specialist, with several books out. As a matter of fact, I got lucky - his new book What's Wrong With My Ferret is now available. It covers first aid and home care for ferrets, including ferret CPR - something I don't think I've seen in other books. I got a copy direct from him, and he was even kind enough to autograph it to the Insane Weasel Posse! He is also a tremendously good sport, and gladly posed for a picture with Finn when I explained I have a blog with the ferrets, and asked if I could get photos for the ongoing documentation of the ferret plot to murder humans. (Which he seemed to think was a reasonable assumption, ferrets being ferrets and all.)

As far as Finn's health, the visit went well. Finn checked out fine, got his rabies shot (we have to go back next week for his distemper, as ferrets are too small to just do everything at once). It does look like he'll need his teeth cleaned, but for a middle-aged ferret, not too shabby. He also behaved remarkably well. Too well, actually. I'm sure retribution is just a trip on the stairs or a slip on the tile away....

Fifteen of Ferret Fame

If you're on Ravelry you may be familiar with the "This Week in Ravelry" feature. One of the semi-regular columns is "Ask Auntie BubboPants", an advice column that occasionally features a guest column for pets, written by Auntie BubboPants dog, Chester.

Some time back, there was a notice that Chester would again be doing a guest column. I let the Insane Weasel Posse send a question, and in the most recent (OK, it was the June 11th, but I just realized it was up) column, Chester answered them!

For those not on Ravelry, who would still like some ferret-y amusement, I'll include just their letter and the reply.

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Dear Chester,

Hi, we’re ferrets. We’ve never seen a question from ferrets before, but we’re hoping you can help anyway, ‘cause you know stuff! And a bunch of the stuff you know, is stuff we know, and stuff we like too!

Anyway, our human Mom takes us to the park sometimes. We really like the park! We dig in the leaves, and visit with the little humans and the big humans, and sniff stuff, and dig stuff, and have lots of fun. Sometimes, we find these tunnel things - right under the ground! And kind of sticky uppy, above the ground too! Mom says they’re made by something called ‘moles’. We dig and dig when we find these tunnels, and we stick our heads down in them, but we never ever ever see ‘moles’.

Is there really such a thing as ‘moles’? Or is this one of those tricks humans think are funny, like squeak your squeaky, then hide it so you freak out and can’t find it?

Just wondering -
The Insane Weasel Posse (Frick, Frack, Finn and Elf)

YOU ARE FERRETS!!! OH MY GOD!!! the lady’s sister used to have the things called ferrets and the lady tells the very funny story about the ferrets and they jump sideways and go chkchkchkchk and sometimes I see the ferrets in the place that is the dogstore and they play tumble games and I want to play with them!

Moles. OH YES!!! there is the thing that is the mole. I see them sometimes at the dog park. and one time there was a very little dog that was not a little it was just smallish and the dog was doing the thing that was being very mean to a mole and the mole made lotsof squeaks and the lady got SO MAD!!! and we had to do the thing that was go to the other side of the park but that is good because that is the place where the toads are!! Do you know toads? sometimes the toads are the kind that are insideout and you can roll in them and they smell SO GOOD!!!!!

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(For those wondering about the toad thing, that's a reference to a very early Chester column featuring a question from a dog about why their humans would bathe them every time they found something good to roll in. Chester apparently likes to roll in roadtoads.)

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Everyone, I'd like you to meet my sewing buddy Miss Eleanor Davis. She's a Davis vibrating shuttle treadle from some time in the 1920's. She is not a Vertical Feed, the most commonly known and sought after type of Davis, but she's one of my best sewing buds. Her presser foot measures out to a perfect scant 1/4" allowance. She knows enough about sewing, that she really only needs me to treadle. If she could figure out a way to self treadle, I'm sure I wouldn't need to do anything but cut pieces and leave them stacked on her cabinet. When I woke up in the morning, she would have them all taken care of for me!

This week, Eleanor and I have been making blocks for the Dear Jane Big Siggie Swap. That comes to a total of 84 blocks sewn, pressed, stamped and signed. And yes, I did give her full credit on the blocks, and included her name too! Unfortunately I forgot to get pictures before I packed them up and sent them (I was pushing to get them out to the Swap Mom before deadline).

For those of you who don't know, I sew almost exclusively on treadle and hand-cranked machines. I suspect it has to do with the episode of getting my sewing badge as a Girl Scout, when my Mom would constantly warn me that I was going too fast and was going to sew through my finger on her electric. Regardless, I find treadling a nice activity - there's something soothing about the steady rhythm of treadling while watching pieces go together. No noisy motors. No guessing at speed. Just nice steady pedal, stitch, pedal, stitch - and as a bonus, the ferrets like to ride on the treadle pedal while I sew (then chase the quilt blocks as they spill off the back while chain piecing!)

I'm sure a lot of you may have a family machine tucked away in storage, or sitting in your living room as decoration. Think about giving them a try! On a treadle, there is virtually nothing to go wrong. Unless they're seriously rusted or deteriorated, all you need to do is find a belt, oil them up, maybe grease the treadle moving parts a bit, and you're off. You may even notice that you get a true straight stitch (if you're detail oriented enough to notice that type thing). Modern machines that are made to zig-zag have play built into the needlebar to allow them to move back and forth. Treadles have one mode only. Straight. And the stitches themselves are a nice, neat, straight line, not the series of angled lines in a row you get from a modern machine. Plus, Earth friendly power, the ability to work even during a storm if your lights go out - you really can't beat them!

If by chance you're interested in giving yours a rehab and try, or if you're interested in getting one, there's a great group on line at http://www.treadleon.net/ where you can find support, information, and even people who will help with parts and supplies. Plus the neatest local gatherings (called TOGAs for Treadle On Gathering and Academy) that you'll ever get to attend.

OK - time to get off my treadle soap box, and back to all the rest of the 500 projects in process! And I'll get pics up once I get the swap blocks back, so you can see the final result!