The package has arrived!

Woot! My SP sent me a box of goodies! Actually, she sent them quite some time ago. They were last logged in to the Canada Post tracking system on August 5 (!) at the Missisauga Sorting Station. If I remember my last trip through Ontario correctly, Missisauga is a (big) suburb on the west side of Toronto. It's probably a 4.5 - 5 hour drive from my house. From there, I believe the package swam upstream across Lake Ontario, fought its way up Niagara Falls like an itinerant salmon, and halfway across Lake Erie to the Cleveland postal station. Otherwise, I have no idea what it was doing for the last two weeks.

But it was worth the wait - look!
A new novel to read on vacation and a quilting mag (and strawberry scented bubbles for DD) -

Some sweets to nibble on when reading -
That's arrowroot animal cookies (supposed to be for DH. We'll see ;-0), Campino strawberry and yoghurt candies, and vanilla clodhoppers. Clodhoppers are little bits of graham cracker, coated in a white chocolate coating, and stuck together like a Rice Krispy bar. They taste a little like a Wonka Bar, with a much higher graham: chocolate ratio. Yummm - I've already made a serious dent in the bag.

And last but not least - yarn!
It's Gypsy by NY Yarns, an acrylic wool blend in bulky weight. I think it will make a nice scarf.

I haven't been doing much knitting lately - mostly spinning the last couple of weeks. Photo to come.

Here's the Follow the Leader Shawl, blocking:

I've already brought it in to work, so no modeled shot. I only blocked it a little bit - the finished dimensions would have covered my rear, and I only want something around waist length - it's really to keep my shoulders and arms warm in the A/C.

Here's the Jaywalker socks I'm working on (Brown Sheep Wildfoote in Lilac Desert)-

The bit of fuzz in the corner is one of the last photos of Zoey's fur, I'm afraid. Something I realized after she died was that I took very, very few photos of her in the last three years. When I used a film camera (up until three years ago), I almost always used to take a couple of shots of the cat to use up the roll of film so I could send it for developing. There is no end of the roll on a digital camera.

That's all for now. Picked up a lousy head cold sometime this weekend. Spinning photos next time for sure.

It is over

Zoey died last Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. I petted her as the vet gave the injection. She was calm.

The hardest thing is not her absence in the house - I knew right away there would be no more food dish, no litter box. It's the little changes in routine - the door to the guest bedroom left open (she wasn't allowed to sleep in there), the door to the laundry room closed (no need for access to the litter box). And so quiet. I didn't appreciate how many little noises she made throughout the day.

I feel better now that it is over. No more agonizing, no second guessing if now is the right time. It is over. There is no changing my mind. I know it was the right time. To spare her suffering.

Keeping very busy this week with work, and planning Audrey's birthday party next Saturday. I'm sewing backpacks for a crew of Dora's to go exploring in the back yard.

And spinning - I just plied the CTH watercolors tonight. Pics later.

I'm ready for a vacation, and the fall. It really hasn't been a good summer this year. Time to knit something warm, cozy, and substantial.

An interruption in time

Has it really only been two weeks since my last post? It feels like a lifetime ago.

The briefest of fiber updates: the shawl is finished and blocked. Not photographed yet. Cast on a Jaywalkers sock in the larger size - too tight around the ankle. Will retry with a larger needle.

Spinning - despite good intentions of spinning every day on vacation, I was too exhausted from chasing the kids (Audrey and her cousins) around the beach. Missed too many days to claim my yellow jersey in the Tour. I did exceed my goal of trying 3 new fibers however - I spun 4! Much plying to come in future weeks.

Finished Harry Potter (Book 7) in 3 nights.

And at home...

Zoey has taken a sharp turn for the worse. She is aware of the tumor now, and as it is an open and weeping sore, it stings her when she eats. Watching her try to scrape it away with her paws is too terrible. I have been trying to rationalize not euthanizing her by looking at the good hours, as she purrs in my lap or comes looking for a treat (which she struggles to eat). But I know she is getting worse, not better. Last night the voice in my head asked me "what are you waiting for? For her to be in pain full time?" And I know it is more humane to end this before she reaches this point. This weekend I think, will be her last. 13 summers since my friends found her in the town softball field on the north side of Bloomington, IN. And until last year, so healthy. I tell myself this would be easier if she was acting "sick" - not eating, laying around ill, in obvious pain. But I know it would be cruel now to wait that long, since the end result will be the same. How do animals perceive their own lives? She is aware something is different, I'm sure. She is sleeping on my bed again this week, after having not done so for several years. She seeks my lap over my husband's - unusual for her. Is she looking for a last dose of affection? Or trying to tell me she wants out? I wish they could talk.

Just not feeling like photographing anything lately. You understand.