Monthly Archives: August 2011

A Nature Walk…and a Ta-Daaaa…!

Did you go on Nature walks when you were at Primary School? I can remember being marched along the pavement in a crocodile, hand in hand with my best friend, collect leaves and nuts for the Nature table. All my memories seem to be Autumnal, I’m sure we went at other times too.

Higgins and I went for a walk yesterday which turned into a nature walk, although I did all my collecting with the camera. I’ve just been turning them into a mosaic and I liked it so much I though I’d share it with you…

It’s amazing just how much there is to see in quite a small area of countryside.

And the Ta-Daaa? Well, I’ve finished the Boneyard Shawl, which I wrote about here (and that’s despite making all those pompoms!)

I really love the colours…

and it’s lovely and soft and snuggly…

I used 4 balls in the end so it’s quite a good size…

Although I don’t what it was with the shaping, it must be me…it looks a little like a sting ray!

One of the compensations of the end of the summer is going to be having an excuse to get all wrapped up in knitting!

Well, the prickling of the hairs on the back of my neck tell me…just let me have a peek… yes, as I thought, I am getting a HARD STARE…it’s walkies time again.

I’d better get the lead …
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More Hearts…More Pompoms…

Hello!!! Is it Thursday already? This week is galloping by. Firstly, because I know you’ll want to know, Henry is still doing nicely. The medication has been finished, and as I write he is snoring contentedly, in his bed. This is a relief, as when he first came back the only place he wanted to be if he couldn’t have a warm lap was a warm keyboard.

The only little cloud on the horizon is the visit to vet next Monday for the removal of the stitches. This will probably require the entire squad of nurses and maybe one or two brave volunteers from the waiting room as he will NOT be a happy bunny!

Oh, and some hair restorer…

His tummy was shaved for the ultrasound, his head was shaved for the spinal tap, patches were shaved on his legs for the drips, and his throat was shaved for the operation. Thank goodness it’s summer, I don’t think he’s be happy in a jumper, however beautifully knitted!

But pompoms, I hear you cry, you said there were pompoms!

There are SO many pompoms! I found this wonderful gadget…

Do you remember the Heart and Pompom bunting…

…which I made in January?

I still love it, but I made the pompoms with a little gadget which my mum had given me because she wasn’t very happy with her results. Well, I tried really hard with it, and made so many pompoms using up my leftovers…

but they were never as firm and fluffy as I wanted them to be.

Now I have found this gadget…

…and it is wonderful! The smallest sized one makes a beautifully firm pompom in just few minutes and it is so compulsive I had to pack the gadgets up and put them away as there was a danger that my entire stash would be used up!

The solution was to make a larger version of the Heart and Pompom Bunting – the tutorial for that is here. I just worked the last row in the pattern in the main colour and added an extra row in the contrast colour to make the hearts bigger and made the joining chain slightly longer between the hearts so I could use slightly bigger pompoms.

Would you like to see?

It was hard to find the best way to show you. When I hung it up inside I realised how much my house needs redecorating, and the light wasn’t right so here it is outside the studio…

There’s actually a bit too much light here, it rather bleaches the colours, but I’m not going to complain about sunshine! (If you can’t find the pompom maker locally I got mine from Clothkits thank you, Kaye!)

Now we have another sunshiny day I’d better get out into the garden. All the strong wind over the last couple of days has blown my little plastic greenhouse and flowerpots all over the garden. (Higgins has done his best to round things up but the toothmarks are a problem…)

Talking of Higgins, he’s rather had the spotlight taken off him with recent events but if you were wondering…he’s fine…

You see…?

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Silent Sunday

Fingers Still Crossed…

but… I’m allowing myself to be cautiously optimistic.

Henry had his operation yesterday and is progressing well. If this continues we should be able to collect him tomorrow, Saturday. I hope it won’t be too long before he and I are arguing over the nice warm keyboard again!

I can’t tell you how much I have appreciated all your kind and thoughtful comments. I’m sure all the positive vibes flowing in Henry’s direction from the bloggy network have helped, thank you, everyone!

I’ll keep you posted, and in the meantime, try and reactivate my creative muscles. I’ve spent the week mindlessly knitting, a stocking stitch UFO which has been languishing in a bag for at least two years which I believed required no thought or brain power.

This morning I frogged the entire section, having used the WRONG SIZE NEEDLES!!! Aaaaaaaaaaah! There’s a strong chance it’s going to return to the bag for another two years…

I’ll be back soon, have a wonderful weekend, xxx

Edited to add: Latest bulletin is that he’s doing well, has reverted to full ‘Grumpy Old Man’ mode and is terrorising the nurses. We pick him up tomorrow, I think they’ll be glad to see the back of him!

(…and he’s a ‘pussycat’ at home!)

(Sunday 7th – home, purring furiously and being ‘hoovered’ by Higgins. All is well….thanks again for all the messages xx)

Hoping …

Thank you for all the sweet comments left on my last Silent Sunday post, the picture of my beautiful cat, my much loved Henry.

It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions on Planet Penny this week, because, when I put the picture of Henry on the blog, he was actually in intensive care at the emergency veterinary clinic, and I was trying to think positively

It’s been hard to believe that last Friday Henry was chasing Higgins round the garden. On Saturday morning he was not well and we took him to our local vet. Some time ago he had stones in his bladder and I was concerned this had reoccurred, but an Xray showed he was very constipated, a side effect not uncommon when cats are fed the special food which keeps the bladder stones away. He needed an enema, which of course required sedation, but everything was done without a problem and we took him home to recover.

However it was soon clear that all was not well and being a Saturday afternoon we had to make the trip to the other side of Norwich to the emergency clinic. By Sunday lunchtime,when we went in to talk to the vet he was on a drip, his eyes were cloudy and he barely responded to my touch. The vet was concerned he had had a stroke and appeared not to be able to see, and we
were soon on the way to Newmarket to the specialist for an MRI scan. By this time I was convinced we were looking at the end, and worked my way through half a box of tissues. Once there, however, he managed to walk out of his crate and hide under the chair, and while having his reflexes tested showed signs of the feisty Henry who appears exclusively for vet treatment, cursing and swearing and biting Tim on the thumb. At this point my hopes were raised once more, and the vet decided to keep him in for observation, keep him on the drip, and wait before doing the scan…

We drove home, stopping off for our anniversary meal on the way. The cancelled Sunday lunch at a posh pub turning into something in breadcrumbs in a Little Chef…

Two days later, with little improvement, he had an ultrasound and the MRI scan. The good news, no sign of anything sinister, and his brain seems fine, no clots. But, a severe infection in the middle ear, eating into the bone, requiring an operation.

It’s been so hard. I’ve gone from feeling that it’s not fair to put him through so much, he’s had a good life, that we all know that from the moment we take a little fluffy bundle into our lives we are heading towards that dreadful moment of loss years down
the line. Every vet has said, well he’s 16, he’s an old cat. But he’s my cat. He might have retired from thehunting life, but he’s happily been lord of all he surveys in his own garden, stalking around like a tiger and having the odd funny five minutes with
Higgins. And apparently he’s otherwise in good shape, liver and kidneys absolutely fine, and has been coping with the infection, the anaesthetic on Saturday just knocking everything out of kilter.

If anything sinister had been found, well I think I would have to make the hard decision, but if he can come through this op, there is a chance for him to have a few more years of contented life.

So, all being well, he has the operation tomorrow, and should be home at the weekend..

And I’ll be wearing my nurse’s hat…

I’m really grateful knowing you’re all out there and you’ll be rooting for Henry. Thanks for reading your way through, I want Planet Penny to be a happy place, but sometimes life gets in the way…