Cold Weather and Warm Lava

The cats seem to be cold tonight. Midnight is staying in the heated kitty bed. Molly is in the tent, and Emily is sleeping on the toilet in the bathroom where the heat from the hot air register blows on her.

I wanted to do some work at home so I turned the lava lamp on to help entertain the cats if one woke up. I hadn't watched one in ages. Does anyone recall the remake of the movie Flubber with Robin Williams? I think the animators were inspired by lava lamps.

A feminine vest

I love to wear vests. Not only are they practical in the Northeast United States, they're also an artistic statement, an article of clothing that helps bring the top and the bottom together. As my friends can tell you, they can also make a fun statement. On eBay I found a vest made out of a cat print based on a '70s design. I don't think I'd be far off in saying the style was similar to Milton Glaser. The reason I know is that I bought the matching wrapping paper in the '70s.

My problem with knitted vests is that the style tends to be masculine. Jean Kaori has designed a beautiful lapel wrap vest. In the photos on Ravelry she shows that when the vest isn't closed the lapels drape gracefully. I bought the pattern the same day I saw it, which is very unusual for me these days. Last night I unraveled a vest I had in progress because I'd rather use it for the lapel vest. I'm going to make one change to the pattern. I don't want to have to wear a belt with it and I don't like vests that won't close, so I'll add a loop and button to it. I don't think that'll be distracting.

Do Cat Like Lava Lamps?

Midnight gets very bored during the winter. It doesn't help that she continues to reside only in the living room. When the porches were being replaced in the apartment complex, she had a lot to watch because the construction crew set up a workshop in our parking lot. After she ate in the morning she'd sit in the window watching the men. It was a long project and I could hardly believe it when it ended. (It would probably be the only time in my life that I was late for work because they were cutting the porch off my residence.)

I'd like to make her days more interesting. I don't like being bored either. At first I thought she might like to watch an aquarium lamp, but it occurred to me she might figure out quickly it's just the same old view. I bought a cat video for her and even after 40 plays a cat can figure out it's the same old video. She used to like a cartoon screensaver from Millanimation with funky aquatic creatures on it, but I'm using my computer during the day and I'm not buying her one.

The other day it occurred to me that she might find a '70s style lava lamp interesting. It's colorful and the wax is always moving and it never looks the same way twice.

Emily Is Learning

My cat Emily was the runt of a little of seven kittens. I adopted her when she was six weeks old. She wasn't properly socialized when it came to other cats, but in her situation maybe it wouldn't have worked. It seems what she learned was "get off me" and "get away from me."

This spring her older sister Midnight developed arthritis. The way I found out is that she began hissing and growling at her sisters as they tried to play with her. Midnight retreated to the living room where she spends her days now. She feels much better now since I began giving her feline arthritis supplements.

Her sisters miss her and want to play with her. Molly has worked out how to play with her. As Midnight sits on the arm of the sofa or the ottoman, she'll play pop-up kitty, jumping up to bat at her.

Today was a big breakthrough for Emily. She saw that Midnight was down on the floor and went toward her. In the past she'd keep batting at Midnight trying to get her to play with her and Midnight would feel cornered and get upset. Today Emily approached her older sister more slower and just batted at her once. I praised her well for being good. I'm very happy that she's learning how to get along better with her sisters, and me.

We're Featured!

My cats in their photos have been featured by Wendy's LOL-Spot. I am so thrilled! This came about because I had this one photo of Molly that I couldn't think of a cute caption for, so I asked Wendy. It seems she found my photos inspiring. Thank you very much, Wendy, for your clever captions and your kind words. Please go and visit her clevel work featuring my cats.

Christmas Cats

My oldest cat knows me quite well. One Christmas not too long ago I bought a silly animated cat decoration. It was a plush cat angel that played music. As Midnight watched me open the box, her expression clearly meant, "Oh heavens, what has she got now?"

Regardless, Midnight likes Christmas. I recently bought a realistic looking chipmunk ornament and hung it on the tree. She ran over it and patted it a couple times. She seemed disappointed when it didn't move and she bounced away.

Spring Mist Vest

I have the vest knit from Sliver Moon's Spring Mist yarn almost done. I need to sew the seams and knit the edgings.  One hank of yarn was hand-painted a little differently.  I alternated yarns as I knit the garment and you can't tell there was a problem, can you?  Cold weather has arrived here finally and is prompting me to finish up some projects.