They're done!!

After 10 long years I have finally completed the 10 counted cross stitch cat pieces for my mom! And she has now framed them and will soon have them hanging in her living room!

Why did it take so long? yah, it's just one of those things... life, work, other  plus I'd forget, plus I'd put them somewhere and 'lose' them for a while.

If you're a long time reader of my blog, I'm sure you've seen them occasionally when I finished one. Each piece features a black cat and background details also in black with one or two items in them image in colour - for example there is a red string with the cat under the rug, or a coloured birdhouse and silver snowflakes in the one where the cat's in front of the window.

If you'd like to see more, you can see this Kats by Kelly Pinterest page.

Cat Cross Stitch # 10

I have finally completed cat cross stitch # 10 - my mom can finally order her frames and get them on the wall. She will frame them in 2 frames, 5 pictures across. Here's the final one:

Now I can get back to my knitting and crocheting and embroidery projects - I haven't done anything since March 18th. Time to get productive and creative again!

Cat-struction

I must say, my daily walks around the neighbourhood do yield some interesting things sometimes. I'm sure it's partly because I'm walking and I have time to let my thoughts roam free. I often recall the saying "leave with a problem, come home with a solution" and try to use my walking time to figure things out. But by now I'm sure you're noticed that I've see things in the neighbourhood that I noteworthy. For example,  this house that's being built :

Ah, you think it's just an ordinary, normal, run-of-the-mill suburban house, right? 

Nope!

Look closer - we've already built in the house cat!! LOL! 

Some projects

Here are some cross stitch/embroideries I have been working on -

This one is still in progress

Sorry I didn't iron them yet. It's harder to see them when you're distracted by all the wrinkles isn't it? They are for my mom. When I'm done there will be a total of 10 and she is getting them framed in two horizontal sets of 5. I hope I can show you the finished framed pieces one of these days.

One last cat video

Ok, one more cat video. Below you will see a video of a women kicking snow in a stray cat's face. She said she was trying to protect her mom's dog although the cat hadn't done anything yet. After the women pushed back the cat, the cat then attacked her causing the woman to slip and fall.

The women ended up with bite marks and scratches that became swollen and infected. The cat? They put him down and tested him for rabies.

One stupid action by this women not only caused injury to herself but caused the poor cat to loose it's life. It really bothers me how people aren't responsible enough to take care of animals kindly and gently - but I guess I really shouldn't be surprised because we don't take care of each other kindly or gently either. Stepping off soap box now.....  

 

I'm going to switch back to happy  holiday messages from here until the end of the year, sound good? 

Feline Bullies

My dog doesn't really know what to do with cats. 50% of them run and 50% of them freeze. Of those that don't run, their deep growl is rather scary so she usually gives a frustrated bark and then runs away. A couple of times cats have wacked her - including that one who stalked Eco and spanked her! 

For little 10-15 pound beings they sure can have control! Watch this compilation:

Do you have a bully cat? 

Lovely Photography

Here's a lovely photography collection by a photographer who's been taking photos of her grandma and her "odd eyed" cat for the past 13 years. The images show the complex bond between human and cat in a wonderfully poetic manner - enjoy.

Friday the 13th

Does Friday the 13th bother you?

If so, don't look at the calendar!

I was just talking to someone who was on their way to a wedding today - perhaps the bride (who traditionally picks the date) has a tattoo culture, where 13 is a lucky number?

Here's is one of my favourite quotes for a common  Friday the 13th superstition:

A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere.

 - Groucho Marx

PROJECTS I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON

I'm almost finished my cross-stitch:

I just need to do the outline stitches and there are some silver snowflakes to come and  I should be done by the weekend.

And also, here are some doodles I've been working on:

what do you think? 

Baking and Stitching

Success! After a couple of attempts tweaking the recipe each time, I made a successful loaf of bread - yippee. And yummy too. Now time to get some fruit to try out the jam function.

As you can see there is a slight indent on the top - baking friends, could you please tell me why this happened? Slightly too much yeast?

And since I have't posted a project in a while, this is what I'm working on - a kitty cross-stitch:

Oh yes, and the little bread-machine made cookies too:

Not too bad, but I think I'll stick to making them the old fashioned way. It was pretty easy but it only made about 16 cookies. I don't know about you, but around here that just isn't enough!

Catvertising

Barking Cat

Okay I swear I have not crossed over to the cat side, but I have to share one more video with you - this is a cat who is barking like a dog until he gets caught by a human and then starts meowing....

Maru - a watchable cat

So if you have nothing to do this  afternoon, spend some time scrolling through the YouTube videos of a Japanese cat called Maru - he's very comical and actually quite an entertaining cat (and by now you know I'm very much a dog person)...

Wake Up and Meet the Puppy

My favorite cat video, I can watch it over and over again:

A Question for You Regarding Stray Cats

I am not a fan of stray cats - they poop all over my lawn and in my garden and rip me out of a sound sleep with their wailing at 2am, they damage the paint on my car and dirty my windshield. I don't understand why dog owners have to licence their dog when we rarely have a loose dog and we are limited to the number of dogs owned, but cat owners can have as many as they want running all over the neighbourhood and don't have to pay a dang thing. Case in point, one neighbour has 9 outdoor cats and apparently she's not feeding them well enough so another neighbour (whom I'm friends with) started to feed them. Before she left for a 2 week vacation she asked me to feed the outdoor cats. I said 'yes' because there was no one else she could ask and she's my friend, but to me it was like asking me to feed the squirrels or wild rats.

I don't like feeding these cats but they've become dependant on this food and I promised my friend I would do it. But then Jp found out what I was doing, and well you can imagine how that went.

I suppose I should have told my friend 'no' although she would never have understood my rationale and now I'm stuck with the task until she returns. So tell me - what would you do? How do you feel about stray cats in your neighbourhood?