home for the holiday

I have stolen a bunch of quite time, everyone is zonked out.

Notice the pink Dr. Denton’s long johns and the diva pose.  I am glad Emilie is sleeping.  She has had a rough ride this past year with Mono in the fall and Salmonellosis this past week.  She had been sick two weeks ago with bronchitis and went to the health care center for a check up.  They put her on antibiotics which most likely saved her life.

A couple of days later, (last weekend) she came down with the salmonella.  At the hospital they took x-rays and said that she might have the flu.  They didn’t test for ecolie or salmonilla.  They just sent her home and told her to come back if it got worst.  Idiots.  Kid lives at a barn and drinks raw milk.

The next day she went to the health center and got more fluids.  But she still was feeling really sick and so they thought maybe the antibiotics were adding to it and took her off.

By the time Tuesday came and she was still really sick, I suggested that she go get tested for salmonella and get a follow up.  She did and it was confirmed.   First case in her area in 7 months.

Salmonella is a nasty nasty illness and can cause real damage and sometimes death.  Emilie’s system was already smacked from the Mono and the chest infection, plus she is a bit of a bonehead when it comes to working though the pain, and she continued to do some chores in the barn inspite of being really sick and her roommates urging her to rest.

The day she went to the hosptial she called here. ” Mom, I am really sick and I am scared”  Mom alarm.    She is home now and sleeping and I am still concerned but not as frankic.

She is still pretty sick, but yesterday was the first day that she was able to eat some chicken soup without throwing up.

She brought the boy friend up here as well, and love is the best medicine.  He gave her some serious bling, a promise ring, for Christmas.  “Iced up” is the slang for that.    I asked what the promise was, and dreading the answer, but it seems that they are just promising to be true, which is a good thing.  Not an engagement ring.    She also got the sweater.  Lulu got her Ugg slippers and is with her best friend Jesse for the night.

The cats also got some Holiday with a new cat nip scratching post.  Mr. Toes is still a bit grumpy but is not hissing at Blue anymore.  Mr. Toes is frosty with me and is snubbing us and just staying on the table int he kitchen.  Hopefully he will come around.  Jigger had and likes Blue.  Bubby says we should keep him, so I guess we will. 

Today the sun is out and I am heading off to Church to give thanks for all of the blessings in my life.   Happy holidays everyone.

update on Blue

Elizabeth, Stowe animal control officer said today” Yes, have people call my direct line which is 253-6132 Ext 335 or the Stowe Police department at 253-7126. Blue is lucky to have gone yesterday as the pipes froze in the bus barn and there is no running water in the pound ( hence why the hot water heater was making so much noise). I set up a small space heater but it would not of been a fun night.”

Blue needs a home

Blue at the Stowe Pound

Blue is the other three legged cat that was confiscated by the Stowe PD in November.  There was a trailer that housed several people and a bunch of animals, dogs and cats.  When the people moved, they left all of the animals behind in complete squallier.  Feces and old kibble on the floor.  The animals would have all starved, if not for a neighbour that call the Stowe police and animal control officer Elizabeth Rankin.   Here is her contact information:

Elizabeth Rankin
Stowe Animal Control
erankin@dps.state.vt.us
802-253-7126
802-2536132 ext. 335

She is the person that is called in for animal cruelty cases.  She is a real officer too, so double duty for her.

The North Country Animal League is a private shelter that was able to take a couple of the critters, but didn’t have room for Blue.  Plus, he is considered not adoptable because he is missing his back leg and is shy.   Toes is friendly and had a better shot and being adopted, which is why he got in.

But Blue got a furlough yesterday.   I went over to the pound to get some pictures and was saddened by Blues housing arrangements.

The pound is a small building behind the Bus barn way out of town and the well beaten path. There are three kennel spaces, concrete floors and metal cages.  There had been two dogs there for a short time, but the pound had only resident for the past few weeks.  Blue.  How horrible to be in solitary confinement for any living creature.  So Blue is  being fostered here with us. Our vet Greg in Stowe gave Blue the once over and his vaccinations. Blue was very happy to be sprung.

Not so much for Mr. Toes.

I brought the travel kennel into the house,  Mr. Toes and Jigger went right up and Toes began growling.  Blue went out and right up to Jigger purring,  Mr. Toes hiss, spit and grumbled away to his spot by the couch.

I went over to Toes, he hissed and growled at me.  Basically, ” I thought I had gotten away from this guy, and you bring him here?  I hate you.”

Toes is not happy at all.  Jigger doesn’t mind Blue and Bub thinks that he likes Blue better.   Blue likes to be patted in you lap and comes when he is called and is generally a really nice kitty.

Blue is about 7 years old and is missing his back left leg.  He is long and lean and has a nice gray/blue short coat and beautiful green eyes.  He is shy but likes dogs and has not been agressive towards Toes at all.  Toes simply likes being the only cat in the house.

Blue does not jump up on chairs, nor the couch nor seems able to get up on the table where the Kitty food is, without use the stairs we added for Mr.Toes.  So if you want a kitty that loves to sit in your lap and can’t get on the counter, he is the cat for you.

How to adopt blue?

Blue can be adopted to anybody that will give him a good home.  At this point there has not been a cost associated with the adopting.  The Vetting was donated by Greg and I am feeding him along with the rest of the gang.  You would need a cat carrier and would need to come to Morrisville or be willing to have him shipped to you.

If you are interested, please contact Elizabeth using the information at the top of the page.  Or you can email me by leaving a comment at the end of this post.  It will give me your home email address, not listed with the comment, and I can contact you that way.

If you are unable to adopt at this time, but would like to help, please send this blog as a link to your friends and family.  The more folks that see this the better.

What happens to Blue now?

Blue will stay here and get a stocking tomorrow, along with the rest of the gang.  We will foster him until we can find him a new home.  He is a sweet kitty, but Mr. Toes is really ticked off and Mr.Toes came first.  Won’t you help?

Happy Holidays to all my readers.

(Christmas 2000)

Emmie, no peeking please

Bub was kind enough to put the sweater on so I could see it done.  Well, kind of done, I have threads and loose ends to tie up.  But for the most part I got Emilie’s sweater done for Christmas.

I talked with her last night and told her I was posting a picture of it here and asked her not to peek.  I don’t think she will.

She did ask if I put a hoodie on it, oops.  If time allowes I can add one, but I still have a few hats and mittens to get done between now and Christmas.

I think the sweater will look a whole lot better on Emilie.  I knit it long for her and she is not as stout in the middle as bub.  Overall, I like it, I think.  I have been looking at it close up and see it much like the bark of a tree in the woods.  I see all the little details and need to stand back to see it in a new light.

Then I need to see it on someone in action.  Emilie wants to wear it in the barn, which is why I knit it out of Navajo Churro from Land to lamb.   This will be her barn sweater.  The yarn is not soft to the touch, but a bit picky.  You would only wear this outside with some short of shirt underneath.

Emilie does not wear turtle necks, so I had to have the neck low and very open for her.  Another design feature that looks silly with Bub wearing it and will hopefully look better on Em.  The pattern is a modified star with 8 points and is done in the round.  I knit the sleeves in the round and added them on, then did a little Icelandic patterning on the yoke to get the decreases.  I had Emilie take a couple of measurements then I basically winged it.  I think if I were to actually write the pattern I would change the yoke a bit.

I would like to do this sweater again, in Merino, with only a couple of bands of stars, and as a vest for a shorty like me. But in the mean time, I have loose ends to tie in and a couple of hats and mittens to do.

Alexandra Jump

Her name is my name too.  Turns out we are related, only her artist name is Alexandra Jump and her fist name is Lesley, middle name Alexandra and last name Jump.  I am Alexandra Jump Garven.  Born as Jump, then changed to Perry when my mother remarried (I was 3 and didn’t have much say) then I married and took on  Major (last name of my children) divorced and went back to Perry for a while, then did some soul seeking and when I remarried took my birth name back next to my married name.  Oooofffff.  That is quite a journey.

I got the most lovely surprise today, a Christmas card from Lesley and a calendar of Lesley’s work in which she chose a simple charcoal print of Rosie, one of our fist lambs.  Rosie is in March, my birth month and I am just pleased as punch.   I also got a nice card from Jim and Mariam from Jamestown North Dakota, and a Holiday letter from Dale, the automobile dealer that I bought my car from 2 years ago. No bills today. Goodie Good.

Holidays are funny like that.  Sometimes then smallest thing, a simple gift from a lost cousin, can really lift you right up.  Shawna’s brownies are like that too.  Everybody who got a box really loved them.  We made another order and sent it to my mother.  She love s brownies and I can’t bake, so it is a win-win.

Also, down at Green Top Market Shelby said another lamb was born last night.   Polly had the first  little black ram lamb with badger markings, now called Jolly.  Annie had her lamb, also a ram, black with a white top knot like his Sire Moses.  I was feeling a bit glum about not having lambs here.  I keep trying to talk myself into being fine with it, but I miss the sheep.

The simple act of a couple of Christmas cards and a simple gift has lifted me right up again.  So thank you Lesley, I hope your holidays are wonderful out there on the left coast.