So, 2013 is nearly over..

I still haven't uploaded my recent pictures, so I'll probably end up blogging Christmas stuff in February..

Anyway, Friday was the funeral day, and yesterday I got some lovely Christmas pressies when Maaria visited =) Later on, Thatsit had her legs vet-checked. The sore on the left leg is getting better, but the sores (yes, there are two..) on the right leg are getting worse =(

The other day, someone ordered miniature eyeglasses, and collected them today. I won't post a photo of them yet, just in case. (They were going for someone else as a part of a present..)

Christmas Eve

Bing Crosby & David Bowie - The Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth

A bit different Christmas, this year.. Christmas, funeral, New Year.

Just a brief update

Oops, I haven't blogged in a while :o I've been wrapping Christmas presents, watching telly, cooking, eating, cleaning.. Thatsit's leg sore is really bad on her right leg (google for proud flesh, but not when you're eating..), and now needs new dressing every second day =/ The left leg is getting better, though, and she can just wear a sock tube - I make padded sock tubes for her.

I'll be blogging some more pictures, one of these days. I just haven't flickr'ised them yet.

11-12-13, 14:15

Grab one while they still virtually exist.. =)

Thatsit's sock tubes

I made these "sock tubes" for Thatsit as the baby socks weren't really offering much padding to her leg sores, and she was frustrated with having her paws covered.

I used old t-shirts for material, and didn't really have a "design" in my mind when I started working on these, so I just did the padding parts first, and continued from there..

    

    

I folded a few pieces for padding - almost like making little nappies.. Then I hand stitched the padding bits to larger pieces I'd already cut out, trying to avoid making any bumpy seams or such. It didn't really matter how it was going to look as the padding would be hidden between two layers of material, and with the wear and tear from Thatsit walking with these, it's likely that these will only be worn for about a week per pair, and then replaced with a new pair. (Although, if they're in good enough condition when changed, then I will wash them to be used again. Must use Vanish or something, to make sure that they'll be clean enough - after several visits to the litter tray and all, a regular 40° wash probably wouldn't be enough..)

    

Tiger toothbrush box was good for size, being about the size of a cat's leg.. Of course, I had to make the sock tubes a bit loose, allowing for the wider part of her "thighs", and her legs would have to move without restriction as well.

    

At first, I was thinking of leaving the seams outside, just to make the tubes more comfortable. However, they were so soft that I ended up turning them away from sight - and away from her to chew on.. The toothbrush yoke was great for turning the tubes as well.

    

As I wanted to make sure that the padding part would be exactly where it was supposed to be, I stitched some "shape" to the tubes.

The little fold in one end of the tube, is not a "design detail" - I just did it to make them easier to put on as I hadn't stitched the layers of material together anywhere else than at the seam.

When I was making these, I was thinking they'd probably be too long from the lower parts, and I was right. But I'll make the next pair shorter. Anyway, it was a good decision to leave her paws exposed as she's been less frustrated with these tubes, than she was with the baby socks.



The real problem was removing the remaining baby sock (she'd already shaken off one of them), and putting on the new sock tubes.. When I finally got D to assist, he turned out to be useless. Eventually, professional help was required, and then it wasn't that difficult at all. I held Thatsit firmly, talking to her calmly while the vet replaced the socks, and while she wasn't loving it, she wasn't squirming much, either. Her leg sores were looking much, much better, which was great!

She did actually manage to shake one of the newly taped sock tubes off, right after I let her go, so we did have to tape them on again, tighter than before. There was a possibility of the tapes being too tight, but I promised to keep an eye on her paws, in case they were going to get swollen. They didn't, though.

She's been doing OK with the sock tubes, and I've even seen her licking them as if she was cleaning her own coat =D



It's getting close to the weekly sock change, so I'll be having a craft session again, later tonight..

Remembering Ginga

Ginga died a year ago today;

RIP Ginga, ~1997(?) - 2012

And Oimo died in May, this year..

I still think about them both, every day, and I always will..

Some gift ideas..

    

I was browsing Sunday Independent gifts magazine, having planned to take a nap afterwards, but some of those gift ideas got me all upset, and I didn't feel like taking that nap anymore.



One of the first things in that magazine, was a €11,280 engagement ring. Like, WTF?!? For starters, I thought it was supposed to be a Christmassy gifts magazine. OK, some people might get engaged during Christmas holidays, but still - an engagement ring is hardly one of the first ideas you'd have for a Christmas present, surely? Also, way to put off regular people, by starting with something that ridiculously expensive.. If I was a billionaire, I still wouldn't put that much money on a feckin' ring. After all, it's just a piece of material you wear to symbolise something. Cheap can be pretty as well, so why waste thousands?



Had I been drinking something, I'd have spat it all over the magazine, when I saw this €450 YSL nail polish set. NAIL POLISH! 24 bottles, which look kind of small, too, and most of those colours probably wouldn't even be worn by anyone who could afford to pay stupid money for a set like that! Seriously.. No matter how wealthy you are, if you pay €450 for a 24-pack of nail polish, you're a complete idiot.



I'd already been outraged by some €350 pens, but this one was €400. Think about it.. €400, for a PEN. What the fuck is WRONG with people?!? Like, OK.. At least this pen is pretty, so I could pay as much as €4 for it (maybe..), but only an idiot would pay €400.



Now here's something pretty, useful, and sensibly priced. A sewing kit for €6.50. (If anyone wants to give me one for Christmas, ship it here, LOL..)

Useful tip for blowing your nose =D

When you have a cold (or allergies), use baby wipes when blowing your nose. They're kinder to your skin!

I originally discovered this a long time ago, when I needed to blow my nose, couldn't find/reach a tissue, but the packet of baby wipes (which I always try to keep nearby as they're great for so many things!) was right next to me. So, I used a baby wipe, and went, "why didn't I think of this before?!?" =)

I don't know if it's the same for everyone, but at least my nose (and the area around it) usually gets all dry and the skin gets flaky, when I have a cold, from constantly blowing my nose.. It doesn't even help if the tissues are treated with aloe vera (or whatever), but baby wipes are great! It's still a good idea to apply Bepanthen or something, of course..

So, now that it's December...

[Official Video] Little Drummer Boy - Pentatonix

It's officially OK to play Christmas music, starting from the First Advent =) So, here's an a cappella version of Little Drummer Boy (above), and there's also my Christmas music Spotify playlist, which I put together last year.

Done with November

November, in my ShutterCal.

November briefly;
I started using my new wrist warmers.. I had some Finnish sweets.. I saw and fed the garden hedgehog for the last time before its winter hibernation.. I cooked, baked, played with webcam, got bitten by Ringo.. I got a new battery for my vintage phone.. I lost my motorway virginity (shhhh..), going to Finglas and back - The Savage Eye again.. I got Eyesores in the post!.. More Savage Eye, in Bray.. I made pizza, and puff pastry treats.. I got a parcel from my mam.. I watched telly with Pushy.. Thatsit had to spend a night at the vets, due to having bad leg sores.. Photo session for an article, with Thatsit, who scratched my arm and wrist as she was so nervous.. More Savage Eye, elsewhere in Finglas.. The big Christmas parcel arrived from Finland, with lots of damaged packages.. More telly with Pushy.. A Thatsit article in the weekend Herald..

December / First Advent

(Picture from Christmas 2009..)

Although Christmas has already been in the shops for ages, it seems as if December managed to arrive by surprise again.. I don't think I'll bother decorating so much, this year, since last year (or was it the year before) I'd carefully arranged the usual window lights, only to see them ripped down the following day, because they "looked knackery", apparently.

I'm hoping to find my address book, today, so I could get all the Christmas cards ready for posting. Might wrap some pressies as well, although they might be easier to store without wrapping.. Hmmm..

Thatsit in today's weekend Herald

    

Pete Wedderburn (Pete the Vet / Brayvet) wrote about Thatsit, in today's "Pete's Pets" column. Of course, I just had to buy a few copies (one for me, one for Thatsit's Finnish grandparents - LOL - and maybe one for scrapbooking or something..) =D



Thatsit didn't love the photo session, the other day - above, what she did to my wrist and arm.. But it's understandable as she's always hated being picked up in general, hates posing, and isn't overly fond of veterinarians, either.. So, to combine all those in one moment, who wouldn't get all stressed out?! (Also, she'd been to the vets, the day and night before, so she was probably afraid of having to go there again..)

Below, some pictures by Pete - used with permission;



The article explains the sores =/ My weekend craft plan will be to experiment with padding.. I'll try and make some more protective socks for Thatsit, with added padding under the sore parts. The problem is trying to put them on her, though.. She can be fierce! But hopefully she'll understand the protection idea, when she walks and feels a bit more comfortable.

Another issue is that those socks get wet and dirty, when she goes out or uses the litter tray.. I've only brought the litter tray back after her injury. Thatsit and (late) Oimo were using litter trays when they were kittens, but never since, and instead of cat litter, I've used ripped newspaper, which is cheap and easy, and doesn't smell, either. But now I've started using cat litter on the tray as it soaks the moisture sooner than the newspaper, and hopefully less will end up wetting the socks.. (Thatsit didn't understand the cat litter at first, so I put some newspaper bits on top, and THEN she got it.. Now there's no need to add newspaper anymore.)

    



I'm so surprised that she looks so "calm" in these pictures! It was like trying to hold a tropical storm.. LOL

Google AdSense ads finally working..

I mentioned in October, that my Google ads weren't working, but as I verified my address and all, earlier on today, I thought I'd tinker with them again, and now they're like I want them to be - at least for me.

Above and below, the big red arrow is pointing at where my ads should be, and what size they should be. (If anyone sees something different, please let me know! You can either leave a comment to this entry, or email me - my email address is on the contact info page.)

So, there should be a small horizontal banner after the top 1-2 entries, and a vertical banner on the right side bar, below other links and widgets..

I think I've blocked certain types of ads (like adult stuff, dating, and whatever I find über-annoying or offensive in general), so I'd also like to hear about it, if such ads somehow end up being displayed here - I really don't want them on my sites.

"There's something in my eye.."

Google Search: Reunion

So, SO beautiful..

Killing time, yesterday

I had an extra day with not much to do.. =)

    

The best €20 ever spent..

LIDL (SilverCrest) ceramic fan heater, €20 (which I mentioned here already).

I am in love with my HotBot! =)

This is just.. epic.. =D

IRELAND The Musical | Republic of Telly

Christmas shopping (OMG - in November!)

I'm not a Christmas person, really.. I hate how they seem to start with the Christmas adverts and decorations earlier and earlier, year after year.. I think there should be a law against Christmas marketing before December (or the First Advent, which may be in the end of November, at times).

However.. I was doing my weekly shopping at LIDL, yesterday, and just happened to see these wooden Christmas trees (above), which looked like something I could use for decorating presents.. (Oh dear..)

I ended up buying all kinds of Christmas wrapping materials.. :o

Well, at least it's all stuff that I'd have to buy, anyway, so now I'll have spread the cost a little bit.. (And I already bought the Christmas cards, before..)

    

    

I can blog the pics already as these are just wrapping materials - no actual pressies.

They also had lots of other stuff I'd had on my shopping list for months/years - like a €20 ceramic fan heater for the attic (enjoying the warm air right now, mmmm..) I've been freezing in the unheated & half-insulated attic for over six years, so it's about time I got some heating! Also, I got some useful car stuff, etc. So, I spent a week and a half's budget in one go, but it was all necessary stuff.

Eyesores mail =D

My Eyesores arrived, yesterday! =D

I actually got the post in the morning, but as I was on my way to LIDL, I decided to open it later - I wanted to really enjoy it.. =)

There was a lovely message as well, from the artist!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Psst, if you are not familiar with Eyesores, check them out!

Roasted noms

Not sure if it's possible to embed more than one pins from Pinterest, these days.. (I've always hated the "new", widget-like tags they give - I much preferred the old tags where you could choose the picture size, and it would appear as a normal photo, with the Pinterest links below it.)



Anyway, the other day, I was looking for the simplest recipe for roasting broccoli and cauliflower. Well, not that there's much to it, but I wasn't sure of the oven temperatures and roasting times. Also, eventually, I didn't even have any broccoli left (forgot I'd already used it..), so I ended up roasting cauliflower and potato wedges - separately.



Below, my versions - not that pretty, but totally gorgeous =)

Cauliflower..

Potato wedges