Alien Spouse

The Alien Has Landed.

I was delighted to get an e-mail from Ella this morning telling me that the Green Queen has arrived in Australia!  Very exciting!

Ella has posted some photos on her blog already, which are brilliant.  Be Seeing You, Green Queen!

It's Different Here.

I've noticed that Americans don't pronounce Sarah and Sara as different names, the absence of the H is just a variation of spelling, it's still the same name.  Sara doesn't rhyme with Tara here.

Also whenever I say that a letter has arrived "in the post" I find Americans think I am being very quaint as they refer to it as the mail.  What's weird about that, when one thinks about it, is that the British have the Royal Mail and call it the post; whilst Americans have the U.S. Postal Service and call it the mail.

That is all.  For today at least, I'm sure I'll think of some other fascinating observations from my jet set international life soon.

She is SO My Cat.

Nancy has recently started regularly sitting on top of the cat tower in the evening, and whilst we were watching "Wall-E" (It was research for a course Doc is planning on dystopias.  I am not even remotely joking.) I noticed her sit up and stare at the TV screen. 

Nancy seems to quite enjoy watching telly, and I'd love to think she was actually following the plots, but frankly she seems particularly fascinated by graphics in adverts.

Cat Accountants.

I brought some work home with me, because the director of my department wants to go over the budget figures on Monday.  First of all I spread all of the folders of paperwork out on the floor, and began working through each one to make sure all of the forms were in the right folder and also entering all the details into spreadsheets.

This wouldn't be my favourite way to spend a Sunday afternoon (although it was cold and damp outside, so staying in the house was nice), but fortunately both Edith and Nancy decided to help me.

As you can see they have very different techniques.  Edith is very relaxed around numbers, where as Nancy is much more paws on.

Naturally they are available to hire, just make sure that you book them well in advance for tax season.

The Black Cat Interloper.

I was woken up at 4:30 this morning by a cat miaowing and scratching, which usually I'd try to ignore and go back to sleep.  This time however I thought the miaow sounded odd, and then I realised the scratching wasn't coming from the bedroom door at all; in fact it was coming from the other side of the room.  My first thought was that one of our cats had somehow got shut in the cupboard, but as I sat up I saw the silhouette of a cat at the window.

It was Cairo, the black cat from next door, who you may remember almost convinced us she was a poor helpless stray when we first moved here.  She had pulled the insect screen away from our bedroom window, and had then got between the screen and the glass.  I got up and let her into the room, but the minute I did that I knew we had a problem because Cairo hates other cats.

Fortunately she let me pick her up, which she usually does not like, so I carried her out of the room.  Nancy was asleep on the stairs and when Cairo saw her she started growling, which I thought was a bit damned rude considering she was the one who broke in!  That's cats for you I suppose, they always think they are right.  Funnily enough Nancy and Edith didn't seem to notice her, but they started following me just in case I went anywhere near the food bowls.  By the time I got the front door Cairo was digging her claws in to my shoulder and hissing, I put her down by the door and she made it very clear she wanted to be let out.  So I did.

After breakfast Doc C took out the recycling, and when he came back he told me that he could see the screen hanging off on next door's bedroom window as well.  So Cairo had pushed her way out of that one, and then walked over the roofs to get to our window.  And it was really cold, wet and windy last night, so that can't have been fun.  Stupid cat.

The thing I don't understand why it's always 4:30 in the morning when cats decide to do something insane.  Is there a little chip in their tiny brains that automatically wakes them up with an insane notion that they can't ignore?  Is there some sort of magnetic wave broadcast by the cat alien overlord at that time?  And is there anyway to block the transmission?  The really really annoying thing is that once it's all over the cats just curl up and go to sleep, but I'm usually wide awake.  It's SO unfair.

Cat Noses! So Cute!

My cats have the sweetest noses!  So adorable!

I particularly love Nancy's two-tone button, probably because she uses it to express her affection, but Edith's has a certain elegant charm too, even if she won't ever give us a nose bump with it.

A Very Damp Saturday.

It started raining on Wednesday, & it's supposed to stop on maybe Monday or Tuesday. And by rain I do not mean a light drizzle, rain is serious business in the mountains.

Still feeling like our feet would never be dry again didn't stop us for accomplishing our tasks for the day:

• Breakfast at favourite breakfast place (taught our lovely waitress Hannah to say "innit")
• Shopped for towels & socks, which somehow ended up including five new tops for me. One of which is a "Ghostbusters" t-shirt, with a distressed logo.
• Haircut! Yay! Although there was some back combing involved, then straighteners & hair spray were deployed. Doc see was slightly worried when he first saw it, but it's calmed down now.
• Went to Verizon to get Doc a new phone.  After much debate the one he chose is like a prop from "Star Trek", it's silver and slides open in a very satisfactory manner.
• Went to the kitchen stuff shop to buy a griddle and egg rings for Doc C, so that he can attempt to make... CRUMPETS!  Squeeeeeee!
• Fed our friends cats and played with them for a while.
• Came home.

I think I need a nap now, but I had coffee with my breakfast so I can't actually sleep right now.

Side-by-Side Fur Comparison.

When we first got our cats I naturally e-mailed their pictures all over the admin offices of the university, it was a slow day in the office, and several people asked me if they were sisters because they are both grey.  This was something that hadn't occurred to me at all, because they look so different to me.

We mainly chose our girls because of their personalities (although Edith had us totally fooled, we thought she was sedate!  Ha!), but I did like the idea of colour co-ordinated cats.  True they are both grey, but as far as the shades of grey go; Edith (on the left) is a dusty, almost yellow-grey, where as Nancy (on the right) has a lot warmer brown shade to her fur, not to mention her white markings.  Of course they are both lovely, and I am very pleased with how glossy and healthy their coats are, they are both very pretty cats.

By the way, as I'm in a crazy cat lady mood I may as well indulge it, current favourite things about my cats:

Nancy - Nose bumps are just so sweet, she also gives Doc C ear-bumps but I've yet to get one of those yet.  She also climbs up things with a very determined look on her face when she can't jump.  My absolute favourite thing is how pleased she is to see us in the morning, and how vocal she is about that, which always makes getting up a bit more fun.

Edith - Plays with the tinsel balls all the time, but if one goes into the kitchen she can't follow it.  The kitchen is also a safe place for Nancy to run to.  Just to be clear Edith is more than happy to go into the kitchen when there is a human in there, so she isn't scared of the kitchen, but when something she'd chasing goes in there she won't follow it.  I love that she's made her games a bit more fun by adding an arbitrary rule to them.

It's The Weekend! W00t! Let's Crunch Numbers!

Hey, it's Friday!  I just watched a great episode of "Dollhouse"!  Olivia Williams rocks in this show!  I love her character's wardobe! I have a glass of wine!  I just ate a salad for tea!  My legs are aching slightly from my cardio this morning!  And I have brought all of my department's financial records home with me!  So I can pull together a budget report for Monday!  Because my work phone never stops ringing long enough for me to be able to concentrate on the figures!  I caught myself skipping today, because I was so happy to cross an item off my To-Do list!  OhMyGod!  Is this how it starts?!?  Is this the route to becoming a corporate zombie, or am I just finally developing a "work ethic"?!?

Scary thought - Have I been replaced by a body snatching pod person?  How does one check that?

Anyway, so far this evening I've also discovered that it's much easier to re-categorise successful candidates at home because I can watch TV and use the touch screen on my work laptop, which is roughly a billion times easier and more fun then sitting at my desk and using the mouse to navigate.

Plus I am going to rack up the overtime this weekend, which is paid back in the form of time off calculated as time and a half.  As I currently have no comp time stored up, and I AM going to Philadelphia on Thursday, it seems sensible to start showing some willing to offset that.

Time for a Re-Do.

My hair has just hit the annoying stage again, so when I got home I clipped it back out of my face. 

I am so glad that I have a haircut booked for Saturday morning.  It's still not the same as having my haircut by Jason (who is in Japan right now with Stu and Lee, I cannot wait to see their photos!), but I've found a salon here I do quite like.  My first hairdresser, who was great, left to move to another state and the stylist I saw last time was really nice.  I'll be honest I was nervous when she first picked up the scissors because her own look seems to be based on Jem (without any backing from The Holograms though), but she looked at the pictures I'd brought with me and gave me the cut I asked for. 

Now all I have to do is work out what I want her to do this time around.  I'm thinking short, with a choppy fringe.

Ok, But How Does the Walrus Come Into It?

Every time I think I get how the internet works, or what's going on out there I find a new thing that throws me completely.  I don't mean NSFW stuff, after all I've seen "Avenue Q" so I am well aware that many people believe that "The Internet is for Porn" and all sorts of other far less pleasant things.

No, today what I don't understand on the internet is Layer Tennis.  I thought I'd got it, but then I looked through some archive matches and now I think I must be missing something.  I sort of understand how it's played (a designer sends an image to a second designer, who answers with their interpretation of the image and each match is a volley of ten images), but I don't really get if the designs must incorporate an aspect of the previous image or if there has to be any thematic connection running through all the volleys.  I also really have no clue how a winner is determined, in fact even the commentary can be baffling to me because I'm sometimes not sure how it relates.

For me Layer Tennis has become the on-line design equivalent of ice hockey, in that I really have no clue what is going on but I sort of don't want to, because just watching the action unfold without any notion of what the hell is going on is fascinating to me.

I may have to sign up for a season ticket.

Classic Movie Amigurumi.

During the inaugural crochet contest Ferret guessed that the Mystery Amigurumi was the radiant Moira Shearer in her most famous role of Victoria Page in "The Red Shoes", and further hypothesised that I would also be crocheting a train to re-inact the final scene.  Which was wrong in this instance, but a brilliant idea none the less.

I kept thinking about making a Victoria Page amigurumi, except I wanted to recreate the scene where she goes to meet Lermontov at his cliff top mansion.  This meeting is a combination of dinner party, job interview and ballet audition, so naturally Victoria wears a full length aqua silk ballgown with a matching cape and colour co-ordinated coronet for crying out loud.

It took me forever to track down a photo of the costume on-line, but I finally did it.  Then I crocheted like a mad woman.

Miss Page will be on her way to Scotland at the weekend.

Now this has given me an idea for another contest, which I think I'll be unveiling next month.  Stay tuned small crochet creature fans!

A Super Good Wednesday.

I spoke to my Mum this afternoon, and she said that Alien Spouse was perhaps in danger of becoming all crocheted amigurumi, all of the time.  I would say she has a point, but in the same conversation she also said that Edith is very beautiful, and that's clearly nonsense.

Anyway, today I crocheted absolutely nothing at all, instead I have:

• Really enjoyed my twenty minutes of cardio,
• Ate one of the yummiest protein bars ever, 
• Finally got my office furniture organised into a much more pleasing configuration,
• Attended an interesting training session on archiving documents (I'm serious!  It wouldn't be my idea of a good time but it was very informative.  Plus they gave us all chocolate bunnies!)
• Enjoyed a delicious veggie burrito for lunch which is well within in my calories today,
• Found another website that has those great peep toe DMs,
• Solved a problem for one of our students and chatted to another about his upcoming thesis defence which sounds fascinating,
• Went on a lovely office supply spree in Staples,
• Came home to my cats,
• Watched a documentary on Steve Ditko,
• Curled up in the new chair, with Edith and a glass of wine, in front of a lovely cosy fire.

From my perspective today was a really good day, but as far as posting material goes it's hardly dynamite, even in that most beloved format of bloggers everywhere - The List.

No Germ is Ruining My City Break!

I had better not have the new bug that hit our office today, because I am going to accompany Doc C to Philadelphia the weekend after next and I refuse to be even remotely ill.  They have both an H&M and a Lush in Philadelphia, in fact I've even heard rumours of bookshops and buildings taller than four storeys.  If I was also told it was made out of emeralds and could be found at the end of a yellow brick road I think I could only be marginally more excited.

However I have a very persistent headache, it's not a bad headache but it refuses to go.  I am also very tired, so I went to bed at 8:30 and I'll probably be asleep well before ten.  That should fool it!

Beleaguered Pusskies.

My poor cats!  They find me very confusing sometimes, when I was taking these pictures both of them were clearly thinking "So you repeatedly put the small helpless thing next to me, but then you won't let me bite it?  What the hell is your problem woman?"

Bird Watching With Nancy Wake-Cat.

Nancy is sitting by the living window watching birds at the feeder, and the tension in her spine and back legs is like a coiled spring.  I have no idea what she thinks would happen if there wasn't a pane of double glazed glass between her and the avian treats.

Possibly Nancy imagines there would be panicked chirps, and then, oh, the sweet sweet carnage!  I think it's more likely there would be cheeps of derision as the birds took gracefully to the air.  After all Nancy has only recently got the hang of batting around inanimate objects, I have never seen her so much as attempt to catch even an insect.

She has, however, been undergoing extensive training from Edith.  At least I assume that is the benevolent motivation behind Edith chasing Nancy round the house at top speed on any possible occasion.

Crochet or Crochet Not, There is No Try.

This season Yoda is wearing a cotton crochet robe, with a hood, and is favouring crazy white acrylic hair, with no product in it.  Master Yoda lives on the planet of Dagoba in a small round hut; represented in our picture by the Royal Albert Hall and wooden trees of the Muji London set, which we can highly recommend for all of your Amigurumi photo shoot needs.

I spent most of the weekend on this and I'm most pleased with the way he has turned out.  Doc C really likes him too, which is what I was aiming for.  The bit I was most worried about was the hooded robe, because I was cobbling it together from two completely different patterns, and I had never tried the hood pattern before.  It was easier than I was anticipating, and the hood actually fits on his head, which is extremely satisfying.  Nerdy, but extremely satisfying none the less.

Television, Television.

I am totally addicted to Hulu.  It's just so nice to be able to watch back-to-back episodes of all of the shows that I actually like, instead of getting sucked into mind numbing dross.

The only problem being that this afternoon I logged in and blithely plowed through "Lie to Me", and was just watching "Fringe" when Doc C walked into the room, stared at me in horror and yelped "Are you cheating?"

Apparently he really likes "Fringe", "Lie to Me" and "Dollhouse", so I shouldn't have watched those without him.  Whoops.  He would have been really quite cross I think, but fortunately I was working on a crochet project for him as I hulued so I think I am forgiven.

Jasmine's Skeleton-Girl-Pirate Amigurumi.

This is the Skeleton-Girl-Pirate Amigurumi I made for my friend Jasmine to celebrate her getting into University.  She already knows which halls of residence she will be in, and it's the one next to my office building!  Yay!

I decided to make a skeleton pirate because Jasmine is probably the only person I know who has more skull t-shirts than I do.  As you can see the Pirate's bandanna is pink (which is how you know it's a girl, obviously) and I decided to leave it removable.

I finished this last weekend, but didn't see jasmine until we went bowling this evening.  I should also note that Jasmine got a much better score than me, although that wasn't difficult this evening.

You Can't Always Find What You Want.

I just spent an hour looking for my blue crochet hook.  I knew I had it last night, because I carefully did the last two rows of 25 in bed, so that when I got up I would start decreasing.  My crochet and yarn were on my bedside table where I had left them, but the hook was gone.  I carefully went through my crochet basket, and both drawers of my bedside table, although I had no clue how it could have got in there, then thoroughly searched my side of the room.  Nothing.

The only other place it could logically be was the bed, but I couldn't search that fully because Doc C was still asleep.  I tried to investigate as well as I could without disturbing him too much, but there was still no blue crochet hook.  I decided it must have somehow been flung across the room into a worm hole in the fabric of time and space, or, possibly, the cats had had it.

At that point I gave up, and came downstairs for breakfast.  I was resigned to having to go to the yarn shop today to buy a new blue hook, actually the colour is really not the important bit it's the size.  The blue hook is a USD3/3.25mm, which makes it perfect for making amigurumi because you want a nice tight texture to the fabric.

I'd just put my porridge on when Doc C called me, when I went back upstairs he had the hook.  It had been in the bed.  All he'd done was stretch out his knee to my side of the bed and there it was; how I'd managed to sleep on top of the thing all night without noticing is the real question.

Still now I've found it I can probably finish Yoda's head this morning!  Exciting it is!

Alien Ice Cream.

After the cinema we went to get ice cream, and the Green Queen spent a long time deciding on what mix-ins she wanted.  In the end she went for pistachio ice cream with cherries and assorted sprinkles, which I think sounds disgusting but being an alien she's mainly attracted by colourful food.

If you look just over the top of the jars you can see my ice cream being put in it's little cup.  I had swiss chocolate ice cream, with cookie dough.  It was delicious.
Doc C had his usual, which is coffee ice-cream with pecans.

Pros and Cons of the Gym.

Things I don't like about going to the gym:

1. Getting up super early.
2. My face going red and blotchy, with a lovely sheen.
3. Having to shower in a public space, with only a shower curtain (if I'm lucky) to preserve my modesty.

Things I do like about going to the gym:

1. Getting to my office super early to drop off my none gym stuff, but then leaving straight away.
2. Occasionally changing direction on the elliptical machine is fun!  I don't know why.
3. Watching the calorie counter slowly add up.
4. Listening to my special Elliptical Soundtrack play list.  This morning's work out was scored by Shapeshifters, Take That, Basement Jaxx & The Beastie Boys.
5. Walking across campus in my after-work-out t-shirt, which just happens to be my Harvard T-shirt.
6. Entering exercise points into my calorie counting app on the iPod.
7. An hour after my work out I get to eat a Kashi protein bar (slightly chalky, but still dipped in chocolate!) with a cup of green tea.
8. Feeling super awake for about three hours after getting my heart rate up.
9. Brownie points from Mum, Doc C and my manager.
10. Fitting into my Diva jeans without spilling over, if you know what I mean.

"Lie to Me" (TV Series, 2008)

You know I think I might go to bed soon, and watch "Lie to Me" on Hulu.  I need to sleep well tonight because tomorrow will be Gym Day and I need to be ready.

"Lie to Me" is good, and I watched the first episode, but then forgot to watch it again because it's a Fox show, so I try not to get too emotionally attached.  I hate having the carpet yanked out from under me when I TV programme I love gets canceled for no clear reason.  Grrr.

Anyway, I particularly like "Lie to Me" because the main character is played by Tim Roth (who, by the way, will be playing Skellig in the film adaptation of the book.  Ohmigod!  Squeee!), who we all know full well can do a flawless American accent, but in this he has decided not to.  It's really nice to hear a proper British accent in the middle of an American show, but that's not the only thing I like about the show I also like the group dynamic and the cases they investigate.  I say cases but this isn't a detective procedural, it's about using psychology, body language and micro expressions to catch people out in lies.  It's fascinating, especially if the science depicted is accurate.  I also love that when they are analysing a facial expression they bring up a wall of famous people pulling that same face.  Hilarious!

Green Queen Amigurumi at the Cinema.

The Green Queen didn't actually see "Watchmen" because I put her back in my bag, but she did see the trailers and commercials and thinks "Up" looks very sweet.  After the film she posed with The Comedian in the lobby poster.

Linkings.

I have some exciting new additions to the links category in the sidebar, which I'd like to bring to your attention.

First of all I added Mental_Floss a few weeks ago, and I think it's a very interesting web destination.  It's full of great nuggets of geekitude, with some fun quizzes.  You can easily convince yourself that it is in fact educational, and it must be helpful for your Trivial Pursuit or pub quiz scores.

I also recently discovered Questionable Content, via Cuteoverload (I don't need to link to that do I?  It has to be in your favourites, and it's in the sidebar anyway), which is a web comic.  I first visited on February 26, and I finished reading my way through the complete archives about a week later.  This is an archive of 1362 posts, representing a new strip every weekday since 2003 and it may be addictive.

Most important of all is Brokeback Monkey, which is written by someone who I may possibly think is one of the loveliest and most talented people I know.  I will warn you though, he's just started posting installments of a short story. and the prologue gave me very surreal dreams about a sinister inner city windmill.  Like you do.

Amigurumi Meets Star Wars. It's Geekiness Squared!

Likes the Green Queen Yoda does.

The Green Queen continues her tour of Doc's office bookshelves with a trip to the top shelf to pose with everyone's favourite 900 year old Jedi Master. 

Oh, and the pure evil that is the Emperor Palpatine, but as he has no arms I think she was fairly safe.

A Peculiar Moment With Edith.

I suspect there may be catnip in one or other of my hair products, because Edith just jumped on to my chair and started sniffing my head. Then she started purring loudly, before trying to actually eat my hair.

So either I inadvertently used catnip shampoo this morning, or Edith's been watching late night zombie movies and got ideas about how delicious spicy brains are.

In any case it was most disturbing, particularly because she had got a really quite determined look on her face.

Keep Crocheting and Carry On.

The Green Queen's tour of Doc's office naturally included the iconic "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster.

Which, in case you were wondering, is the banner on my mobile phone's home screen.  It's a good message to read every now and then.

No. 1 Cup.

The weather was quite nice today, so when we came home Doc C made Pimm's and lemonade for us.  This was a completely brilliant idea, except neither of us slept well last night and one glass of Pimm's was just enough to take us from tired to asleep on the sofa.

Well, clearly I'm not currently napping because I am writing a blog post, but that's only because Doc beat me to it.  The minute he moves that sofa is mine!

Farewell Green Queen!

On Saturday The Green Queen was taken to the post office, and began her journey to Australia.  She should arrive in five to ten days, and Ella said she would let me know when the Amigurumi shuttle lands.

Before sending her on her way I took the Green Queen around town with me.  Here she is in Doc's office, admiring his pop-art-installation slash empty-small-Marmite-jar and his impressive collection of Philosophy journals:

Showers + Locks = :)

This morning we went to the gym and I put in my cardio time, then went to have a shower before work.  The curtains are back on the shower cubicles, so I drew both of them (each shower cubicle has a changing area on each side, with curtains at each end.  So really it's like showering in the middle of a short tunnel) and had my shower feeling relatively secure in my privacy.  Particularly because I was the only person getting changed at the time.

I'd only just wrapped the towel around me, when the cleaning lady opened one of the curtains to "check the shower".

Um, yes, the fact that you could hear the bloody thing working whilst I was in there was probably a fairly good indication that that particular shower unit was in fine working order actually.

This is precisely why showers in changing rooms need to have doors with locks on them.  I mean if toilet cubicles have them, why not showers?  I don't know about you, but I haven't had to get completely naked in a toilet cubicle since jumpsuits went out of fashion in the eighties.  It's just not logical!  The lack of locks on showers I mean, not jumpsuits going out of fashion obviously.

Freshly Baked Button.

 I made more buttons!

These are for my latest Amigurumi, who I will introduce you to tomorrow.

Mini buttons are really easy to make.  I just roll two little bits of polymer clay into balls, and then press them into circles against something flat to make one side smooth.  Then you poke four holes in, and bake the buttons according to the instructions.  Once they've cooled, you can glaze them.

Shiny!

Sunday - A Time For Family Drama.

We had a totally different Sunday planned, but we slept in with the cats sprawled on top of us, so we got up late.  Then after breakfast Doc's phone rang, and he heard about the latest family drama; which actually is fairly impressive but not that startling by Doc's family standards.

I say that with love, and about 850 miles of distance. 

So I asked Doc if I could write a post about it, and he said sure just don't name names.  It was a fairly vague account of what happened, but it's still been bothering me all afternoon and so I've decided to take it down.

The thing is that it was a funny story to us, probably because we know some of the background, and I bet the way his brother tells it will be hilarious.  Still, I think now that it wasn't fair to post about it because we really heard the whole thing third hand. 

And I'm sure that article on-line was exaggerating, you really can't trust anything you read on the internet.

Although, I Could Pull The Big Con from "The Sting".

BBC America just ran a trailer for "Any Dream Will Do".  What is the point of showing that here now?  Hasn't Lee finished his run already?

Apparently There is Such A Thing as Too Shiny.

We picked up Doc's wedding ring from the jewelers today, and it fits him now.  It only cost $6, which is really good, particularly as the jeweler had done a great job.  In fact he'd even filed the edges a bit to make them a bit more rounded, so it will be more comfortable to wear every day.

The only problem is that the jeweler had polished it.  Which I think looks lovely, but Doc C wants it to tarnish as quickly as possible.  We may have to bury it or something.

I also asked the jeweler to look at the setting on my engagement ring, because I'd noticed the central collet was missing a little bit of silver.  He put on those bionic magnification goggles and had a good look for me, and said it looks secure to him, which is good to know.

I'm going to take in my other diamond ring to be reset, because they seem to know what they are doing there and I want to support independent local businesses, particularly at the moment.

No, You Stupid Cat! Stop Chewing That!

Things that I had to get out of Edith's mouth so far today:

• Beads
• Wire
• Beads on wire
• Beads on wire coated in hot glue
• Plastic tag from new clothes
• Plastic darning needle
• Corner of basket
• Small fig tree (possibly poisonous to cats, internet opinion is split)
• Glue stick for hot glue gun

Things I have had to get out of Nancy's mouth so far today:

• Plastic tag from new clothes (which is where Edith got the idea from)
• Serrated blade of small hand saw

I have no idea what is going through their teeny tiny feline brains today, but they both just want to gnaw on anything that might be dangerous to them, whilst ignoring all of their perfectly safe toys.

Crochet Alien Spouse Ready to Roll.

I've just finished packing the Green Queen in her travel pod and she'll be on her way to Australia tomorrow morning.

She's traveling light, but insisted on taking her collection of shredded recycled paper with her.  She's sentimental like that sometimes.

Just Spam Off!

I do not understand the logic of spammers, for example I just removed a comment that linked to a website offering help with dissertations from my last post. 

The post that was about scooping my cats' litter tray, and actually had the word "poop" in it's very title.

Besides, hello, as I have regularly made clear, my husband is a professor of philosophy and I also work in a university department, do you really think I'm going to let you tag a website that essentially assists students with cheating on possibly their most important piece of course work?  That would be a NO.

Oh I know spammers don't actually bother to read the blogs they pester, and it's probably an automated computer anyway, but still!  I have a zero tolerance policy on spam and trolls in my comments, and I am not going to stand for any nonsense.

Grrhhh!!!!

I am Blogger!  Hear me ROAR!

Anyway...

Today is Friday!  And it being spring break I could wear anything I liked to work today, so I went with my Mental Floss "Simple as 3.141592..." T-shirt layered over my grey polka dot long sleeve T.  Happiness is a geeky joke.

Compromise: Bubbles for Poop.

A couple of weeks ago I said I'd scoop the litter tray, if Doc C would deal with the washing up.

He leapt on the offer and proposed that we adopt that as a permanent arrangement. Which we did do, and I have to say we are both much happier with this new domestic division of labour.

The best part is that each of us seems to believe we've got the best end of the deal. Not that I look forward to scooping, but I tend to just deal with it quickly and move on. Doc C loathed scooping, and as the main cook in the house his being in charge of washing up also makes sense, because that means he can properly care for his tools.

It's Win-Win!

The Lap of Luxury.

Edith is trying to enjoy an afternoon nap on the bed, would you kindly stop cooing over how beautiful she is?

Edith has graciously set aside the hour between seven and eight every evening to hear compliments, please bear that in mind in the future.

Girly Doc Martens.

At some point I will have to stop wearing my DM boots, because it will simply get too hot for them.

I've been browsing the Doc Marten Website, and I think what I might do is simply segue into these fabulous DM peep toes. Observe how feminine they look, but with a nice chunky DM wedge sole.

And they are red!

WANT!

Exercise! It's Good for You! Apparently!

We went to the gym this morning before work, which wasn't as horrendous as I thought it would be.  The Doc is already going to the gym every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so I intend to join him for the elliptical part of his work-out.  Except not this Friday because the gym doesn't open until 11, so I won't be able to go before work.  What a disappointment.

I don't really like going to gyms, but I do need to get more cardio and this is the most efficient way of doing that.  I don't have to get up any earlier to fit in my work outs, plus it's free for University staff, and I get major brownie points from both Doc C and my Mum.

Actually it's not really the exercise itself I object to, it's really the showering in public that I hate.  Fortunately the women's changing rooms has individual shower cubicles, which have individual changing booths with curtains.  Problem solved!

Except, this week being spring break, they were taking the opportunity of very few people being on campus to clean the changing rooms.  Which included washing the shower curtains.  Which I didn't find out until I was already sweaty, disheveled and racing the clock to get to my office on time.  So I had no choice but to shower in an open cubicle, with no way of preserving my privacy other than strategic choice of cubicle, and, oh yeah, the water was cold.

sigh.

And people wonder why exercise isn't more popular.

Cthulu Amigurumi Rampage!

I had an e-mail from my lovely friend Laura today, which told me that the Cthulu amigurumi I crocheted for her had arrived safely.

It was a surprise, so I didn't want to post pictures before she got it, but here he is menacing my Muji wooden London!

The inset is Cthulu nestled in the shredded red paper I used to pack him in.  I thought it lent an air of the Lord of Chaos wallowing in the entrails of the innocent sort of feel to it.

This was made from the pattern in "Creepy Cute Crochet", and the only things I changed were the eyes, clearly I love button eyes, and the base which I flattened so he could stand up.  Which means that, yes, Cthulu has a cardboard re-inforced bottom.  I wouldn't make any comments about that though, he's very sensitive.

Skulls + Pink = Happy Jen!

Today I wore my two latest accessories, the button badge I bought in the yarn shop at the weekend, and the bracelet my friends Laura and Jasmine gave me.

They are both a) pink and b) decorated with skulls.

Not only that, but the bracelet skulls have hot pink bandannas and the badge skull has crossed knitting needles instead of skulls.

The only thing that could improve these fabulous objects would be... Actually I can't think of anything to improve upon them.

The Red House Mystery (1922)

This afternoon I finished reading the detective novel I bought when we were last in Asheville, "The Red House Mystery" (1922) and, for once, I had correctly guessed the main twist and the culprit in chapter three.  I'm usually terrible at that, despite the vast number of golden age of crime novels I have read. 

To be fair though this was the only detective novel that A.A. Milne ever wrote, and it's not bad for a first stab at the genre.  I mean it's obviously going to be Piglet if you think about it, he's clearly a sociopath hiding behind the mask of perky helplessness.  I'm joking.  It was Kanga.

It was written in 1922 and the plot revolves around the classic detective novel conceit of a country house party, with a mysterious reprobate brother returning from Australia and an eccentric amateur detective thrown in for good measure.  It many ways if I didn't know better I could easily have assumed this was a very subtle spoof of the 20's murder mystery, but it definitely has a charm to it, and the novelty factor is high.

My Day Off in Bullet Points

1. Realised I forgot to move my alarm clock forward, when my first alarm failed to go off.  Good thing I have today off.
2. Celebrate contest having been won by Ella, with the magic of HTML code.
3. Worked with Doc C to get Nancy into her pet carrier.  We both ended up bleeding slightly. 
4. Nancy's skin is much better.  I also mentioned to the vet Nancy sometimes seems reluctant to jump, the vet examined her and her hip is very stiff.  It may be arthritis, but she's a bit young for that.  The other solution may be a badly healed old injury, which would fit with her missing front teeth.  Poor little cat.
5. Went to the gym with Doc C, and slogged away at the elliptical.  Ugh.
6. Came home and had a shower.
7. Took two Advil for a headache and had a nap.
8. Ate lunch that included string cheese, which I find oddly satisfying.  I had previously mocked the stuff.
9. Afternoon screening of "The Watchmen".  It's good, but I spent a lot of time closing my eyes to avoid the gory bits.  I didn't expect the darkness of the comic to be so faithfully translated to the screen.  Wow.  I need to think about it for a while before I review it fully.
10. Went for ice cream.  One scoop of swiss chocolate ice-cream, with cookie dough mixed in.
11. Ordered pizza whilst eating ice-cream.
12. Browsed comic books whilst waiting for pizza.
13. Came home, with fresh hot pizzary goodness.
14. Ate pizza and watched TV.
15. Content, but tired.

Mystery Crochet - Compare and Contrast.

I thought I'd post a picture of the Alien Spouse Amigurumi next to the Alien Spouse Banner logo, so you could see properly who she is supposed to be.

Actually I've always called the fabulous creature in the banner The Green Queen, but she is the image I use for all my Alien Spouse stuff instead of a photo of me.  You know, because of the whole secret identity thing, so I suppose she is also my on-line alter ego.  I don't have hair quite that big though, hers is clearly the result of hot rollers, back-combing and at least half a can of hair spray.  I'm more of a small-amount-of-product-and-scrunch-blow-dry kind of a girl myself.

I hope you all enjoyed this contest, Hillary wants to know when the next one is going to be and I have an idea or two about that, but I have a couple of other things to do first.  Doc C was quite disappointed that we won't get to keep the Green Queen, so I'll be crocheting him a Yoda to console him.

I believe the Alien Spouse will be heading to Australia to live with Ella at the weekend (I need to find the best packing option to keep her safe), so she's got a long journey ahead of her.  Isn't that exciting though?  She really will be internationally travelled.

Mystery Crochet Solved! Go Ella!

We have a winner!

Congratulations Ella, you correctly identified our Mystery Amigurumi as the Alien Spouse from the banner!  Look, she's there now!

I have your e-mail address, so I shall be in touch later today about how best to get her to you.

Mystery Crochet - Full Picture.

So the Mystery Amigurumi is still a mystery!  Oh, she is a puzzle, wrapped in an enigma and shrouded in uncertainty!

In the comments Ella has asked me if the character is a myth to, which the answer is no.  The name Red Riding Hood has also been banded around a fair bit, which I will take as a question and respond by saying that she is not a fairy tale character either.

Actually, I think it is time to reveal a full picture of our Mystery Crochet Personality.

Here she is:

Name that Amigurumi!

Warm Weather? Fetch Me the Furminator!

Today is warm and sunny, which is weird considering I couldn't get to work on Monday because of all the snow.  Today we have all the windows open, and are padding around in flip-flops rather than thick socks and those ugly slipper boots that we have been reliant on for so many weeks. 

Naturally we took the opportunity of the good weather to take Edith onto the balcony and brush her.  This take two people, because otherwise she gets fed up with it pretty quickly and starts biting the brush, with rabbit kicks to the idiot wielding it.  So really the job requires one person to brush, whilst at least one other person holds her back legs and distracts her with a head massage.  We did very well this time and there is now a great deal of grey fluff blowing about in the breeze.  I am imagining all the cute little birds that will hatch in a nest lined with cosy warm Edith fur.  How ironic!  If she knew, she would be salivating at the thought of the tasty little helpless morsels.

We also tried to brush Nancy, but that didn't go well.  She got very distressed both at being held, and being brushed, so we soon stopped.  We are taking her to the vet tomorrow, so it seems a bit cruel to also force her into being groomed.  Poor Nancy!  She has much shorter fur than her housemate anyway, so it's not too much of a problem.

The other exciting thing about today's warm weather is that we bought lemonade today, and can mix a Pimms any time we feel like it.  Hoorah!