Thursday, June 29, 2006

THANK YOU SP


I was expecting my yarn ball winder, so when WHN said I had a box I told him to open it. Imagine my surprise when I found the cool blue sock yarn (I really need to start knitting some socks!) and just looking at them brings down my core temperature a couple of degrees in this hot hot heat. SP didnt know if I like color work, I do, and there are some cute projects that I am looking forward to trying... once I knit my 1000 pairs of socks. AND there is a method to my madness constantly showing the ferrets on the blog and my SP copped on to it and sent me a Yarntainer. The unobservant SP might say ferrets what does have to do with knitting, but my SP sees the connection and implications and addresses them. You clever clever clever SP.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

If loving you is wrong


OH COME ON!!! He's freaking adorable. Why wont WHN see that this little boy would be the perfect addition to the business??? Right now I have a partnership, but with three, now that's a business. I LOVE HIM. I dont care that he is a boy. He's a nibbly little boy. Look at that black nose.

I happened to be in Petco while a little girl and her mom were looking to buy 2 ferrets, so I couldnt resist reaching into the ferret compound to hold the babies. Evidentally the employees are trained to refer to the ferret penis as a belly button since it is in that area. I dont mind giving little euphemisms like wee-wee or whatever, but belly button? Hope someone clears that up for the little girl before she starts dating or is she going to be in for a rude awakening.

Forget the rabbit. I love this little black ferret!

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

THANK YOU SIBILLE



I got my Opal today. Sibille my really great German friend visited the Opal factory and picked up some for me. OKAY, so maybe some is a bit of an understatement. I am thrilled beyond belief to enhance my sock yarn stash (hear that Crafty Weasel, I have no problems pack ratting yarn) Anyway, included but not pictured CANDY!!! WHN said he was taking it to the fridge to cool. I keep asking him questions to make sure I can hear him speak loud and clear if you know what I mean. Also included in my glorious box of yarn some stars and stripes Regia- I can haul ass and knit a pair of patriotic socks for July 4th... 07. A pair of handknit socks (it is such an interesting stitch trying to figure it out)-- Thank you so much for the idea and the extras. I am thrilled.

Now can I have some sock patterns?

Currently a certain little ferret is asleep, but I know once she wakes up she will be interested in checking out this little box of fun. But ofcourse she will have to try to get under a certain cat's fat ass.

Friday, June 23, 2006

Bunny?

So last night WHN ran out to get dogfood at Petco (he doesnt mind that they smell... he also prefers not to take animals with him) I said what I always say, if you bring home a ferret make sure it is a silver girl. He grumles as he has made it perfectly clear that the ferret business will remain just a partnership. When he came home he said I almost brought home a rabbit. A rabbit? Why? He said because it was big, black, and just sprawled out which are qualities that he admires. He even said he would be perfectly happy if this rabbit just happened to show up here.

I doubt this rabbit will give me fiber, so do I really want to add to the menagerie?

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Life on the Kalahari

So WHN has this thing about the animals sharing the same spot to eat like a watering hole. (Ferrets do have food and water in their cage, but ofcourse they are interested in the watering hole too.) At any given time you can find the dog and cat eating together or the iguana and dog or iguana and cat or cat and ferret. Today, we have the ferret/dog combo because though the whole spirit seems so loving, it is actually a cruel, cruel world as will soon be illustrated.

Cat thought he wanted a can of catfood, but decided he wanted to sleep first.


If he lived with some little old cat lady, this would not be an issue, but he doesn't. He lives on the Kalahari, and food left is basically food abandoned.

You wouldn't guess it, but Friskies Mixed Grill loaf is a delicacy on the Kalahari. One and all love it.


One note of life on this Kalahari. Frankly, if I were as small as Tiffany I wouldn't want to be that close to eating dog (how well do dogs really see... or even care for that matter) So that shows how useless she would actually be in the wild.



As you can tell, dogs can get more into their mouths faster than tiny ferrets.

In the distance, cat hears a sound and decides to get up to investigate or nosh... whatever the reason he returns to his food plate.




And so this installment of Life on the Kalahari ends:

Monday, June 19, 2006

One more hat!


OK, first, if you're ever thinking about taking a picture of what you see on TV, don't. It's addicting. It starts out innocently enough and then all of a sudden you have TIVO on slo-mo to find the perfect frame.

But one last TV picture. I knew there was a reason why I was doing my hat post this weekend-- today had my favorite hat of all time. I know it is not knit, but I LOVE THIS HAT. The big bow paired with the harshness of stripes coming together to form this striking bonnet. Or should I say chapeau? (French courtesy of Cat in The Hat cartoon I watched incessently as a kid)

If I had the skill I would make tonight and sashay around with it tomorrow and the next day and the next day. I loved it when I first saw it in 83, and I still think it's a timeless classic now. Thank you, Madonna.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Migraines & Movies

I've been getting migraines for a little over 10 years. They are painful and inconvenient. My grandmother used to get them and I remember her having suppositories all the time. Su-what?? Luckily, medicine has advanced. I've taken Immitrix (so many tricks to taking that drug for me-- but if you ever do take it, take it with a full glass of water since it is sodium based) I've also taken propolatic based drugs, the current, Inderal which is a blood pressure medication that happens to have a side effect of decreasing migraines. My perscription ran out and I have it housed at the UNLV pharmacy. This would normally not be a big deal to refill, except that blood pressure medication isn't something a university pharmacy would house as much as say The Pill. Yadda yadda yadda and I am on day 4 of a migraine. The first two days I couldn't move. Today it's coming in and out like waves.

But I have had a chance to have my own little movie festival of 70s romantic comedies!
From Starting Over Jill Claybugh sported some fun looks.




The granny square hat. If I had hook in hand, I would be making one right now. OK so fine. She wears these hats because she is a frumpy pre-school teacher and not at all like her competitor for Burt Reynolds, the sophesticated Murphy Brown. But Hooper chooses Jill, so obviously, it is the hats that win him over. How can I be sure? Because in the next movie, An Unmarried Woman>, no hat, and Michael Murphy dumps her:

"oh god I dont want to hurt you... but... she's 26. I met her at Bloomingdales. She asked me if I liked this shirt she was buying for her father. I'm so sorry... I'm in love with her."
"is she a good lay?"


I don't want to look too much into it, but before she started wearing hats and scarves, Jill, (Erica) is getting dumped. Later in the movie she starts wearing knitted hats and she has a relationship with a famous glamorous foreign artist.


As well as having men fighting over her. Clearly, the knitted hat, can do wonders.


But I digress, back to Jill in Starting Over

I think it's cute in that retro kinda way. It did drive me crazy that the border seam didn't meet straight.

The weird hat though was the hat/scarf. I couldn't quite get it:

The long scarf part is always attached and she never does anything with it to make it look kickier. I just didn't get it.

But I wasn't all about 70s movies (and believe me, there were more), I found another cute knit hat in Shall We Dance? Maybe I'm delirious from pain, but I think it's adorable:



It's like a zig-zaggier garter stitch to me.

But the ultimate hat I found, the Tabitha!


Just because a five year old witch is wearing it, doesn't mean that it wouldn't look fabulous on me.

So there you have it. My migrainey movie weekend summed up by camera phone.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Thanks from Babette


She would like to thank all the supporters and well-wishers. She is happy to know people are looking out for her considering that I am the Britney Spears of the ferret world. One little other PetSmart anecdote. The time before her "N.D.E." I thought the shelves went all the way to the ground... and I thought eh... I can keep track of her in an aisle (Tiffany was with the dog feeding clerk) Anyway, I set her down and WHOSH! she vanishes under the case. For those of you that dont know or can't guess ferrets haul ass. She went past the small animals, cat and was half through the dog aisle before I found her.

Your source for irresponsible ferret stewardship since 2005

Monday, June 12, 2006

Updates, Q&A, and a confession

Computer problems
My laptop died (karma I'm sure) but not really, it can be repaired. The little pin that plugs into the computer to charge it broke off into the hole. Evidently there are no tweasers in the world that can fix this problem and it either goes to MAC for repair ($300) or we wait until Tues and go to a MAC authorized repair shop ($125). With the savings ;) we decided to go out and buy a brand spanking new computer which I am currently typing this entry on. Now WHN and I will have out own laptops and will use IMs and text messenging as our own form of communication. In the store they were telling me about a program they have where I can get 52 hours of lessons on how to do stuff on my computer. I think I will sign up for it, but OK, so I study English, yet the words fail me at critical times. I want a specific guy to do the lessons because he seems the most clever. I can't remember his name, but he has a dodgy eye (real dodgy) So when I go to book an appointment how do I describe him... the guy with the one eye that looks at you and the other that looks for you? I mean that is his most distinguishing characteristic. It's not like I can describe well he has sandy hair... he's not that tall... I mean come on... but I dont want to be insensitive you know?

Answers to questions
Because I havent had computer access I haven't had the opportunity to answer a couple of questions
Beer class satisfies general electives. It's the binge drinker's answer to underwater basketweaving. It is also a requirement for Food and Beverage majors. Now they (FAB) have some sweet classes. They also have the wine requirment, the distilled beverage requirement, and a class that I would have taken if I had the time, Food and Culture, where students are taken to the fine dining restaurants in LV (remember LV is now considered a culinary capitol) to eat. Other popular electives include: bartending, dealing (craps, poker, blackjack etc) and Sports book management. Neat huh?

WHN was born in Belfast and moved to Co. Meath (outside of Dublin) when he was a child. We met in school years back and badda bing badda boom.... Las Vegas suits him because (1) it's small and rural enough for him while still having a city (important to me) (2) Irish love garish tacky things-- bright lights and trashy decor appeal to his Irish sensibility. (Dont believe me? Think of how many U2 CD covers (plus video) show Vegas or desert outside of Vegas- do you think they picked Joshua Tree because they like cactii?? HAH!

I'm old
Speaking of Irish, one of WHNs favorite bands, The Pogues, are coming to town. Ofcourse he wants to be down there in the thick of things... pushing and being pushed in throngs of drunken, smelly, sweaty, Irish people bouncing around. WHN waxed on about remember when he went and was knocked out and Steve (a 6'20" HUGE guy) carried him out over his shoulder??! "That was fookin' amazing!" OI. Good times. My days down there in the pit with the masses are over. I got nothing to prove. I've seen acts like The Ramones, Black Flag, TSOL, Dead Kennedies... however, at this point dusting off my Docs... ugh. So instead, I've opted for front row of the balcony where I can sit back with an umbrella drink and watch the mayhem below. WHN will be down there and if he gets knocked out, when he is revived he can call me at the local Starbucks or wine bar to come and get him. And btw, Shane McGowan is notorious for picking fights with audience members. That was cute when tickets were $20 a pop, but I just paid $121 for both tickets, so his little McAss better stay on stage all night. No starting fights and storming off at those prices.

CONFESSIONAL (Crafty Weasel don't read)
I go an extra mile past Petco to go to Pet Smart. The Petco near us smells funny and as poor customer service. I take the ferrets because they are so popular with the help there. WHN is horrified that when I walk in the check out clerks take the ferrets from me while I shop. He sees it at me willingly abandoning them to strangers. I argue that pet shop employees are the same as vets except without the schooling. And the ferrets look so cute walking on the conveyor belt. The ferrets are fine with them... or so I thought (seriously CW, if you are reading this, you might want to stop now) sooo Suzie Clerk asks if they like dogs, and I said we have one and they get along OK. I was just making conversation you know? She took this to start introducing Babette to dogs while I wasnt near. She brought Babette up to a TERRIER's (you know the dog that it's part of their breed to hunt small animals) nose and the dog SNAPPED! Luckily Babette was pulled back pretty fast, but her little heart was going fast when I got to her and she looked petrified. Ooopsies. I came home and didn't say a word about it to WHN because do I really want that little event rubbed in? Will a lecture really help Babette? I think not. We'll all came home a little wiser and that's good enough. I mean what would it help WHN if he became paranoid that the ferrets weren't safe in my care?

Friday, June 09, 2006

Meerkat Manor


Did anyone else watch this? I've always had a love/hate feeling towards meerkats since first visiting them at the Dublin Zoo. I remember really wanting to see them and then they did something that irritated me... yes, I developed "issues" with them. I could ask WHN if he remembers but I think he would just make something up that would make me appear really petty and a bit you know... But I think it was similar to the issues I had with the penguins in the London Zoo.

When Animal Planet started advertising Meerkat Manor, I was anxiously waiting to see them. I learned a bunch of things... the leader is a female (yea!) but she is really a bitch (boo!) but she has to be because, come on, they live in the African wilds. But OI, she can really go a bit overboard.

So anyway, I knew it would be a heart strings tug, but it really really was. I think I was getting weepy at the preview. So I am not so sure how much of it I will be able to take, but give it a watch if you like animaly kind of things. They are actually kind of interesting to watch.



Now onto something really boring: World Cup started today. WHN is in HEAVEN. He has all the games TIVO'd. Yes he will watch every single one of them. The plus side to this fever is that while the World Cup is on, I can find out scores before WHN and lord them over him to get him to do whatever I want. So I do get a lot of unfinished projects and chores completed during this time.

This is the most popular event in the world. I don't normally say that the US is right and the rest of the world is wrong (I'm feel the quite opposite most of the time), but in this one case, the US is right, soccer is boring, and the rest of the world is wrong. WRONG I TELL YOU!

So ofcourse, out of all the places I could have had lunch, I ended up in a Brit bar where Germany vs. Costa Rica had just ended and the Poles were entering the bar in full soccer regalia for the next match-- them vs Equador (who were also represented) The one thing I do find interesting about the matches is the fans all have these intricate and long songs whereas the US, has just one chant U-S-A. It's really pathetic to watch the US get into a shouting match. We just end up looking lame with our three letters versus everyone else with 3 verse songs... And today the Polish and Equadorians definitely knew songs to chant at each other. Ofcourse after a couple of drinks, when I was doing one last round before leaving, I stopped at the Polish section and said, "oh thank god I am over here now. I was so tired of all the Polish jokes those Equadorian jerks were telling over there." That will keep them busy for an afternoon.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Miscellaneous

My beer class is over. Nothing fun until next month when I take New World Wines.

Why does Heineken taste different on tap than on than in a bottle? Green bottles damage beer. So the flavor, which is described as skunky, is a flaw in the beer. It is a flaw that Americans love, but a flaw. Same thing Corona, it's flawed which is why a lime is put in it- to change the chemical composition of it.

So I let the ferrets out a few times a day to have run of the house. Tiffany is completely housebroken. Babette notsomuch. A not so cute thing that Babette (as well as all other ferrets do) when housebreaking is to pretend to go poopy. I will throw her in corner she will take the poopy pose and do nothing. Do you know what it is like to have a ferret play mind games with you??? It's very insulting frankly. What's worse is, I think she fools WHN.

My current obsession (I'm always obsessed by something) is that my now former teacher was a real life spy. He said that because his spy training is so engrained him that when he goes to a hotel he has to leave it like no one ever stayed the night. So I thought hmmm what does this mean... remakes the bed...makes sure no hair came off of him... packs up his trash... uses his own soap and towels... does he also smooth the carpet? Could you imagine spending the night with someone that is doing those things? Just imagine someone refolding the toilet paper back into a V... putting that paper strip back across the toilet. Or you put the mint in your mouth and he grabs and makes you spit it out so he can rewrap it. I'll never have a hotel mint again.

It's now hot enough where I have to carry potholders in my purse because the steering wheel, gear shift and seatbelts are that freaking hot.

accommodation in Barcelona