mumblings

As he’s been a regular visitor in the last couple of weeks, we took Sushi to the vets yesterday night to see if he’d been microchipped. Sadly, there were no chips on him but the vet said he must have had an owner at some point because he had had his front tooth filed down so it didn’t dig into his lip.

So I’m on a different track, I’ve started calling the different vets in the area to see if anyone has reported a tabby cat lost in the last six months. He was so good at the vets - not at all phased by the experience and even sat quietly on pao’s lap looking incredibly comfortable and happy. The vet straight away said he would castrate him free of charge if we wanted to take him home with us. We were so tempted but we know Merlin and Perdita would never accept him so the vet’s wife is on the lookout for a new home and once I’ve finished calling round the vets and exhausted adoption possibilities at work then I’ll call the sanctuary to see if there is a place for him there. He can’t stay outside all the time particularly now the weather is very cold and wet as the vet said he may develop pneumonia. He’s so sweet and loving, I hope he finds somewhere soon. He didn’t even hold a grudge about being taken to the vets like some cats do and came back for love and food this afternoon.

Sushi is such a sweetie that he deserves a happy ending. I’m not sure what he’ll make of flea and worming drops tomorrow but it is the least I can do for him as he brings such joy to my day.

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I went with some rather lovely and terrific friends to see two more lovely and terrific friends perform in Titanic: The Musical last night at the Marlowe Theatre. It was a brilliant performance and David had the best line : You can’t be a Christian and a radio operator The irony of it being that David is a Christian in real life. It was a great treat to see them on stage.

I’m getting quite good at knitting plain socks in the dark so I happily knitted a bit more of my second Norovember sock whilst tutting at the folly of a ship captain and liner owner who insisted on increasing the speed of the ship and taking dangerous shortcuts despite the danger of icebergs and the like. Vicky asked me if I’d manage to get the rest of the sock done before the end of the show. Sadly, I was a little short having only started the toe decreases. If I’d had another half an hour, I definitely would have finished it.

So, Vicky, here we are. This second one has pronounced blue toe!

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Check this out:

Merlin only got 85%

Perdita also got 89%
Phoebe got 74 %
Ariel got 76%

So we should be afraid, very afraid. We’d all better print this page out so we can be sure we know the signs.

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It is said that nature abhors a vacuum. Well, in those lonely days after pao had left, I found I had a new old work friend. The kind that wants to cuddle up and purr at you.

Yes, after weeks of abandonment, Sushi has returned. I’d kind of given up on capturing him and taking him to the sanctuary because he had to be a regular visitor so we could be certain to capture him when they had space.

But poor, hungry Sushi wandered wherever he fancied as he had many friends and places to visit.

Bowls of cat food and delicious treats were aplenty so he didn’t depend on one source of food.

But the weather has turned cold and he has been searching for a comfy chair and a fire to lie beside so he came back round to us where the soft-hearted have let him come into the building so I was bemused to find my boss waiting for me one morning and telling me that I had to get him some cat food because she had given him his milk and he was hungry. So he has been my friend for a few of those winter days, lying by my fire with a little smile on his lips or dreaming away his high pitched chirps occasionally cheering my day. He has made the transition all the more bearable.

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The chapter is finished and has just been emailed off to the editor.

Now the nervous part begins. Will it be good enough to pass peer review? Will it make it into the book?

It is the first time I’ve written anything of this sort of length to be published. I’ve written a thesis before which is much longer but that was just a thesis, right? It isn’t like it is something that just anyone could read or get out of a library or even quote from. It is a bit weird putting something out there that might be in a book for someone else to learn from. Weird and scary.

I’m so nervous! I probably will be a bit twitchy for a few days until life has settled back into its own rhythms again and I’m not thinking about what the editor is doing with it, approving, rejecting, tutting, sighing, puzzling..

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I’ve managed to get on with some Norovember knitting which is super. This multi-directional scarf is a super pattern which really shows off the self-striping elements of Noro. I’m ever so pleased with it. Thanks again to Robin for sending me the pattern - I can understand how knitting these can be addictive.

I’ve also been busy with some Noro Kureyon socks. The colours are so bright I think I’d better get my sunglasses out of hibernation. I’m trying to matchy-matchy these so fingers crossed that there isn’t one of the random colour breaks that sometimes happen in Noro skeins. I could have rolled on and had a look but it is more fun this way.

I realised that there haven’t many photos of the cats on the blog lately. So in best blog-torment mode, I approached them to model the scarf.

Phoebe is the best model because she sits there and puts up with whatever I come up to her with.

Ophelia is also a nice calm model. The colour really suits her

Ariel isn’t as well behaved but I figured it would keep the bald patch on her neck warm.

Is it me or is that a look of complete and utter contempt on Perdita’s face?

I think Merlin may have been communicating with Chaos as he started to run away when he saw me coming towards me with the scarf.

So I had to get my able assistant to hold onto him!

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Just two and a half pairs of socks were knit in Socktober but my excuse is that all my free time has been used up working on the chapter, being ill and being busy busy. The highlighter socks as I’ve named them were great fun as they attracted a lot of attention!

I’ve called these Quantum of Socks because I finished this one in the cinema watching Quantum of Solace on Friday. I’m putting them aside for the moment so I can knit up some Noro Kureyon sock in honour of Norovember.

My other Norovember project is a multi-directional scarf which Robin kindly sent me the directions for after I admired the ones she had knit on her blog. It is a wonderful, addictive quick knit. I still have a lot of editing to do on the chapter before it has to be in so Norovember may end up the way of Socktober but it’ll all be over next week.

Ariel is doing really well at the moment with her concoction of tablets although she is really hungry. We can only give her one pouch of cat food a day because any more would put strain on her heart so it is heartbreaking when she cries for me food which we can’t give her. Apart from that she seems to have put on weight and is most definitely allergic to tuna so that explained why her fur was falling out. Thanks to Jeanne for mentioning allergies to chicken and tuna to me. The photo is from earlier in the summer before she got so ill.

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Not quite in time for fright night as we were out late buying pao new clothes. Yes, a scary concept for him and my bank balance but smart winter clothes were in order for the new job.

On Thursday, we went up to see the Dr Who Exhibition at Earl’s Court and it was truly excellent. pao was 8 years old again and we got up close and personal with some of the monsters from the last three series of Dr Who. Thank you very much to MrsSJT for mentioning it!

I got to see K9! I got to see K9!!!!!

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As of yesterday, pao and I stopped working for the same institution. He has a shiny new job starting on Monday at a rival organisation. I’m going to miss him as I’d gotten used to seeing him round the place, arriving together, going home together, meeting for lunch, prayers etc. I’m sad but very happy and proud that he’s found a great new job.

Many people have asked me if I’m going with him but I won’t be for the time being. We’ve not always worked in the same place - it only happened 3 and a half years ago so we’ve always worked in different places. I used to get a lot less holiday than he did so he was often at a loose end when I had to be at work but now our roles are reversed and I’ll have more than he does.

It’ll be weird on Monday for both of us but we’ll get used to it.

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Happy Birthday, dear pao,
Happy Birthday to you!

Still as handsome today as he was when we got married in 2001!

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