Tuesday 15 May 2012

DIP David 'stoner' Bennett ?? 2006 - 15th May 2012

As I type this David is sleeping on my chest.  It's amazing how quickly such a tiny body can go downhill.  On Friday he was tired, I thought he was on his way to the bridge, but after a two hour snuggle he was fine.  Saturday and Sunday he's fine, Monday not so much.  On Monday I found him curled up caked in his own mess.  I cleaned him off and rang the vet.  The vet rang for heliobacter meds and said he would come round Tuesday.

Today is Tuesday.  It's currently 3am.  David messed himself again, again I cleaned him off, again he messed himself.  He also gave me The Look.  I hate that look, it means I have to tell the vet not to bother, just to put them out of their misery.  Still, six years is good, even for a UK ferret.  Let me try and sum up those six wonderful years...

In 2006 David was handed in to Animal Care with his brother.  Both were said to be 9 years old, more like 9 months.  Well, I fell in love with his little face and took him home that evening.  He was immediately welcomed into the gang and he and Smithy became best pals.

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Once he was castrated and the hormones died off, he gained the nickname "stoner".  He was soo laid back that my husband suggested he had Ozzy Osbourne's other brain cells and infact kept a small stash of drugs hidden in his bedding.

There wasn't anyone that walked away from a meeting with David that thought they were horrid nasty, bitey things.  He won over so many hearts, especially in Todmorden.  He took regular trips in my hoodie pouch to the market where the book stall lady loved to have a cuddle.  He was so good I even trusted him to just lay there when a little kid in his pram wanted to hold one, and he did me proud.

David was my go to for a PR ferret, he could be handed to anyone and never show the slightest hint of aggression.

Six years have flown by, my original four have all passed on and now it's David's turn.  I'm thankful for all these years together and I'm thankful for him being who he is.

I had a vision this morning, I saw the lost four all standing at rainbow bridge, all in full health and I knew they were happy.  I knew Smithy had become a guardian, one who takes little lost souls in and shows them the joys of rainbow bridge and I knew that David would join him in that role soon.

I don't really have anything else to say, so I'll just share  some of my favourite photos of the stoner...

David sits on a babba

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Maaaaaybe we try it

'Dead' David

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Wednesday 7 March 2012

We've moved!

Joseph, Pippa, the ferrets and I have moved to the wonderful Isle of Tiree in Scotland.

So, instead of trying to run two blogs at the same time can I refer all my lovely followers to...

http://tireeliving.blogspot.com/

Hubbie even posts once in a while ;)

Thursday 3 November 2011

Lots of knitting later...

So, the hexipuffles have been breeding...

Remember that little scattering I had before?
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Well, they grew to 38...
38 little puffles

And those grew on to 52
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More have since magically appeared in the basket, but I'm afraid they're on hibernation until after Christmas knits are done.

I've started more "safety socks", this time in home-dyed purple and mass dyed yellow:
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One sock is done, the other just needs the cuff and heel finishing.

Then, my travelling project will be Dad's new gloves! My Mum, alas, just isn't knit-worthy, she's just not fussed when she can go buy such things. Dad, on the other hand, absolutely loves my hand knits! He wears his lovely thick hat and gloves whenever he's out in the cold and sometimes even the cowl, although it seems I made the hat too good, he's rarely cold enough for the cowl ;) So after 3 years of good service his gloves, that I knit flat and seamed, are starting to wear out. He asked for a new pair and he shall receive :) Mum is getting a box of Turkish Delight, she'll be happy with those.

Winter is slowly creeping up on us and I admit, I "borrowed" the jumper I knit for hubs last year. Well, he wasn't too pleased so I said I think I could manage one for me, if I could afford the yarn. Yep, I managed to go 11 months without buying yarn then bought this lot:
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It's from West Yorkshire Spinners and was originally 10x100g skeins of aran weight BFL (heaven!) but I have plans to do a pattern around my torso so I don't go insane on the endless rounds of plain blah. So I got a pot of Jacquard Acid dye in Silver-grey. Dyed up three skeins, waited impatiently for it to dry and got those three greys. I was a bit disappointed it wasn't solid (not enough dye to go round) but then I decided I like that, sheep aren't solid grey so why should the ones going on my jumper be? The problem now is resisting that to get other things done!

I also found a lace pattern I love and thought would work wonderfully in my black DK silk...

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It's called Addis Abeba (Ravelry link) and is knit on the bias, so diagonally. I admit to being a bit worried I would get completely lost but WIPInsanity has written it wonderfully and it's kind of like a sock, just do exactly what it says and it works! So I get a few rows of that done every few days. After the first half square it's 2 charts at once and my brain can only stay focused so long before it wanders. Still, the pure silk yarn on my KnitPro wooden circular is an experience of pleasure!

That's about it really. I won't confound you with my health issues at the moment, mainly because I haven't a sodding clue what is going on.

Have a lovely November folks, I hope to update again before Christmas ;)

Saturday 10 September 2011

Long time no update...

Looking back, I see I have been woefully lacking in my knitting photos, allow me to amend this immediately!

I started a new Sezession, using some big yarn that's actually i-cord, I pulled out the i-cording (it'd missed a few stitches) and suddenly had metres of this stuff:
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That shawl I had nearly finished? Finished!
CamillaBlocking

It's soooooo soft and warm! Perfect for the odd evening when I get a little chill but still want to knit.
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No, you're not getting one of moi in it!

I thought I'd found The Pattern for some yarn I'd bought at Coldspring, the pattern was terribly written and had errors on some rows, so first I had to chart the damned thing. But, I liked the look, so I got knitting...
Celine In Progress

That's as far as it got. The pattern never really became doable and about every 6th row had so many yo's and different decreases that my brain went phut and my eyes crossed. I did make the chart available for people though and some have asked for it and gone on to knit it :)

The parental flags afghan really isn't going to be done any time soon. I have finished the second of seven flag rows though:
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*sigh* At this rate, it'll be a retirement pressie for Dad! It's not that I get bored, I love the pattern, but the super long rows and the lack of a thumb dent in the hook mean my right hand cramps after two rows then it goes back in the box and gets forgotten for a month.

My lap blanket is growing though, whenver I miss Tod I dig it out and think of the good times and how I started it at the knitting group in Halifax then tried it at the Bear and realised that was a silly idea.
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I've also been making more granny squares for the bedspread I started yonks ago...
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They block out at 15" square and I'm either making it 5x5 or 5x6. That's dozing again, me and crochet have an on/off relationship, mainly off :s

Oh yeah, I've been well and truly bitten by the Sock Bug...

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Yeah... Still, they are very comfy and take a decent time to knit. The thicker, striped ones at the end are for my new safety boots. I'm starting an electrical installation course on Tuesday and we were told to get safety boots with steel toecaps AND steel shank in the sole. Well, we found some for a very reasonable £16 but the toecap in the left boot rubs my toes, so out came the needles and voila! One pair of thick, warm, comfy safety socks :) Finally, a use for all the single skeins of King Cole DK I dyed.

Last knitting photo... a hambean!
Hamster Bean


Okay, that list I made...
The joys of depression
Just it kicking in now and then. It can make the loss of a beloved pet that bit harder to bear. On the plus side, hubbie pointed out that I didn't self harm this time. So, in a way, I am getting better :)

Living in Preston
Meh. The positives are that town is a 20 minute walk, and we have the big name shops near us again. But, it's busy, it's impersonal. I did go to the knitting group at Jo's church but, I just couldn't click with the ladies there. The conversation was always about someone or other and just wasn't that engaging :s

College soon
Yep, Tuesday is my first day. It's two full days a week, 9:30am to 4:30pm. Fortunately Jo has just enough time each lunch to come home and let the doglet out for a pee. It certainly looks doable, but the negative depression side is saying "you're weak, your nerve damage will make it impossible..." I'm hoping it's wrong.


Hexapuffs (Apologies to Sam if she reads this!)
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This is the latest Thing To Knit on Ravelry, the Beekeeper's Quilt (Rav link). At time of writing, there are 1315 of these in people's projects and another 2589 queued. I admit, the pattern is far too expensive for what it is and the pdf is 12MB which is enormous for 3 pages. Alright, she provides a couple of charts and the instructions, but the instructions are really 5 paragraphs. Yet... these little things are addictive! They're easy enough to knit while watching telly even. Mine is going to truly be a technicolour quilt, I'm using any 4-ply I can get my hands on and even dyeing my own.


Obsessions/addictions
First it was LOTRO, now it's Minecraft. Being able to construct Physics defying buildings, dig deep into the ground, and generally have fun is highly addictive. I will admit to getting a cheat that allows me to make certain things, this is because it's so much easier to generate a load of diamonds and make diamond armour and diamond tools than die rapidly and have to carry a dozen stone tools that wear out rapidly. That's all I cheat though, everything else I have mined.

PCOS
I've been having problems with my reproductive system. When I was 16 I went on the pill, partly because of insanely long, heavy periods and partly because, yes, I was sexually active and wanted a backup for the condoms. I've been on various birth control pills since then, including one called Cerazette, which you take all the time (no skipping a week) and that completely stopped my monthlies. A couple of years ago, Jo and I agreed that we could cope if I got pregnant and so I stopped the pill. Things have been wonky ever since! First it was months of nothing, then irregularity for months, lately I have just finished a 74 day long period. Yep, just shy of 11 weeks of constant menstruation. I had a blood sample taken on Tuesday to check my counts and it took a good 10 minutes to stop bleeding, as opposed to the usual 1minute it used to take. I knocked a scab off yesterday, tiny tiny scab, 3mm long at most, bled copiously all over my arm. Yep, I'm short on the ole platelets! Hopefully now the Period From Hell is over, my body can replace those and we'll both be happy :)

Sleep
I think I'm costing the NHS a fair bit of dosh. I've never had a sleep pattern, my Mum has confirmed this. I *tried* to keep one when I was a lollipop lady, it didn't click. I can sleep for 3 hours and be wide awake, or I can sleep for 24 and anywhere in between. GP ordered a blood test, all fine, so now I'm booked to see a sleep clinic person in October. Between this and seeing the Gynaecologist about the reproductive issues, yeah, I'm not such a well made human.

That's about it I think. Sorry for the long silence. I miss my Tod pals and have been losing myself in online games to cope. Never know, maybe I can make some new pals at college.

A little colouring

I have the patterns for colouring blog liked on Facebook and there's a competition going to win some very nice markers. So, here's a linky:

http://letrasetblog.com/craft/colouring-challenge-3/

And here's my humble attempt:
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(Thumbnail, click to see full size)

I will update soon, promise!

Monday 5 September 2011

RIP Smithy Bennet, 7 years old

RIP Smithy 'old man' Bennett

??? 2004 - 4th September 2011

My ‘old man’ Smithy the ferret has passed away. I went down to water and feed and scoop poop and he was cold. He’d died in his sleep, with his friends around him and at home. It still hurts and I miss him. I can only assume it was old age. He'd been to the vet recently for a cough and it was suggested he was developing fluid in his abdomen and possibly around his heart. All I know is I found him curled up asleep and I can only hope that is how he passed, quietly and unaware.

Smithy was what I liked to think of as a “bomb proof” ferret. He wasn’t phased by anything and took everything in his stride. He was a king of ferret PR, never even thinking of mouthing, let alone biting a human. He loved to cuddle as much as run around and was the first ferret I ever truly fell in love with. As soon as I met him I knew that if he wasn’t claimed he would be mine.

He came to the shelter a stray, he had poo encrusted on his back claws, fleas, ticks, and was skinny. But that never stopped him being a gentleman and a gentle man. He taught Lou to play, he gained her trust from day one and was always there for her. When I was sad he was the one I could cuddle and cry on, he didn't mind. Now, I've lost him. I've lost the gentlest, most patient, loving ferret I ever met.

We had a glorious five years together, he got to play in snow many times, walked (and was carried) miles, converted many the ferret-phobic and was loved by all. He even got reserve best in show once in Todmorden.

Off again Pictures, Images and Photos


While the wound is still raw, I am comforted knowing wherever his spirit may be, it’s happy. I did the best I could for him and gave him a happy, loving home for five years. He never went hungry and was taken to the vet if needs be. He had many toys and friends and knew I loved him.

Smithy, I’m sorry I wasn’t with you as you left, I like the idea someone gave me that you waited for me not to be there so I wouldn't have to see you pass. Dook on with Thomas and Lou up there at rainbow bridge and know I loved you dearly. Come visit soon, I think you were with me tonight when I felt like I was cuddling you. You, and Lou, and Thomas are always welcome in my heart.

Love,
Mum



Eight, nearly nine months.

Sorry guys! Life goes on, things happen.

Some bullet points I plan to elaborate on soon:

RIP Smithy (this will get its own post, once I feel I can manage, in short: he died of old age on Sunday)
The joys of depression
Living in Preston
College soon
Socks
Granny squares
Hexapuffs (Apologies to Sam if she reads this!)
Obsessions/addictions
PCOS
Sleep

Probably some other bits too.