Love Cats

Here is your dose of cat pictures.





They do crack me up with their antics.

I think I crack them up too.

something

By staying at home, I have lots of things I can be doing, cleaning, cooking and general errands. I do try my best even though I admit I'm not the best or organized at it.

So, by your definition that I don't DO anything is your problem. I am dedicated to my family which comes first. I will help my elderly mother who as much as I get irritated/frustrated I will always help her out to the best of my ability.

My kids can count on me whenever they need me or even when they don't realize it. No one asks me how my day went nor does anyone care....today I spent 3+ hours buying things for my mother, spent time vacuuming and trying to de-flea our home even though I was told that I shouldn't worry about fleas since these aren't outdoor  cats. Half of us seem really tasty to the bloodsuckers and it sucks a lot so we have to deal with no sympathy.

I will wipe away my tears and keep going because my family comes first even though I feel like I'm insignificant and don't do anything that you would count as something. I SPENT my time caring for my loved ones.  I guess that's my salary of being a stay at home mom.

Keeping busy

I'm trying to stay in the moment while preparing ahead what I can. I have one kid down with a fever/cold but he should be okay for tomorrow.

We had some rain along with the Santa Ana winds/weather so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with my general tiredness and sore/dry throat. I went to bed early around 8:30pm and slept till 6:30am so that's pretty good.

The weird thing is the other day I noticed a little red bite on my arm and collarbone. Not itchy but definitely a bug bite. Today after my shower, I see many more bugs bites on my back and sides. Bigger bites but not really itchy. The bites run along my sides where I laid down. I seriously hope these are not bed bugs. We had a instance several months ago where both of us got bites. This time it's only me so I'm leaning toward fleas which is still very weird. We just got our cats about 3 weeks ago which may explain this incident but I really don't know what to do. Fleas, mosquitoes really love my blood or scent my entire life.

Change of subject since I'm feeling pretty squirmy now....here are the kitties settling in our home.







Here are some non-cat photos. We had some rain yesterday which is greatly needed.
My no fuss plants enjoyed the rain, here is a pretty fuchsia flower. Some spider had a web among the plants which made for a neat photo.






Gotta run to decipher my mom's shopping list. It's like a puzzle, she gives me clues and I guess at buying the product then wait for her to tell me it's wrong. Oh yes, there is a story of the one time I bought the wrong bananas...

Crank It up

I'm on fi-yaaaaah! But I'm going to slow down a bit to give my wrists a break. 




This is Globular Hat which is another free pattern on Ravelry.  Gotta love those talented people on Rav to come up with some great patterns.

My friend Matt works outside a lot so he always appreciates my hats that I knit for him. I usually knit with acrylic or wool blend but this time I splurged on some Malabrigo Rios for him which is so soft and machine washable. It's hard to see the different tones/shades of colors in this hat but it's really gorgeous. Sort of a dark gray with bronze in it. The pattern has good texture which highlights the yarn too.

I even had enough for some fingerless mitts. 



Here is a better view of the yarn. As a knitter it really helps me keep going when the colors are so interesting. Actually I enjoyed this pattern more than I thought I would,  here in LA area we don't need super cold weather gear but these are perfect for our chilly mornings/nights.  Like I said before, the yarn is so soft that it feels great on the hands.


Monday was a holiday so the kids and I went to the Redondo Beach pier and then we walked to the Hermosa Pier. It was a nice walk while Josh rode his new longboard, Tyler & I discussed the different architecture of the beach houses. 





We couldn't ask for better weather because the next day was foggy/overcast.




This beach shot is at Hermosa and it's deceiving from this angle. We were standing on top of the pier and this is a huge sand berm where people/kids were hanging out on. Kids brought their snow gliders to slide down this sand hill.

From where we were standing, we could have climbed over the railing and stepped onto the sand. Josh wanted to come back with our snow sled. :)

Hats keep on coming

Since I'm on a roll with the hats, here are  some more that I've finished....




 Scoops Hat that I'm keeping for myself. Josh looks all bored and wants to finish his breakfast. Free pattern on Rav.




A Slouchy beanie pattern inspired by the movie/book The Fault in Our Stars. Free pattern on Ravelry.

I'm using some leftovers trying to make a dent in the pile. Sort of working. Hats don't use up a lot of yarn.

Sanpo hat featuring Totoro...also free on Ravelry. It came out huge even on my big noggin so the verdict isn't fully decided on this to rip it all out or see if I can fit this over Josh's snowboard helmet.

January Hats

This year I'm really trying to work down my yarn stash. I have a couple of projects going but nothing is faster than knitting some hats. We have had some really cold temps here in SoCal so I think hats will be useful this year plus they make great gifts.

In the Puck This group on Ravelry, we have a challenge of knitting 3 hats in January for a hat trick. Not very hard to do since we have an entire month. I have completed 2 already but one doesn't count since its been on the needles for quite a while. No official prizes are offered but its fun to cheer one another on and see all the different hats.






First up is the Garter Ear Flap Hat which is free on Ravelry. Multiple sizes available and this is the toddler size. I think one of my nephews can use this.

Next is The Vermonter...another free pattern on Rav. I've made this several times and it's super fast and easy. I remember knitting this last year and the recipient didn't like the huge pom pom on it so I detached it for her & gave her the pom separate. Then later after she spoke with some others that really supported the pompom, she asked for me to put one back on but she had either thrown away the pom or took it apart. So I didn't have the same yarn and had to use another similar yarn. That's the lesson...RESPECT the POM POM!!! :)

I really should knit one up for me, resisting buying new yarn. Although I did receive a yarn store certificate so technically that's not new if it's a gift. :)





I'm working on finishing up a third hat that I started in December or earlier, so that'll be nice to use up more yarn.




Another comfy hat with chunky yarn. Thanks to Josh for being my ever cooperative model.

Plugging Along

Wow, here we are almost to mid-January and I'm posting pretty regularly which feels really good. We have lots going on at Chez Fromage as usual but I'm making it a point to use my camera.

Of course, it helps that we now have kitties to entertain myself. Both for the most part are easy going and content although Shadow can get a bit hissy when cornered.  Phil is more comfortable around us, sleeping on the sofa in the family room where we spend the most time. 

They both love their head scratches and rubs so they become little purring machines. I do have to be careful with my yarn and knitting since Phil thinks these are for his amusement. I also have to put away our mesh pop laundry hampers since they're used to the same material used for their cat. 




These pics are taken with my new camera. It's super fast with 11 frames/second which I should do more since kittens are fast!

Sony A6000

Another sweet addition to my life which gave my photography a kick start. My Canon is awesome but lately its weight has been a real pain for me. Since I got the Sony, my Canon has been my in-house camera for kitty photos.

This little Sony is much smaller and lighter than a DSLR so it's easy to take out with me easily. I've been playing with it for about a week or so and I'm learning what it can do.




My first major outing was out hiking along the Palos Verdes cliffs/coast. A very bright day which can be problematic at times but the Sony adjusts well. Above, I have the sun to my left but we can still see nice details with the kids and their clothing.




A landscape photo catching the wave splash.




Next day, same area with totally different weather. I had to adjust a little in Lightroom to get more details but the camera still performs well for me.




A more difficult challenge. A black cat. Luckily the light was good to help but there is no editing, just straight from the camera. Pretty nice. Shadow helped by being extra still.

New Additions

2015 brings us some cute little additions to our household.

Meet Phil and Shadow.


Brother cats  for our 2 boys. A few weeks ago, Josh stated that if he got a cat, he'd name it Phil. Since he just had a birthday, we let him pick which cat to name and the black/white one is Phil and Ty named the black kitty Shadow.

They have been with us for a week now, so they're pretty adjusted now to us and the living area. Their personalities are coming out and it's nice that they're playful and affectionate but not overly so.





One thing out of this is that these 2 kittens have sparked my photography which is definitely a challenge with their antics and the difficult coloring of Shadow.







They like to hang out on the sofa and get their kitty cuddles/pets. 




Stay tuned for more kitty stories....

Pickle-rama

A little something different in today's blog which will feature Hector's adventure...but first a little background story.






If you watched the snippets of video, this is what sparked the pickle interest. Sure H has always loved pickles but homemade pickles? H is ready for the challenge after doing some research on pickling pickles.

Now all pickles are not created equal and we both love the crunchy dill pickles that Claussen makes...so here is the homemade Claussen knock off pickles recipe that H tries.

It took a few days to gather all the ingredients and find the right size gallon jar but here goes.























The pickling process in photos...let them sit for 4 days. We tried them on Christmas Eve and I liked them. H thought they needed a few more days (since they were big cucumbers). So after brining some more, H thought this was a success although more garlic is needed. 

Note: there is a second batch pickling and tomorrow, we try them. Pickle-rama!! :)