Getting ready for Fall

Still stitching! Amazing, but true. Behold:

This is Blackbird Design’s delightful Summer Basket, one of my many (many) WIPs. Last year I finished Rites of Spring, and every time I see it (which is several times a day), it fills me with absolute joy, and I think Summer Basket will have the same effect on me, so it needs to be finished some time soon. Also because we in The Netherlands are enjoying (?) the hottest Spring in the history of ever. In fact, we’ve skipped Spring altogether and plunged straight into the hottest depths of Summer. Which is why it seems only fair to me that we, in turn, skip Summer and get ready for a very early Fall. Fall in July. That sounds like heaven to me. And what does one need when the weather gets cooler? You’re absolutely right: one needs blankets, and lots of them.

I know you’re probably sick and tired of my crafty excusions, but I’ve been crocheting up a storm, making cat blankets. And they’re too, too cute, gorgeous, lovely, snuggly, warm, cozy, easy and quick to do. Most of you have pets, right? Tell me, wouldn’t these make perfect blankies for all of your furry creatures? Blankets for Quill and her colleagues, for Master Stewey, Miss Maddy, Thomas and Maisie, for Dagi, for Mia, for Elvis perhaps, for Barbara’s chickes and all her other critters? Ladies, try it. You won’t regret it, and your beasties will be eternally grateful.

Another reason for my cats to be thankful (I think) is the fact that they now have a little safe place in our garden to enjoy life outside our sweltering home.

The possibilities with this thing are pretty much endless, as you see. Now I don’t have to lock Pelle in the crawl space anymore: he can just sit out there with the kitties!

Life in the woods has been... ahem... trying, to say the least. Pelle was home with pneumonia for a total of four weeks (the crawl space is rather draughty, I must admit). He’s over the worst, but not back to his old self. Still, I sent him to school today because Mama needs to work. Hard. Because Mama managed to delete her entire translation from her computer due to sleep deprivation and she has to start all over again. Which means that Mama now needs to finish two translations in five weeks. Five weeks to translate about 500 pages. That’s 100 pages per week... Hey, that’s not so bad. I can do that!

If only I didn’t have to get ready for Fall and crochet all these blankets.

Yours cheerfully,
Annemarie