Halloween, Morbo, rodents

Yesterday we took the little prince out for Halloween. I saw my grandma's best friend in the nursing home, where my grandma was when she died a few years ago.  She was 90.  Her friend is now 93 or 94. She didn't recognize me right off, I was wearing a Pac Man costume and wore a crocheted hat with cherries around the brim that I made to go with it.  Once I called her on it she knew who I was.  Our little prince didn't make much of an impression on the elderly, but the staff that saw him loved it.  Then we took him to the downtown businesses (only about 2 blocks of walking both sides of the street) and he caused all kinds of ruckus there.  People were pointing and calling out to each other over him.  I personally think the pillow in the shirt just makes the costume. Oh, and the stuffed donut he carried around with him.

As you see here, I finished Morbo. The blanket itself isn't very big, but his head is HUGE! My husband seems well pleased with it.  I'm pretty pleased myself, I can't help smiling when I look at it.  It took me around a week to complete.  I took time to eat, sleep, and do housework, but the rest of my time was spent on him.  Now that he's done I have some sewing projects I want to do. I still need to work on knitting a baby blanket for a friend having her first child.  She's going  to like what I'm doing with it, I think. But since I cleaned up my craft corner in the living room I can't find the red yarn I was using so can't work on it further until I do!  I'll work on refashioning some clothes my "Aunt" gave me that she was going to donate.  I've already started on one and I hope it comes out the way I imagine it.  I've already ripped it to pieces.

Our seahorses  still look despondent.  Yesterday morning I found one dead and even though I expected it, it still made me sad.  I haven't fed the others yet this morning so I don't know if they're getting better yet or not.  They spent yesterday cuddled together.  I guess that's  good sign.  Maybe it's a bad one, I don't know.  From where I sit now I can't see them so I can't update till later.

Our Shaddous the rat is doing well.  Better than we expected, even. Autumn is here, so the days and nights are cooler and they sleep more.  When I came downstairs this morning they were already settled in for the day, which is pretty early for them.

Nermal the mouse is still doing well too.  The old geezer loves it when her cage gets cleaned and I gave it a thorough cleaning yesterday.  I threw a paper towel in there when I refilled her bedding and she was so happy she wasn't sure whether to curl up to sleep on it, tear it to shreds, or drag it into her box.  So she tried doing all three at once.  That was very amusing for me. Today it's in her box.   She'll work on shredding it as the days go  on.  I need to get her some food today.  The last of it is in her bowl and she's eating it.

I've had my coffee already, but I have to feed the seahorses, go do the dishes and maybe eat something before I start any projects. That pile of flannel on the couch is mocking me though!  I'm sure I'll get to that before long!

Halloween, seahorses, and rats, oh my!

Halloween is tomorrow and our little town is having 2 days of trick or treating.  Tonight is the downtown businesses and "the old folk's home" and tomorrow is residential.  We usually take the little prince downtown and to the retirement home anyway so tonight will be good for us.  I'm going to give him one of my tote bags to haul it all home, a Walmart bag usually isn't big enough to carry it all! 
He's going to be Homer Simpson from The Simpsons.  He wore blue sweatpants and a white tee shirt to school today and will put on the hat I made him later.
I'll stuff his shirt with a pillow after school and he'll be the cutest little Homer ever! He decided a couple months ago that he wanted to be Homer Simpson so I started on the hat.  I am not completely happy with it but I think he's recognizable as Homer, especially since I fully expect him to walk around saying "D'OH" all the while.



My Morbo throw is nearly finished.  I have the picture all filled in and am going over the lettering at the bottom to make it more legible.  Then I'll snap a photo before putting it in the washer.  My little prince laughed with glee when he saw it.  Before i finish that up I'll have to clean up the basement and pick up a few things in the living room.  We have a possible inspection coming up next weekend and we have to have everything neat and orderly.  I don't know why that's so hard for me.  I like to look around and see everything put away in its proper place but just never want to get up and do it!  It's harder when the sun isn't shining.  Aaaaaaaaand this morning it was so foggy I couldn't see the headlights of other cars till they were about 30 yards away.  So that means the house will suffer. 

To top that off, I found one of our precious seahorses dead this morning.  I didn't have any hope for this particular one, he went on what we call "a hunger strike" a couple months ago and hadn't fully recovered.  He had started eating again, but not enough to get his strength up.  when the tank got sick, they all stopped eating and it was too much for him.  He was already emaciated and couldn't afford to stop eating again.  I do have high hopes for Malcolm, he's already started eating again, not much, but still something!  He's the one that has the air bubbles in his tail that make him swim upside down.  He's trying to stay down instead of letting himself bob up to the top all the time.  That's a good sign.  Our little girl though, I'm not sure about.  I'm hopeful, but not as much as for Malcolm.  Bailey is a runt and we're astounded that she's lived almost a year now.  She was doomed from the start and gets closer to death every day, forgive my pessimism. She was a tiny baby the day she was born, and she had developed an air bubble in her chest at some point that kept her floating at the top for a week.  I just kept feeding the tank and hoped that she was getting enough nutrition from swallowing the water that was in her vicinity and she did.   She got big enough to fight the pull to the top and lived long enough for the air bubble to get absorbed into her system .  She's now still the size of a 4 month old, but she has doubled in size since we put her in the big tank from the baby tank.  she and Malcolm have shown promising signs of bonding so I'm hoping they survive this disease and make more babies.  Babies are always welcome in this home.  That'll make me feel better!

Shaddous is doing better too!  She still wheezes when she breathes, but I have to be close to her to hear it. She's eating solid food and even playing again.  I just love that my husband sits up with her every night to make sure she gets her medicine. What a man I married!

A mouse story

We got the medicine for our sick seahorses yesterday and my dear husband put it in their tank, so now we wait.  I hope this stuff works and works fast! I thought there was nothing worse than a depressed seahorse until I had a sick one...or three.  I wonder how long before I know if it's working.

I checked on our little mouse today.  She has pulled the fur off her face on one side, all around her eye. She's a bit unsteady on her feet, but she's a little old lady now.  She'll be 2 years old in a couple weeks.  We've raised her from birth, we got her mother when she was pregnant.

Arcee

Oh, Arcee (the mother) was a beautiful mouse!  she was white with red eyes and her fur had a shimmer to it like silver. In the photo she's face on so she looks a bit "Buddha" with a poochie belly, but she wasn't really. There were 2 other mice in the cage with Arcee.  Charlotte, that was one of our first mice ever brought into our family, and Priscilla.  They were a huge help to Arcee when the babies were born.  She had 10 of them and they all survived! I'm sure it was with their help.

the babies

We learned so much from watching them.  For instance, when Arcee fed them, she didn't lay on her side like any other animal I've seen.  She dug a hole in the bedding, put the babies in the hole, and stood over the top of it.

feeding the babies

Of course, after a while, they were too big and strong to stay in the hole and carried her around the cage while feeding.  She looked like she was body surfing at a rock concert.

Charlotte was old and half blind, but she cared for those babies like a grandmother.  She held them in her little arms and groomed them, she even went after them when they started to wander and brought them back to their little nest. It gave Arcee a much needed break from the babies. She'd feed them and go rest in the farthest corner away from them. Charlotte and Priscilla took care of the babies while she rested.

don't ya want to cuddle that tiny little belly?

After a couple weeks, their fur came in and we were disappointed to find that none of them were white, but a couple of them had a shimmer to their fur like their mother.  We observed that they split themselves into 2 groups of 5 quite often.  Oddly enough, the gray ones all stayed together and the brown ones all stayed together.

it's hard feeding 10 babies at once!

Once their eyes opened up they were much more mobile. They looked a bit awkward like they were all feet, but still adorably cute.  Charlotte would bring them solid food and let them try it.  They stopped feeding on Arcee so often, much to her relief!

Nermal, the cutest little mousie in the world!

one of the boys we rehomed

This is one we kept, the one we still have.  She was named "Nermal" after the cat on Garfield (the cutest kitten in the world) because our boy said she was the cutest little mousie in the world.  They all enjoyed scrambled eggs for a treat.

We can't all fit but we'll try!

They also all enjoyed running on the wheel, but none of them yet big enough to move it by themselves.  They managed to work together to get it moving if they all walked in the same direction, which was unusual because the re were always a few that wanted to go in the opposite direction so worked against each other.

I miss having babies.  Arcee died several weeks ago and Cocoa died a few months before that.  I was heartbroken over her.  Cocoa was "my" mouse. She was the sweetest little mouse, she came when called, she was a bit small, not a runt in my opinion, but small.  She didn't show any signs of illness or injury, I just found her dead one morning.  such is life. I live in fear of finding our "little old lady" dead.  It'll happen, and soon.  Our little prince will be heartbroken.  Nermal is his mouse, his favorite mouse ever.   We got rats because they are bigger, able to be cuddled, and live a bit longer.  Except of course when they're sick.  There I am on that subject again!  When Nermal dies we'll clean her cage and put it away.  We'll give the rats more treats, more cuddles, more love.  When Shaddous dies, and we fear it won't be long, we'll probably get another rat.  That'll help some.

Nermal's favorite pasttime

Nermal being cute

Nermal and Cocoa

Feel like a bad mom

Another one of those days.  You know the kind, where you don't want to get out of bed or do anything after that.  I woke up before my alarm and got myself ready to start the day.  I came down stairs to see that I never did wash the dinner dishes last night. What a let down.  Then I find out I have to fill out a paper for the little prince's school about parent teacher conferences that needs to go back today.  After that I tried to get him out the door, but he didn't have either of the sweatshirts I sent him to school with last week.  He adamantly claims the black one must be here somewhere because it isn't in his locker. I remember sending him in it so I know it's there at school.  I told him to look in the lost and found and he smacks his forehead with his palm.  This was just a little too much for me apparently, because I blew up at him.  I feel so terrible about this.  I even made him cry.  I almost cried myself as I apologized and hugged him.  He buried his face in my neck and asked my "why" over and over.  I tried to explain to him how I was feeling, I told him that when he acted frustrated with me it made me feel like he thought I was stupid and nobody likes feeling that way.  He assured me it wasn't what he was thinking and not what he meant.  He told me he was frustrated with himself for not making himself clear. That was the first time he ever said that.  Communication has always been an issue, but this time that wasn't the problem.  The problem was my attitude.  I need to work on that.

Rats!

 

We have pet rats.  We got 3 siblings, sisters from the same litter.  Our little prince wanted a white rat (we had white mice before) that he wanted to name Famous, or a dark one he could name Shadow.  Unfortunately, there were not girls that were white or brown available.  We got a tan Berkshire, a tan hooded rat, and a brown hooded rat.  He named the tan "Professor Whiskers" (whiskers for short), the tan hoodie was Bonita (named after Bonnie and Clyde because she looked like she was wearing a stocking over her head like a robber), and our little prince combined Shadow and Famous to name her "Shaddous."

Whiskers being curious

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A few weeks later we picked up Hermione, who has very interesting coloring.  She's kind of marbled, but her face is white.  We say she reminds us of a possum. We affectionately call her the possum rat.  The others immediately cuddled up with her as if they'd known each other all their lives.  I wish people could be more accepting like this!




A couple months ago we noticed Bonita getting big.  She looked like she was pregnant but with no males around, impossible. She just kept getting bigger.  Then she started getting slower.  so we took her to the vet.  It was 2 days before our little prince's 10th birthday. We didn't get good news.  The vet took an x-ray and told us she had a tumor almost as big as she was.  If he tried to operate he'd end up killing her.  We told the little prince that it was a possibility that she wouldn't come back alive but of course he was devastated.  He said he wanted to be with her, but when she squealed after getting a shot from the vet he nearly ran out of the room.  Then she started falling asleep and wobbled a bit on the table and he asked if he could leave.  H said he couldn't stand seeing her that way.  We explained that he wasn't watching her die, but he didn't want to see it anyway.  The vet brought her out to us when it was over and our little prince heartbrokenly asked if the vet made her better.  The vet was shocked by this because he thought it was understood.  I had to try to explain that Bonnie was in pain and the vet made it go away so she could die peacefully instead of in pain and miserable.  The vet told him he was a brave little boy that made a very hard decision that was best for her and he was proud of him. He showed him the x-ray and explained it to him and that helped.

Shaddous the rat

Now our sweet Shaddous is sick.  Very sick.  She's losing weight, not eating or drinking. She's cold all the time. She breathes so hard her whole body hitches back and forth with every breath.  Her heart races.  My dear darling husband stayed up all night with her last night spoon feeding her vitamins and sugar water.  Our dear little prince charming said a prayer for God to make her feel better.  She's actually stronger today!  She's resting with her sisters.  I haven't seen her myself yet but I am optimistic. 

Who is this kid, a tardis project, and an unfinished crochet afghan

Yesterday my little prince came home from school, hung my keys up on he hook (I had to have him unlock the door for me because my hands were full), took off his shoes, set them by the door, ask politely if he could play his video game, got himself a snack (the last piece of pizza), and put the empty pizza box in the trash...who is this kid and what has he done to my child?!  He also brought home an excellent behavior score.  He's rated 0-3 on his behavior in each class.  He has to do something pretty bad to get a 0, like getting in a fight or flat out refusing to work. He brought home all 3s and one 2.  I'm very happy with that.

My husband told me of his plan to treat the seahorses.  it sounds feasible, but unfortunately we don't have the funds to get the meds they need right now.  I hate the last part of the month!  Getting paid only once a month is still hard to budget.


I started crocheting a book bag for my niece that looks like the Dr. Who Tardis.  I found the pattern on Pinterest while looking for a project to start.  My sister said when the little punklet saw it on my Facebook profile she squealed so loud sis became partially deaf.  I guess I made a good choice!  Unfortunately I ran out of blue yarn and don't have any play money to get more.  The punklet says she doesn't care how long it takes as long as she gets it!  It took me a day to do the back and bottom so it should only be a day or two more to finish it.  Then I'll line it and maybe put her name on it somewhere...maybe.


I started working on one of my unfinished projects, a ripple American flag afghan.  No pattern, I made it up.  Unfortunately, it shows!  I didn't make the field of blue wide enough so it looks like the stripes are going the wrong way.   I'm trying to add to it, but I know it'll show.  I'm tempted to take it apart, but it's taken me 8 years of working on it when I have nothing else to work on to get this far so I want to finish it and see how it looks all done. 

I remember why I stopped writing in this blog...I wrote more about my crocheting than I did about my life so I just left it to my crochet blog! 

Seahorses

Bailey, named after my friend's daughter

I have a seahorse tank.  I mean I have a saltwater aquarium that houses live seahorses.  There are also other things, but it's mainly for the seahorses.  I noticed a little bump on the nose of one of them a couple days ago.  Last time that happened, it was a bacterial infection we couldn't get rid of and the poor thing died after a few weeks of being treated with different things, none of them working.  I'm very disappointed to see it on this particular fish because she and her 2 brothers that we still  have were born in this tank almost a year ago.  I've raised them from day one.  My husband didn't seem very hopeful we could do anything helpful this time around either but he promised we'll still try. 

Simon, named after the doctor on Firefly

 I told my husband this morning that we have to try even harder to help them, because Bailey and Malcolm were showing signs of bonding. They had their tails hooked together and were wiggling their butts around. This is a good sign!  But it also means we might get more babies! That could be a bad thing though, because of the infection in the tank.  I don't want Malcolm to end up dying while pregnant!  And I don't want babies born into a festering bacterial pool. My husband has a few ideas of how to treat them this time around.  I just hopeit works.  I'll be devastated when these particular fish die, no matter how old they are!

Malcolm, named for the captain on Firefly

 Malcolm is also showing signs of infection.  He has air bubbles under his skin on his tail and has been hanging out at the surface which is unusual for seahorses.  There is less pressure at the surface so the discomfort is relieved when he stays up there.  Unfortunately, it also gives the bacteria more comfort to multiply and fester and cause more problems.  I am so very disappointed.  I just hope I can help them.

Random thoughts from a scatterbrain

Today I walked into the kitchen after getting ready for my day and found a sink full of dirty dishes.  I hate that.  I set an alarm for 8 pm every night that reminds us all to clean up before settling in for the night.  Apparently I ignored it last night.  Puts me in a grumpy mood for the rest of the day.  I cleaned it up and it made me feel a bit better.  I don't have any projects to work on right now so maybe I can do a nice detailed cleaning of the living room.  Still have to do laundry.  I picked up some clothes on the floor of the little prince's bedroom and got enough for another load!  I haven't been remembering to remind him to do his chores at night (at 8:00!) so his bedroom is a terrible mess.  Normally it's just a mess.  Today he has a dentist appointment after school to get a few fillings.  He didn't have any decay in his teeth, but I guess he has an anomaly that occurred in 3 of them where his teeth formed around a tiny air pocket in the grinding surface of the molars.  6 months ago there was no notice of it but last cleaning they noticed that these three teeth all had a pit in the "peak" of his tooth surface.  They have to be filled or else they will decay.  Sealant will not stick to it.  There is nothing wrong with these teeth, but they need to be filled.  Very frustrating!  Little Prince Charming hates going to the dentist and he knows his appointment is coming so will probably take it out on his classmates.  He did yesterday.  I got a note home saying that he spit on and kicked another child.  I was very upset until I got the whole story out of him (no easy feat, I assure you).  This other kid was annoying him so he told him sharply "DON'T" and a little spittle came out of his mouth and landed on the other kid.  The other kid was understandably upset so wiped it on my son.  This of course, upset my little prince, who showed his disapproval by kicking the other kid in the shin.  *sigh*  I asked him if the teacher knew the whole story and he said she did, the other kid told her everything.  I made sure the story was accurate and he said it was.  I may make sure she knows that he didn't spit on purpose, that part bothers me for some reason.  He assured me she knows, but the way the note was written tells me that maybe she doesn't.  I think as long as I have the computer here I'll send her an email.

A finished project

I had a dream about my grandma a couple nights ago.  It was a nice dream, we were walking together in her flower garden while she watered the flowers. Even though she moved out of that house when I was 14 I still dream about her there.   I told my little prince about this dream and he seemed to have trouble understanding that even though she's dead I can still dream about her.

My little prince charming hasn't been bringing home his behavior reports for the past couple weeks.  His teachers are supposed to rate his behavior in each class period and make notes if anything noteworthy occurred.  I asked him why he wasn't bringing home his work and he told me if he gives the paper to his teachers, they might put a 0 on it (the worst score possible) and he didn't want that.  He gets consequences when he brings home low scores and he's figured out a way to avoid that.  This is the first year they've had him be responsible for taking it from teacher to teacher and this is what he does with that responsibility! I'm not surprised. I told him if he didn't bring one home today he didn't get his computer tonight after school.

the front

I finished the first circle sweater I had started.  I'm a little upset as the yarn was so drapey that it stretched out when I put it on my dressmaker form and ended up with the sleeves a lot longer than I thought they'd be.


 I like the way the front ruffles up when it's buttoned.   The pattern actually calls for a button cover but I didn't make one.  I don't think it needs one. 

button detail

the back

I didn't take a pic of myself in it to model it because the circle design on the back makes me look like I'm wearing a bustle. Who am I kidding, I look like I'm wearing one anyway! ;-)


It's a cloud covered day here is Southern Michigan.  It made for a beautiful sunrise this morning.  I wish I had a clear view of it although the trees make  a stunning silhouette against it.  I've been wanting to take more nature pictures lately and haven't gotten out to do so.  I just never feel like getting out by myself.  If my husband wasn't so affected by the changing weather I'd bug him to go with me, but it's all he can do to get himself into the living room some days. 

I'm back...again

It's been a couple years or so since I last posted on here and not too much has changed.  My little Prince is 10 now and in 5th grade. He's started groaning and rolling his eyes when I ask him to do something he doesn't want to do (every night!). He has certain chores to do every day and others to do just on weekends and he moans like he's been asked to cut off his own arm or something when I remind him.

We went to my aunt and uncle's church's harvest festival this weekend.  My little prince got to go on his first hay ride! They had activities in side as well, a ring toss, bowling, bean bag toss, cookie walk, a meal...it was fun!  The chili they had was great!  I think I'll make some chili myself tonight. We won a 2 liter of Pepsi, a cookie, and a bag of candy.

I think I'll get back to my homemaking chores and make the place livable again.  Have a great day!

Seasonal Affective Disorder

My little prince was in a bad mood this morning. I hope he has a good day at school.  I half expect to get a call from the school later because he acted out somehow.

It's that time of year again where I get a touch of the blues. Every fall I have a problem doing the dishes, cleaning the floor, getting laundry done, even showering!  I looked up Seasonal Affective Disorder and I don't think I have that, not really.  I don't feel depressed.  Just "blah." I just don't care if the housework falls apart, even though it really bothers me that there's stuff on the floor, on the counters, dirty dishes in the sink, etc.  I just don't seem to have the energy to do anything about it.  I hate how it looks, but don't care enough to change it!  Then I hate that about myself.  Then I get more of a case of the blues because I think I'm telling my family that they aren't important enough for me to take care of.  Ok, so maybe then I get depressed. It just really seems like there is nothing I can do about it. Yes, I can get up and clean.  And yet I can't. I physically can't. 
 
Well, this wasn't where I wanted this post to go!  I wanted to say that I've been working on crocheting a circular sweater like the one in the photo (pattern found here) for someone out in California. I think it's adorable! I keep running out of yarn though!  I have had to buy five 4 oz skeins so far, and hopefully that's enough! 

I brought out my studio photo equipment to start taking better pictures of my work.  I've been snapping blurry camera phone photos and I'm sure that's not helping my crochet business at all.  I'll have to put it a bit more effort to clean up my photography. Ugh, "effort" at this time of year.  What was I just saying above? Well, I'll give it a shot!

I think I'll go make an "effort" to clean up the kitchen. My recorded episode of "Archie Bunker's Place" is over.  Maybe with some good music playing I can muddle through at least part of it.  Wish me luck!