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Re-emerging
Daughter, daughter's fiance, daughter's two cats and Son have left today after staying over from the 23rd. We have had fish and hamsters here before but this is our first experience with cats.
Everyone was a little worried about how the cats would take to coming to a house that was new to them. Ember, the hairless sphynx cat clearly has PTSD about car journeys and spends the journey throwing up in her carrier, and Voidstar is only 1 and had never left Daughter's house before.
But despite the usual throwing up in the car, as soon as Ember got through the door she was visibly delighted to be here and trotted around delicately sniffing everything and climbing up everyone to rub her cheek on yours.
Ember, being bald, is very sensitive to the cold and her favourite thing to do is land on your lap and nose at your jumper until you lift it up and let her come inside, where she will immediately loaf down and go to sleep.
Voidstar went under the sofa and stayed there, but by the next day was happily leaning against everyone's legs and lurking invisibly in doorways and on the stairs (he's as dark as a dark star and you can't see him if he shuts his eyes.)
Daughter tells me he is lying in the entrances of the den in order to defend us, which is very noble of him.
So I spent most of the Christmas period sitting still with Ember either purring or snoring in my lap, and the rest of the family had to bring me cups of tea and slices of Yule Log.
Not a single dodgy present this year :) I got some great trousers with foxes and mushrooms on them, and - having asked everyone for fabric - 13 metres of fabric.
And a new sewing machine! It has a serger function, and zig-zag stitch, so I'll be able to sew stretch fabric for the first time, and it will make my seams much more professional than they have been. I'm going to try it out tomorrow.
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Darling beastie!
I'm glad you had a good visit. ^_^
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She really is a darling beastie :) I know I'm not supposed to have favourites, but it's hard not to when Ember is so very affectionate. I enjoyed having them around, and it's quiet without everyone, but there's also something to be said for not having to worry about whether your wires are being chewed or your sofa clawed.
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And hooray for the new sewing machine! That sounds excellent!
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Thank you! They were a lot less trouble than I feared, and didn't even go near the tree except on the last day (when the bitter apple spray must have been wearing off.)
I'm a little intimidated by the new sewing machine but that must mean I just need to make some things with it, and fortunately I have just the fabric for it :)
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Tackling a project with it is definitely the best way to get over the intimidation factor! (Though I also sympathize - I haven't used a sewing machine since I was in middle school, so I wouldn't know where to start!) But how fortuitous that you happened to get all that fabric! :D
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I think I might start on the muffs, as they are fairly simple and I can knock them out in an hour or so. It's going to take me forever just to remember how to thread the machine up - that's going to be a return to the instruction booklet at least for the first three or so times.
Heh, I asked for African Wax Print fabric because you can get 10 metres of that for £13 from ebay, and I also asked for 3 metres of tartan wool fabric from the local haberdashery, and while I did get the Wax Print, I got some kind of raspberry pink heavy cotton instead of the wool. So my wool skirt that I was imagining won't happen, but probably that's for the best!
It took me a very long time to get comfortable with using a sewing machine, but it was worth it :)
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Aw, bummer that the plan for the wool is a no-go, though I'm sure you'll find something good to do with the cotton, too!
I know that having a sewing machine really is just not even comparable to having to do everything by hand!
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Yes, it was really nice, thank you! I hope yours was good too :)
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Sphynxes are indeed very creature, like the youths say. I've had the opportunity to meet a pair once and it is interesting. :D
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It's very peculiar when you're wearing a lower cut t-shirt under the jumper and before you know it you have tiny cold paws in your cleavage because she's obviously decided skin is warmest and has come to sit on your chest.
I admit that before Daughter got her, I really didn't think I liked Sphynxes at all, but I was relieved that touching them is more like touching suede than skin, and I love her little whisker-dots where she ought to have whiskers and doesn't. I don't love the fact that she has to be bathed every week, and Daughter has to clean the earwax out of her ears with Q-tips, but I get to give her back for that :)
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Bathing a cat every week, wow. I have to go hunt down what that looks like. Also wow, I guess it makes sense that Sphynxes would have some sort of hygiene issues considering a cat is generally full of fur.
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We're a bit spoiled as far as that goes, as she's very much a shoulder cat - she likes to climb up you and then ride around on your shoulders, unfortunately often with her head behind you and her excited tail lashing you in the face.
And yes, no hair in her ears means that dirt gets in them and can pose an infection risk if it isn't cleaned out. She can also get very cold in the winter and although she has a lovely wardrobe of fleecy jumpers, she hates wearing them so much that she fakes a limp when she has them on. Very "oh no! I can't walk suddenly!" not helped by the fact that from moment to moment she forgets which leg was supposed to be lame.