Kittens!

 Hi friends... it's about time I introduced you to the 2 newest members of the family! Meet Inigo and Podrick, 14 week old identical twin brothers. They've been living here for about 2 1/2 weeks which is the main reason I haven't blogged in that time as they have been taking up all my attention.

 I got them from Cat Rescue Christchurch, a great organisation which neuters and releases stray cats, and rehomes abandoned cats and kittens. The mother of these kittens was a stray who was neutered and released, and the kittens were raised in a foster home until they were ready for adoption. When I emailed Cat Rescue to see if they had any kittens available I thought it would take weeks to arrange, especially since I'd heard there was a kitten shortage in Christchurch. However they replied straight away that these two had just been listed, and I adopted them the following weekend.

I always wanted two cats, and when the time came to get another cat, I decided it would be a good idea to get two kittens at the same time. I figured they are still young enough to adjust to living with another feline, and would be good company for each other. Even better, these two are brothers and they get along with each other as happily as I'd hoped! They play together all the time, sleep together, eat together and even use the litter box together! So yes, they are great company for each other and while they love playing with humans, they also run and chase and tumble together which is great for burning their enormous stores of energy!

We are using the lounge room as their base for eating and sleeping. Before they arrived I tidied everything up and put some things away in this cabinet. Naturally, one of the first things they did was to go behind the cabinet, find the small hole in the back for cords, and wiggle through it. Of course as soon as one kitten was through the other was hot on his heels and they were both into my basket of yarn! I fished them out and stuffed cushions behind the TV cabinet which luckily put an end to that.

 This is Inigo Montoya (named for a character in The Princess Bride) - Ini for short. He is a bit smaller than his brother and we originally thought he was timid. It's actually more that he thinks before he acts, so he hangs back and observes before charging in (unlike his brother). He wears a blue collar, and has a slightly wider nose and heavier brows. He loves to sit in the window and look out.

This is Podrick Payne (looking very surprised in this shot) - Pod for short, named for a character in Game of Thrones. He's rounder and heavier than his brother and very curious and confident. He doesn't think very hard before he rushes into a new situation, so hopefully Ini can teach him some restraint! He has slightly more delicate features and a cute walrus moustache with lighter cheeks, and he wears a black collar.

I can't believe how much these two have grown in the 2 1/2 weeks they've been here. They are settling in well and enjoying daily life. And it's so nice to have not just one, but two cats around the house again.

Snapshots from February 2016

Here we are looking back at the month of February. If January was rainy and unsettled, then February was the complete opposite with an incredibly regular schedule of warm summery days. It was pretty perfect actually, exactly what summer should be like! And after our cold start to spring (with some of the coldest November mornings on record) it turned out that February was the warmest on record. I guess that is climate change for you, and one day it won't even be unusual to have such extreme temperatures.

Dahlia season is in full swing. I like how dahlias can't help being bold, even when their colours are soft! I also love the faded petals on top of the lambs' ears leaves.

As usual I made time for reading and crochet.

I changed up the kitchen shelf display to some summery colours. The day after I put these teacups out, we had a 5.7 earthquake. Amazingly the teacup stack didn't topple, although everything on the shelf shuffled closer to the edge! It seems we'll never be free of these earthquakes, never quite be able to relax from the idea of having to always be prepared. So I stuck everything down again with Blutack. It's annoying when you want to get things down and use them, but at least it keeps the pretties safe!

These are a couple of projects from this month. I finished a cover for the kitchen stool, and continued with the centres of Circle Puff Squares.

My brother helped me put up some boards in the hallway, and then I mounted hooks on them. The boards line both sides of the hallway. They are great for hanging flowers and plants, and keys.

I also had an ATC swap with a lovely lady from Japan, who I met on Instagram. On the left is her beautiful ATC. 

More crochet! I want to finish the Circle Puff Blanket, and I enjoy working on the pretty pastel circles. But suddenly I needed to do something different, so I started making some random squares. They are from Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Squares book. They will go together into a sort of patchwork blanket, eventually.

Some more dahlias, in remembrance of 22 Feb 2011. And another random square for the blanket.

Can't believe we're in March already! I'm having trouble finding time to blog lately, but I still have some garden updates to get out... hopefully I'll get to them soon! Have a great month everyone.