abmatic/k » kittens http://abmatik.com/blog knitting, sewing, science etc. Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:25:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 home http://abmatik.com/blog/2008/05/home/ http://abmatik.com/blog/2008/05/home/#comments Tue, 27 May 2008 22:31:36 +0000 abmatic http://abmatik.com/blog/?p=108


I spent a few days cat sitting at my parents house recently. This is the view from my parents bedroom. It feels like a treehouse. I’ve been gone most of a decade now, but it still feels like home.

The view is drastically different than when I was young. The distribution of tree species has changed dramatically with the influx of sudden oak death, the proliferation of Douglass fir trees and some disease that has killed all of the Madrones.

Despite the changes in tree distribution, the character of the landscape is still very much the same. Sometimes I get nostalgic when I see photos or movies which show landscapes that look like Sonoma County.





This past weekend a crowd gathered for the afternoon. There were kittens, cars, crafting and lots of eating.



I also got to visit Brookfarm Alpacas. I met Sarah (of the Brookfarm Alpacas family) a few weeks ago at a knitting night in Oakland and we discovered that our parents live less than a mile apart. I never knew there were Alpacas so close by! Ingo, Kate, my Mom and myself drove down the hill to meet Sarah and look around the farm. The Alpacas are too cute.






In addition to the animals, we got to see a fleece rolled out for sorting and a room full of bags of fiber. It looks like they have a lot to sort through! It is too bad that we came just after shearing and missed them in full fluffy glory. Maybe I can visit again sometime?

There were, of course, kitties too. It is kitten season again and my dad has a new crop of three adorable little ones (he fosters kittens). Meet Madeline, Pascal and Marie (the one being sat upon). Anyone looking to adopt a kitten? I can tell you honestly that these three will be expertly socialized! Don’t get too attached to little Madeline though, it seems she has been spoken for.
Photo of Madeline by Brent G.





It was a great way to spend the holiday weekend and the weather cooperated with us. Even Bart got a little attention, and all 6 cats got their claws trimmed!



(Photo of Bart by Brent G)

]]> http://abmatik.com/blog/2008/05/home/feed/ 4 rules for life http://abmatik.com/blog/2007/10/rules-for-life/ http://abmatik.com/blog/2007/10/rules-for-life/#comments Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:01:00 +0000 abmatic http://abmatic.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/rules-for-life/ add this one to the list:

dont chase kittens on roofs. they have four legs and claws, you only have two feet and possibly slippery shoes.

thankfully, my dad is mostly ok and suffered only a broken arm and smashed face after falling 8 feet from the roof while trying to “rescue” his kitties (the cats subsequently spent the entire night on the roof and loved it). the injuries could have been *much* worse but let this serve as a lesson to everyone else–dont do it!

the felines in question

]]> http://abmatik.com/blog/2007/10/rules-for-life/feed/ 3 fall comes early http://abmatik.com/blog/2007/09/fall-comes-early/ http://abmatik.com/blog/2007/09/fall-comes-early/#comments Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:47:00 +0000 abmatic http://abmatic.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/fall-comes-early/ It was strangely autumn-like last week despite still being September (in my world fall starts the last week in October and turns to winter around the second week in November). I woke up Saturday morning to the sound of actual proper rain. It was a strange feeling which triggered in me a desire to put on sweaters and wool socks and maybe even a Halloween costume. (the weather didnt last long, it was back up to the 70s again today) All the wintry feel got me in the mood for indoor activities, at least for a few days.

I finished machine quilting and sewing binding to the top of the wedding quilt a few weeks ago. Now we are almost done hand sewing the binding to the back. There has been a distinct lack of photos while Ive been working on it as the hours between 9 and midnight dont have very good lighting (funny how that works)

Ive been spinning again (a little). I picked up some wool after abandoning the silk hankie I had been working on and remembered why I thought spinning was fun.


The mead experiment is going well. My dad added a water trap to the bottle to prevent explosions and we tasted our concoction this weekend. I was very skeptical but it was really, truly, not bad. Im excited to see how it turns out in the end.

And speaking of bees, N and I joined my dad for a look inside the hive using his “bee suits” which are really painters coveralls with mosquito head nets and gloves.

The figs and pears at my parents house are out of control this year.

I recommend baking them and serving over ice cream. mmmm

The kittens are out of control too…

Streak has reached a whopping 4lbs and is twice the size of his sister who is just starting to recover from a really terrible cold. He hardly fits in the scale anymore!

The scenery is always nice up there, but notice the dark color in those clouds. Definitely not a summer look.

Its not a bad view from our apartment either, the cat always seems to find something to stare at

And sometimes I do too.

]]> http://abmatik.com/blog/2007/09/fall-comes-early/feed/ 1 Domestic scene, with scenery http://abmatik.com/blog/2007/08/domestic-scene-with-scenery/ http://abmatik.com/blog/2007/08/domestic-scene-with-scenery/#comments Mon, 06 Aug 2007 05:40:00 +0000 abmatic http://abmatic.wordpress.com/2007/08/06/domestic-scene-with-scenery/

I had grand ambitions for crafting this weekend: welding! silkscreen printing! and while the heat overcame us and I forgot various necessary components at home we did still manage to eek out a crafty domestic scene in the wine country.

There are three spinning wheels in that photo! You can see my suzie peaking out in the foreground.

And the best entertainment of all were the kittens. Five of them! Unfortunately none of them appear to be named gravy.

The view is pretty neat too.

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