Fiber Follies

I came home Saturday to a carton sat on the door-step! It’s another fabulous gift from my SP. Here, have a look:

Whoops! Sorry! I’ll right it. Now, please, have a look. She always makes things so beautiful. I love a gift, and Lady Frigg, aka Dame-Spoils-A-Lot, aka… I’m not going to spill yet. When the round is over I might. Anyway, the packages have been remarkably pretty. And, of course, there’s a note. I was good and didn’t rip into the package until I’d read my way through. She’s always worth a read. Tempting, isn’t it? You’d think there would be some tasty confection inside. If the carton weren’t so light I’d have sussed a supply of salt-water taffy. Of course, its contents are much nicer than candy! Just admire the colours. I know everything looks lovely here but honestly, the pictures don’t do it all justice. And only I can feel and fondle and spin it all! See, the braids to either side? The lovely braided greens and salmon are merino. The gorgeous greens are BFL. I am quite enamoured of the braids. I’ve had a blast trying to figure just how I can spin them to best effect. I think I’ll give up trying to figure it out and just start spinning.

And you see, she’s focussed on my favourite colours, and added some to give gorgeous blends. Oh, and that nice shiny stuff, the “Italian Ice”? That’s tussah silk. I have a special place in my heart for this! I fancy a rather lovely cloud of a scarf or cowl… Oh, yes. Here are the sources of all this loveliness. Go get your own.

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This is Aslan. He’s generally a peaceful cat. His favourite activities are sleeping, eating, doing kitty crack, and snuggling. Aslan is also a fastidious fellow. As he finishes off his meals, he wipes up, all around his dish. If he smells something unpleasant he attempts to wipe up the offending area. I have a fondness for TGIFriday’s Spinach & Artichoke dip, bought frozen at the market. I nuke it and enjoy the garlicky mess as the cats jostle to be first to share it with me. But they must wait! Little samples only until I’m finished, then I’ll place the tray on the floor so they can clean it out. One time I set it right in front of Aslan. He sniffed it, frowned (yes he does too frown), walked to the other side, sniffed again with a pained expression, then proceeded to wipe up the offending area.

Anyway. The boys-Aslan and his brother Tuathal, were in the office. There’s a great sliding door there, where they sit much of the day watching whatever ventures by. I placed a little rug there so they can be a bit more cushioned from the concrete floor under the office carpet.

Saturday, I was away until late afternoon. Once I’d got into the office I saw the cat-mat halfway across the office floor. Huh. The boys must have had a wild playtime or row while I was gone, I thought. I picked up the mat to place it back by the door. Um. I now realised that Aslan had deliberately moved that mat. Because, on the carpet, just underneath where he had dragged the mat, was a fair-sized pile of…of…I’m feeling squeamish now…of…of…

yurp.

You know, where the last meal was reasonably digested but still kind of grainy. And it was that awful shit-brindle colour, and quite flattened from the mat. Knowing what I would see, yet entirely unable to stop myself, I looked at the underside of the mat. Yes, the yurp-spot’s twin resided there. blerrgh. My fastidious Aslan, heaven forbid there be a mess anywhere. I guess if it’s hid under the mat I’m not supposed to ever know that there had been a mess. “Just pull the rug over it, Mom won’t know!”.

Today Precious Child was here for a bit. She had been highly entertained by my recounting the tale of the hidden yurp. I yanked the mat over to show her where I’d found it, this time uncovering a roly-poly little turd.

I do wish Aslan would extend his fastidiousness to picking up after himself. His little treasure trove could be my undoing.