Ok, no, Missy knows exactly where the cat is, her senses of smell and hearing are quite good. It is more likely that she is looking at me to see if I will throw the ball at my feet (not pictured). It is common for Izzy the cat to “hide” in the laundry basket given any opportunity.
Izzy is most definitely a basket cat. What is remarkable is that the dog doesn’t pester her in whatever basket she choses to occupy. Smart dog.
My trail cam strap broke due to degradation of the webbing. It has been out in the wind, rain, and sun (although not much sun because we usually tuck it under a tree) for nearly five years. Time for a new strap.
I removed the old strap from the buckle, and cut a piece of the new strap to the length I wanted. I made is a little shorter because the old strap was designed to go around trees, and I have a stand with a much smaller diameter that I use. I sealed the ends of the new strap by passing them in front of a flame to slightly melt the fibers together.
After the ends were sealed, I sewed one end onto the buckle, and threaded the other through the trail cam and back through the buckle. I gave the camera a good clean up with a microfiber cloth as well.
The trail cam and I have been photographing Mr Tom, the neighbor’s cat that hangs out with his buddies in our meadow. So I’ll share the best ones with you here.
Darn it. I’m happily knitting along and look back at my work and I’ve purled where I should have knit. For one stitch. The thought of ripping out several whole rows in brioche knit is horrifying, maybe I can run back just one column?
I transfer the stitches to the left of the target column onto a stitch holder, and carefully undo the loops in the column down to the offensive stitch. I make sure the loops are lined up with their respective yarn overs (one of the things that makes brioche brioche, and the main reason ripping out large portions is scary).
I then took a crochet hook and linked the loops back together in the proper orientation (so they look like a chain).
Success! And I have a new tool in my knitting toolbox, although I think this method will only work for a knit/purl swap because the amount of yarn used is the same.
I still don’t consider myself a Knitter (with the capital K), but I’m glad I’m picking up skills. (I feel like being a Knitter means you like knitting as a primary activity; I still prefer spinning.)
Missy the dog is obsessed with fetch. To give our arms a rest, we thought about purchasing a ball throwing machine. Then saw the prices. Ouch. So next came investigating DIY versions. There were many variations using windshield wiper motors, and sensors, but I wanted something basic I could make with things around the house. Ah, the catapult.
I used a paper bowl, a yard stick, a section of pool noodle, and duct tape. The yard stick does not have much strength when full length, and testing kept breaking off bits, until we ended up with about a two foot section. The pool noodle acts as a fulcrum and allows the catapult to roll back to the starting position after launch (so it resets itself). Everything is connected using duct tape.
Teaching Missy to put the ball in the bowl, then use her paw to launch the ball is the next challenge. She is not mechanically inclined, which is OK, she is a dog. We can get her to put the ball in the bowl sometimes, then she knows the command “paw”, where she puts her paw on my hand, then if I put my hand over the end of the stick, we can launch. This is going to be a process. Still, she enjoys the attention, my eldest enjoys the challenge of teaching her, and if we ever get it all together we’ll probably have a viral video.
Critters and Craft 