Griffin

On By CarynIn dog
Griffin July 15, 2013 – June 16, 2025

We made the decision to let our dog Griffin go on Monday night. I will start this story with the fact that I thought we were going to have to put him down almost two years ago. His osteoarthritis pain was beyond what Carprovet could cover and he was in a world of hurt. We tried Librela injections and his turn around was amazing. It was like he was five years old again. I was good about getting his injections done monthly, until this month. I was a week late and I thought his pain panting was because of it, and that his excessive water consumption was because of the panting. It wasn’t either. On Monday he had a stroke or something neurological happen and his head cocked and he lost control of his body. At that point it was obvious that the most humane thing to do was to ease his pain permanently. We stayed with him during the injections, both for peace for any part of him that was left, and for closure for us. He was a good boy. I’m glad we were given two extra years.

Reed coaster experiments

On By CarynIn Craft

As with all my crafts, after I’ve made a few my mind wanders and I wonder how other variations might work. With the reed coasters, I tried weaving with hemp cord, and a different rim finish.

Photo description: reed coaster woven with natural hemp cord and finished with a woven edge instead of a tucked edge, back side shown
Photo description: reed coaster woven with orange and red dyed hemp cord, back side shown

The “bob” edge (behind, over, behind) leaves the ends of the reeds sticking up. I trim them flush, but being a belt and suspenders type person, used hot glue and a layer of felt to make sure they don’t wiggle free and to protect any surface they are set on.

Photo description: showing the cut ends of the reeds before I hot glue down felt to secure them and protect surfaces
Photo description: orange felt backs for three coasters
Photo description: front side of three different reed coasters

Why buy a wool winder

On By CarynIn Craft

Even if you don’t spin your own yarn, I would argue that buying a wool winder should be the next purchase for the new yarn crafter, after yarn and needles or hooks. Why? Because of exploded skeins like the one below.

Photo description: exploded skein with the yarn in a state of mess on the left, neatly wound yarn cake fresh from the winder on the right

Can you wind your own balls of yarn without a wool winder? Yes, of course, but it takes more time and two hands. The wool winder gives me some extra holding power, so I can gentle tease the yarn from the snarled mess into a neater form without said form rolling off the table and onto the floor.

Photo description: plastic Royal wool winder mounted on the back of a chair

Having a wool winder also opens up more yarn buying opportunities. Many yarns in local yarn shops (LYS) or fiber shows have some beautiful yarn sold in hanks, large circles of yarn that must be wound off before use. Most yarn shops and fiber shows also have people manning a winding station and will wind off your yarn for free or a small charge. But what if you forget to stop at the station? There are choices, but an inexpensive wool winder is a worthy investment. Plus, it is satisfying to see the yarn build up on the winder.

After the winder, I recommend some kind of yarn swift, to hold the hank open. You can use a willing set of hands, or the back of a chair, but swifts are also a fulfilling basic machine to watch at work.

Squirrely Squirrels

On By CarynIn Wildlife

I didn’t really know how many squirrels visited my feeders until I moved the post. I thought I had four, but no, there are more than four.

Photo description: back porch with stone stairs, a feeding pole, corn wheel, and many squirrels

I count seven squirrels.

Photo description: same photo with squirrels highlighted with purple

Here is a short video.

I do like watching them, the sassy little things.

Happy Father’s Day to all those that nurture.

Cat window

On By CarynIn Cats

We broke down and purchased a well engineered cat door for the window to the catio. It keeps out the weather and more importantly, flies.

Photo description: Calico cat looking out the new cat door, plastic lock door propped up over the right window because it doesn’t open

The cats are used to going in and out at the right side of the window. The first solution was cutting a flap in the screen of the window. In winter, that was very cold. The next solution was to replace the screen with flexible vinyl, with a flap cut in. With a heavy curtain in front of the window, it was better than the screen, but the window still needed to be closed during a rain storm.

Photo description: dilute tortie looking out the window with the door lock in place

The door insert fits right into the window channels and reduces the air leak to almost nothing. We could even take away the curtain and get more light. The cats were not impressed. We tried just poking them out the window, but the magnetic click at the bottom scares Thor, the gray tabby, my 17 pound baby. We tried holding the flap open, but that lets in the flies. We decided to just let the cats figure it out.

Photo description: large gray tabby looking out the window

Izzy the calico was the first to figure it out.

Photo description: calico cat seen through the window, sitting outside by her own choice

Thor has still not braved making the window click. He will sit on the windowsill looking mournfully out, but won’t let me near him (poking him out the window was traumatic, the door lock clattered in a scary way). It has been a week and he still won’t go out. On the plus side, we see more of him when he doesn’t spend his whole day outside eating bugs and frogs. He might loose some weight without all the extra wriggly snacks too.