Scruff – Thimbleanna

A Marker in Time

6 Comments / December 3, 2021 December 3, 2021 / Scruff, Travel

Oh dear! How can we be on the cusp of Christmas already? October and November have flown by and, apparently I was too busy to post about it. Actually, I was only too busy in October and then, halfway through November, I had a little time, but the blog was on vacation. I hate it when some of the many tools used in the process of keeping a blog get updated, because something is always out of sync and things get broken. Hours on the phone to support people and many weeks later, a solution was found and, crossing fingers, we’re back in business. ;-D

We had an especially exciting October. I had a plan to visit TheSecondChild in Peru during the third week of October, but then, his plans changed and he wasn’t going to be there the third week of October, so with only a day notice, I had to move everything up. I was amazed that it was even possible to arrange a trip on such short notice (in this day and age of Covid and required Covid tests), but everything worked out and I suddenly found myself in Lima the first week of October. We had a great time and managed to see Peru’s star attraction along with a few other interesting sights.

I LOVED Peru! It was a really interesting trip and everyone was so friendly and helpful. I’ve written all about our week in Peru and posted it HERE. If you’ve ever thought about going there, now is a good time as the crowds are smaller than normal. You have to wear those pesky masks everywhere now, but I’ll gladly trade crowds for masks, any day!

Since the trip, I’ve just been busy catching up, wrangling the annual leaves (thank goodness for leaf blowers), and sewing and knitting a little. I finished a sweater for FinallyAnotherGirl (which should have been done for her birthday in late September {sigh}), and as soon as I get some pictures, I’ll post them. I also made a Christmas gift, but, well, pictures for that will have to wait until after Christmas. After all of that, Thanksgiving was upon us. Ours was quiet this year — TheFirstChild and his family went to the in-laws. And MyDadLovesMeBestSister and her family went out of town. We were invited to go with them, but luckily we declined, thinking it might be hard to travel with MeMum. It turned out to be a good decision, as they all ended up with Covid (they all seem to be doing well).

So, it’s been a good two months although, we did have a little sadness the week of Thanksgiving. Our little Scruff (aka TheEmptyNestChild) passed away.

I would say our sweet little Scruff, but I don’t think anyone (except maybe TheManoftheHouse) would have described Scruff as sweet. I think he bit everyone he ever met — except the grandbabies (we were always very careful when they were around him). He was 17 1/2 and I’d say he had a pretty good life. He was a fun cat and he kept us entertained. I was surprised at how many pictures I had of him (thank you blog). And also surprised that they were all before the grandbabies came along. I guess between the time the boys left home and the grandbabies, the only thing I did for fun was to take pictures of the cats LOL. Anyway, it made me happy that I had a few good ones so that I could give TheManoftheHouse one to put on his phone — he’s missing that grumpy old cat terribly.

On to the next big event. Are you getting ready? I’ve started shopping a little and hope to decorate this weekend. Always plenty to do — which is a good thing!

Have a great weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

There’s a Mouse in the House

48 Comments / February 6, 2013 June 22, 2013 / Around the House, Scruff

Hey there! Do you remember this cute little mouse that lives at MyDadLovesMeBestSister’s house?

Yeah? Well, we’re not talking about that kind of mouse. Noosireee. A few days ago, PaulKitty started acting funny. We’d find him staring at the wall for no reason. I told TheManoftheHouse that there must be something in there. (Knowing full well exactly what “something” meant.) Then, TheManoftheHouse found Paul Kitty staring at the pantry door. It does look kind of funny.

So, he opened the door and he saw it. IT dashed from the potato bin to hide behind the crockpot. But he couldn’t find it and he had stuff to do, so he left PaulKitty in charge. And then we sort of forgot about it. The next morning, both kitties were staring at the washer and dryer.

Clearly, our kitties are useless housekitties. Cassie and Sirius, they’re not. It had been a few days and I even found teeny tiny crumbs at the cat food station. Did they make friends with little mousy and share their food with him? Slackers. I threw TheManoftheHouse and PaulKitty in the laundry room and told them not to come out empty-handed. Twenty minutes and a lot of commotion later, TheManoftheHouse emerged victorious. PaulKitty was apparently hopeless. Wanna SEE???

Isn’t he cute???
Not.
He ruined the rest of my day. I had a nice relaxing day planned to read and sew a little bit. Instead, I had to clean out the pantry and laundry room. Very, very rude.
My week now is going much better. I hope yours it too!

XOXO,
Anna

WooHoo Wednesday!

34 Comments / November 16, 2011 November 16, 2011 / Chat, Scruff

By the time we get to Wednesday evening every week I’m ready to start partying — we’re over half-way through the week and the weekend will soon be here. Especially this week — only one more day of work and then I’m off work for over a week — BIG WooHoo!!! I can’t wait — I have tons of stuff planned, probably only 10% of which will actually be accomplished. There’s sure to be lots of cooking and cleaning and I can’t wait. The kids will all be home for Thanksgiving. That means lots of fun too!

Do you think I should start by removing the laundry basket from the edge of the sofa?

Fatso has decided that his perch should be on the back of the couch and it’s ruining the cushion. Anyone have any bright ideas for Fat Cat Training? Here’s Mr. Portly himself. Looking rather guilty if you ask me.

In other news, I’m almost done with my Bliss quilt. (More WooHoo!) It’s halfway put together — just a few more hours and it will be ready for quilting. It used almost a whole fat quarter tower — there were strips that were 4 or 5 inches x 18 inches left of each print. Too small for my quarter yard stacks in the stash, but too big for my scrap boxes. So, I folded them all up and squished them together into a cubby. I really like them there — so pretty.

Ooooh, and while I’m in the sewing room, look at this adorable 2012 Flash Card Calendar that I just received. Isn’t it cute? It’s just like those old-timey flashcards — you know, from way before my time LOL. I’m going to take it to work to hang over my desk — hopefully it will add a little cheer to my boring workspace.

Ok. Back in a few days — hopefully with a quilt for a change!
XOXO,
Anna

Kitties and Winners

30 Comments / February 26, 2011 February 26, 2011 / Scruff

Wow! Are you guys all Aurifil-ed out? Thanks to everyone for playing along — it was a fun blog hop.

Now to the real reason you’re here — the winners of the two little sample packs:
LauraLovesQuilting and CateringQuilter
Congratulations Ladies! Please send me your addresses and I’ll get your packages shipped off to you.
For the rest of you, you still have a chance at the grand prize — Pat will announce the winner on her blog on Monday!

Otherwise, not much going on around here. I’ve started the big (ok, huge, for me) task of figuring out how we’re going to update our kitchen and family room. At long last, the end of the UH-GLY green tile is in sight. (The downside is that it will be the end of the 18-year-old threadbare couches — I doubt we’ll be so lucky to find couches that will last as well as these old babies have.) It’s going to be a long project and I’m not really looking forward to it, but it will be nice to be rid of a lot of the tile around here. And guess what? I enlisted the aid of one of those free design services from a furniture store, and she said I need a big quilt to hang on a high empty wall that we have. Ooooh baby, that’s right up my alley!

The kitties aren’t very impressed with all the furniture and fabric talk going on though — they’re back to their usual antics with the rug. Something moved under the rug, so PaulKitty pounced on it.

So it stopped moving. As if I’m supposed to do something about it.

He bravely reached in under there to see what’s shakin’.

So, it stopped moving again and he waited it out.

Aha! It moved out to the end, so Paul Kitty jumped on it.

They tussled around for awhile.

Then decided a good knucklebump was in order and called a truce.

If only this decorating adventure could be that easy!
XOXO,
Anna

We Need A Cat Whisperer

52 Comments / January 27, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Around the House, Scruff

Last week, we experienced a little hijinx around here. It seems that someone has developed a fondness for my sweaters. ???? Every night when we came home from work, we found one of my sweaters in a crumpled pile on the floor, in a different room of the house. (And just for the record, I don’t leave them thrown all over the house — they sit folded on a shelf in our bedroom closet.)

We narrowly escaped disaster on Tuesday — that sweater was halfway to never being seen again. Given extra time, it could have been sucked into the abyss-under-the-bed. The first few days we just laughed, thinking it would be short lived. But, toward the end of the week, it was clear that someone, was enjoying this little game. In an effort to thwart the prankster, I closed the closet door on Friday morning before I left for work. Being smarter than the average cat, our little felon managed to get the door open. It deterred him enough though, that he only had time to pull a few sweaters off of the shelf — but no time to drag them around the house.

So. The big question is…who’s the guilty party? Paul?

Or TheEmptyNestChild???

At least this time, we know it’s not the monkey. He’s been safely locked away since the last event.

Feel free to provide parenting advice. ;-)

XOXO,
Anna