Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my friends - thank you so much for taking the time to keep up with my blog (and especially thank you if you post a comment, I love it when I get comments)

Hopefully 2012 will be kind to all of us and will only bring good things to all.

We had a very unexpected early Christmas present -- on the evening of 23rd December Peter went out to shut the hens in the hen house but they wouldn't go in, so he called me to come and help. Lo and behold there was a kitten curled up fast asleep in the straw in there! He wouldn't move so I had to reach in and take him out - it wasn't til afterwards that I thought 'was that such a good idea?' but he just let me pick him up and didn't bite or scratch at all.

We put him in the shed and settled him in there with a bowl of catfood and a bed - and he's been living in the shed ever since! Initially I thought he was a 'she' and had come up with the name 'Evie' - the name has stuck but he's now Mr. Evie, to make it sound manly enough!!

He was in a truly AWFUL state; it really breaks my heart to think of all the neglected, stray cats here and how they would have such a better quality of life with just a little help. But at least we can make a difference for Mr. Evie (and our other four cats were all strays too) - though I think it's going to be a bit of a long journey getting him back to health.

As it was so close to Christmas when we found him the vets were all closed so Peter got some antibiotics from the chemists as his mouth is in a horrid mess - his breath stinks to high-heavens. I had a look in his mouth and nearly every tooth is decayed or covered in plaque - I was even able to take one of them out myself just using the tweezers.

We took him to the vet a couple of days ago and the vet was quite concerned about the state of him too, he didn't want to give any more antibiotics at the moment but gave us a worm tablet for him and a liquid tonic and said to try and feed him up and give him lots of TLC and to hope for the best...

He was doing ok, but yesterday he took a turn for the worse and I really thought we were going to lose him - he wouldn't touch any food so I started to syringe feed him; he was so weak that I thought he would die soon, but luckily he made it through the night and is slightly stronger today, though I am still syringe feeding him.

He's purring at least and is walking again (yesterday he would just flop on the floor and wouldn't walk); fingers crossed he will make it.

Surpringly, the vet said that he isn't a kitten at all, he's a very small cat!! I think that would explain how his teeth are SO bad (they are truly horrid, I feel so sorry for him with all that poison/infection going on in his little mouth)

I know I don't really have a great deal of 'followers' on this blog but I'm having a 10% off sale in my Etsy shop right now, to try and raise the extra money for the vet bills -- you need to put coupon code VETBILLSALE in the box at the check-out and it will knock off the 10% off automatically.

If you could 'share' this that would be wonderful - I'm not sure how big the bills are going to be but we are going to take him to another vet next week - I really am keen to get some of his other teeth taken out or cleaned (though I think they are beyond cleaning as an option) so that he can start feeding properly and put on some weight...but I don't know if he is strong enough to stand an anesthetic just yet...and then once he's up to it we'll be getting him neutered.

Merry Christmas!!

Phanie over on Etsy has kind of spurred me on to try and remember my blog a bit more often so here we go with my SECOND post this month!

I'm still working hard to try and get my wee shop restocked again after the craziness that was the pre-christmas rush (between sales on Etsy and sales at both craft markets it was looking very bare) -- I'm up to 50 listings now, which is a step in the right direction at least.

I can't see myself selling anything on Etsy now for the rest of this month what with all the holidays and festivities going on so this is a good opportunity to do a re-stock while I can.

For the moment I've been concentrating just on the wrist warmers - as I had got down to just nine pairs in stock!

Note to myself for next winter - don't be thinking that you have 'too much' stock - when things start to get busy it seems to go very quickly and everyone likes to have a bit of a selection to choose from.

The alpaca wrist warmers are continuing to sell out just about as quickly as I can get them made - though I would imagine that this will tail off after Christmas. I made a really gorgeous pair in the fawn and was really happy with how they turned out...



I made a FINAL order from Springwools earlier this week - the final one of the year!! - ha it's easy for me to say that when there aren't many days left!! I ordered I think six different shades of the baby alpaca yarn for more wrist warmers..it is soooo lovely to be working with, it's a shame it doesn't come in bigger balls though.

Yesterday, the weather was finally good enough for me to do a bit of 'crochet al fresco' so I got Peter to drive me down to one of the more remote beaches (yes, I had brought my mobile with me!) and then he picked me up later on. It was lovely - I was the only one down there, apart from a sheep! I found a relatively comfortable rock and was able to just sit there and take in the views and the peace and quiet til I started getting too cold.

Life Begins...

at 40!!!

guess who had a BIG birthday this week?!

I honestly will never forget my 40th birthday, so much has happened to make it truly unforgettable...

first of all, I've been on the news - in America!!
http://www.youtube.com/user/rosemarycallsthegodd#p/a/f/0/CTkTmw3-OC4 - drat, I can't get links to post properly in here, but you can copy it and paste it if you are interested -- it's nothing to do with crochet though ;)

also, Peter had booked me in for a surprise afternoon of pampering at the spa at the Brehon hotel in Killarney on my actual birthday - oh gosh it was heavenly, if this is what being 40 is like then bring it on!!!

Back to crochet-related stuff...December has been such a good month for me too with sales, I'm so delighted!

I had thought that I was way more prepared for the Christmas 'rush' this year but things have sold SO well that I got down to just 7 pairs of wrist warmers in my Etsy shop!

Peter and I went to a craft fair at the Royal in Valentia last Sunday and it was very successful indeed - not as much as the one in Waterville the previous week but I'm very happy all the same!

I've been making mens' wristwarmers lately - I've had two custom orders and have made another pair as a Christmas pressie, and then just last night had another custom order for a pair :D

I'm so glad that I've started making alpaca wrist warmers - it is sooo lovely to work with (King Cole baby alpaca DK) and the colours are nice too...as well as the ones I've added of photos of below, I've got some creamy fawn baby alpaca to use at some stage so keep an eye out for a photo of them too! I'm learning that not EVERYONE wants to wear bright funky colours (though those sell really well too!) and it's good to have a bit of variety in what I'm selling.

It all seems to be wrist warmers and hats at the moment - once things quieten down a bit after Christmas I think I'll make some more scarves and cowls (a bit more variety again!) but right now I'm working to try and get some more items listed in my shop so smaller items are better!