another cat-related post!

I'm not a religious person, or especially spiritual but I do think that things happen for a reason, at least some of the time, even if you never know why it happens to you.

At the moment it feels like we've had a beautiful gift harshly snatched away too soon (Mr. Evie and his too short length of time with us) but then today Peter phoned me from work to say that someone had come in to his work and told him how they were desperately looking for a home for a little kitten...so it's like being given another chance perhaps to make a difference for a stray kittie.

We'll be getting him later this evening - I'm so excited, all I know so far is that he's ginger and is about 8 weeks old. He was found, trying to keep warm under the bonnet of a car. They took him to the vet and he got a clear bill of health so we will be able to bring him in to the house and not have to overly worry about him giving our Boris an infection. (Boris is FIV positive and has a very poor immune system because of that)

I don't think I'll quite believe it til he's actually here...

Sad Sad News

Poor little Evie died yesterday.

I'd taken him to the vets in Killarney the day before - they specialise in small animals so it really was the best place for him to be.

They took blood tests and amazingly he was negative for both FIV and feline leukemia and the vet thought he'd be fine to get his dental work done as he'd put weight on (through the syringe feeding) and it was something that needed to be done urgently.

While I was at the vets with him, I was able to see properly inside his mouth and it was truly awful, I don't know how he could have tolerated so much pain every day and still been so friendly and affectionate. As well as the rotten teeth and sore gums, his mouth was covered in nasty ulcers, it must have hurt him so very much.

So I left him with the vets and came home; they were operating on him yesterday morning and phoned to say that it had all gone REALLY well - he needed to have every single tooth taken out but that was all ok. The vet said that he'd phone back later to let us know when we could set off and collect him - and all seemed very positive and hopeful.

A bit later on I got another call from the vet and was so excited because I knew it meant that Evie was awake and we could come and get him -- but the vet said that he was very sorry but it wasn't good news.

I thought he meant that there were complications and we'd have to collect him the next day, but it was the worst news - the poor little mite had died. He'd been fine all through the operation and was in the recovery area and had woken up, was sitting up and happy but then when the nurse went back to check up on him he was lying curled up and was dead.

It was an awful shock, I had been soooo full of plans and hopes for his future life with us - he reminded me so much of our Boris, who also just turned up as a very loving but neglected stray cat, he has been with us for nearly seven years now and I'd hoped that we could give Evie the same good life as we had done for Boris and all our other cats...but it wasn't meant to be, and it felt like someone had cruelly pulled the rug out from under my feet and all my hopes came crashing down.

Anyway we went to Killarney to bring him home, which was so hard - I tried so hard not to cry while we were in with the vet -- it must be the hardest part of their job, having this happen, and it must be even worse then when the owner is in floods of tears.

It was dark by the time we got home so we settled him in the shed for one last night and then buried him in the garden this morning. I chose a nice spot in the hens' run - seeing as how we found him in the hen house it seemed 'right' for him to have that as his final resting place.

I am really struggling with the fact that it was me who took him to the vet and my decision to get his teeth sorted now - it's hard not to blame myself for his death, even though I KNOW that by taking him in and nursing him I gave him nearly two weeks extra of his life and in that time I know that he felt real love and comfort probably for the first time in his whole life.

The vet said that it might have been a problem with his liver - that it couldn't break down the anesthetic properly and that's why he died, but we don't know for sure. There are so many questions and 'what ifs' and no answers and I find that hard to deal with.

He was such a tiny thing, the smallest cat - I thought he was a kitten but he was fully grown - he was just so loving and has really touched my life - I think the fact that he was with me for such a short time has made this all the more poignant and hard to deal with. It seems so cruel that he was only with us for such a brief time; surely he deserved more love than that???

I am telling myself that I was there to try and make a difference in his life at the end of it at least, and as friends and family have said he had a much better death than he would have done. He was inside, in the warmth of a heat lamp (which I bet he loved!) and on a fluffy lamby blanket and he wouldn't have felt any pain. I just wish that he didn't have to go.

People have been so sweet and have put the most lovely messages up on my facebook page, in texts, on the Etsy forums and on the phone and I am trying so hard to take their kindness on board and not blame myself for his death but to try and see it that I DID make a difference and I gave him some extra time that he wouldn't have had otherwise - I'm sure that he had gone in to our hen house to die and would have died if we hadn't taken him in.

I got this message from a truly lovely lady on Etsy and I have put it on my facebook page and now on here because I know it is true.

''Rosemary:

DON'T BE DEVASTATED!!!

Mr. Evie died quickly, happy, and loved! YOU were responsible for all of those - it was not a lingering, slow, painful, lonely passing in a dirty hen house or worse - he died knowing he was loved and happy as - more so than he'd likely been in his whole life.

All we have is the present, today, and he was the same. He was HAPPY. Likely for the first time in his life! Rejoice that he KNEW that he was loved and passed so fast he likely didn't know what happened. We should all be so lucky!

You were glorious! You gave your heart to him! He knew it. It was not tragic. For Mr. Evie, it was a happy ending. You know better than anyone what it COULD have been like for him. It is tragic for you because you are left behind and you loved him - and wanted more for him.

All we get is what we get. Be happy! You changed the course of a little life, you gave him love when he likely never had it before, you gave him security and the best care he could have possibly have had. You cannot control when a spirit escapes its earthly bounds; you controlled HOW it left, and it left happy and loved.

I wish I could be there for you, I hope you are getting lots of hugs and kisses this evening. You've earned them! SMILE - you now have a little guardian cat looking out for you!

Lots of love right back at you - This is your PRESENT and it's all you have for sure. Honor Mr. Evie by living it happily and fully.''

update on Evie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T-Y0Zn22gI&feature=youtu.be

I can't get the video to play in post but I just HAD to post this here...what amazing progress!

I'm still syringe feeding him for the time being but he's properly trying to eat and drink on his own again - it's made my day!

The left-hand side of his mouth is incredibly painful, even to touch his ear on that side makes him cry out (which is hard when I'm doing his ear drops) - I think he might have to have all the teeth out on that side, definitely the front lower canine, which looks rotten and black at the base :(

But if we can keep him eating ok then he'll put on enough weight and condition so that the vet can knock him out to get his teeth removed/treated -- I SO want to get his teeth sorted, it'll make such a difference to his quality of life.

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!

Wow! What a month!!!

Yay, another month where I've made not one but TWO blog posts - maybe I'm getting the hang of blogging after all; ha!

November has been the BEST month for me to date on Etsy since I started my shop there - both in sale numbers and in takings (I guess the two go hand in hand really). I am SO grateful; all this has been so much more of a success than I could have ever imagined it would be.

To date I've had a grand total of 164 sales on there now, I was half hoping to make 175 sales before Christmas but I can't really see that happening; I don't know if it's always a good idea to set all these goals because it can be disappointing if you don't reach them by the 'deadline', and really every single sale is special anyway.

I had someone buy not one but two cowls the other day, which gave my map of world sales my first stickers to go in Alaska!

Last weekend I had my second ever craft fair -- I was kind of in two minds about it, those things make me so nervous, in case it's a total flop, but in the end it was REALLY successful and we sold loads and loads. I didn't have a proper inventory, which was a bit of a mistake, but it was ok really as I just reactivated the listings back on Etsy for the 'stock' I had remaining when we got home. I sold a few unlisted items so it's hard to know what number of items I sold but it doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things.

I've got another craft fair this Sunday - in the Royal in Valentia; I'm not expecting it to be such a big success as the one in Waterville but we'll see.

I quite like doing the craft fairs (so far!) but it's a bit of a pain, having to deactivate all my Etsy listings and risk losing customers over there while I'm at the fair...but it can't be helped.

I've put an announcement in my shop to expalin so hopefully people will buy early or else wait and see if things are still there after Sunday's fair.

I've been making what feels like a million hats just lately as I wanted to add some variety to my 'range'.

I quite like making them - it's nice to have a bit of a change from constantly making wristwarmers (though I love making them, and they are so successful on Etsy)