Saturday, January 21, 2017

Perdita seems entirely restored to us, scampering about like a mad-cat, and the wound looks clean. When she curls on her right side, I can and do lean over her and examine it close and personal, without touching or otherwise annoying her. And it's fine. And she isn't particularly interested in it. 

So two major problems have been disposed of – Perdita’s surgery and the income tax. I’m ready for 2017. But others come bubbling up from the ground.

A dear friend lost her beloved dog to death yesterday. 


I knew him only at the end of his life. He was disagreeable and incontinent and nothing much to look at. He was very much loved, and I am sure returned, with advantages, all the love he received. I knit him -- some will remember; he was a Parson's Jack Russell. Helen made a mosaic in which he figures. Neither of these cold objects will be of much use to our friend today.

I have reached row 66 of the border of Mrs Hunter's shawl -- not much advance on yesterday. That is because I have reached the point where a new ball of yarn will soon have to be attached, and this afternoon I faced up to the winding of it. 940 yards.

We put on the snooker -- an interesting sport, at a very interesting stage of the Championship tournament at the Ally Pally --  and I wound and wound. For a long time the skein around my knees was completely undiminished. Then, progress! and a new temptation. I may -- I probably -- I surely have wound enough to finish the shawl. Do I need to go on doing this all afternoon? 


I persevered until at last interrupted. I suspect, indeed hope, that I will have the moral stamina to finish winding the skein tomorrow. But if not, I'm sure I've done enough for present purposes.

7 comments:

  1. Hi Jean:

    I think the mosaic and the sweater might be very comforting indeed. When I lost my dear almost 12 year old Boxer in September, these kinds of "artifacts' were and continue to be a great comfort. It doesn't bring your companion back and it helps nonetheless.

    Sue

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  2. Don't you have a ball winder and swift? I could wind 940 yards in about ten minutes with my set up, barring snags or tangles. If you don't wish to invest at this time remember the Teapot Trust ladies will wind any and all skeins at the EYF, in return for a small donation.

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  3. Your words about this poor creature are priceless, Jean, and I am sure would describe many of us at the ends of our lives.
    I notice that you avoid the subject of the inauguration and the subsequent march. Is it just too painful an issue at present?

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  4. I'm sorry for your friend's loss. I have to say that the only things that have ever comforted me on the loss of a cat have been time and another cat (or two, in the last case.)
    And let's don't talk about the inauguration.

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  5. I am so sorry for the loss of your friends dog. Having rescued and loved many dogs and cats over the years (not to mention mice, voles and moles and various other critters) I deeply sympathize.
    I'm also thrilled to hear about Perdita's good health for all your sakes. I have to say that although it is for sure, major surgery, none of my pets ever treated it as such and I'd be hard pressed to make them relax at all.
    I also believe that animals treat themselves correctly for this type of thing and rest when they need to.

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  6. This discussion of animal health caused me to think of a retired cat vet I knew. He would diagnose human behavior in cat terms. "Distemper" was a favorite when someone was unpleasant. Shandy's comment is surely spot on. I marched yesterday (along with 89,000 others!) with much knitwear in evidence.

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  7. Glad to know Perdita's healing well. I didn't march, but several of my companions from Friday's knitting group at Eat Sleep Knit were busy working away on hats and either going to be catching busses to DC as soon as the group was over or be downtown in Atlanta the next day. I'm still recovering from a medication allergy ICK, but I donated about an hour of knitting, a set of needles, and a skein of pink yarn to the cause.
    I was happy that the pics I've seen show more people out for Sat than for the Inauguration.

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