What was Beneath the Cat

Happy New Year??

EEEK...How can it be almost 3 weeks since my last post?

Once again, I have so little to show for those 3 weeks.

No projects have been finished, none of the things that should have been done have been done, and Christmas is still up. 😬

(And, no, I'm NOT off having fun.)

In my defense, there have been several drains on my time.  

I've been switched from the injections (which I was giving to myself) to infusions, (which have to be done by IV). The hospital clinic where I have them done is 45 minutes from me and the actual process ends up taking 4+ hours.

Eventually, they will be less frequent but, for now, the loading doses are a big commitment.

There are also the oral surgeon appointments, and they are almost an hour away and seem never-ending.  Another (painful) one is coming up on Monday.

And something is always requiring repair.  The latest is my furnace...AGAIN!

Despite the annual routine maintenance/inspection I have done, and despite whatever part was replaced last year at the coldest part of the winter, it stopped working a week ago Friday.

I had to have an emergency technician come out and he replaced the part with a temporary one, but it does not work like it is supposed to.

Like many of you, I turn my heat down at night...It was never a problem getting it to warm back up in the morning and it was, in fact, on an automatic schedule.

Now I have to remember to manually turn it up and down and it can take an entire day and not reach the temperature to which it is set. First world problem I know and I am, truly, grateful that I have heat at all.

They are coming back with the new part on Tuesday, and I am just hoping that it actually fixes the problem.

Of course, it always happens when it's the coldest. This is today's advisory:

Anyway.

Back to the purpose of this post:

I promised that the next time I posted I would post the Stag Rug I completed but couldn't show before because Liza decided it was her new digs.

It is not bound (ha! silly you for even thinking it might be) but the hooking is as done as I'm getting it. 

I think.

I had envisioned a warmer background and a less "busy" deer but neither of those things happened.

It was difficult to photograph, but you get the gist. 

It measures approximately 33" x 24" and was hooked in a 9.0 cut.

The design is by Lori Rippey ("Homespun Prims by Lori").

I'm undecided as to what's next. I started a little cross stitch piece until I decide - but it's not holding my attention. 

I think what I need to do is commit to binding at least one of my rugs before starting a new, larger, project.

Baking/cooking is also at a lull.

I played with tweaking my recipe for "Tuscan coffee cake."

The original recipe, though called a "coffee cake," is actually more bread-like than cake-like. (And I'm not talking bread-like as in banana bread, etc. I'm talking a full-blown yeasted bread.)

I really did like it (how can you go wrong with dates, cranberries and toasted walnuts??) but decided to change it up and make a more truly cake-like version.

I can't decide.  I like them both.

And since this post is a bit on the dour side, I'll leave you with these photos of my grandkitty, Emmy. (Yes, she looks a lot like my Liza Bean - they are half sisters.)

For some reason, this just cracked me up.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Stay safe and warm.