The One About Inori

Ok, again, procrastinating with the 2nd part of the overland trip…..

I’ve been busy busy busy with the reopening of my online store and hoping to reopen very soon! It’s currently undergoing a face-lift as well as spanking new (handmade!! by me!!) products in store.

So.. yes! After taking many readers’ advice, I’m finally selling my handmade stuff online. You’ll just have to wait to see what I will be offering!

I forsee 2010 to be a very very busy year for me. I’ve enrolled as a full time student (but studying from home) and will be sitting entrance exams to Bachelor of Medicine/Surgery in July as well as in November.

I will be taking 5 pre-tertiary subjects this year, namely Maths, Physical Science, Chemistry, Biology and English. (Yeah, don’t ask why English. It’s compulsory… -___-” )

Really hope I can cope with the store + studies + kids!

School starts end of February so I have from now till then to work extremely hard for the store. Then it will be time to balance these 3 jobs of mine. Pray that God will give me the strength to do this and still remain sane and cheerful!

Anyway, I just dropped in to introduce to you some new guys in our family!

Remember I mentioned a couple of posts down that the mover guys lost our bed slats and we had to go out to get wood to lay under the matteress?

Well, we had to cut the wood to size (the warehouse guys do this service for free!) and thus we had some off-cuts.

I looked at them (the off-cuts, not the warehouse guys) and thought that I would put them into good use.

So with these:

Wood, sandpaper, nails and hammer, I made this:

And it sits happily on my sewing/work bench. I’m very happy with it.

And then there’s this fellow:

Haha. Don’t worry. We haven’t adopted another cat. That would be highly unfair to Kelly. This stray visits us from time to time and he’s very friendly. He likes to sit on top of our car for some reason. I fed him with some doggy food on some occasions.

I named him Mr. Bingley (No prizes for guessing what classic I’m reading right now) but Nad suggested “Mr. Bing” (after Chandler Bing from FRIENDS, Matthew Perry’s character).

Mr. Bing doesn’t come very often nowadays. Well, that’s the style of strays I guess. Easy come, easy go. I saw him yesterday perched on the neighbour’s porch and promptly ignored me when I mewed to him. Tsk. Cats.

Then, on my mum’s birthday, she bought me this:

Yes.. you read it right. SHE bought me a present on HER birthday. Hahaha. She’s an awesome mum like that.

An overlocking machine to help with my online store creations!

I named her Lizzy Harmony and she’s sitting right next to Brother:

I love how they are colour coordinated, like a happy little family. She’s a dream to use and is a perfect companion to ol’ Brother.

And then we have a surrogate mum:

Her name is Mama Chooki and she’s a loan from a very dear friend of ours. She’s currently sitting on 8 eggs (well, she started with 9 but kicked one out yesterday) and we hope to be chicky parents on or around 20 Feb.

Don’t worry about the eggs sticking out. I eased them back under after taking this photo.

We won’t count our chicks before they hatch so fingers crossed that there won’t be anymore cases of the chicken version of an abortion or miscarriage!

I read somewhere that in summer, a higher percentage of chicks would be males so HOPEFULLY, we get a couple of female chicks!

Mama Chooki is a good mama and although she looks pissed (well, a broody hen is always pissed I guess), she’s rather patient with my peering into her little house to make sure she’s okay.

Lastly, I’ll leave you with a picture with chubby Chubbs…

I followed him into the room and found him in this position, bobbing up and down in a little baby jiggle.

SOOOOO CUTE!

I’ve been agonising over the past month or so.. about making a very tough decision in our lives.

The boys in the household have had hay fever and Nad has a history of asthma and gets mild attacks almost every night.

The main cause for this is dust and animal fur, especially cats’ fur. Cats’ dander and saliva is proven to cause more allergies than dogs’ and is also much finer, therefore tends to float around the air more so than dogs’ fur.

It breaks my heart to see Nad as well as little Chubbs sniffing. I too, get hay fever when I get close to Kelly. I cannot imagine how I used to share the same bed with the little kitty before marriage! Maybe you get de-immunised when you are apart from an animal for a long time?

With a very heavy heart, I placed an ad on Ravelry to rehome my dearest Kelly cat.

It must have been God’s will as a very nice lady responded within half a day.

I spoke with her over the phone and agreed to bring Kelly to her home.

2 days ago, we finally packed up Kelly’s belongings and put her into the crate, the same crate that carried her from Singapore to here, and some of her toys and a towel that has both the dogs’ and her smell on it.

It was probably be the last car trip she’ll have with us. (She HATES to travel as it stresses her out.. she meows non-stop in the car.)

As soon as I met the family, I knew that Kelly was going to a good home.

The two young boys (10 and 13 years old) are very gentle and loving towards Kelly. They’ve had a cat all their lives but she was recently run over by a car. She was deaf due to her old age and couldn’t hear the vehicle approaching.

Kelly would get to do the things she used to be able to in their house – sleep with them on their beds, have full roam around the house instead of being confined to only the laundry area of our home.

In many ways, I have let Kelly down.

She used to be able to share the same bed as I but she obviously can’t now.

With two young kids, I’ve slackened even more with housework and can’t keep up with vacuuming the house every second day. This aggravates the furry situation in the house.

I used to be able to wash the laundry area where the pets are kept every other weekend as well but have found it harder to do so recently.

At least, the dogs have the yard to play in and they go on car rides and romps in the parks often with us. Our church is connected to a park land and they come with us on some Saturdays to play after service too.

But Kelly…. is cooped up at home. Watching longingly at the windows, looking out at the yard where the dogs get to play.

It’s not fair for a cat to be kept like this.

I know I have always been a strong advocate on responsible ownership. That ‘a pet is for life’ and you commit to the very end. I used to think that children will never come in between pets and I.

I now admit that I’m wrong – that try as I may, I can never juggle 2 young kids with all the other things I have to do and still do everything at 100%.

Don’t get me wrong – I still love Benji, Chiyo and Kelly. But have slackened much with them after the birth of the kids.

I miss her terribly. I’ve shed tears at night especially when I miss her bell tinkling as she prances around.

I miss seeing her cuddling up with Chiyo.

I miss chasing her away from the kitchen when she tries to steal food.

I miss playing with her with string and watching her chase yarn balls as I knit.

I will always remember that when I first felt Sunshine kick me in my tummy, Kelly was sitting on me.

I will always remember how I had to dig her butt to clear out her poop when she first came to us – unable to move her bowels.

I will always remember how we refused to put her to sleep despite vets urging us to do so. “She’ll never be able to poop in her life!” so said a senior vet to us.

I will always remember her loyalty to the dogs. How she refused to eat and was so stressed in quarantine but the moment she saw the dogs at home, she felt at ease and happy again.

(Photo taken in my dad’s house in Singapore.)

Kelly dear…. I would love to keep you until the end. Please understand that to do that, I would be very selfish and unreasonable. And you would be very miserable as well.

Thank you for being so patient and forgiving. And being so gentle with Sunshine… even when she hit you, you did not retaliate.

Thank you for teaching Sunshine to be gentle and kind to animals.

Thank you for sharing your life with us. For mysteriously turning up at Nad’s parent’s doorstep. Your appearance still puzzles us as you couldn’t have got so high up in that building all by yourself.

We will miss you greatly… but we are very sure that you’d be much happier where you are now… and that you can once again, share a bed with another human. We know you are a loving cat who craves human relationships and we are sure that you will get plenty of love in your new home.

We’ve come to learn the hardest lesson in love – letting go.

Well, we came back about 4 days ago but are still feeling tired. We need a holiday from our holiday!!!!!!

The truth is, no holiday is really a holiday when you have kids in tow. WHAT were we thinking?? 2 kids under 2?!?!? On holidays?!?!?

3 years (I think) ago, I went to Melbourne to visit Nad who was then my boyfriend. I didn’t like Melbourne.

3 years (or so) later, I STILL HATE MELBOURNE.

The traffic, the crowds, the ARGHHHH!

We didn’t take pictures in Melbourne. I don’t want to talk about it. Except that I got to meet Debra and Alison and Tara and many other people who came up to me to say hi (I’m easily identifiable because I’m asian and have 2 kids in tow… ). I would have enjoyed Bendi better without the kids. Had to stop to change diapers and feed and etc etc etc. Sunshine was VERY tired and cranky as we didn’t have a stroller so she couldn’t sleep while I shopped.

Thank God for Debra… well, her hotel room….. Sunshine and Chubbs got to rest up there and Nad slept in the car for awhile (because our chatting kept him up). We had dinner and then we drove back down to Melbourne.

I also visited Alison in her home up in the hills. Scary drive! I don’t think I’m suited for living in the hills. Alison taught me how to Navajo ply (spinning). Will have to try it soon otherwise she would nag at me! LOL.

As for Tassy.. we loved the place. Scenery was pleasing to the eye. Was a little chilly though. Strong winds at night, howling and Nad couldn’t sleep for the fear of our little cabin being blown away and we’d find ourselves blown to Kansas.

We stayed in a self-contained cabin/ container in a caravan park. It was the most we could afford.

It had a rustic look to it… most pictures taken in the cabin had a sepia tone, especially when the light streamed through the window.

I achieved this soft look not because of my excellent photography skills (although I DO have excellent photography skills, *ahem*) but because I left the camera in the glove compartment in the car overnight and the lens fogged up!!!!!!!! It took so long to defog. That’s how cold it was.

Isn’t she sweet?

Saying her grace.

Nad tried to tempt Chubbs with some bread. -___-”

This is Chubbs with Sunshine’s favouritest toy. She calls him ‘Mossy’ (because he looks like a mosquito) but I want to find out what his real name is. Typing ‘muppet with blue long nose that looks like a mosquito’ in Google might not yield any results. Can someone let me know who this character is from The Muppets? Please?

By the way, our little boy is now 7kg. He’s 3.5months and is already 7kg. Sunshine is almost 2 years old and only weighs about 11kg. Sigh. He’s gonna grow bigger and bigger and he would soon be bigger than her!

They look alike, don’t they?

Random scenery for you.

This is the bridge in the town we stayed in (Richmond). It was built in the 1800s…. I think. And has a few potholes so every time we drove on it we had to be very very careful.

Rumours were that Richmond is haunted (so says the reception lady at the caravan park)…. But we weren’t afraid at all. Richmond is a very nice, old town.

One day we drove around Richmond and Nad parked the car on the grass on a slope. WE GOT STUCK!!!!!!!!!

It had rained the whole night before and beneath the grass was MUD!!!!!!!!

We were hopelessly stuck and wished that we had rented a 4WD instead. -___-

Nad borrowed the Yellow Pages from a resident nearby and called the tow truck.

Err.. we had $100 less to spend on our trip.

It was funny though, thinking back. I thanked my lucky stars that I brought my knitting along. I sat in the car to knit while waiting to be towed out. Lol.

We also went to church while we were there and made fast friends with a family. They invited us to their home and we got to meet their VERY VERY VERY cute cow, Jenny.

She came RUNNING towards us like a puppy when they called her name!!!! SO CUTE!!!!!!!! Sorry about the picture.. it was sundown by the time we reached their house.

They also had chooks and 2 goats. One of the goats, Bubbles, was pregnant with at least 2 kids! How exciting!

We were really blessed to have met and gained the friendship of this family as they have been checking on us everyday we were there, making sure we were safe and well. Thank God for placing these friends in our lives.

That’s all I have to say. I have a long list of THINGS TO DO in front of me and I’d better do it fast while the kids are asleep.

I’ve also started night classes in preparation to gaining entry into Uni so I am without the kids Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.

Last night was Maths class and I think I can ace this class easily. I’ve done these in Secondary school and just need to refresh my memory. Tonight and tomorrow night would be Chemistry and Physics and I think I might have problems with these. I was only good in Maths (and Geography) when I was in school.

I missed little Chubbs very very badly when I was in class. 3.5 hrs without him! (And then I came home and decided that it was great without him for awhile. LOL!)

Okay, my house is in a mess and I’m just rattling on to myself and no one is reading this anymore. Catch ya later!

I’m sneaking an update while both babies are napping (bliss!)

Firstly, I got to shower today! My torture confinement/purification process is finally over!

I washed my hair and used my own home made soap. Ummmmmmmmmmm Bliss!

I also did tons of work in one morning. It’s noon now and I’ve already:

- did 2 loads of laundry

- change bedsheets

- picked up all the dog poop in the backyard (Which is, like, a lot.)

- mum hovered the living room and the play room and I emptied the vacuum bag and washed it too!

Argh… look, I’ve become a mundane housewife who delights in getting housework done. WHAT HAVE I TURNED INTO????????????????????????????

Sorry.

So, pictures of bathing! Not mine though. Can’t show you those. Not that I have any either. But Chubbie’s bath time photos!

Cleaning his face.

Didn’t like being bathed.

All clean and wiping dry!

Yay! In his wondersuit! Happy happy!

With his big sister.

I managed some time to make a batch of Lavender soap too!

Smells heavenly!

And a picture of the Infant Wraplan on our little model.

One last photo of how Kelly (the cat) sleeps on Chiyo (the dog). She tries to get as much body heat from the dogs as possible!

I have to go! Again, hope to blog soon!

To all the doggie fans, here’s 2 pictures of Benji and Chiyo having their RMB (Raw Meaty Bones).

They get RMB at least once a month (usually once a fortnight) to clean their teeth and to keep them happy.

As I mentioned in the previous post, they just had their baths yesterday, They smell good now. We’re letting Benji grow out his coat for the winter.

Phew! 2 blog posts in a day! Must be some kinda record!