Mo’s anniversary

Mr Mo came home with me just before Christmas, December 18th, 2004.

Mo as a kitten. He was a feisty little guy, unafraid of the bigger cats where he grew up.

He had a grayish body with faint tiger stripes, and darker black “points” or extremities; his tail, legs, and head.  His sister Stella was more flashy, with the polka dot tummy and bolder tabby stripes, but Mo was the kitten for me.

getting into mischief

Here is another shot that shows how silver his coat appeared.  Before long he got his longer black outer coat in and the gray undercoat was hidden.  Now if he is out in strong sunlight you can sometimes still see the hidden tabby stripes.  He has a stripe of longer fur along his back and tail, and of course on his head as his mini-mohawk.  On the rare occasions when he is alarmed and puts his hair up you can see this.  Reminds me of a fish raising it’s dorsal fin so it appears too big to swallow.

I was re-painting the living room shortly after he arrived, and he delighted in tunneling under the clear plastic drop cloths, and playing fetch; chasing small balls, returning them to me to be thrown again.

He has been a great buddy, very affectionate and entertaining, that’s my Mo.

the mo report

Hello Mo fans!

nims under the bureau

The cats have settled back to their normal routine of chasing each other around the house.  One day Nims was hiding under a small braided rug while Mo circled around batting at the odd lump.  I wasn’t fast enough to snap a shot of that but I caught the end of this episode of hide and seek.  Nims used to hide under this bureau as a kitten and can just barely fit under there now.

She is eating well and seems completely recovered from her intestinal distress.  I guess I will have to eat the rest of the liver, pumpkin, and prune juice.  Hmm, what would the Top Chef Masters do with that challenge?

Private reserve

There are some things you make that are really fun,

seed bead bracelets

but take so long to make or are so special you can’t ever consider selling them.

These peyote stitch seed bead bracelets are about two inches wide and at twenty or thirty hours apiece are not a practical item to try to mass produce.  But making them is much like knitting, just a needle, thread, and picking up the next bead to fit in the pattern, or the next color that calls out to you.  I had fun weaving these while watching TV, until a certain black and grey kitten arrived at my house and I had to hide such temptations.

The black and white one is a Mayan design called the Hunab Ku, a spiral that shares the wisdom of the yin and yang symbol.

If you click on the image you can see them at full size.  By starting the weaving with a row of black and white beads or a very high contrast set of colors, it helps to keep the pattern straight until you get the rhythm down.