A Spinning Dervish

The Absurdly Gi-normous Kitty is most decidedly a morning person.  Morning feline?  Whatever...

The point is, that when we all get up to face the day and enjoy some nice, crunchy treats, he sees this as the signal to begin The Great Festive Romp.  I have learned to watch where I step.  He is a big boy and very solid.  You never know when he will race over to place his girth directly in your path and I can guarantee you that he will not be the one to fall over.  

He seems to be even more invigorated by school vacation days.  It took him a while to catch onto the fact that my moving towards the door means that I am going away but once he did, he began doing everything in his power to try and convince me to either stay home or take him along.  His seeing that I am now remaining home rather than grabbing bag, keys and travel mug has lent an added air of joy to the mornings.

Today's exhibition was particularly energetic.  I fear that my downstairs neighbors may have lost a ceiling fixture or two.  I feel badly about that, but there was no way I was going to intervene.  Did I mention that he is very big and rather solid?  If the AGK has decided to declare his joy via leaping and rolling, then so be it.  

I did, however, attempt to capture some of the action.  This was all I could get:

The AGK scooting around in his Dollar Store Cat Cave.  This was the moment when he finally decided to poke his head out rather than skid blindly around the living room heedless of any other household residents.  Or furniture...

Startled by the flash and suddenly realizing that I had cracked open a window to catch some of the unseasonably warm breezes, he thundered over to investigate.  In the process, he careened into the propane heating unit and sent the cover to the controls flying.  This is the sort of thing I would normally step right up to repair before any curious kitties decide to start fiddling with the heat settings, but it seemed best to just huddle on the sofa in mortal terror until he was finished with his observation of the outside world.

You'd have done the same and you know it...

The good thing about the morning romp is that it takes some energy and even the Mighty AGK is going to run out of steam eventually.  He played himself out after another hour or so and repaired to the boudoir to rest.

He laid his weary, gi-normous head upon the Kitty Nappin' Mat that Mommy Sheep got him for Christmas and was down for the count.

He slept so deeply that I actually felt the need to check for breathing.  Rest assured, the AGK is alive and well and probably almost back to a full charge.  He'll be ready to go come dinner time.

His napping allowed me to finally get back to vacationing in earnest.  After taking a moment to piece together the heater, I got down to the business at hand.  I'd promised myself that I'd do some spinning during this vacation.  However, due to an ill timed bout of back strain, I was a bit late getting to it.

It's a stupid story and hardly bears repeating.  It all boils down to being too old to lift the sorts of things I seem to believe I can lift but somehow managing to get away with just a bit of soreness.  Then going out in the cold without a proper jacket, shivering violently and really hurting myself.  Yes.  That's right.  You heard me.  I shivered too hard and hurt myself.  Shut up.  It's not funny.  

I can still hear you.  I said it's not funny!!!

Thanks to a weekend of heat packs and a great deal of complaining, all is well with the back now.  I pulled out that Shetland Lamb that Cathy sent me so many moons ago and spent a pleasant afternoon making yarn happen.

See?

I really hate to set deadlines for myself during vacations.  It seems wrong to force myself to adhere to a schedule when I already have to do that during my working hours.  But I honestly think I can finish up most of this if I stay the course.  I'd like to think so anyway.  I've enjoyed processing and spinning this fleece more than I can say, but I think it is time for it to be actual, honest-to-goodness yarn rather than just something-more-along-the-lines-of-conceptual yarn.  I'd also like to knit something with it.  

Perhaps a propane heater cozy of some sort?  I have a week of vacation now and two more throughout the course of the school year.  I don't know as this particular household appliance can take much more abuse...

SA