nawilla

[nawilla]

Not quite geeky enough to do this, but I could.

Crochet an Amigurumi Chemistry Set - So Cute and Super Smart Too! 👉 https://buff.ly/w8CTPdQ - designs from four popular designers: Michael Cao, Olga Tomas, Lauren Espy & Michelle Carlisle

[nawilla]

Yoda would notice because he guest lectures in both courses.

Yoda has so many other things to do, would he even notice?

[nawilla]

I love the change in tone here.

From time to time, it’s almost as if they still see him

[nawilla]

I always respond but sometimes get delayed by life. (I also didn't log in once for a few years before I got back into fanfic, and didn't respond to a comment that was a few years old because it was so embarrassing to not have seen it for that long, but it was still appreciated).

Yes there's a typo in the first option but I am not redoing the whole thing

[nawilla]

As a biologist, I don't trust in varnishing a watermelon. Nope, not trying that one.

Fruits, preserved

-Practical American Cookery and Domestic Economy 1856

Found these to be interesting.

[nawilla]

N the Cat is a Drama Whore (and possibly not dying)

She was constipated.

Since getting cleaned out for more than $800 at the emergency vet she has a referral to a specialist (no idea how much that will cost) and has started picking at her food again.

She also sniffed at the water fountain.

Still exhibiting hiding behavior.

The day before the constipation became suddenly obvious, we visited the non-emergency vet (though we saw Dr. C, her regular vet Dr. B was out) because while she was exhibiting dying cat behaviors (hiding/isolating, not eating or drinking), her other physiological signs were NOT consistent. She was slowing down and a bit unsteady first thing in the morning if she didn't get fluids in the middle of the night, but the unsteadiness improved with subcutaneous fluids, but she was alert and oriented and continued to come out from under the bed and go to the cat room for litter box time. I had continued with subcutaneous hydration (stepping it up) as a palliative measure, and she cooperated. She even hissed at me when I pulled her out from under the bed. (In fairness, I was pulling her by the leg, because she kept moving further away from where I can access her. Clearly, she was oriented to her surroundings, but was probably unaware I was a sobbing mess above her calling local pet crematory services and having a crisis because the crematory service we used last time was shut down and they were the only ones who had 24/7 body pick up service in the local area and we had 80-degree F weather (26 degree C) all week. One suggested I put her in the freezer. I struggled with the prospect of putting her 'next to the corn.'

My baby has had an enema, spent the night in the basement (where it's easier to clean), had a big poop, laid down in part of her dinner, but had several bites of wet food overnight and endured torture by wet wipes before I would let her out of the basement. She actively protested being in the basement (scratching at the door), which I think is a good sign.

I finally got back to work today (and grocery shopping). I wasn't taking care of myself, and ended up drinking 3 cups of complimentary flavored water at the emergency vet and still didn't need to pee before I got home, but the vets said N was well hydrated, so hurray for subcutaneous fluids.

Trying to get my work done so I can get back to my baby. My beautiful, drama whore baby.

(The technician also shaved off her mats, so she has a half-body mohawk).

We will probably hear from the specialists tomorrow and try to schedule her an appointment, because she definitely still has something not right going on.

[nawilla]

I'm sorry, N the Cat

N the Cat is dying.

She has had hyperthyroidism since before the pandemic (and thanks to the pandemic going on as long as it did, she wasn't able to get radiation therapy because the only animal hospital that did that in our state (a mere uber ride away) had just built a new facility and couldn't get the radiation inspector out to certify it. By the time it was done her kidneys had been damaged and she was no longer eligible.

Her chronic kidney disease has caught up with her and even with fluid support we just can't keep up with it anymore and she will probably pass this week. Right now she seems to be okay. She had been to the emergency vet about a week and a half ago to get IV fluids after struggling to keep her hydrated on subcutaneous fluids and seemed to do well, the numbers were going in the right direction, and she had even gained back weight that she had lost. She had stopped drinking, something she had done before, probably because she had a cold/allergies and couldn't smell the water, and I thought she was just not drinking her bowl water after I bought her a new fountain, but it turned out she wasn't drinking at all. She still hasn't resumed drinking. But she was eating and enjoying life and seemed to feel so much better after her $1100 fluid therapy session (wherein the hooked her up to a $9 bag of fluids for 4 hours). We also learned she had lost most of her hearing and couldn't hear me anymore.

She started hanging out on my bed more, and sleeping next to me, which she hadn't done in a while.

Now I realize she was saying goodbye.

She had been loving, affectionate and again, eating her food.

Here she is on Sunday, sitting on me while I'm reclining on the bed. On Monday she even accepted treats which she had been ignoring for weeks because she was only eating wet food while she wasn't drinking, but had recently started eating dry food again.

Tuesday morning I woke up to her vomiting, and while I only found one pool of foamy yuck on the floor, I heard her retch a few more times. She also refused food for the first time. Ever.

I was hoping it was a stomach bug, because frankly, her weight was good, she was hydrated, and well, she had just thrown up. But I knew that when M the Cat died from kidney disease, he only stopped eating the last few days.

I got home Tuesday night and couldn't find N anywhere. Not on my bed. Not in any of her usual hiding places. Not in any of her never used before hiding places. I went through the whole house three times calling for her and now that she's deaf she couldn't hear me. I cried and was up all night worrying and was up early Wednesday morning trying to find her again. As in up with the sun and it's June in the Northern Hemisphere.

I called off work because I couldn't find her and if she had hid somewhere to die, I needed to find her body.

At 9 am sharp she crawled out from under the bed I had been sleeping on. She was so far back under it and so deeply asleep she didn't hear me looking for her.

I stayed home with her today because frankly I was a mess, and she needed care. She picked at her breakfast, engaged in some cuddling, and got fluids 4 times today. But by midnight it was clear. She is still losing weight and getting dehydrated no matter how much I give her, and in the late afternoon she retched again and refused her dinner.

I have to go in tomorrow, but I'm trying to split my work so I can go in early, come home for lunch, and then go back for the experiment and come back right after, hopefully getting fluids into her when I'm home. She got into a snit after I gave her appetite stimulant (she hates that I have to rub it in her ear), and pointedly went under the bed, but the room got very hot around the same time, so I think it's cooler down there too.

N the Cat is about 10 or 11 years old. She was my first cat that I had as an adult and she chose me when she was a stray and made it very clear she wanted to live here with me. I have toys and brushes and food I bought her that will never be used or opened because I just never got around to it with my crazy work schedule. We never set up the mini billiards table, but by then she had lost interest in rolling balls. We never got to try the steam brush I bought her last week because I've had to give her fluids multiple times a day and she was only going to sit still for so long.

I just got in her Chewy order with more Delectables (for giving her thyroid pills) and Sheba cat food because I didn't realize we already had a whole unopened box, and the open one was running low.

I may donate it to an animal shelter or food bank when she is gone.

It just feels so unfair. M the Cat was 18 years old when he died. D was 12. I promised N she could be the only cat again if she outlived the other two that I took in when their owner died, but she was already sick by the time they did. And she is dying younger than either of them. She deserves more years. She deserves so much more than I could give her.

I know it's not my fault she had thyroid issues and that's what is at the root of this, but it still feels like I should have done more for her.

N and I have been through a lot. We've been through break ins, new cats, human friends dying, cats dying, health issues, home repair issues and stalker. She survived the streets, losing whatever her first home was, sharing her space with other cats, removal of a tumor and a global pandemic during which Cat Mom had to work.

I'm not going to get another cat for a long time. When she is gone I'm going to hopefully not fall into a depression but actually clean up and reorganize my house in ways that would have upset her to do while she was alive and trying to live here. Things that I should have done but would take away from what little time we have together.

I'm so sorry, N. You deserved another ten years of listening to me whine (or not since you went deaf), of long naps on the radiator, and good food and cuddles and not having to be stabbed with a needle multiple times a day. You deserved to learn more words, and to have a happy retirement with days in the sun because you would be too old to get far if you ran away. You deserved another decade of treats, and enough time for me to comb out your mats because you weren't doing it, and just me being home more to be with you if you didn't want to be alone.

I hope you decide to come out from under the bed to snuggle a few more times before you go. I hope we get a few more days together. I hope you aren't in pain and won't suffer.

I hope you come back as someone else's cat someday, even though I don't actually believe in an afterlife. I just hope there is one, and that yours in wonderful. I hope someday when I die that you and M and D are waiting for me on the Rainbow Bridge and we can all be together again if that is what you want. Hopefully you won't mind sharing my attention and your space in whatever comes next for you.

I'm sorry I wasn't a better cat mom to you. I'm sorry for everything I couldn't give you. I'm sorry I can't make it better.

I love you so much N. I hope you know how much I love you, even if you can't hear me cry.

[nawilla]

N the Cat is louder than that. And has made it known live on zoom meetings.

meow meow 🐱🐈🫠

[nawilla]

@knittingflo's cat used to do this too.

Still remembering you Flo.

[nawilla]

My theory is that the New Jedi Order wasn't ready for a student as talented as Grogu, and that he could come back when they were ready to truly nurture his talents, but in the meantime, Luke helped him prepare himself emotionally and release fears and develop mentally so he would have the self control and patience he would need to deal with his abilities, regardless of whether he ever came back.

me when someone says luke is a bad teacher and made grogu "choose" btw being a jedi and his dad:

what he did was ensure grogu could one day be a jedi AND have his dad now!!!

[nawilla]

I think the scientists have gone too far with the quest for the megastrawberry.

Strawstrawstrawberry🍓

[nawilla]

Eww. Science, but eww.

Have you ever seen a giant worm? 👀🪱 While there are thousands of earthworm species known across the planet, only a handful are supersized. Members of the genus Martiodrilus can grow up to an incredible 4.9 ft (1.5 m) in length and weigh up to 1.1 lbs (0.5 kg)! Inhabiting underground burrows in parts of South America such as Colombia and Ecuador, these worms are rarely seen above ground—but can sometimes be heard as they move through the soil. 

Photo: OWP / oliverpatrick, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

[nawilla]

At first glance I initially took this for quilting, not crochet.

Crochet a Sophisticated Marguerite Blanket, Designed By Sandra Eng of Mobius Girl Design: 👉 https://buff.ly/cS2QFOs

[nawilla]

Making progress.

New Project:

My cousin and his wife had their first child, a boy, last month. I went into Michaels to get some yarn and stupidly got some chenille

What the hell was I thinking?

[nawilla]

The 'American' accents in the video have features of different American accents, not a single one, which is why it sounds weird to my ears anyway. Probably similar to an American imitating a British accent, not realizing there are MANY British accents.

I need an American to tell me if these guys' accents are passable or if they're as bad as Americans sound when they try to do our accents

[nawilla]

New Project:

My cousin and his wife had their first child, a boy, last month. I went into Michaels to get some yarn and stupidly got some chenille

What the hell was I thinking?

[nawilla]

Garlic

I started trying to root some garlic to plant in the garden to eat green and to ward off pests. Yes, I know garlic can't be planted with everything.

I peeled off the outer layer of papery skin and balanced them on top of reused bottles (iced tea and vitamins) filled with tap water.

There were hints of roots the next morning!

And more the day after that!

And little sprouts the day after that!

And the next day so many healthy roots.

And happy little sprouts.

Hoping to put these in the ground soon.