fur(less) baby friday

I'm probably the last to see this but I just had to share in case I'm not.

NAIROBI(AFP) - A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond wit a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said. The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.

"It is incredible. A less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a 'mother'," ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP.

"After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together," the ecologist added. "The hippo follows
the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting
its biological mother," Kahumbu added.

"The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years," he explained.


We all want this to be true. Turns out, it is.

i'm in a quandry

So, here's the thing. I have created some things for my etsy store but am clueless how I determine shipping charges. Does anyone have any help for me?

I have a paypal account and am thinking it might be a good idea to use their shipping services since I can get a tracking number which is always nice to have.

I don't want to charge too much and scare people off (I hate the extravagant shipping charges you see on some eBay auctions) but, at the same time, I don't want to charge too little which will end up costing me.

I have gone through the forums on etsy but have not found any helpful answers to this question. I'll keep looking there but would like to get the store started. I'm hoping to use it to help defray the cost of my fiber addiction (wink wink).

Arggh. I hate indecision. I am open to suggestions.

checking in

Sorry it's been such a long time between posts. Coming up on a fur baby Friday so I'll try to have something up tomorrow.

I'm working on the sweater; got it frogged right up to the sleeve divide and started the increases. Sorry I don't have a picture but my lovely daughter is away visiting family and she took the digital camera. If I can get hold of one to get some pictures I'll post them. The sweater is feeling better about herself now that she's starting to grow again :)

Work and other things have been taking over my life lately. Pfft. Isn't that the way it always goes? I have been working on some things for my etsy store but don't have any pictures of them yet (see above). I've made several sets of knitting markers and plan on makig some little bags for holding the different size iPods.

Yeah. Like there aren't enough of both already out there!

fur baby friday

Behold the hulk.

I know he's not green and, all in all, he's always happy, and his name is really Andre but... just look at him! And do you see that bald tummy?

One day, when we were still in Texas, we were living quite happily with a cat, Jenger, and a dog, Rene. We, being good parents, decided they needed some toys. Packing up the kiddo we made a trek down to the local PetsMart. Wouldn't you know it; it was one of those "adopt a pet" weekends.

Of course, the kiddo made a bee-line for the cats and kittens. We found a gorgeous black cat that was just a love. Got to talking to the people there; this cat wasn't so good with dogs. Well, that wouldn't work out for us since we had a dog. Oh well, kiddo. Guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Then.

THEN.

I saw this cat. This pretty cat. This handsome cat. This cat that was sitting in his little cage just purring away with the happiest, most satisfied face I think I have ever seen. I went over to this cat. I started petting this cat. I held this cat. I ... well, I guess you see where this is going.

They warned us "He likes to bite when he's really happy". They were right. One of his many nicknames is "bitey cat". I've learned to present him with a knuckle; that way he can't work it to the back of his teeth and really chomp down.

I don't believe Jenger has ever really forgiven us for changing her status as "only cat" and Rene just takes things as they come. The rest of us are eternally grateful, however, for my new "executive decision". Yes. It was me. My husband just sighed and went along with it. Of course, Andre is a real daddy's boy. Wouldn't you just know it?

Oh, about that bald tummy. We just assumed he had some surgery where they had to shave him and it would grow back. Nope. He licks himself bald.

And, that's my boy.

new swap!

I am a newby spinner. There is a wonderful resource called "Spindle and Wheel" with interesting information and informative tutorials. I would recommend this website to anyone who is interested in fiber, even if you don't spin. Who knows, after looking at some of the stuff there, you might get interested. The wonderful thing is, they make it easy to start out in a very inexpensive manner. You can give it a whirl (ha!) and see if you like it before investing too much.

Anyhoo, they have a fiber swap going on. I missed it for some reason but got in before signups are over. You still have a chance since they're taking names until July 20th. You don't have to do a fiber swap as there is also a handspun yarn swap and a goodie swap to choose from.

Do it! Makes mail time fun time!

are we there yet? are we there yet? are we there yet?

I'm going to be on vacation for a week and don't know if I'll be able to get internet access. I'm taking the laptop but I'm staying with my parents and my cell phone doesn't even get coverage there!

So...

Here's some cat candy for your amusement.