Cute and Cuddly Boys, Cute and Cuddly

So. Hello again. I've been neglecting you, poor little blog. I have excuses, I guess.

We've been busy. We've had nasty colds, birthdays and school holidays. We've had outings (Zoo, Museum, Art Gallery) and In-ings (cocooned in our new library because it's quite cold and we are unprepared for that) and creating an awful mess again as we scrape, sand, fill and paint the front of the house (with associated paint choice dramas again).

And we have a new member added to our family.

Meet NASA (as in National Aeronautics and Space Administration, named (naturally) by science-mad Linus).

We lost the youngest of our geriatric cats (Scat) a few months ago. As much as you are prepared for the loss of elderly pets, it still hurts an awful lot when they go. We didn't want to "replace" him as we still have two ancient cats and the idea of upsetting their sunset years with an interloper seemed a bit cruel.

But, then Linus has been positively aching for a cat that would be friendly to him (yeah, old cats won't put up with the attentions of 8 year olds very well). So we made the decision to adopt a rescue kitten. He was found in the middle of a busy road at only a couple of weeks old by a kind soul who took him to the local vet. He has settled in amazingly well. Really, amazingly well. The old folks 'round here could care less that he's on the scene and he's taken to sleeping on Linus's bed which makes him and us all kinds of happy!

Watching a new baby come to terms with the world is so much fun...smelling things for the first time, feeling and chewing and generally attacking everything that moves (including knitting wool, sigh).

But man, you got to be careful of those Koi in the pond. They look really scary! Actually, be really careful of the pond in general so that you don't fall head first into it with your jeans and shoes on as it's not a nice experience, ask me how I know.

I've also managed to finish a couple of knitting projects (while fending off NASA). One is Linus's cardigan.

Which he absolutely insists on wearing with the hood up. I tried to tell him that it's "cooler" to wear it down, but what do I know.

Erratum: Astrid informs me she is a rabbit in this photo. Well, of couse she is. None of those at the zoo either.

Oh, these are pictures of Astrid being a deer at the zoo.Because, there ain't no deer at the Perth Zoo (plenty of kangaroos, koalas, zebras, giraffes and an inordinate number of gibbons) but much to Astrid's chagrin, no deer. Luckily she can act so that other visitors to the zoo didn't have to miss out entirely.

Better watch out for that hooded creature though...