Rules

Life at Chez Zed is pretty easy-going, but in order to maintain some sense of decorum, there are a couple of rules that must be followed. We don't allow any of them to be broken.

1. Yarn is not a toy.



2. If the toy is brought to you, you throw it immediately. Even if it is not brought directly to you, you still must throw it immediately. If the toy is dropped in your general vicinity, it is considered to be delivered directly to you and you are expected to drop everything to find the toy and throw it. If this rule is broken, you will be scolded.



3. No one is allowed on the kitchen counters or any other surface in the kitchen. We keep all two or four feet on the floor.





I'm a bit concerned we might need a refresher course on staying on the floor in the kitchen. Based on the number of kitty paw prints on the cupboard door, I don't think this is the first time this rule has been broken.

A busy weekend

Last weekend I finally got to show off my new house to some out of town visitors. My mom, dad, older sister, Linda and my niece and nephew, Megan and Noah made the drive from Des Moines to Denver to visit Mary and me. We had a very fun time.

We started out the weekend on Friday at Mary and Phil's house in Boulder with a walk down Pearl Street (with a stop at Ben & Jerry's...yum!) then a gianormous pizza for dinner from Cosmo's. Yum, again. On Saturday after some time in the mountains, we made the trek down to Denver to my house. Sunday was a lazy day, but Linda and I snuck out for a bit to stop by Colorful Yarns to do a bit of stash enhancing. They were having a St. Patty's Day sale where you drew a shamrock out of a bowl to find out your discount. I was very happy with my 20% discount. I brought home some Malabrigo for hats and a couple of skeins of sock yarn. So much fun!



On Monday, we decided to take the light rail to downtown to have lunch at one of my favorite Denver restaurants, Stuben's. They have the best grilled cheese sandwiches and french fries.

Here we are on the light rail (Poor Noah climbed a mountain unscathed, but then took a tumble off a curb in a parking lot. His nose took the brunt of the fall.)



Then we had to take the free shuttle bus through downtown to get closer to the restaurant. Megan took this photo:





The weekend went by way too fast, there were so many other things I had wanted to do, but I'll just have to save them for their next visit. I think the kitties were relieved when the three-year old left. Purl was not this relaxed during the visit.



Notice the belly on this kitten? She's getting a bit pudgy. We might have to start thinking about a kitty diet.

Since the travelers left, I've finished the socks you can see from space.



They started out to be identical twins, but apparently I had an skein of yarn with a mistake in it. They forgot the royal blue in the first sock I made, so I guess I have to settle for fraternal twins. I really love the way these fit. I'm not sure where I'll ever wear them, but they were fun to make. I think I knit faster because I want to get to the color changes.

In other yarn related news, I received my first package from The Loopy Ewe sock club last week. It's not a color I would have picked out on my own, but that's the beauty of a sock club. It gets me out of my color rut. I'm very excited about the pattern. I think it will become a favorite.

The best seats in the house

It was an exciting day at Chez Zed (thanks to my Canadian friend Mark for the new household nickname!). After almost a month of attempting to unpack without a place to put a lot of my things, our new furniture was finally delivered. I say "our" because it clearly is not just for me to enjoy. The kitties have quickly picked out their favorite places to hang out.

Ashford is fond of the ottoman that came with the new faux leather chair.


And I don't think that Xena is ever going to come downstairs again. She has claimed the new bed with the fancy schmancy mattress as her own. She normally comes downstairs to hang out with me during the evening, but she has refused to move from the bed...even when I was trying to put the sheets on. I hope she'll share it with me tonight.

The view from my balcony

I still have to remind myself that I actually get paid to live in Colorado. I love the clear days when the mountains come out and have a crystal clear blue sky behind them. It takes my breath away every time I see them. When I was house shopping I knew that buying a place with a mountain view would be a bit out of my price range. But, somehow, I was lucky enough to get one.

This is the view from my balcony



But so is this



And when I moved in two weeks ago, that was just a pile of dirt. Within a few months, it will look like this.



But until then, I am living in prime real estate.

The kitties even line up to see the view.



The kitties are also very happy that the movers brought their bunk bed.



And I'm happy because I finally finished a pair of socks. I have finished several single socks recently, only to be distracted by another skein of yarn instead of casting on for the twin, so it's nice to have something that I'll actually be able to wear.



This is Cookie A's Monkey pattern, but instead of purling, I knit all the stitches. I stole the idea from someone on Ravelry, and I really like how it looks with the modification. The yarn is my friend Stacy's Tempted Good Grrl in the Twilight colorway. She's a yarn dyeing rock star.

Speaking of Stacy, a surprise arrived in my mailbox the other day. She sent me these absolutely adorable kitty stitch markers. She also sent me some other things, but we'll save that for another day!

A birthday and a move

Life has been a bit busy since my last post. So much to catch up on.

On Feb. 10, I celebrated my 35th birthday. It was a pretty low key celebration, but very fun. My friend Tanya and I decided to take advantage of the amazing weather, and headed to Mount Evans, the home of the worlds highest paved road, to do some snowshoeing.



We weren't able to drive all the way up the road, but we went almost as high as we could. It was a perfect day.



There was a sun dog around the sun that was spectacular. My photography skills are a bit lacking, so try to imagine 3 perfect rainbows circling the sun. I've never seen anything like it.



There were a few risky moments, but I'm happy to say I survived. It was a bit unnerving at times to be walking along a narrow ledge with wide snowshoes on with nothing but rocks so soften my fall, but Tanya kept assuring me she'd never lost a hiking buddy...I don't know if I was reassured, but I did make it out alive.



This picture doesn't do the steepness justice.



One wrong step and I could have spent the rest of my 35th birthday laying at the bottom of this really steep, rocky hill. Ouch.

Then, two days after my birthday I FINALLY was allowed to move into my new house. It was a very happy day. The kitties and I are so happy to to be home. It's a beautiful place. I just wish the boxes could unpack themselves.



I did manage to get a few photos before the boxes took over. I'm hoping by the time my visitors arrive in mid-March, it will look like this again, but with furniture.





This is the oven that I'm pretty sure can cook a gourmet meal while I'm off at work and have it ready for me when I get home. I just need to read the directions...until then, it will be horribly underutilized making chicken breasts and frozen pizzas.

The kitties have settled in and love the new house. Ashford has found her favorite place to sit.

Purl is unhappy

She is seriously offended that my last post was all about Ashford. She insisted that I post a photo of her immediately.



How could I resist?

Are you ready for some football?

Like the rest of the people in the United States, the kitties and I spend Super Bowl Sunday glued to the television. Since there's nothing to watch in between the commercials, I often flip over to Animal Planet to catch the action on the Puppy Bowl.
Ashford is a big fan of the Puppy Bowl. I'm not sure which team she's rooting for, but she is enthralled by the action on the screen.



I just hope we didn't miss the kitty half time show. That's my favorite part.