I didn't post yesterday, just because we were busy in town (1/2 hour each way) etc. and didn't have anything worth blogging about.  Mr. C and I had a nice breakfast together (it was his 'Sunday'), I went to the Chiropractor, he got his H1N1 vaccination, finally and we did our weekly shopping.  Came home put it all away, played on Facebook (what an addiction lolololol) for awhile, played with the puppy and then went to bed.  4:55 am comes around pretty early.  The weather here in IL is lousy, just grey, cold, windy, "freezing fog" which is a term I have never heard until this year, but which makes roads, sidewalks, etc. VERY slick and it's black ice and thin, so you don't see it.  I hate winter, LOL, oops, I promised to not say that too often, didn't I?

Today was about the same, LOL.  I ran to the 'other' town (45 minutes one way in the other direction) to get Polymer Clay at Michael's (along with a bunch of rain checks, as they weren't well stocked) and to get another Makin's Green extruder to have as a back-up.  I sure like that little extruder for small things.  The weather was still like yesterday with the sky spitting little frozen hard flakes of ice/snow (not pretty snowflakes, this is tiny and hard, more like sleet, but white, LOL).  I treated myself to Red Lobster for Lunch (since Mr. C doesn't care for Red Lobster, I reserve it for lone lunches or occasionally I'm in town when my Mom and sister are available and we'll all go there for lunch.  That's always a nice luncheon).

A little sad news (if you don't like sad news and/or cats, just skip down past the pictures to the rest of the polymer clay post).  I don't know if you know or not, but Mr. C and I have been showing and raising Selkirk Rex Cats for the past year.  We recently decided this wasn't what we enjoy doing anymore, so we have been selling off all our kitties, except for the few we want to keep as pets, but we still had 2 pregnant queens when we made this decision, so we have two last litters to raise and find homes for (and wouldn't you know it, Selkirk Rex usually only have about 3 kittens in a litter--NO, not this time, just when we're trying to get "out of cats" one litter has 6 and the other has 7).  Selkirk Rex are interesting cats, as they have Curly Hair (honestly, curly, like a sheep--they're known as "the cat in sheep's clothing).

So they are interesting, but we have had cats all our lives and these are the strangest cats we've ever had.  They almost never can have kittens without help, so you have to be sure to be right on hand or you'll lose the litter.  The Mom's feed their kittens, but don't bother to wash them or clean them at all.  The kittens, fortunately, mature quickly and start eating (along with nursing) around 3 weeks.  But, they are always filthy, black all around their noses and mouths and just plain dirty.  It's been so cold I don't want to give them baths, so our last two litters are really awful looking.  You know how most other kinds of cats are forever cleaning themselves, licking and licking, and licking, nearly all the time?  We hardly ever see these cats cleaning themselves, let alone their kittens.  The gene that makes them curly is also a dominant gene, so roughly 25% of these kittens are homozygous and have 2 of the curly gene.  These are the weirdest kittens.  They look more like Sharpei puppies than kittens, their skin appears too large for their bodies, they have huge bat ears and are just plain ugly.  They also often lose their hair, because the extra curl makes the hair extra brittle, so you have these nearly naked kittens with these folds of skin and huge ears, wait a minute, I'll find a picture to show you.

Anyway, back to the sad part, for some reason, a small percentage of these kittens "fail to thrive".  Here at our house it's always been after they are weaned.  They seem perfectly happy and healthy until about 10-12 weeks and then they just plain quit growing (which is why we never let our kittens go until 14-16 weeks of age).  Vets can't find anything wrong with them (it's officially called Fading Kitten Syndrome or simply Failure to Thrive), they eat and drink and all that goes with that, they just start wasting away.  They don't seem to be in pain at all, they just seem cold and lose their vitality, and want to be held all the time.  We have our own theory, based on the history that has presented to us, and that is has always been after they were weaned, that there is some kind of enzyme deficiency that makes them unable to metabolize solid food, and the milk replacers just don't do the job.   Poor little things, there's nothing you can do for them, but watch them slowly die.  We lost one of those kittens today.  In a way it was a blessing, as the kitty is in a better place now, but it also makes me incredibly sad to have to watch these kittens slowly waste away and know we can't do anything to stop it.

So, I've been a bit down today and didn't get much accomplished.  I DID get the end caps on the eye canes and will start their reduction tomorrow.  The reason they needed 'end caps' is because since they are square, I can reduce them with what I call the "Jana Whack Method".  To learn more about this great reduction technique I refer you to Jana Roberts Benzon's Website to purchase her video:  Arabesque Caning (as well as to see some fabulous Polymer Clay Cane 'eye candy').  Jana is a fantastic Polymer Clay Artist and Jewelry Designer, a fantastic teacher and just all 'round wonderful, warm, witty, and fun person to be around.  I've had the good fortune to have taken a couple of workshops with her and learned so much.

I also wasted WAY too much time playing Facebook games, I have gotten slightly addicted to Farmville, Tiki Farm, and Zoo World.  Yes, I know, Facebook can be a dangerous place and I'm taking a chance,  but I'm having fun playing games with my kids long distance.  They've gotten me quite well set up in both my farms and my zoo, LOL.  Tomorrow I will be setting a timer to limit my time "playing".

I've been listening to Pandora Radio, today.  Mr. C set it up for me to play mostly late 60's to 70's music.  It's great because I don't have to change the discs (except that they started a Christmas song segment that I had to say Thumbs down on so it went back to the music I like).

Well, Mr. C is home and it's nearly bed time for us, as 4:55 am comes around pretty early.  I hope everyone still reading this has a wonderful night and that we remember 'tomorrow's another day' and plan for it to be better than today.  Smiles