So. Things are going on.

First and furriest of all, the Little Cat has a bladder infection indeed, but - as we suspected - it's due to stress and not a bacterial infection. (We got some sedative for her before the vet trip so the stress-induced bladder infection would not cause more stress by a vet visit without a little chemical assistance, especially as there would be an ultrasound, and guess who is not a fan of getting her very fluffy belly un-fluffed with a razor.) So she's currently getting drugs to relieve the internal itch and pressure, and extra cuddles. Plus extra treats to hide the pills in, and she is not at all opposed to that. Hopefully, her internal plumbing system will find a happy equilibrium again as soon as possible, so everything goes back to boringly normal again.

Other things going on are concerning the website, which still has its big update coming up. It does look like most of the big issues that I'd found will be solvable sort of easily. I'm also planning to tackle the dead images that I have hanging around here - after years of running this and migrating this and that here and there, and different blog softwares that had different ideas on where to store pictures, and whether to store different sizes or not, there's, well, extras. 

I have tried to sort a few of them out already, and they are probably mostly in the blog - but if you should stumble across a missing image link, please do let me know. (Well, it's appreciated at all times, but it's especially appreciated after some work on the site.) The big work will not be for a while, but I have a few things that can be done straight away before larger updates, and the plan is to do that - it's less work, and also less opportunities to mess something up, when the day of doing stuff arrives.

And now I will gently move myself away from the computer to do some preparation for the sprang workshop on the Saturday...

Two things for today: It's still too damn hot, and the Little Cat has some issue with her bladder and we have a vet appointment to go to. Hopefully it's nothing too bad... 

If you're looking for a nice exhibition to visit, you might want to go to Halberstadt. In the Domschatz there, you can see the special exhibition "Stoffe mittelalterlicher Vogelwelten" until October: 

You can find more information here on the website. 

So this was a little longer blog absence than planned - all went fairly well, but then in the attempt of catching up on other things and getting stuff done that was delayed last week, "start blogging again" somehow fell by the way.

So. Current state of things: Possible solution for the big Textile Forum food question (please keep your fingers crossed for me, or whatever you do in your cultural circle). Future model figurine for an exhibition in an art museum has arrived (as yet unpacked, because I managed to not throw out but somehow piss off my back with a stupid move when bouldering, and though it's okay again now, we didn't get around to unpacking today because we had to run errands and then make a fresh batch of cat food.) New batch of cat food is made and now freezing in the freezer. I have a desire to eat chocolate. The cat has a desire to eat her cat food.

She's also a little under the weather, because she had to go for a checkup to the vet today, and unfortunately taking her blood pressure was much more stressful than anticipated. She was a little unwell yesterday already (we don't know why, but then she's well above 20 years old, so she has all right in the world to feel a little off for no particular reason) and now she has a stress-induced bladder infection. Sigh. It's been a longish while since that happened the last time, and we hope it will be over soon again. She'll get probiotics for the next few weeks as soon as these arrive to help with her other digestive issues, and lots of fluid to rinse the system back to okay-ness.

Also, the Alpirsbach hose is almost finished; only thing left are the feet and a few small finishing touches (such as the last pair of eyelets). It was a joy to make, even though it was a joy that sometimes felt very daring and exciting. Marie and I are thinking (yes, also dangerous, I know) that we should write down some stuff about the project so others can read it and hopefully enjoy our shenanigans with us. (I've also realised today that it might be something for the next NESAT. We'll see.)

Also also, the website needs some work before the next bigger update, and it might be... interesting. Fortunately there's no real hurry, so I can look at all the bits and pieces bit by bit and figure out how to handle it.

Rest of this week will hopefully be spent finishing the hose, tweaking the website thing some more, and (uuuh it's that time of year) preparing the next quarterly taxes.

For tonight, though: Chocolate, and hanging out with the cat and the Most Patient Husband of Them All.

After yesterday's public holiday, I'm getting ready to go up to Berlin for the "Wolltag" in Düppel on Sunday, where I will be spinning on the Great Wheel. Most things are pre-packed and sorted already, and the rest will be done tomorrow, and put in the car and then I'll be off.

And then I'll be off the blog for a few days to visit my parents, so regular posts should resume on Monday a week after...

Inbetween cutting and stitching, and the usual background noise of emails and complaining cats and such, I finished the last few rows on the sprang piece this morning, and now it's blocking.

It was not quite a complete success: There's still a few rows too few and a little too much length in the piece, but at least there's not too many mistakes and the two halves are quite similar in length. Phew. 

So now it can dry in peace and quiet while I am wrangling other linen (that of the hose, of course). And then there's bits of linen somewhere waiting to be turned into a cap Lengberg-Style! 

It really feels like summer currently - and it's definitely "thirsty weather". We've started placing a flat bowl of water outside every night when we stack the hedgehog snackhouse, and it has definitely been appreciated: 

Quite a few of the guys go for a snack, then a drink; some only come for the water. The Early Hedgehog, who turns up sometime between nine and ten, usually only eats and runs away, but it's quite possible that he has some other source of water.

The pointy guys are definitely enjoying their tiny pool, though! Some go on to drink for the full two minutes that the camera records at a time. By contrast, the birdbath that we installed already last year gets pointedly ignored...