The Random Number Generator ...

... has spoken and the number it chose was 9! Also known as Alwen! Alwen, if you would be so kind as to email me your mailing address to Sakkasie@hotmail.com I will get your yarn into the mail post haste! Wasn't that an exciting contest? Well ... sort of.

Not nearly as exciting though as the Rattie Ratz Rescue adoption fair which was this past Saturday. And of course I came home with more ratties. But, these were ones that I had already reserved so it's not like it was a spontaneous rat purchase. Although I did change ratties once I had a look at them.

This is Celeste who was born Aug. 29th. I had originally planned to get a ratlet that looks a lot like Bella but the little rattie was very timid and I didn't know how well she'd fare with my crew. Celeste on the other is an in your face, cleaning your teeth, gobbling up anything in sight kind of girl. I'm quite smitten. The other new rattie is Dottie, who was formerly known on this blog as "Peep." She's another black hooded dumbo but she is very, very, very tiny. Being the runt of the litter and all. How small is she? She's able to bury under the cage bedding and become quite invisible. Pictures of the wee one once she's a bit braver.

Tomorrow - actual knitting content!

The Formerly Saturday Now Friday Contest

I forgot to have a contest last Saturday. I suck. But it seems to me that not many people read blogs on the weekend. So this week we'll have a Friday contest. As in "today is the contest." There's no point in making you guess how many squares I've crocheted since the last contest because the answer is NONE. I think I may be temporarily "squared out." So if you'd like to win this lovely prize ...

... just leave a comment. Any comment will do. Except for "April, you have too many rats so stop adopting already." What? You can't figure out what the prize is from this obviously stolen picture? The prize is three balls of Jo Sharp Silk Road Tweed DK. Which is 85% wool, 10% silk and 5% cashmere. In the "Cocoa" colorway. A total of 441 yards (I used my calculator to figure that out). That should be enough to make a scarf or a little shawl or something. If you like brown tweed scarves.

Were we just talking about rats? I think we were. Now I know we've already seen a sort of picture of Sophie but we haven't seen any REAL pictures. And we haven't seen Bella yet. Therefore, for your viewing pleasure, I present to you "The Squirmlings"!

Here is a picture of Sophie eating some baby food. Organic chicken and pasta stars even. She likes to dig through it and pick out the carrots. I adore Sophie. No really, I ADORE HER. When she runs her little tail curls into a circle and she looks like a race car. She's very diligent about cleaning my ears every night and likes to play in my hair.

It's Bella Boo! My Olympic athlete rat. If Bella could enter the long jump, she would win gold every time. She's not a big squish like Sophie but still very lovable. They make a good pair, Bella is extremely smart, Sophie runs into walls.

And just a reminder, you have just 15 more days until the "April Has Lost Her Mind" contest comes to an end. All the details can be found here ... CONTEST!

Excuses, Excuses

OK, so we'll just forget about me participating in Blogtober '09. I may still redeem myself by participating in National Novel Writing Month next month but don't hold your breath. Or you might be dead.

Rats. I have an apartment full of rats. Four today, with two more being added on Saturday. That makes six. I think. You wouldn't think that tiny little rodents could take up so much time. BUT THEY DO.

I'm still trying to convince Phil that people are OK and that if he comes out of his cage he won't be killed. He has a tendency to squeal like a pig when I pick him up. Most disconcerting. Sophie and Bella, The Rats On Crack, need constant supervision when they're in the bathroom (also known as The Rat Playroom). I generally sit on the floor under the towel rack. Which Bella quite likes because then she can run up my arm, jump on my head, climb up a towel and run along the towel rack. Except last night I found her swinging from the picture ABOVE the towel rack. Sophie likes to jump off the back of the toilet and into the garbage can. The other night she came out with a sanitary napkin stuck to her head. See what I mean? Constant supervision. Luckily Spike has graduated to having play time by himself so now he gets to hang out in the bathroom by himself from 11pm to 7am.

A very nice person at work gave me a crock pot that kinda looks like one above (I'm a little short on pictures today, sorry). I managed to make watery chili that was overcooked yesterday. My, my, don't I love dried out ground beef. How you can have dried out ground beef in watery tomato sauce is quite beyond me but that's how I roll with everything I've made in the crock pot. So I have come to this conclusion. Either a) there really is some magical incantation one must perform when using the crock pot or b) people who use crock pots have no sense of taste. I just don't know.