“Man," I cried, "how ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom!” - Mary Shelley (Frankenstein)

Three times in the past two weeks Kit has managed to set off the smoke alarm while cooking.

Our neighbours must love us.

We're not sure why cooking is suddenly causing so much smoke. Kit hasn't actually burnt anything (except that one time she burnt the nachos. Burnt nachos are nasty.), but the house fills with smoke none the less. Maybe it's not smoke, and she's just evaporating the heck out of something. 

Kitchen drama.

Oh. Also, lit review drama. It's due in 29 days, so Kit a giant ball of wah. She's not particularly stressed about it, but she's definitely sulky. She spent today sorting through the 1 billion journal articles that have accumulated in the study to find one sentence on terminal sampling that she knew she'd read somewhere. It's still missing. This blog entry is a much needed break from a whole lot of CTRL F "terminal sample"-ing. But Kit will find it! And when she does she's going to hold it up in the air triumphantly and sing and song of victory.

But before that, she's going to update the blog-world on the adventures of Kitcat and Face!

Aeroplane! Neeeyuuuuuum.

Our trip home for graduation is complete! Much catch-up, many graduates, and a sudden and unexpected bout of homesickness in the meantime. How do you get homesick while you're home? It was weird. Despite that, it was brilliant to see everybody! And they should now do the right thing and head over to Hobart to visit us. It's only polite. 

Pictures, pictures, pictures.

Daisy kinda didn't care that Kit was home. She was happy that there was another person there to throw the ball for her, but no special huzzah reaction from dog-face. She was actually more excited to see Face, cause he can throw further. BUT THAT'S OK 'CAUSE WHEN GINGERNUT SAW KIT SHE WAS THE MOST EXCITED AND GLEEFUL BIRD EVER. It's nice to be loved.

Byeeeeeeee Melbourne lights!

We're planning on heading back fairly soon for Face's 25th and brother-of-Face's 21st, which are both conveniently situated in July. Hopefully, anyway. Kit is meant to be heading out to Maria Island in July for fieldwork (WHOOOOOOOO!!!), so if clashes occur it might just be Face travelling back to the mainland for birthday fun. Which would probably result in Kit pulling this face:

Banana and all.

Returning to topic, graduation photos are on the way! Mother-of-Kit took at least 20 thousand photos, so it's understandably taking a little while to sort through them all. In the meantime, have a photo of Face with straightened hair.

Less than impressed. 

Other news: Kit has been making stuff! Ooh. Lookit that colourful-geometric-y mass of wool. 

It just requires a sewing machine for completion (more triangles have been added since this photo, so all the gaps are now filled). Which will be acquired this weekend! Kit did try to buy one last week, but the sewing centre was shut, so she went across the road and bought a ukulele instead. Lol-oops. It sure is hard saving money when you buy on impulse. But ukuleles are awesome and Face is teaching Kit how to play Yellow Submarine on it, so life is good! 

That's all bloggers. Much love. xx

Lol, jokes, one more picture. This perfectly sums up Kit's current attitude towards her lit review.

Positive sucking. Oh, Adventure Time, Y U so wise?  

Kit will get there, and she will hopefully get there with some A+ material! 

"Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms." - George Eliot ('Mr. Gilfil's Love Story,' Scenes of Clerical Life, 1857)

This is Jellybean. A.k.a., JB. 

Kit's had her since she was 7, which means JB is now 17. 

She's still oh-so-sassy.

Kit had a bit of a sad day yesterday, caused by a combination of over-tiredness and those general feelings of blah that you sometimes get.

She spent the whole day trying to get over the sad, but nothing seemed to work.

So she packed it in early and went to bed early with a JB to cuddle! That worked.

Sometimes all you need is a kitty with cat-food breath, whiskers tickling your face and loud, happy purrs in order to win at life. 

Lovely, lovely creatures.

That said, feral cats have a hella an impact on Australian native fauna. Feral cats kill an estimated 75 million native animals daily. Add the domestic cats to that (because even your beloved Fluffy, who is so kind and soft and gentle and perfect, will be out there murderin' the natives) and the estimate sky-rockets. 

Keep the natives safe, people! Responsible pet ownership for the win. 

(P.S. This article is pretty interesting if anyone is interested in reading about kitty impacts.)

"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate." - Dante Alighieri (Divine Comedy)

Kit has abandoned all hope of having a house that stays clean.

This afternoon has been spent within a cloud of bubbles with furious scrubbing, polishing and washing.

Where does house mess come from?

Kit can understand when the kitchen gets a bit grubby, since that's where all the delicious food stuffs are created, and creation is a necessarily messy business. And she's willing to admit that the little bits of wool and cotton all over the lounge and study are her bad. That's just the result of crocheting. Those kinds of messes make sense. They're logical messes. 

But what Kit doesn't get is why her stairs are so filthy. It's like they attract dust and dirt. Surely the stairs don't get used often enough to warrant the piles of dust in the corners? The amount of filth to use just doesn't compute. 

Stupid stairs.

But they're clean for now, so Kit is willing to tackle that mystery another day. 

In other news, stuff!

Stuff has been done this weekend. Not a whole lot of stuff. Just a little bit of stuff. For example, Kit spent most of Saturday at the Salamanca Markets with one Mr J.

Any day at Salamanca is a good day. But it's super extra good if you have excellent company with you. Excellent company who is so hilariously hung over they require coffee and fudge for survival is even better, especially when they buy extra shares for you!


Kit and Face have also been visiting zoos and cooing over all the animals. It's one of their (meaning Kit's - Face is just dragged along) favourite things to do. So today saw them visiting Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. Which has got to be home to some of the chillest kangaroos ever. People swarming all over them? Not phased. Kids pulling their ears? Whatever. They wouldn't even move to get food. You have to take the foods to them if you want the feeding a 'roo experience. 

     Face was inspired by their attitude. He's planning to implement a system at home where he just lies around all day and Kit constantly brings him delicious stuff. 

What a completely, totally and utterly flawless plan. Besides all the Kit-related factors that mean it won't work, it's genius.  

Time for animal photos! Hurrah!

This guy here was pretty special. This is Fidget, an albino brushtail. He was uber friendly. Kit thinks more brushtails should be albino. It makes them look more snuggle-able. 

Fidget was all about getting his photo taken.

Rainbow lorikeets! Kit spent ages by their cage. She really misses her lorikeet, Gingernut. 

Gingernut is a lovely bird. To Kit. Gingernut loves Kit. She hates everyone else. Kit's ok with this. It makes her feel special. However, Kit did noticed that the two lorikeets in this aviary weren't anywhere near as loud and shrill as Nut. They just sat around making sweet little "peep peep whistle whistle" noises. Whereas Gingernut is more "SQUAWK SQUAWK LOUD NOISES ALL THE TIME". 

Face suggested that this may be due to environmental factors. Meaning it's Kit's fault Gingernut is cray cray and loud. Naaaaaah. Surely not. Maybe not. Actually, that's probably the reason for all the excitable and shrill. Oh well. Kit doesn't really care, cause Gingernut is a top bird.

And Kit will get to see her in... 10 days! Hurrah!

Face and Kit are flying back to Wodonga for Kit's graduation ceremony, then spending a week catching up with peeps and replenishing their stores of Mother-cooked food. They have to fatten up in order to survive the coming Tasmanian winter.       

Much love to all! xx

“There are always some lunatics about. It would be a dull world without them.” - Arthur Conan Doyle (The Red Headed League)

Let's play a little game!

This game is called 'Things Kit wants that she can't afford'.

This game is pretty much an exercise in pointlessness, as Kit is simply going to list a bunch of stuff that she wants, and then she wins. Sweet. 

Can you tell that Kit is sick of working on her literature review?

Let's begin!

1. A Clock.

It's kind of mind blowing how hard it is to find a place that sells nice clocks. Kit could, of course, just buy one online, but then she'd have to wait for it to arrive. She wants one now. Instead, she'll keep visiting the same old shops in Hobart, expecting them to suddenly start stocking clocks similar to this piece of lovely. Solid plan.

2. A Grey, Modular Couch.

  

Just look at that couch. Isn't it just divine? In fact, Kit fancies the entire room. Mmmm. Nordic. Unfortunately, Face is unusually set against modular couches. Apparently they side apart underneath him, and he finds it disturbing. He's somehow couching wrong.

3. Various Scatter Cushions.

Kit's grey modular couch would naturally need to be pillowrised. This selection would be a good start. Then she would get more and more and MOAR until the entire house is smothered by pillows. Pillows = Yes.

4. Bunting Necklace

Yeeesssssss! Bunting! Who doesn't love bunting? Bunting-haters, that's who. Kit isn't one of them. She's wanted a bunting necklace for ages, and has subsequently been giving Face increasingly direct hints. Which, obviously, still haven't been direct enough. So Kit may never get her bunting necklace from him. There's just something so depressing about buying your own jewellery. 

5. A 'No Riff-Raff' Doormat

 

How delightfully silly! Everybody should have a touch of Fawlty Towers at their doorstep.

6. A Gigantic Floor Cushion.

A bean-bag simply won't cut it. It must be a cushion, it must be gigantic, and it must be on Kit's floor. 

7. Adventure Time Paraphernalia 

There is so much Adventure Time merchandise out there that Kit desires. Adventure Time, for those who are silly and don't already know, is the best show in the entire world. Face puts it on to make Kit jolly whenever she is stressed, tired, grumpy, humourless, morose, dejected, peevish, doleful, woeful, melancholy or sick. He also puts it on for her whenever she gives the 'Adventure Time!' command. Which is quite often, since it's her most favourite show forever and ever. 

8. A Pi-Pie Dish

Get it?! GET IT?!?! It's a pi-pie dish! Is that not ingenious? Kit doesn't often bake pies. But she certainly would if she had this pie dish. Mostly to see Face's misery when he cut through the delicious crispy crust to the pun beneath. 

9. This Pretty Unicorn Print

Oh, gawsh, it's just adorable. 

10. Puppy

Like any sane person, Kit desperately wants a puppy. PWUPPIES! Lil' cute button noses and fluff everywhere! Most unfortunately, the current living arrangements of Face and Kit are not ideal (or even remotely suited) for a pwuppy. So Kit will have to wait for this bundle of love and affection. What Kit really wants is a large (we're talking farm-sized here), out-of-town property where Face would finally let her have a puppy. So. Should probably look at getting a job that pays a million moneys an hour, so we can afford a place like that. 

It's going to be years before Kit can get a puppy. Cue despondent sobbing. 

Love love! xx

"And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.” - George Eliot, (Middlemarch)

Hullo, hullo lovely readers! I'm so glad you could join Kitcat and Face here today. No, really, I am. Glad glad glad glad.

FINALLY, the internets are connected. It took a week longer than it was meant to, as we were expecting the NBN man last Tuesday, but he never turned up! Rude. Face called the internet company and rant rant ranted at them (not really. He was very polite. Kit wanted to rant. She was maaaaaaaad) and the poor guys were all "WE'RE SO SORRY" are cried buckets and buckets of tears (or they would have if Face had let Kit on the phone). Then they went ahead and put in a complaint with the NBN people and scheduled a new connection date. Which was yesterday! Resulting in the internet being accessible today (which coincided perfectly with the arrival of Kit's new computer!), earning a Huzzah from Face. Kit has internet at uni, so she wasn't quite as excited. But almost 3 months without a proper 'net connection has been traumatic for Face.

See? Traumatised (a.k.a., oh so very hungover). Poor old Face.

Face is just so jolly now he has cyberspace. He's all a-gamin' with his friends and watching ridiculous YouTube videos. Kit is, of course, doing much more productive things with her share of the new internet (i.e. buying a new mousepad).

But that's enough boring internet talk. Look 'ere at what Kit has been doing with her time!

Crocheting, crocheting, crocheting.

Spike the cockatiel was made as a birthday present for the marvellous N. Kit feels for N. He's in the same situation as her, both of them having to leave beloved pet birds with their (in Kit's case, long-suffering) parents following a move. Poor N and Kit. Poor Spike and Gingernut! Hopefully crocheted Spike will fill a little bit of the bird-sized hole in N's heart.

Another crocheted birthday present! A teeny tiny polar bear wearing a tie. For those that want to try making their own teeny tiny polar bear, the pattern can be found here. Kit really found this project challenging. It's incredibly hard to manage something this size. She has no idea how these were made. How can they be so small?! Amazing. The person who made those must have teeny tiny faerie fingers. Or the patience of a saint. Kit's money is on the faerie fingers. Anyway! 

Mr Polar Bear was made for H, Kit's very most favourite of all the H's! Side note: It was Face who made the teeny tiny tie. Tie knots are beyond Kit's skill level.    

 

In addition to crocheting, Kit has been making good use of her mouse sander. She decided to tackle the TV unit this week.

Ignore the Face in the corner setting up the TV. Pay equally little attention to the mess of instructions and packing material on the floor. The unit was another Gumtree find. From the same lady who sold Kit and Face their bedside tables, actually. We're taking all her stuff, yo.

Face sighed a bit when Kit announced that she was 'renovating' the unit. Then he passed her the white paint, like the good sport he is. And the sanding and painting commenced! However. Due to a combination of Kit's poor painting skills and her lack of patience, the unit looked all streaky when she was finished. Which was depressing. Who wants a streaky TV unit? Not Kit. It looked stupid. Luckily, Kit had Squirrel to run to! Following her advice, Kit re-sanded and whacked a few more coats of paint on. Resulting in a much less streaky and therefore more awesome TV unit. Huzzah! 

BUT THEN KIT TRIED PUTTING THE SHELVES BACK IN.

Stupid things scratched up my paint job. This lead to Kit propping up the shelves with the gladwrap and doing a dodgy patch-up job.

  

Alas. Let's just call it extra shabby-chic and move on.

THE RESULT:

Gooooooood enough! Face's comment on completion was "Well. I see we won't be able to re-sell that one." Oh so supportive. Baaaahahah. But Kit likes it better than the original, and she never takes any notice of Face's attempts to reduce her self-esteem to less ridiculously inflated levels (she's perfectly aware of how awesome she is), so all is well! 

Now that the compulsive need to blog is out of Kit's system, she's off to work on her powerpoint presentation for the seminar she has to give on Friday. Lol, jokes, she's off to play The Sims. But for realsies, seminar on Friday. To a room full of academics who will be perfectly aware if she has no idea what she's talking about! Waaaaaah. To further complicate this matter, Kit's face has a tendency to burst into flames when she's giving oral presentations. Stupid blush-prone complexion.  

Kit doesn't want to do the scary seminar. 

But she'll survive! 

Love love you lot. xx 

Oh, and one final thing. Here's a picture of Face playing with Buck the alpaca.

 

NAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

“Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs.” - Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre)

Oooh, it's project reveal day! Finally! We love revealing projects.

Y'all ready for this?

Ta daaaaaa!

Excuse the poor photos. Kit was too excited about getting them done and loaded to pay much attention to photo quality. At any rate, she loves her new bedside tables! 

Of course, Face didn't tell her until after she was finished that he prefers solid colours to the whole whitewashed look. Urgh. Too bad. They're staying as they are.

So what has Kit learnt from her very first renovating experience?

• Not to trust the man at K&D Warehouse when he tells you that the project will easily be completed in an afternoon. He's clearly some kind of super-machine with access to power tools.
• Two sheets of sandpaper will not be enough.
• Unless you want to remove all the skin cells from your fingers (e.g., if you're thinking of committing any sort of crime), it's a good idea to wear gloves when using sandpaper.
• Face's crummy old t-shirts do not make good rags. They just leave little bits of blue cotton everywhere, which then have to be lovingly and painstakingly picked out of the paint.
• Elbow grease is over-rated. Power tools are where it's at (Kit loves her new Mouse Sander. She just loves it).
• Don't attempt sanding inside. Even if it's raining and you really want to get started. And no, setting down a tarp won't do the job. You're still going to get dust everywhere. 
• Listen to your dad when he tells you to buy disposable gloves for painting. It took a LOT of scrubbing and the brave sacrifice of a loofah to get all the paint off Kit's hands.

That's sad Kit with sore, newly skinned and paint covered fingers. But all that pain was worth it (sort of), as out bedside tables are no longer icky. Plus, Kit gained some pearls of wisdom to share!

Along with sanding, painting, sanding, painting and uni-ing, Kit has been busy busy crocheting. There are two projects on the go at the moment, but neither are at showing-off stage. Instead, here's a pair of booties that Kit recently made for baby Adrian! Naw. Little sailor-man shoes.  

If anyone is interested at attempting these themselves, the pattern can be purchased here. Alternatively, Kit is always happy for an excuse to crochet anything, so if you're willing to fork our for the yarn, postage and time, Kit can do all the hard work for you! 

While crocheting, Kit has been wearing her new pj-j's! They're so awesome. And only 12 moneys from Kmart! Kit normally tries to avoid shopping at places like Kmart. Evil multinational corporation that it is. With their throw-away item quality. Urgh! 

Kit used Environmental Outrage.

But it wasn't very effective...

*Sigh*. It never is.

Despite the outrage, Science Kitty pj-j's apparently win over principles. Kit does indeed hate herself a little bit right now. BUT SHE DOES LOVE SCIENCE KITTIES. 

And finally! For those who haven't seen it (probably very few, as Kit has already send this picture to evvveeeeryone she knows), Face has new hair! Look how short it is! He's like a cute little poodle. Woof. 

This is Face's Job Hair. Also known as the Look-How-Respectable-I-Appear-Please-Give-Me-A-Job-Mr/Mrs-Interviewer Hair. So short! It was a pleasant surprise for Kit to find that her boyfriend did actually have a face (yes, that is where his ironic nickname originally came from) under all those curls. Fluffy. Naaw!

Well, that's about it for Kit and Face news. This next week will consist of Kit sanding anything she can get her hands on with her new super-sander, and reading more articles. Of course. And Face shall continue his heroic quest for a job. Oh! Plus! The proper internet will FINALLY get connected after a two week wait following a muck up. Turns out the internet people have to drill through walls and stuff to connect the super-special-and-awesome Fiber internets (which we weren't aware of until the internet man turned up with his power tools), and we thought that might be something that the landlords would want to know about first. Which, unfortunately, put us back on the NBN waiting list. Urrrrrrgh. At any rate, Tuesday will hopefully be the day. Face will be... just so happy.