While I’ve been working on my other quilting projects, I have, of course, been working on my current Leader/Ender project. In fact, I blasted through all the pieces I’d put together and ended up with 16 blocks.

As you can see, that’s not much of a quilt. I’m going to need a lot more blocks before we can start putting this one together. It’s a good thing I have a lot of scraps! This one is going to be wild.

Just as Lemmy is the learning the ropes of our household, we’re learning about him..

One of his quirks has been apparent from the very start. Lemmy watches TV. Now Rupert will occasionally show interest in what’s on the screen (especially if he hears birds). But Lemmy watches it a lot.

He does seem to prefer nature shows, but if something catches his eye on the screen, he’ll sit and watch for several minutes until something else grabs his attention. As I type this, he’s laying on the back of the couch, watching a snow leopard chase a wolf off from her kill.

And while his is a total little love bug, it’s very clear that it’s all on his terms. If you try and pick him up or hold him when he’d rather be doing something else, you’re not going to hold on to him long.

And speaking of picking up…

He doesn’t mind being picked up, and sometimes even demands it. But when you do, you can’t carry him around… or hold him in place.

He prefers you stand in place, and hold you arm up so he can sit on it comfortably. I can pick Burton up and carry him around the house like a baby. That’s not going to be happening with Lemmy.

But when he does want to snuggle, you better be ready.

He purrs non-stop and prefers to pretend he’s your scarf.

In typical kitten fashion, he plays fast and furious. It doesn’t matter how many times I pick up his toys and put them away – it doesn’t take long for them to be scattered all over the floor again.

But his favourite toy by far is Burton.

And Burton seems to be enjoying it just as much. These two wrestle constantly, and it’s hilarious/

Relations with the other two cats are going at a much slower pace. Not helped by the fact that since Burton lets Lemmy jump on him, that Lemmy thinks he can do it with the other two.

Still, when he’s calm, they think he’s tolerable.

One thing that impressed Dave was that Lemmy took to the scratching post and cardboard scratchers right away.

He hasn’t once tried to scratch the couch or my recliner (or the walls, like Rupert occasionally does!) He has proved a little more stubborn when it comes to pooping in my houseplants though…

I tried cutting window screen inserts to deter him, but he just pulled them out. So when Dave and I were at Home Depot on Friday, I grabbed a bag of slate rocks from the garden centre. They are the large size slate you’d use in a flower bed, so hopefully that will keep him at bay. He has no problem using the litter box otherwise… it’s just if he’s close to a plant when he’s gotta go, that’s where he goes.

It’s only been two weeks, but we are absolutely smitten with the little nugget. And he seems pretty happy here too.

Well, the weather men were right, the mild temps held all week. Here’s a gallery of everything still in bloom.

There are still a few things trying to bloom…

Chrysler Imperial Rose, Blue Delphinium, and a native Black-Eyed Susan are all budding up in the warmth and sun. But sadly, after today, there won’t be much warmth. The cold front is on its way in and temps are supposed to return to comeihgn more seasonal.

But…

… my Burning Bush is finally starting to look a little fiery!!!

Since it Friday Felines AND Remembrance Day, it’s only appropriate to share the story of Simon

Simon was awarded a Dickin Medal, the highest British honor awarded for animal displays of bravery in battle. You can read his story here.

And there’s Tiddles:

Who was born at sea and logged more than 30,000 sea miles with British Royal Navy.

Don’t forget Pincher…

To the men, women and cats who served and continue to do so… we at Chez Wandering cat salute you! Lest we forget

With my pumpkins finally knit, it’s time to turn my attention back to Dad’s Christmas sweater. When I last left it, I had finished the raglan increases and needed to knit a few more inches before dividing for the sleeves and body.

Well – despite working on it for a couple of evenings, I still have a few inches to go before I can split. And yes, Lemmy is the main culprit.

Evenings are prime play time for the wee rascal, and knitting is VERY exciting to him right now. The rounds are long, and they are even longer when you have to untangle a ginger puss from the yarn every few stitches or so.

I’m hoping by the start of the weekend, I’ll have the split done, and be able to make some good headway on the body before next week.

Hallowe’en is out of the way, so now the town is focused on Remembrance Day. It’s Friday, and the Legion has been in full swing prepping for the last couple of weeks.

The convenience store (and other businesses) has poppies right at the checkout. Dave and I got our poppies before Hallowe’en from some cadets outside the hardware store, but I always pop a few coins in whenever I see the boxes.

The Legion is selling these signs as another fundraiser, and I’ve seen quite a few around town. I should find out how to get one for our lawn.

Alvinston’s cenotaph is unlike most of the ones I’ve seen across the province. Most of the ones I seen are usually shaped like and obelisk, where this one has this impressive sculpture.

The front lists 15 men who died in the First World War and the back lists eight men who lost their lives in the second world war. Considering the size of the township, that’s a sizable loss.

It’s situated right in front of the library on the main street, so I pass it every day when I walk to get the mail.

A ceremony will take place here at 1l am on Friday.

It’s been driving me crazy, but I haven’t been able to get in the sewing studio for almost two weeks. On Saturday, after running errands with Dave, I told him on Sunday he was to leave me alone. I was going to spend the whole day sewing.

And I did.

I got several things done. I’ll share one today, and the rest I’ll space out in other posts. Who knows when I’ll be able to get back into the studio.

First up was catching up on the Sewcialites quilt-a-long

Yeah… I went and joined another one. Well, I should say Burton joined… because it was one of his facebook friends that encourage us to do so.

The quilt-a-long is only three blocks in so far, but we were already two blocks behind.

We are using a fat quarter bundle called Catmosphere, with a few things from the stash added in. The block on the left was a little fiddly and time consuming, but the one on the right went together easy peasy.

Here it is with the first block in the quilt-a-long. And as you can see, Burton has a little apprentice. Lemmy is getting along swimmingly with Burton now, and he was thrilled to join in on the sewing session.

Friday we will get another block… and hopefully we won’t have to wait another two weeks to make it.

I am very happy to have finished my pumpkins for the year.

I made two, in fact. The first one following the small version on the Hello Gourdgeous pattern, and the second one I made up myself on the fly. Like the white one I made early, these are made with cotton as well. It’s a bit more of a rusty orange than a pumpkin orange, but it’s the only orange I have. And I quite like it.

I’ll leave them out for a little while longer, but then they will be packed away for next fall. And who knows… the harvest may grow a little more by then.

Although it’s only been five years since Burton was a kitten, I’d completely forgotten what it’s like having a kitten in the house. Lemmy was already pretty fearless (which is one of the things Dave loved about him) but now that he’s gotten comfortable, he’s REALLY coming out of his shell.

He’s into everything he can get into, and he’s more than willing to give it a try even if I he can’t. He’s still working on getting on the bathroom counter. His Mission Impossible recreation was not quite successful. But as you can imagine, nothing is safe.

This week’s lessons have been:

• No climbing on the humans at their meal times
• No pooping in the house plants
• If you stand behind a human while the are doing something in the kitchen, you’re probably going to get stepped on.
• If you run at top speed at the human’s feet while they are walking, you’re probably going to get kicked
• Do NOT stop on the stairs just as the humans are walking up/down them so they almost trip and fall. They do not like it and they yell really loud

And humans really do not like claws and piranha teeth on their skin. Especially on their nose, and really especially at 5 a.m. when they are sound asleep.

But one area we have made progress with is friendship…

All the cats are getting used to having the interloper around. Relic and Rupert are still spending most of the day in the catio (though that’s probably more to do with the nice weather than anything). But Relic has stopped running every time he sees the tiny terrorist. And Rupert has reclaimed his spot on the bed at night, and won’t let the little guy push him out.

But Burton…

… has warmed up most of all.

Burton has actually started playing with Lemmy. It started with just swatty paws, and has progressed to brief wrestling matches. But Lemmy is a bit of a screamer, which kind of freaks Burton out. Burton’s not playing rough enough to hurt Lemmy, but you’d never know it from the screeching coming from that tiny bit of fluff.

And last night…

We even had a brief snuggle session on my lap. It would have lasted longer, but Lemmy just can’t resist a swishing tail…

To say that November is off to a weird start is an understatement.

Usually, the week of our Thanksgiving (Early-Mid October) is almost always “summerish”, but after that we may get a nice day or two, but in general, the end of October and into November it’s cold and wet. While we never get much accumulation, it’s not entirely uncommon to have snow in late October, and no one would ever bat an eyelash at it in November.

But this year… Thanksgiving week was as expected, as was the week after it. Then something happened. The temps zoomed up and stay there. While the nights still dip down to close to freezing… there’s been no hard frost. And the days…. most days get at least above 15C/59F… and 20C/68F days have been plentiful. And this has been going on for about two full weeks at this point!

Today is supposed to get up to 22C/72F and while temps are supposed to fall off the following week, they are still expected to stay above 15C/59F.

I don’t ever remember a fall like this.

I’m not complaining, because it means I still get to see things like this..

From top left:

The Toad Lilies are doing amazing this year. They’ve multiplied and there has to be about 30 blooms on all the plants. Next year I might split them up and move some to a shady spot out front.

This is a first for the Physostegia… it’s blooming again. And I admit, this plant is only about three years old – but this has NEVER happened. My only explanation is the weather. I won’t get as big a show as the first bloom, but it’s nice to see a bit of colour in that corner.

The Tickseed is a prolific bloomer in the warm weather, so I’m not surprised to see more blooms on it with this extended warmth. This is another plant I’ll probably split and put more out front.

While the Coneflowers blooms slow in the fall, they don’t stop until a hard frost… so I’ve still got a handful of gorgeous beauties. These ones are such and intense red, they really stand out.

And yes… it’s stayed warm enough for my Chicago Peace Rose to bloom!!! There’s another bud too, but I think I’m going to cut it and let it bloom inside. This one is currently getting ravaged by cucumber beetles… I went out this morning and there were about a dozen on it. I guess they don’t have many cucumbers to munch on, and the warm weather is keeping them active.

And all the Clematis buds were able to bloom. The cooler nights have given the newer ones this gorgeous pink and green tinge. I am absolutely thrilled to have Clematis thriving after so many years of failure with them. I think they are going to be just amazing next year.

And last… Fresh November Strawberries anyone??? They are small, but they are ripening!

Since the weather is supposed to hold until next weekend… I expect I’ll have another garden post for you then. There’s some Susans, a daylily and another rose with buds coming… we’ll see if they make it before then. In the mean time… I have to go cut my grass again… lol