The Birth of MousePants

For a while now I have been trying to come up with a name for my "studio". Something that embodies my felties. Something charming, playful, sweet, and most of all just Me. I've gone through a couple and they just didn't prove to be the perfect fit. Well, I believe I've stumbled on my final choice. MousePants. Yep, Mouse + Pants. This all started with my little cat Maggie. She was a feral cat my mom rescued and gave to me. She lived an anxious life mostly under my bed and in my closet. I tried everything with this cat. I tried treats, leaving her alone, forcing her to interact with the other cats, snuggling her. Nothing could really tame that little beast. I bear the scars to prove it.
Eventually Maggie started waking me up in the morning peeping out from under the bed and chirping. I found that if I sang to her softly she would come out and tiptoe around a bit and give me a little affection to start the day. It was a nice little ritual for both of us though my singing leaves something to be desired. Not knowing Maggie's taste in music I started making up songs for her and one had to do with "little Maggie mouse wearing little mousy pants". She seemed to enjoy this one the most and MousePants seemed a fitting nickname for the skittish, tiny cat who slinked along the baseboards. Shortly after we moved to the new house Will accidentally left a window open and Maggie got out. I have seen her around the neighborhood but we haven't been able to catch her even with a livetrap. Little Miss MousePants has returned to the wild.
So, for some reason MousePants just seems the perfect thing to call my studio. When I was doing some basic searching to see if anyone could possibly be calling something else MousePants I did find some Mouse Pants. Thankfully, I do not think anyone will get confused between my felties and knickers with a keyboard in the lap, a mouse to use on your thigh, and speakers in the crotch. I love you little MousePants, wherever you are.

Put Em Up!

Best cat toy ever- a crocheted boxing mouse!

Framed

Eyewear by Calvin Feline. Models available for immediate hire.

My Garden in the Ghetto

Every spring I start itching to open up my porch and see what all I can coax to thrive here in the middle of the city. There are some additional challenges besides the normal container gardening stuff- mostly that the whole thing is concrete and faces south so it bakes during the day and a lot of plants just can't take it. I was going to do a Japanese tsuboniwa this year but they don't usually include a lot of flowers and I love my flowers so I'm just doing my normal mishmash of oddities with a focus on bright colors. My pride and joy this summer are my four tomato plants which have gone totally crazy! I think the trick was that I started using worm poop in my dirt. It smells funny. Of course I am growing a nice patch of cat grass too.

This Grass is Greener

Combining my love for my kitties and my love of small scale gardening I am growing hydroponic cat grass. I got the spoiled little beasts a new drinking fountain and saw that there was an attachment to sprout the seeds right in the basin. Of course I had to get it. Can't deny them anything. At least I don't spend an hour a week doing their nails anymore.

Corrupting the Cats

Since I got the new fancy TV my little beasts have taken an interest in watching television. When I had my little crappy TV none of them cared about it. Forest is fond of nature programs on PBS and particularly likes frog noises. He likes to sit on the footstool so he's at eye level with it (as seen here watching an ocean crab). Tanga prefers cartoons.

Birthday Booty

I was a lucky girl yesterday! I finally got Squiggly Squirrel all the way from Japan (remember her?)! Mum also sent me another Momiji called Rainbows and a pair of flip flop socks with little froggies on them. These were a hit with the knitting crew last night.

Then I decided I needed to just go ahead and splurge on the rest of the linens to match my comforter. While I was trying to make the bed I was opening packages and laying things out. I went to pick up one of the pillow shams and oddly it would not move. Well, guess who had moves in and made a little nest? Tanga was not happy when I dumped her out and replaced her with a pillow but quickly went to work burrowing around under the blanket as her next endeavor. So much for a fresh new bed.

Green Goat Hair

I haven't had a lot of time to post here the past week. Here are a couple of things that have been keeping me busy. I am trying to finish up my first Blythe mohair. The first time I saw one of these I knew I had to have one. I love mohair. I love Blythe. Blythe + mohair = big love. I decided on doing her in my two favorite colors, pink and green, and have done a couple of her eyes and her mouth too. I ran out of mo so I had to send off for more from Australia and for now her scalp is stuck on with pins. While doing this Tanga would not let me be, so knowing that the doll scalp fits on the cat's head I had to give it a go. I think she looked better with the blue hair. The cats appear to be drawn the goaty smell of it which may prove to be perilous for this little dolly... And one bonus pic of Daisy with a strawberry because everybody loves cute animal pictures.