"Baby" as in baby possums.
A few weeks ago, I was looking out the bedroom window when all of a sudden, I see two tiny animal faces peering at me from the bushes. I thought they were rats coming down from the roof (Leo's mom has been telling us to trim the plants around the house - she says it's not safe to have them grow higher than the roof) but by the time Leo went outside to check, they were gone. I was wondering though why those "rats" were moving a tad bit too slow...
So a few days later, while Leo was trimming the branches, he spots two faces peering at him from underneath the eaves:
The younger one who's a bit more timid than the other one below...
With one more branch left to trim, Leo felt sorry for the little critters, and we agreed to leave that lone branch so they can come up and down their little nest. Unfortunately their little "nest" is right above our bedroom and so at night, we hear them scurry about as they leave, and right before dawn, they come right back in.
Seeing the baby possums remind me of my friends' recent trip to New Zealand where they excitedly announced to me on their return that they found some scarves made from merino and possum fur. They said it felt soooo soft and were about to buy a scarf when they found out that the possums are killed as a means to reduce their population. Don't worry - I'm not planning on killing any possum just to get some fiber...
Instead, we're planning on waiting till they're all grown up and gone from the nest before we clean it up and seal it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they do leave soon as having critters, albeit America's only marsupial, living in your house isn't exactly a safe or hygienic situation. As for the mother, I think she used to be the one who used to come and visit our little 'vineyard' come harvest time.
For years, we have had grapes blooming by our fence and we've been used to seeing all sorts of critters feed on the grapes that we hardly touched. In the mornings, the resident squirrel has a blast munching on them, but at night, we see raccoons and possums, and once we spotted this possum still feeding on the grapes in the morning.
Must have been the momma possum above the bedroom now. I think back then, she used to live under the gazebo right next to the grapevine, but ever since Leo pruned it almost to extinction in the summer, we haven't had any grapes this year. And I think the regular guests are pretty pissed.
Oh well, maybe next year.
On the fiber front, I have been destashing a bit of my fiber stash to make room for the baby. Since I can't dye anything while pregnant, I destashed my undyed fiber first, followed by loose locks and sari silk, and now I'm left with some farm fiber and batts that I'd rather keep because I just have to spin it, not have to worry about colors and texture and carding them.
I also started thinking about why I had to have three wheels when I can only spin on them one at a time. And so I destashed two of them and am now left with the original go-to wheel for me: my Fricke ST-160. At least now, the craft room is slowly turning into a nursery and in a few weeks, Leo will be painting it and then installing carpeting to further insulate the coldest room in the house.
In case you're wondering, I haven't abandoned my love for fiber though. Just need to make room for baby - you know the drill. But I have been knitting as well. I've started on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket in some retro teal and orange colors, and hopefully I'll be done within the week.
With an upcoming glucose tolerance testing due next week where I have to stay in the lab for 3 hours while they take my blood before, during and after I drink this glucose drink, I have to figure out what to knit for three hours. Maybe another BSJ, or maybe finish the baby blanket I started out a year ago for a friend's baby, which now will become my baby's blanket...if I finish it.
So really, I haven't abandoned anything at all. I just have baby on my mind - possums and jackets!
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