A Few Snapshots of Sage on his 6th birthday!
Sage and his pet Rancor!
Sushi was of course requested for the birthday meal...
...and happily consumed!
Maya's birthday picture.....this is a Jedi called Shakti by the way!
Sage the Sarcastic!Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Sad news about Girly
I'm afraid there's some bad news to announce. Our well-loved cat, Girly, died yesterday. It was all quite sudden and bizarre and made for a miserable day.
For a little over a week she'd been getting nosebleeds. They'd come and go, but throughout she seemed to be just fine. She didn't act ill. She ate normally and was her nervous, lovely self. But yesterday morning, while I (David) was at work, her nose began to really bleed. Gudrun and the kids bundled her up and took her to the vet. It was clear straightaway that the vets thought it was grave. They tested her blood and found her clotting slow. They also gave her an epinephrine injection to close up the bleeding. They wanted to keep her in, so Gudrun and the kids had just arrived back home - I was there too now - when the vet called to say that Girly had gone into cardiac arrest.
The vets think - they're not really providing any other answers - that Girly was poisoned, probably by some sort of rat poison that she found someplace, or by contact with a mouse that had recently been poisoned. This is a bit hard to understand, considering the apartment we live in and Girly's unadventurous behavior. But there it is. That's what happened.
The kids are very upset about it, of course. Maya in particular was devastated. It was hard to watch, especially as they came back from the vet quite happy to have put her in caregiving hands. So when the phone rang with that news none of us expected it at all.
So, anyway, we're going to collect her ashes and eventually release them - perhaps back in Massachusetts.
For a little over a week she'd been getting nosebleeds. They'd come and go, but throughout she seemed to be just fine. She didn't act ill. She ate normally and was her nervous, lovely self. But yesterday morning, while I (David) was at work, her nose began to really bleed. Gudrun and the kids bundled her up and took her to the vet. It was clear straightaway that the vets thought it was grave. They tested her blood and found her clotting slow. They also gave her an epinephrine injection to close up the bleeding. They wanted to keep her in, so Gudrun and the kids had just arrived back home - I was there too now - when the vet called to say that Girly had gone into cardiac arrest.
The vets think - they're not really providing any other answers - that Girly was poisoned, probably by some sort of rat poison that she found someplace, or by contact with a mouse that had recently been poisoned. This is a bit hard to understand, considering the apartment we live in and Girly's unadventurous behavior. But there it is. That's what happened.
The kids are very upset about it, of course. Maya in particular was devastated. It was hard to watch, especially as they came back from the vet quite happy to have put her in caregiving hands. So when the phone rang with that news none of us expected it at all.
So, anyway, we're going to collect her ashes and eventually release them - perhaps back in Massachusetts.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Rock Star, Rude Dolphin, Razzamatazz Skirts and Rocky hike!
This really needs no explanation!
Hi! This is Maya. Here is a picture of me and my rude cat Dolphin. Even though he is sometimes rude i still love him.
Spring-like days recently tempted us out for a hike in a nearby canyon. Actually no razzamatazz skirts anymore as the one I had posted pictures of is too similar to the design being pubished by Knitty.com so I had to take it off for now!
Friday, February 09, 2007
Capoeira
So for those of you who don't know about Capoeira (pronounced Cah-Pah-Way-Dah) here is a brief description. Capoeira is a blend of martial art, gymnastics, dance, music, singing, portuguese language and culture. It came out of the slave culture in Brazil and breakdancing is said to have been inspired by Capoeria movements. One 'plays' capoeira.Maya and Sage started taking classes about 5 months ago and absolutley love it love it love it!! ( a direct qoute from Sage). Compared to the other martial arts they've tried this one seems a lot more fun and less like a martial art in terms of the HI-Yah kick action factor!
So the photos here are from a special Capoeira event held twice a year where students recieve their new cord (belt) after being tested in class. Its an opportunity for mestres (masters) and other teachers or graduated students to come toegther and 'play' capoeira. In order to receive your cord you have to go into a roda (pronounced hoda) with a mestre or teacher and demonstate what you know by playing capoeira with them. The littlest kids were the first to go and of course looked very cute with the grown ups ( who slowed down their movements).
Maya and Sage warming up!
The roda with students, mestres and teachers.......playing traditional instruments and singing in a call and answer fashion.
Sage getting his new cord.......unfortunately I have no pictures of him in action due to bodies standing in the way!
Maya in the roda showing off Pointe Pe Cruzado ( not too sure about spelling of that one).
Maya getting her cord!
Have to say David and I were extremely proud of the kids for getting up in front of so many people (200+)...don't know if I could have done it! 
This last shot (not a very good one )gives a snippet of the more advanced stuff that goes on (note guy on head on the left). Infact there was a whole demonstation from the mestres and teachers of all the very cool contortions they could do. I did get it all on video but don't know how to put video clips on the blog......Jamie? Gerry? Anyone know?
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Happy New Year
Happy New Year to all our friends and family out there!
We saw the new year in fairly quietly while watching the original superman movie (Sage has recently developed an interest in the super hero thing)....pausing to acknowledge 2007 a couple of minutes late apparently but oh well!
Here are some shots of some sledding we did recently just along the bike path from us not quite as cool as the place some friends took us too recently on a closed road in the hills where if you want to you can have an uninterrupted tobaggan style run of a good quarter mile or so.... then it's really up to you how fast you want to go....of course the boys did a lot of whizzing past as the girls prefered to enact dramatic wipe outs....sorry I forgot the camera that day!
We saw the new year in fairly quietly while watching the original superman movie (Sage has recently developed an interest in the super hero thing)....pausing to acknowledge 2007 a couple of minutes late apparently but oh well!
Here are some shots of some sledding we did recently just along the bike path from us not quite as cool as the place some friends took us too recently on a closed road in the hills where if you want to you can have an uninterrupted tobaggan style run of a good quarter mile or so.... then it's really up to you how fast you want to go....of course the boys did a lot of whizzing past as the girls prefered to enact dramatic wipe outs....sorry I forgot the camera that day!
Here is David with the ARC of his latest book and the FINAL copy edit of the manuscript. He sent it back to the publishers today with lots of good luck wishes!
Monday, December 25, 2006
New Baby for Christmas
Ok finally getting around to tending to the blog. I know it’s been a long time! It hasn’t helped that our digital camera is acting up… anyway….first the biggest and most exciting news as far as I’m concerned is that Madeleine Vaila Armstrong entered the world on December 23rd just on time for xmas. Now Beth and Nick have two wee girlies…yeah!
It is actually xmas morning here in Colorado Springs as I write and it’s a very quiet one for us as this is the first year with no other family(or Friends)… We miss you all…
So the real reason I’ve neglected the blog (and my children) is that I’ve been knitting like a maniac for the festive season. I think I must have made about 20 + items this year….actually I’m not done and owe a few more!
So I had to show off some of my hard work….I’m especially proud of the Flamingo which was for Molly and Beth’s commissioned Diaper bag…..thanks for holding on there Madeleine until the diaper bag got to New Zealand!
Other fiber presents were a laptop bag for David and a new pair of felted clogs/slipper things. However he discovered that the slippers don’t go that well with the skateboard (also a xmas present for David)…..should have made some felted knee and elbow pads! Even the cats are enjoying a felted mouse full of catnip!
So things feel kind of quiet right now especially as the college is like a ghost town with all the students gone for the holidays. David has a break from teaching for a couple of months so hopes to get started on the next book! He was very excited to get the Advanced reading copy of “Acacia” as a wee xmas present from his editor… Apparently someone has already done an advanced purchase on Amazon… 6 month early. They obviously know that the copies will be flying off the shelf!
Well it’s about time for a xmas day walk if I can extract the kids from playing with their new star wars figures!
Love to all family and friends out there!
It is actually xmas morning here in Colorado Springs as I write and it’s a very quiet one for us as this is the first year with no other family(or Friends)… We miss you all…
So the real reason I’ve neglected the blog (and my children) is that I’ve been knitting like a maniac for the festive season. I think I must have made about 20 + items this year….actually I’m not done and owe a few more!
So I had to show off some of my hard work….I’m especially proud of the Flamingo which was for Molly and Beth’s commissioned Diaper bag…..thanks for holding on there Madeleine until the diaper bag got to New Zealand!
Other fiber presents were a laptop bag for David and a new pair of felted clogs/slipper things. However he discovered that the slippers don’t go that well with the skateboard (also a xmas present for David)…..should have made some felted knee and elbow pads! Even the cats are enjoying a felted mouse full of catnip!
So things feel kind of quiet right now especially as the college is like a ghost town with all the students gone for the holidays. David has a break from teaching for a couple of months so hopes to get started on the next book! He was very excited to get the Advanced reading copy of “Acacia” as a wee xmas present from his editor… Apparently someone has already done an advanced purchase on Amazon… 6 month early. They obviously know that the copies will be flying off the shelf!
Well it’s about time for a xmas day walk if I can extract the kids from playing with their new star wars figures!
Love to all family and friends out there!
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