Spring, don't leave us

Well… Nothing extraordinary had happened since I’ve last written here, but anyway I have a lot of to say right now.
Every time I make a ridiculously long post I make categories, just to make it easier for you to read only these parts you like.

Cats
So maybe let’s start with the Hedwiga update. Luckily she’s totally healthy right now.
When she had the flu she was more slowly than usual. Of course, when I’ve encouraged her to play, she did it, but she didn’t want to play on her own.
When it was a meal time she’s willingly come to the kitchen, but she hasn’t been asking for more. She was mostly lying on the soft blanket.
To be honest - I’ve started to panic when I haven’t seen any improvement after 2 days of a new treatment. All the darkest thoughts were going in my mind then! Luckily, Adam was strong enough, he helped me to look rationally at the situation. Our vet told us, that the first improvements signs we’ll be able to see after the 3 days of a new treatment. And so it was. Hedwiga still had a runny nose, she was sniffing all the time and her eyes were watery. But she had more power - she didn’t want to sleep for the whole day, she started to play with everything she has found.
After the whole week she was fully healed. Of course we had to still give her medicines, but at least, she was in good condition again.


For now, all my cats are getting a diet supplement which supports immunity - just in case. The weather here is treacherous - even if it’s warm outside, the cold wind can cause the flu.
My cats love to spend their time outside, actually, the loggia is their favorite place at home right now. Last few days they were basking their fur on the full sun :)
Even little Hedwiga has the courage to come outside (finally)! She was afraid of going out before, when I’ve just opened the loggia door she was running away :) I think she’s needed more time for that, but for now, she likes to lie there with Purka and Amaya.

Cats relations are still getting better. Fine, the little one still wants to play with the others, but now I can see that she rarely pick Misio to play with. Sometimes she still wants to chase Purka (who doesn't like to play with her like that), but usually, she’s hissed by her and she stops to punch her.
Amaya is still the only one who wants to play with Hedwiga. They’re chasing each other every day. And I can increasingly see all 3 girls sleeping together on our bed. They’re still not hugging each other, but they’re lying close





We’re still learning our habitats with Hedwiga. The little one has been living with us since October 2018, but only now I can say that we know each other well.
Of course, the time she's spent in the cats' sanctuary also gave us a chance to get to know to some extent. But believe me (or not), after I took her home, her behavior has changed a lot! It’s not the same cat I’ve met in the sanctuary.
We’re slowly developing our common rituals. Now I know how to come to her, how to start cuddles to not to stress her. I also learned where and how she likes to be touched, and where it’s forbidden ;) Hedwiga didn’t purr a lot at the beginning. Usually when she was getting asleep on the soft blanket, or when she wanted to calm herself.
For now, she’s learned to purr while cuddling. She’s not doing this every time I pet her, but it happens very often.
She also purrs when I hold her sometimes. I always get her down to the same place and I’m not waiting until she gets bored with carrying her. It let us build a sense of stability - she knows that carrying her is a pleasure; she’s cuddled and hugged (what she actually likes), and then I put her on the top of the scratching furniture (which she also likes).
I’m not a cat behaviorist, but I feel that it works with Hedwiga - she has opened a lot in the last few months.
She likes to spend her time with me, she comes to me very often. She also knows that I like her company too. I can also see, that she exactly knows when I can’t hold her/spend my time with her.
I was constantly taking her down on the floor when she was coming to me while I’m cooking. She’s quickly learned that I won’t accept her on the worktop then.
Well, I’m not a person who doesn’t accept a cat on the table while eating. But I can’t let her be there during making a food - among the knives, hot meals, and glass utensils. It would be irresponsible I think.


I have no update about the rest of cat’s health. Since I’ve last written here I had to change BARF supplementation a bit and I haven’t made control tests yet. The most likely I’ll make blood tests in the middle of June. I could make them at the end of the May too, but we’re going on holidays, so cats can be bit stressed. So results could be falsified. I know, that they all like my mom, they feel comfy with her, but anyway - I prefer to make all the tests (blood and urine) after I return home.











Cat sanctuary
We’re still staying in the cat subject.
Becoming a volunteer has changed a lot in my life (for better of course). Sometimes I get messages from you (mostly via Instagram), that it’s really cool, but you wouldn’t be able to work like that. Just because volunteering means taking care of wronged and diseased animals.
Well, that’s true and that’s not true at once. I’ve been thinking like this as well. I thought that I’m not strong enough to spend my time with these poor cats and then just leave them and live my own life. Well. since I’ve started working at the cats' sanctuary I’ve changed the way of thinking. I’ve realized, that I have my own life, but there is a lot of space for these amazing creatures in it.
You ask me how can I not to become attached to them. Like I said before - I have my own life and my own cats. And I can only help those cats from the sanctuary to get their own families. I’m spending my time with them, I hug and cuddle them, I’m talking with them, we’re playing together - these are the only things I can do for them.
Well, of course, there are some cats, which I love more than others. Why? I think it’s because of their nature - it’s the same with people, there are ones we like more than others.


Ok, but where I am going with this - in the sanctuary we’re providing conditions, which are similar to home, but let’s face it - cats will never feel like in home there. Volunteers are changing all the time (cats know all of us, but there are around 20 people visiting them regularly), no one stays for the night (so no one wakes up with them), there’s no routine, no common breakfasts, etc, etc.
Being a volunteer makes me feel better, but there are some moments when I cry during the night time.
You’re asking me sometimes if I recommend becoming a volunteer… well, I do and I don’t at once. Because sometimes it’s really hard.

I was crushed after Brunia passed away. Because for me she was “more than others” cat. We really liked each other, although we both knew, that I can’t adopt her. She was typical “only-child” cat; she loved human, but only a human. And me - cats mom, living with 3 cats (I met her for the first time before Hedwiga came to the sanctuary). Brunhilda wouldn’t be happy with us at all.


But when I was in the sanctuary, I was also for her and she loved to spend her time on my laps. She was living in a separated room (because of the clashes with others); that room is located at the end of the flat, but I’ve always gone to meet her first.
The disease came suddenly, she felt worse every single day. No one has won with the FIP… :( Keeping Brunhilda alive with this would be an act of savagery.
However, it does not change the fact that I really miss Brunia every time I go to the sanctuary.
Her room is occupied by the other amazing cat right now, but I feel really strange when I enter there. Because it was Brunia room…
But life goes on. Brunhilda will never suffer again, she’s happy somewhere… And I’m sure we’ll meet again one day...




Macrame - my new discovery
I’ve dreamed about trying macrame for at least a few months. I did it and… I’ve fallen in love with kinking these string!
Making that knots is easier than it seems to be. You have to only learn 2 knots and you can make amazing patterns!
Some of them are ordered, some of them are wilder. Well, I like these wild more, but it's just a matter of taste! I make my macrame hangings on branches I find in the forest nearby (I like how they look like that way), but you can also use a wooden stick or whatever you want to!

First, few wall hangings I made are not really nice, but “Rome wasn't built in a day” ;)





But the more I make, the better they look.








I’ll willingly share with you an opinion about strings I’ve ordered.
So first of all - my post has NOT been sponsored, you know my attitude for selling yourself on the Internet.

So we can divide strings for three categories:
  • Sash cord
  • Thick twist rope
  • Three strand twist rope
I don’t like the last one’s appearance, so I haven’t ordered this one. I’ve decided to buy sash cord (from Gniazdowanie) and thick twist rope (from Bobbiny).
Digression: these are both polish companies. I have no idea if they provide worldwide shipping, but I’m sure you’ll find good quality strings in your country as well. You can base on my experiences while looking for the right ones.



So let’s start with the sash cord.
Most of the handicraftsmen say, that the best looking sash cords are devoid of the center cord. Center cord is usually white and it looks not really good at the end of the macrame. But the sash cord, which is made by braiding a case around a center cord of rope it's stiffer, it works and looks better.
So, what kind of string you should finally pick - with or without a core?


Well, I won’t answer unambiguously.
The string I’ve ordered from Gniazdowanie was sold as a “coreless”. Well, it actually has a core cord, but it’s the same color as a whole sash cord. It let you make a good looking macrame without worrying about ends of string appearance. In my opinion - that’s a great idea!
Digression: if you decide to order a string with a white core (it’s still popular), you can easily remove a part of the core from your endings. You only need to pull it from the braided rope, cut a few centimeters and pull it in again. It’s easy, isn’t it? 
Gniazdowanie string has amazing, intense colors.
But there are also things I don’t like about these strings:
The way of prolongation of the string. One skein contains 100 meters of rope, but it’s not always one piece. It happened to me to have 2 ropes tied.
It’s not a problem for crochet projects, but macrame requires pure string sometimes. A knot like that won’t look good I think.


I also don’t like the way of skein winding. The first impression is fantastic - it looks elegant but out of the box.


The problem appears when you start to unroll the skein. EVERY TIME I’ve tried to work with it, it started tangling and got knotted. The most time-consuming macrame step was preparing strings and untangling the huge knot.


Thick twist rope is my favorite for boho style macrames
The quality of Bobbiny’s rope is totally awesome - it’s soft and nice to touch.
And you can brush it with a comb - rope ends look wilder then, the whole wall hanging has this amazing disordered style.


You can also easily make macrame feathers. The principle is the same - brushing strings with the comb.
The huge disadvantage of thick twist rope is untangling your macrame (what happens sometimes) - it takes ages! And all these small strings are tangling around.


Another thing I don’t like about Bobbiny’s rope is… its price. Well, Bobbiny has one of the most expensive strings in Poland. Although the quality is really high, I’m not sure if the price is adequate. You can easily find the same quality strings with a lot more attractive price.

To sum up: I am satisfied with the purchased strings, it’s possible I’ll order again from Gniazdowanie and Bobbiny.
I’ve made a table to make you easier to find all the information you need.

Gniazdowanie (sash cord) Bobbiny (thick twist rope)
String quality 8/10 8/10
String softness 7/10 9/10
String color intensity 9/10 6/10
Tying knots Tak Nie
Untangling easiness 10/10 7/10
Skein winding 5/10 10/10
Skein price 8/10 6/10
Shipping price Reasonable Reasonable
Shipping time 10/10 10/10
Overall rating 7/10 8/10

Other handicraft
Besides of macrame wall hangings I’ve been making scrapbooking things as well.
I was able to make a few letters, despite that, I had huge delays with letters delivery; at least 4 are missing. I’m telling you, the polish post office should be razed to the ground!






I’ve also made a bullet journal for May. I consider making a June calendar as well. I’m not sure if I have enough time at the end of May to handle it, and also I have a lot of plans for June (it would be easier for me to be able to riffle forward a bit)






Implants
I’ve finally come to the end! To be honest - I still don’t believe it’s over.
All my implantology process took around a year.
Before we have started, my dentist recommended me to consult an orthodontist. When he hasn’t seen any contraindications we could put the 1st screw into my jaw.
While the gum has been healing, my dentist was sealing the rest of my teeth.
It turned out, that we need to devitalize a tooth, which is located next to the implant screw.
The cavity has begun to be made from the inside; when it has shown up it was too late to heal the tooth.
The whole treatment was carried out according to the plan, but… the tooth started to hurt after almost a month. My dentist was rinsing it every second day, but it didn’t help.
The longer she was fighting with this tooth, the more I was losing the faith that she’ll be able to win that battle.
It was the repetition of the story of the tooth I’ve lost many years ago (this one we were replacing with the implant right now). Recurrent periodontitis was a nightmare and it was impossible to cure; anaerobic bacterias were reproducing in the small channels all the time, and nothing could kill them.
Finally, after the few months of fighting, I’ve lost this tooth too.
A new idea appeared - to make the 2nd implant. Well, fine, but I haven’t planned it in my budget, so the costs were too high for me.
I was super lucky because my dentist helped me to join the testers program. A new implants company enters the Polish market and participating in the program let me get the screw for free. I’ve analyzed the pros and cons and it was a chance for me to try. (I wasn’t so sure at the beginning, because it’s not a common situation when you’re getting anything for free). So, after I got the 2nd screw I had to wait longer than usual to take impressions (it was caused by the dry socket - a complication after the tooth extraction); we had to wait until the full gum regeneration.
After the next few weeks, I had the 1st impressions taken. However, orthodontists have sent them back because of “lack of something” (I don’t know exactly what was wrong with the impressions, but we had to make it again; supposedly it happens sometimes). My dentist has ordered some additional parts needed, but they were probably stolen during the delivery. So we had to wait much longer… You have no idea how stressed and tired I was about the whole implantation process.
Of course, I don’t blame anyone for that, I’m just not a very patient person. Living with the screws and nuts only was totally uncomfortable; nuts were losing all the time, my dentist had to tighten them; the gum around the screws have to be clean, and you probably can guess that I didn’t have the opportunity to brush my teeth after every single meal every day.
But all in all, at the end of the March I had my final impressions taken, and I got my teeth just before the Easter time!
I felt bit inconvenient at the beginning - porcelain crowns have a totally different texture than regular teeth; a jaw occlusion had to return to the regular position; 2 upper teeth (in contact with lower implants), the whole jaw and jaw hinges have hurt me. Well, that’s nothing I had to be worried about - my body had to just get used to the new element. All these issues have subsided after less than the week.

Vegan gel nail polishes
It’s been more than a half year since I’ve gone allergic for gel nail polish. I’ve been using 3 kinds of gel nails so far: Semilac, Neonail, and Indigo. I got an allergy for all of them.
After I realized that I can’t use them anymore I’ve sold all I had and I decided to make a 5-6 months detox.
Now I was ready to try some new manicure. I didn’t want to test classical nail polish again, because it’s unstable (probably I have an oily nail plate, so I would have to make a manicure every day), and also my nails without a nail polish are fragile and breakable.
Gel nail polish is easy to put on and also it’s durable, so I had to look for these, which are safe to me. After digging into some Google sites I’ve found an article about vegan (and cruelty-free) gel nail polish. There are no formaldehyde derivatives and nickel compounds in the ingredients list. Testing them became a tempting proposition.
I’ve found a beauty studio, which uses NCLA and NaiLac nail polish and I’ve booked an appointment.
It’s been almost a week since I’ve got my manicure and there is still no allergy! So I’m going to order a few colors soon, to be able to make “everyday manicure”.
You have no idea how happy I am; I really like to have a long colorful nail, and now it’s possible again!


Well, I’m actually twice happy right now. I’ve started using cruelty-free cosmetics some time ago and I feel it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Of course, I haven’t got rid of all the stuff I’ve used at once; I just started buying cruelty-free options when I’ve noticed lack of something.
And for I only use cruelty-free cosmetics. I’m also slowly eliminating detergents, which are not cruelty-free. I haven’t made it before, because it was quite hard to find, which are working good and aren’t tested on animals at once. It’s a bit time consuming, so I’ve focused on cosmetics first.
And also I’m not providing a vegan regime at home, which exactly means that my family is using whatever they like. Adam likes regular, widely available in drugstores cosmetics. He got used to them and I’m not going to force him to stop using things he likes. If he wants to change them in the future, I’ll be happy and I’ll help him to find some replacements.
But I think we shouldn’t have negatively affected someone’s diet and lifestyle. We should just live whatever we like, of course, we can educate people in our surroundings, but we can’t change them if they don’t like to.

Our holiday plans
As I’ve probably mentioned before - we’ve planned some part of our holidays.
At the turn of May and June, we’re going to the concert, which is taking place in the small Czech Republic city. After the event, we’re going to Alps trip.
We dream about rambling through the Austrian and Swiss trails. We also want to hang out in Lichtenstein (if we’ll have enough time for that).
I’m a wandering and traveling fan, so I’m counting days until the trip begins.
Next week we’re going to order vignette which allows us to use high-speed roads in the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland. It’s possible we’ll also have to buy some ecozone sticker to be able to go to the Austrian part of Alps. I’m just not sure if it applies to passenger cars, or only to lorries. The information I’ve found on the Austrian sites is ambiguous.
I’ve also read about all the stuff we need to have (mostly in the car) and I’ve found that it’s obligatory to have tire chains in the car equipment (even in the Summertime) to cross the Lichtenstein border. What’s funny here? Well, the first aid kit is optional...

Spring time
I can finally feel the Spring outside. Day temperatures are more and more pleasant. I’m more inclined to go for a walk or make a bike trip.
My mood and well-being are changing, depends on the day, but I feel better at all. The sun and the wind make me more positive and powerful. I hope, that during this Spring and Summer, I’ll get positive energy enough to be able to survive until the Winter ends.







This is the tone for today. And for the last over a dozen days.

Angra - The bottom of my soul

4 comments:

  1. It's good to hear that Hedwiga is healthy, and that she's beginning to get along with the others. People should just try to volunteer once, then they'll see for themselves that they can love on cats and then go home. As much as we all like cats, we don't fall in love with each and every one, not even every kitten! I like your macrame art; using sticks makes it even more natural! Safe travels!

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  2. PrzyszÅ‚a do nas piÄ™kna wiosna, Å›liczne te prace, jestem pod wrażeniem, jak Å‚adnie wyglÄ…dajÄ… Twoje listy "to do" :) PiÄ™kne zdjÄ™cia❣

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  3. This is a beautiful post, Okla. Seeing spring and cats. So glad Hedwiga is better and how wonderful, your work at the shelter. Your new macrame is really lovely, all your crafts are. And three cheers on the teeth! What a relief!

    Thanks for coming over to my blog and leaving such great comments. I'm very behind reading everyone and it's good to catch up here!

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