Jumping in the rain, Frickle, and a new hobby

Lately, there have been several storms in the afternoons. It can be beautifully sunny, no sign of anything coming, and our dog Tuki will sense the possibilities and start shaking. This is followed, suddenly, by big, southern style (I never experienced it like this in the north) thunder and lightning. But for the past few days, after the thunder and lightning, there has been a time of rain - safe, wet, slippery, pattering rain. Time for jumping on the trampoline with your brother for an hour kind of rain.

In other news, we have a new cat. The last time I loved a cat (her name was Celimene - spoken with a French accent) I loved her so hard that when she finally died, after almost dying three times and being nursed back to health, I thought I'd shut down any cat longing for good. Plus, I don't love all cats. She was special. She would sit on my shoulder while I picked flowers and vegetables.

The other cats that I really loved were a brother and sister pair that my mother owned named Frik and Frac (also known as Frickle and Fracas). They, like Celimene, were Calicos.

So yesterday, when a small calico showed up on our side porch, looking exactly like Frickle and without a collar, it took me only two minutes to agree- yes, let's care for him, as an outdoor cat. Today we bought cat food and fed him. The kids made him a cozy box home. On Mon. we'll take him to the vet. Gillen already loves him so much that right now he is crying because it is raining and Frickle (G calls him Freckle) is out there, somewhere, not coming when he calls (as he has been, surviving on his own for months before we met him). GIllen has become his Little Prince. He has fed him and cared for him, just a bit, and now this kitten could break his heart. What are we going to do about a cat when we go to Australia. : 0

Luckily, there is some distraction from this new infatuation. We are almost finished reading _Deathly Hallows_ and Gillen has brought a new hobby into our lives - embroidery. I had been wanting to do it for a while, influenced by my talented seamstress friend Helen, by soule mama and by the book Kids' Embroidery, by Kristin Nicholas. But it was a conference funshop called "clothing tattoo" that got Gillen excited about it. We discovered that you can get iron-on transfers that disappear after a wash, to enable him to do really cool "tattoos". He has made a skull and bones and a beautiful, free-form leaf. I'll be embroidering "Zoe" and pandas on tiny clothing while watching soccer games this weekend.