I know it is tough out there right now with everything going on in the world, but I hope everyone is doing well and getting into inside activities. For me, I am fortunate to still be able to work my normal job, but also am having a lot of fun working on different projects. One of my goals is to get this blog up to date with so many projects I have completed.
Believe it or not, I have been meaning to update some projects for a while, but life happens and my two bundles of joy were kind enough to knock my laptop off a table and break the hinges which I used as an excuse to not update…flimsy, I know, but I find myself with a lot of free time right now so let us see how up to date I can get.
2019 was an interesting year for me. For some backstory in 2018 I went from being married and working part time to divorced, moved across the country, and working at my dream job. It was a roller coaster. 2019 brought a new set of challenges as I continued to settle into my job and began navigating a new state. One of the wonderful things of 2019 was the addition of my two adorable cats (I swear I’m not a typical crazy cat lady that crochets…or am I? I think cat ladies are pretty cool).
Adding cats to my life has been wonderful (even if they broke my laptop). They provide amusement and companionship for me and make everything yarn more interesting. Both are young and think everything is a toy. This has led to me making sure that I put my yarn away every time and having to be watchful of them when I work.
First to come into the picture was Lord Nibbler. He was a stray living under a house with some feral momma cats and a few other kittens. With the help of some friends we attempted to trap all of the cats, but only succeeded in catching one. Unfortunately, we were unable to go back quickly due to Tropical Storm Barry that was looming. Turn out, we caught the most food-motivated cat…which is fun when he meows for food every time I am in the kitchen…
He was just baby, or kitty for a while because initially he wouldn’t let us handle him so we didn’t know if he was a boy or a girl. Then after finding out he was a boy, I had a hard time deciding on a name. Then I decided to name him after one of my favorite Futurama characters: Lord Nibbler (you know, Leela’s adorable alien pet that eats everything and wears a diaper).
He is such a derp and I love him for it. He would meow so loud when I would get home from work and was such a cuddle bug. Initially he was super shy and would basically just stay on the couch because he knew it was safe. Eventually he got brave and took over the apartment. He also has a tendency to fall a lot. I think he gets too exited and misses steps.
Nibbler also has this weird thing where he likes to stand while he pees. One day I came home to litter spilled all over the floor and wondered how that happened…then I saw him perch on the side to pee and saw the litter box tip. You can see how he perched in the picture below.
I had to change out the litter box to one with higher sides. He still manages to climb on the sides to pee, but at least it doesn’t tip over.
Nibbler is also quite the talker. He meows a lot and I like to have conversations with him. The other thing is Nibbler purrs very loud. So loud you can tell if he is in the same room as you when he purrs, even if you can’t see him. This led to him becoming the Purrmotor for NautiNautilus (cat puns! yay!!). The idea is that he will help purrmote my creations by looking adorable and posing with the finished products. Or stealing the yarn…to see his antics you can follow him on Instagram (@nauti.nibbler).
As much as I loved having Nibbler, he has been a bit needy and would meow constantly at night, often keeping me awake. He also would not leave me alone while home. I realized he needed a companion. Ideally, I would have liked to catch one of his siblings to keep a companion, but that didn’t pan out for me. Instead I started searching for a shelter cat in need of a home as a companion.
I spent a while looking online at at the local pet stores for adoptable cats of a similar age to Lord Nibbler. In addition, since Nibbler is a bit neurotic and needy, I was looking for someone that with a personality that could handle that.
I ended up finding this adorable cat:
I mean…look at that face! While stopping at my local big chain pet store for something for Nibbler I took a look at the cats available for adoption. This guy was instantly affectionate and even grabbed my leg when I went to peak at another cat. I knew he was asking me to take him home. He was only temporally at the pet store while his foster mom was out of the country. I reached out the the rescue and they offered to have a home visit where we could try out how he got along with Lord Nibbler.
Spoiler alert! It went amazing. This cat had no issues adjusting to my apartment. He came over on a Sunday afternoon for a trial stay. Initially Nibbler was not happy about the intruder and hissed a lot. But by Tuesday morning they were playing together.
***Now I will say, I did not follow the proper guidelines for introducing cats to each other. I live in a 1 bedroom apartment and don’t sleep with the cats in the room. I did not want one cat to claim the bedroom and the other to get jealous. This will not work for everyone and you should do what is best for your cats.I got extremely lucky that they grew accustomed to one another so quickly. I attribute that to their personalities.
After they became friends I knew this fluffy boy was here to stay. I officially adopted him and gave him the name Voodoo. I just narrowly missed my chance to adopt a black cat on Friday the 13th. Poor planning on my part.
Voodoo is quite the companion to Nibbler. He is also a derp, but in a different way. He loves attention and constantly wants to lay on you and get head pets. He also bleps a lot. I had no idea cats could blep so much!
There’s also the fluff. We have to talk about the fluff on this cat. I didn’t intend to get a long haired cat, but I fell in love with him immediately. It has turned into an obsession with fluff and his belly. I could show you a million pictures of his fluff, but I will settle for just a few (I don’t want to come off as crazy…).
While Voodoo has so much fluff, he is also very regal.
I’m actually not even sure how he pulls off both so well…
Now, since Lord Nibbler had a job, Voodoo needed one too. It took some time, but eventually Voodoo lent himself to being a great inspector of all things. He became the Purroduct inspector and takes his job very seriously.
Life has certainly been entertaining with these two. Voodoo just turned one and Lord Nibbler isn’t far behind (April is his month!). They melt my heart almost daily.
I will admit, sometimes I get a little jealous that they would rather cuddle with each other instead of me, but I love watching two cats who are such good brothers. And like any good cat mom I have a ton of photos of them. In an effort to not annoy my friends and family with my cat obsession all cat photos are contained to their own Instagram (@nauti.nibbler). They will most likely make appearances here from now on since they are employees of NautiNautilus. So get ready for occasional cat photos and stories of how my cats “help” me craft.
What about you? Do your pets help you when you craft? What kind of things would you like to see my boys help with in the future? Share you thoughts below and don’t forget to follow them on Instagram and me on Pinterest and Facebook!
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