potate

Got the pretty brutal news that one of our three cats is suspected to have FIP. Luckily, treatments have become available in the last couple of years so I'm trying to not get carried away freaking out - but this poor thing has had a tough go.

She came to us as part of a foster litter of kittens without a mom. She was half the size of her siblings and super malnourished. Long after her siblings were adopted, she stayed with us. She had allergies requiring special food and daily (expensive) meds and no one wanted to adopt a higher needs cat. She then had a reaction to her meds which caused excessive gum growth so the shelter decided she needed all of her incisors pulled. At that point she'd been with us for over a year and was fully integrated with our two cats. We decided that maybe this was her forever home and hoped that we could better manage her care by working directly with our vet instead of coordinating through the shelter.

Wrapping our heads around her now having FIP is rough - but we're going to do everything we can to help her through it and are hopeful she'll recover. Poor kid deserves a win...

I have an absolutely incredible set of moose hide trigger mits by Hides In Hand - a traditional leather crafter in Canada who use locally sourced hides.

I backcountry ski a lot and DESTROY gear. My hides in hand mits are the most durable and comfortable mits I've ever had. The issue is the acrylic fleece liners - I blow through them.

So I decided to make a set of sheepskin liners. I went to Bill Worb Furs - who source pelts from traditional hunters and trappers (read: mostly, but not all indigenous) and scored some hides.

I deconstructed the original liners, made a pattern and made these new liners. Cost me $30CAD and I have material for a couple more.

Totally pointless, could have bought replacements, but it was a super fun project for someone who has never made something like this before.

I put this together to help me understand how fluctuating emissions from the electrical grid and outdoor temperature impact the environmental performance of a heat pump compared to a natural gas furnace.

Would love feedback!

Information is limited - and likely to remain that way given the recalcitrance of police when it comes to their own.

Right now all of the news outlets are running the same wire service article, but hopefully a journalist digs in farther.

The Calgary Police Service wants to divert $13M intended for supports for people who are unhoused and/or struggling with mental health in order to pay for a new shooting range whose budget has gone up 130% in just one year.

According to the article, this is the seventh death of a First Nations person in police custody in the last three weeks.

Officer accessed police databases over 100 times in order to further inappropriate relationships with vulnerable women - including showing up at the home of a 19 year old whose father was just murdered.