Why do humans enjoy it when cats purr? I love the responses. Both of our cats will purr when they’re feeling contented and cozy. I often think about the purported healing effect, especially when I’m feeling sick or lousy. (I think I first learned about it Oryx and Crake, but I didn’t realize at the time there was some scientific basis for the idea.)

Free Sundress Pattern to sew. That looks great! Very pretty and simple to make. I’m going to download and save it for spring.

Woodgrain Socks. I wonder if you could knit those.

Jumping for a good cause
I got an email over the weekend from my 7-year-old brother Joey telling me about that he’ll be jump roping at school this week to raise money for The American Heart Association. If you’re willing and able, he’s got a fundraising page where you can donate. (Unfortunately the credit card form only accepts payment from American addresses so I’ve just sent my donation to Mom via PayPal. If any other “furriners” want to help, let me know and I can give you her PayPal info.) Good luck, Joey! It’s awesome that you’re doing such a nice thing.

Dork Yearbook. Oh man. The Snook and I have SO MANY possible contributions for that site.

Creme That Egg! Awesome Rube Goldberg machine some guy created as part of a contest. My favorite part is how it’s basically all made out of cardboard, books, and trash he found lying around his apartment. (Link courtesy of Max.)

Not happy, Jan.
I’m supposed to be spending these four days working on porting the Morris & Sons site to the new version of osCommerce. Unfortunately, I’m being hampered by the fact that Quadrahosting‘s servers have now failed 3 times in the past 24 hours, each for at least an hour. That is really unacceptable. And everybody says, “Switch hosts!” But seriously, name me one that doesn’t suck. I’m totally disillusioned at this point. They all suck.

Stuffed Bunny Pattern. Oh, that is too cute. Another one to make for Indie!

You gotta lift…
I’ve started noticing some real, objective fitness improvements at the gym. Yesterday during our circuit I managed to skip rope for the entire 90-second rotation without stopping or messing up. My calves were aching afterwards. Then Spudds sent me to the rowing machine and told me I was going to break 100m in 20s from a cold start. I’d only managed 100m once before, and that was with a slow 30s rolling start. He stood beside me and shouted “Go!”, then barked encouragement as I heaved the handle back and forth like a maniac. Final tally? 101m. I got a mighty high-five for that one. 🙂

Mary-Helen has posted her Easter Show recap, including loads of photos. Here’s Na Craga again, and here’s my Widdershins-clad leg. And oh look! There’s the Snook. She also got a few of the amazing cake decorating, which my sister will like.