Gryff: AKA Coontastic Gryffindor Update 25 May 2020

[richardandtracy]

Thanks for all the lovely comments.

Gryff, despite his size, was a really soft cat. Same with our current Maine Coon 'Ozzie'. Ozzie is extraordinarily timid with regards to other cats and people too. He was the runt of the litter, so is a fair bit smaller than Gryff, despite his shoulders being at ear height on our next biggest cat ('Fluffy' - a Norwegian Forest Cat who is a size we used to think of as 'Large').

Gryff didn't play with pens or the like. Ozzie does and is a real nuisance, they all disappear. Fortunately Ozzie only chews Bic Crystal ball points and leaves my fountain pens well alone. Gryff did love paddling, though, and when he was young we left the plug in the bath and gave him 1/2" of water to paddle in. Unfortunately one day he somehow turned the cold tap on, and the bath overflowed all over the floor, through the floor into the study below in little waterfalls. Tracy got back from work to find an ecstatic cat chasing wavelets across the bathroom vinyl floor and skidding all over the place on soggy paws and rolling happily in the water. He was so happy we really couldn't do anything other than laugh. The study took weeks to dry out, though - and amazingly enough only a couple of the 2000-odd books in the study got damp.

When we got Gryff we started to have to have a toy box in the living room for all the bits & bobs he loved to play with. Ozzie is similar, but much worse. He roots around in the toy box for exactly the toy he wants, and then pulls it out and drops it in front of the human he has chosen to play with him.

Ahh, cats.
Who'd have 'em?

Regards,

Richard

[wendywombat]

They sound delightful and
real characters. I think if I had a cat I would want a Maine Coon.
I've always preferred dogs, but the cats we had were very lovable.

[CarrieGF]

beautiful work Richard, and as mentioned by others, what a lovely account of Gryff, the photos are fab.
well done

[Serinde]

We had Siamese. Not these malnourished model types. Big macho muscular chaps. Wonderful voices (although it must be said we always knew when ours were in a neighbourhood scrap: nothing like the sound of babies being murdered to make a body move quickly), and so loyal and understanding. Our originals had the crossed eyes and kinked tails, but they were deadly rabbit hunters. Our veg was always safe. *sigh* Loved those cats.

[rcperryls]

Beautiful stitching and fantastic pictures of Gryff and Fluffy! I love all animals but have been a crazy cat lady as long as I can remember. I never get tired of seeing pictures or hearing stories and Gryff and the bathtub is so good. You can keep them coming as far as I'm concerned!

Carole

[richardandtracy]

After a very long hiatus when I have been unable to do much stitching, I have finally finished page 3 of 18. It took 529 days, from 1 November 2018 to 8 April 2020, so I averaged 13.89 stitches a day during that time.

Anyway, here is the chart image:

which was generated from this photo:

with Allyn's help.

The progress so far, as taken yesterday was:


So, that is 54663 stitches of 98984 complete.
Phew!
I am now moving over to Luz.

Regards,

Richard.

[Podolyanka]

Thank you for sharing, Richard. According to what I remember from the arythmetics, you have stitched more than a half of the chart, so now there is only one way- forward. Happy stitching!

[richardandtracy]

Yep, comes to 55.2%. It is a good place to be. I'd prefer it to be finished, but don't want to get ahead of myself.

Regards,

Richard.

[wendywombat]

GRYFF!!!

Wonderful to see this lovey Ginger Chap again!!
Well done Richard for reaching the halfway mark!

[Mabel Figworthy]

GRYFF!!!

My thoughts exactly
He is becoming ever more impressive.

[rcperryls]

GRYFF!!!

My thoughts exactly
He is becoming ever more impressive.

and my thoughts also! Fantastic Feline!

Carole

[works4me]

Looking great.

[Squirrel]

So wonderful to see Gryff again Richard and a WELL DONE on getting 55% of it done now It is great to see all of Gryffs back peg in full now too.

[karen4bells]

Another fantastic update on a beautiful project!!! Very nice, Richard!!

[richardandtracy]

Thank you all. I had hoped to be finished this year, but I think there is no chance. Ah well, c'est la vie.

Richard.

[fccs]

Oh I am so happy to see Gryff again! He’s looking fantastic!!!

[Serinde]

Not just a fluffy tail, then, but I spy a leg! As always, this is a treat to watch progress.

[poppy]

So good to see Gryff again: his colours are wonderful.

c'est la vie.

Perfect French!

[richardandtracy]

I have been busily stitching 2200 stitches of one blend on page 9 of the chart. It has been a bit of a slog, but I have managed it:

The chart image:


And the progress:


I think I have between 20 & 30 stitches of the main blend on the page, and it's gone moderately well. Now I can do another colour. This one colour shows Gryff's contra-shading beautifully, there is virtually none of the darker colours on his tummy at all.

Regards,

Richard

[Squirrel]

More lovely progress on this gorgeous cat. You certainly are on the down side now.