Jim's Gem

Judy, what treasures from your grandmother!!!! The star quilt really looks well loved!!!!! As far as I know I am the first quilter in my family. My Grandmother used to crochet. I have a couple of the afghans that she made for me. They are in the linen closet, I have not used them in years.
The GFG is beautiful. Not sure if there is one of those in my future though. Maybe if it was done in Oriental or Batik fabrics. I am not especially crazy for the 30's fabrics that most use on them.
Just had a package delivered to my door. Thought it was some fabric that I ordered from Hancocks of Paducah but as I brought in back to my sewing room, I realized it was my dog. We had her cremated. I surely did not expect that we would get her back so soon. I put that box down in a hurry and DH gets to handle it. We have 2 other dogs in our closet. When we lose Nali, we will have her cremated and spread all 4 dogs ashes on our land in Colorado. Whenever we make it out there again........
Been having a hard time sleeping without taking ambien, keep thinking about poor Kea. I guess I will again tonight seeing that she just came back. Nali is following me all over the house. She does not like us out of her sight (which is very poor) She has forgotten half of the rules of the house such as being invited in our out the door. Part of the problem since she is mostly deaf she would watch Kea and do follow her in our out of the door. Now she just goes as she pleases.
I am down a couple of pounds since the first of the month. Will weigh in Saturday morning but probably won't be able to post until that night or Sunday as we are taking off first thing in the morning for the day. Hmmmmmm maybe I should ask my oldest if Nali can spend the day with them. I don't want to leave her all alone all day in the back yard.
I took a "Pineapple" class on Tuesday night. I have been working on my blocks. So far they are 8 1/2 and I have several more rounds to do. These may end up at about 15 inches or so. I have 20 of them. I should set them aside and finish up some other projects that have been waiting for finishing. So many projects..........

irishrose

Gayle, I thought of you tonight. I was coming home from walking and noticed new neighbors with a pair of pups. A German Shepherd digging a huge hole and a gorgeous little Siberian watching him. She was black and silver with a very pronounced mask. She could have a little Mia. Mia's wolf blood wasn't obvious when she was very young. I immediately teared up and it'll be 7 years next month. Yours has been so recent. The special ones leave such holes in our hearts. I don't have ashes, just the hearts with names engraved on them. I made Mia a photo album which was very comforting.

My mother sewed, but she did not quilt - maybe if she'd lived longer. I didn't start until very recently. Grandma supported herself by quilting after my grandfather died - her SS was $40. Her quilts commanded a high price, thank goodness. My aunts saw to that. Totally hand made though she had a gorgeous Singer 201. When I was 11, we made our annual trip to Iowa to visit. Before we left, we went to Souix City and purchased material for two dresses for. A year later we returned and there was that material still in a paper bag, but several quilts done. I asked her if I could make the dresses and I did. In view of the fact I couldn't sew and was 12, they turned out very well.

Jim's Gem

Thank you Judy! We both told a few more of our friends last night about losing our dog. We still have not told the neighbors.
I did a quick measure of my fabrics I was going to use in my pineapple quilt and I do not have enough of the blue I was going to use for the next round. Now I need to re-think this. Do I find another blue in my stash that's big enough, but then I don't know if my last round of blue and purple are going to be enough either. This thing kinda explodes.
Maybe I should quilt on a couple of quilts I have sitting here and get the binding machine sewn on at least one so that I have something to do in the car tomorrow morning. We are driving down to Irvine to watch Jim's brother play in a Masters Water Polo Tournament. We have not watched a game of his since he played for Stanford 26 years ago. Anyway, it will be about a 90-120 min drive each direction. I should find something to do.
I get to go have my hair turned back to it's natural color today. I am a natural blond, it is not a whole lot darker but she lightens it back up for me. I have a wonderful friend that weave's my hair at no charge to me. She's the same who I go to for Massages. She does let me pay for a Massage, but only what the school charged when she was a student and I started going for them then. Katie is a dear friend. She is a real animal lover and will be saddened to hear about Kea. I tried to call her on Monday but we were playing phone tag and leaving messages all week. I didn't want to leave that info in a voice mail.

Pam H

I know how much most of you love your pets but I am having big problems with mine. My male cat (Cole) has been peeing in bad places. A few weeks ago he started peeing in the doorway of one of the upstairs bedrooms. We now keep a screen in place to block the doorway. I also have a screen to block my door because it doesn't latch tight and he can push it open. Today I found he peed in my daughter's room on her amplifier for her guitar. While doing that he also peed on my TV that was sitting on the amplifier. My female cat (Cleo) throws up several times a week. I am so tired of cleaning up the messes these cats make. They are both very nice cats and want to be held A LOT. They are both 9 years old. I am allergic to them. Too bad the people in my family who are crazy about these cats are not here to care for them and clean up the messes. I've had all I can take but I don't know what to do about it.

irishrose

I just deleted my response to that. I don't think cat lovers would appreciate it. I simply canot have a cat because I have no place for a litter box. When Lily (dog) had a cat before I got Moira (dog), the litter box wandered. I couldn't stand it in either bathroom. I also had trouble training SugarBaby not to claw drapes and carpet. I find cats much more destructive than dogs. My doctor has Sugar now and he and his family love her. I assume the cats are nuetered and the vomiter is on hairball meds. I don't know what to tell you - at nine, they are old for rehoming and young for putting down. That's a concern with L & M and my health. At 5 1/2 and 7 1/2 they are the same - old for rehoming and young for putting down.

Yes, I love my dogs, but they are not destructive, are respectful of people, are relatively well behaved and are totally housebroke. I must love them. This week I will spend $100 on food and $20ish on Bordetella so they can be boarded. My ex-husband can pay for that. They wouldn't need to be boarded if he didn't need surgery. Two are wonderful together, but everything is double in price. Can't say as I love giving Moira a bath, either. I'll do it in the morning before I get dressed then I can throw my robe in the washer. That girl can shed, but, at least she's very cooperative. Lily doesn't need baths, just brushed and her nails clipped.

I had steak and raw cauliflower for dinner. Odd combo, but it works for me.

Everyone take care in this heat.

nancia

pam-- i'm guessing neither cat owner is in a position to reclaim their cat? if the owners haven't left recently, i would then suspect health problems. usually, wetting behavior indicates a medical problem. a cat who is missing their owner might wet also, but if the owners have left them before and the wetting is a new problem, then look more towards medical reasons. male cats in particular are prone to urinary tract infections, especially if they were neutered too young. ask the cat owners what they expect you to do, and remember, the cats are their responsibility before yours.
good luck, it is hard when you are allergic to deal with someone else's problem. i love cats, have 2, and think you might re-home them through a rescue group-- a local one rather than spca or humane society. our humane society chapter puts animals down for ear mites, so i no longer recommend them, and smaller rescues often take animals who's time is up at the spca.

irishrose

Moira is clean. What a little sweetheart to bathe. I'm glad Lily isn't the one who needs to have special shampoo and conditioner left on for an extended time. Thank goodness for Rod Stewart CDs.

I'm staying home today and cleaning off flat surfaces, though I do a roast in the crockpot for my ex husband. If left to his own devices, he'll eat processed food and with a kidney being removed next week, that's not good.

I have no idea how my weight is today. I know we had to cut our walk short last night because of fireworks again. Reminder to self: Walk the dogs earlier until the middle of July even if it's a little warmer. Bigger fireworks are legal in Michigan this year. There's already been at least one serious injury.

Any good food ideas out here? I bought quinoa for my increased grains this week. I think I'll look up a quinoa salad. I'm thinking kind of like taboulli with the wheat. Sorry about the spelling.

Have a good day. I just needed to sit down a minute so I checked in here. Eat clean, drink clear fluids and exercise. Judy

Everose

Judy, have never tried quinoa. What is it like? I added flax seed - ground, to my meals this week. Today has been a snacking day. I'm a gainer this month - up and down like a see-saw. Life got in the way and I ate instead of acting.

Got the new Scrap Quilts magazine today. It is wonderful. Of course, I love scrappy things. Some of the patterns are calling my name. Almost done with the blue daisy w/yellow top for Mom. Will cut a couple more strips tomorrow morning before Mom is up and will then be able to finish it.

Hot here today - keep cool and be good to yourself. Have a great weekend.

meanmom

I am in Hilton Head this week. We are staying in my brother time share at the Marriott. OMG not used to living this way. They live a little richer than I do. It is wonderful. We did water aerobic this morning in the pool overlooking the ocean. Then we did yoga on the beach. We also swam in the ocean and walked the beach. They rented a cabana for the day and they brought us drinks etc constantly. I needed this. We went out to dinner seperately tonight since they went out for my brothers bday. We went to a little Italian restaurant and had some kind of pasta dish that was delicious. My daughter and I split a meal and couldn't finish it. Having a great time.

irishrose

Di, I haven't tried quinoa yet. I hope it's good because it's gluten free. I didn't feel like cooking for me tonight after cooking a roast beef dinner for my ex. I delivered it. He will never cross my threshold again, I hope. Tomorrow I will hurry and make something with the quinoa before I go to a b'day party, then I will have something to eat. Not complaining - but pasta salad, b'day cake, etc, don't work for me.

Pat, that sounds like a wonderful trip. What did your family you haven't seen in a while say about your weight loss?

Tired today. I neither started nor finished anything, but I did take the dogs downtown to the path around the lake. It's so lovely and a paved offshoot is quite private so I could sit on a huge rock by a small waterfall and let my troubles bubble away. By sitting at a certain angle, I could forgot it wasn't a natural waterfall, but from a manmade dam. Lily and Moira quietly munched grass and waited. They met an adorable little Corgi. The herders wanted to play together. Lily just wanted to kiss it. BTW, if anyone knows Cadillac, I didn't walk around the lake - it's 8 miles and the connecting one is 17 miles around. I did the lovely lake walk with the old fashioned gaslight style lights. 2 miles is plenty.

Weight was down this morning so I've eaten lightly today. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Oh, oh, Cindy hasn't started a new thread. I'm sure it'll be up tomorrow.

Off to fix a skirt to wear tomorrow. I need to wear these clothes or get rid of them. Goodnight.