Airing of the Quils and more sad news...

It's May, and that means Airing of the Quilts time at my guild. I borrowed these three quilts back from my nieces and nephew and tossed them over the fence.

 

This bright red and blue quilt has a pillow cover built into the design. That's what happens when I run out of two of the fabrics and still have a lot of length to make up. : )

Here are a few other quilts that were being aired that day...

I have a lot more photos to share with you, of roses and museums, flowers and motorcycle riding kitties. But I'm still feeling a little off kilter right now. I'll post those a little later.


Now for the sad news...

As you may remember, we lost my little 17-year-old Butch on the 19th of this month, just four days before my silver wedding anniversary.

Well, two days ago we lost another friend. Please remember, we are not bad pet parents; we take in a lot of strays and abandoned furry friends. We do our best for them.

For a couple of months now I have been looking forward to introducing you to Teddy - our timeshare kitty. We don't know for sure if he had another family that he lived with part-time (he was definitely a  people lover), or if he was living the wandering life of the average tom kitty. We just know that he came and went as he pleased.

 

Mr. Ted showed up a couple of months ago swearing that he was starving. We quickly realized that this kitty could put away three full meals a day. Patting his side was like testing a pumpkin for ripeness. He thumped! He was also the only one of our kitties who actually liked belly rubs.

 

Two weeks a go I took Teddy to the vet for shots and "repair" (he got "fixed"). Even though he seemed to be on time-share with another family, he still spent weekends and many week day evenings with us. I was supposed to take him back this afternoon for his booster shots. Well, he took off for almost two weeks after his surgery, but showed up again last Thursday night. He spent every day and night with us after that. I took this photo of him reclining in "his" chair in our sun room on Monday, Memorial Day. He seemed very lethargic and felt rather hot, but my husband just thought he might not be a very active cat. Remember, he was still relatively new to our family.

 

Tuesday night after work, I got home and decided that something was most definitely wrong. I rushed him to the after-hours emergency pet clinic. There he was diagnosed with Bobcat Fever. He had a temperature of 106 degrees and was already anemic. Until very recently, this tick borne disease was considered always fatal. It still only has at best a 60 percent survival rate and requires hospitalization and full-time care during treatment. His case was far enough advanced that he would have needed a blood transfusion and a possibly lengthy hospital stay. He only had a 10-15 percent chance of recovery (possibly 20 percent in the best case scenario) and would have had to spend the rest of his life indoors if he recovered - not a problem for us, but Tedders loved being outdoors. Given Mr. Ted's condition, the vet recommended not trying. The progression of the disease is extremely painful, with little chance of recovery. I had to say goodbye to my new friend.

He shared such a short time with us, but we had grown very fond of him.

Goodbye, Teddy.

If you, like us, have never heard of Bobcat Fever, please do some research on it and see if it's in your area. The vet said that he sees 4-5 cases a week just at his clinic during the spring tick season. We will definitely be more vigilant now that we know. I just wish that we had heard of this before.

Give your furry babies kisses and tell them you love them.

I'll post a cheerier message later. Until then,

Debbi


What I did on my Spring Break...

**Warning: picture heavy post.**

 

On my Spring Break I did...nothin' much. : ) 

 

Much like Maxie, I lazed around in warm spots much of the time. Here she is "babysiting" our newest acquisitions.

 

 

 Maxie has to prove that she's good babysitter and hasn't eaten her charges... "See, Mom, no chicks!"

Meanwhile, inside the box... Here is what Maxie was keeping safe. A few babies to keep the flock from getting inbred. That warming light you see is the reason the cats are taking turns sleeping on top of the box. Warm bellies!

And outside, in the yard, spring was attempting to emerge. The chickens, meanwhile, have been eating every sign of green they see!

The Golden Wyandotte below was almost killed by dogs last fall. You can barely see the injury anymore. There is just the slightest indention behind her head where her feathers will never regrow. That's one strong hen!

 

 And in the garden, the daffodils were beginning to bloom...

 

While in the house, the kitties were beginning to stalk...daffodils, of course!

 

The fields were turning green - at least the areas without chickens or cows!

 

The trees were beginning to get fuzzy looking, budding up for spring...

 

The calves were frolicking...at least those who had their land legs, which the littlest one below didn't yet. This was as close as Mama Cow was willing to let me get. When a mother cow growls, I listen.   : 0

The dogs had plenty to smell on our walks...

Even the spring got into the St. Patrick's Day spirit!

(Another random pasture shot.)

Inside the house, I was attempting to prep a backing for a baby quilt. No luck. A warm ironing board was too much for Sinnie to resist.

So I switched to another stack of projects - three quilts to be bound topped by a stack of fabrics for one of my many UFOs. My goodness, Sinbad sure can move quickly! No luck there either.

 

Fine. I'll just work on my latest Stashbuster quilt pattern. Yes, I know I'm supposed to be working on UFOs, but I refer you back to the previous two photos. : )

 

This Stashbuster pattern is due the first Thursday in April. I don't always make the patterns, but I liked this one.

 

 Each block is 8" finished and I made two at a time. Using 21 fat quarters, I made light-in-the-middle and dark-in-the-middle blocks.

I misread the directions and made 42 blocks instead of 48. I wanted it larger anyway, so instead of getting three more sets of fat quarters to make 48 blocks, I just remixed the remains of the day and came up with different combos to make 20 more blocks and get the quilt to a larger size.

Then it was time to plan a border. I like fancy borders, but the inside of this quilt is already busy. So I decided on a simple wide border instead. I was trying to test drive a small black inside border, but was having trouble with the "help." It's amazing how Maxie is so silky and shiny that she actually has blue highlights in photos. : )

 

Despite the help, I finally got the two borders finished. The photo below better represents the actual colors of the quilt. Unfortunately, it's still only a large throw in size. It'll have to be used on a couch instead of a bed, although it might fit a twin.  

And finally, my "Rest of the Story" photo. Here's a cute picture of Ladybug eating her breakfast on the outside ledge of the bathroom window.

And here's what's really going on... Maxie, who hates Ladybug with a passion, sits inside the window every morning and tries to intimidate her mortal enemy into forgoing food. Keep trying, Maxie. Ladybug hasn't seemed too impressed by your efforts yet.

Well, I've watched the sun set on my last free day. I still have the weekend ahead, but I always have weekends off anyway, so it doesn't really count. Spring Break is over. : (

I completed the Stashbuster quilt and backing (currently all at Mom's house for quilting), made a backing for a UFO children's quilt, sewed binding together for two quilts (both currently being slept on by Maxie so that I can't sew the bindings on), and started a new quilt. Oh, I didn't tell you about that one, huh? Must be because I still have about 30 UFO's I'm supposed to be working on. This one is not on my To Do List, but it should have been. It's a kit that I bought in 2008. It's the only kit I have ever bought, but I loved both the pattern and the fabrics. I finally started it tonight. Here's my first block. Pretty, isn't it. After five years, it's good to get started on this.

 

 

 

My goodness, it's my bed time (and I have a migraine), so I'm toddling off to join my kitties in slumber. Night all.

Debbi