Things are looking up...

Thank you to all of you who have sent queries and encouragement to me and my sister. I've talked to her most days to try to keep up with everything that's going on after her house flooded.

The good news is that after she was turned down by ALL of the assistance programs, my husband and I talked her into trying a different direction. Since the aid agencies said that her flooding couldn't have been caused by the tornado since she isn't in a flood plain, I told her to contact the city drainage department and tell them that her house flooded because of their faulty drainage (actually, I told her to sue the mayor over the faulty drainage, but I was a little upset at the time). My husband was more practical and suggested that she call her local representative. After talking to various city officials, my sister took my husband's advice. She e-mail her alderman at midnight on a Friday with no expectations of hearing back before the following week. The next morning, Saturday, she got a wake up call at 7 a.m. from the city manager. WOW! Talk about fast!

So...thanks to making all the right contacts, Sis has now been approved for FEMA aid. She has already received a check for the "minimum repairs required to make the house livable." Now she's waiting to hear if she's eligible for assistance with all of the internal losses she suffered - the loss of all of her appliances, much of her furniture, the flooring, her AC unit and ductwork, and the carpeting going up the stairs. She should hear something in the next two to three weeks.

Yesterday, a church from Alabama sent a crew out to repair her walls. She had already purchased the materials, but she and the girls didn't know how to build walls - go figure. : ) Now she has all new inside and outside walls. Well, all except for the one wall that they discovered yesterday that they had never cut open. Since it hadn't been drained, it is now full of lovely green mold. Apparently, if you let mold grow and mature, it glows in the dark! Who knew? Sis is still encountering new hurdles every day, but at her legs are getting a fantastic workout jumping over them. : )

On the quilting front, I have finally finished binding my Stashbusters quilt. Just in time to start the next Stashbuster quilt! I already have many of the blocks made up, but I haven't laid any of it out yet to figure out how I want it to look. Of course, I have been rather slowed down by helping a new friend with her new business. She is developing patterns that she wants to sell, but has needed some pattern testers. I'm on my second quilt pattern that I'm testing. Both patterns are lovely. The first one is made with xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and is in lovely shades of xxxxxxxx and xxxxxxxxxxxxxx. The second one is much more complex and is mostly xxxxxxxxxxxxxx in beautiful colors ranging from xxxxxxxxxx to xxxxxxxxxxxxxx. I would tell you more about them both, but I'm under contract and have been sworn to silence until the patterns are actually published. Hey, look at that! Even my descriptions have been redacted! Well, you'll just have to wait to see them at some future time.

Thanks to all of you for sticking with me during the past few months when I've been posting so seldom. I hope life settles down enough to let me get back to doing fun things some more and, even better, sharing them with you!

See you later,

Deb

Is 2013 gone yet?

Sigh. It's still here.

This year has been a challenge for my family. The day after posting about losing my little dog and my kitty, my sister and her family in Oklahoma City were hit with flooding.  Her husband just shipped out to Afghanistan the week before and she has four kids. Her home damage was because of the five tornadoes in the area - it was not caused by their house being hit by a tornado; therefore, no insurance coverage.There is a huge, long saga involved with this situation, but let's just say that there is finally hope on the horizon. She contacted her local rep, who has taken her cause to the assistant city manager. She's been in constant contact with the assistant since then and seems to be making some headway.

BREAK THROUGH! I actually just got an e-mail from her saying that FEMA came out at noon today to inspect the damage. She has to wait a week to ten days before she hears what, if anything, they can do to help her, but at least they're talking to her now. Sometimes it helps to get the bigwigs in city government on your side. : )  FEMA may provide assistance with the extensive structural damage she received, but can't do anything about the furniture and appliances. Thankfully, that's where friends and family have stepped in. We're all pitching in to get the inside of her home taken care of as soon as the outside has been repaired. Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly. She has to wait until her claim has been processed before she'll know anything. Until then, all she can do is hope and wait. And try to stay dry.

Debbi

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


Anniversary and tragedy...

What a mixed-up May this has been.

 

Just two weeks ago, we woke up to an unprecedented May snow.

Then Monday, I lost my 17-year-old best buddy, Butch.

 

Yesterday afternoon the weather was warm and sunny, and Mom's roses were blooming beautifully. She brought this rose with us from California (the peace rose in the foreground - the smaller pink blossoms are from a different plant). I believe she said that it was from a cutting from a rose that her mom owned. This rose bush fell over in the snow two weeks ago, but with some sun, a supporting pole, and some supporting words, it seems to have re-established itself.  





 

And this happy little rose bush was blooming up a storm.

 

And then, speaking of storms... I suppose many of you have heard about the deadly tornado that hit Moore, OK, last night. So far the authorities are reporting at least 24 dead, nine of them children from the school that received a direct hit. What heartbreak!

 

We were hit with 60-70 mph winds at my house last night along with some torrential rains and even some hail. I took the pictures of Mom's roses before the storm hit, so I doubt that there are any blossoms left on the bushes now. Mom drove over to Oklahoma City yesterday (a 3 1/2 hour drive) so that she can attend my niece's high school graduation today. She arrived in OKC to the sound of tornado sirens. Thankfully, my sister's home is far enough away from Moore that everyone in my family is safe. I have much to be thankful for.

 

With so much bad news, where's my silver lining? Well, I did mention an anniversary. Today is my husband's and my 25th wedding anniversary. Over the years we have planned many plans and dreamed many dreams about how we would spend this day. As it is, we are both at work - my husband giving final exams and me in the middle of my summer semester. Not quite what we had envisaged over the years.

 

However, we did sneak off for a quiet couple of days in Tulsa last weekend, where we visited some lovely gardens and shopped for new rings. I'll post the garden pictures later, when I'm in a more cheerful mood. I'm guessing that the beautiful flowers we saw just two days ago have probably all been destroyed by the storms of the last two nights. *Sigh*

 

But back to the silver lining... Would you like to see my anniversary gift? Good, because I'd love to show you! My husband and I were supposed to buy each other new wedding rings to celebrate our 25th, but I really like the wedding band that I'm wearing now. So instead, I got this lovely opal and diamond ring for my right hand. I just love the old-fashioned setting of this ring. The pave diamonds around the stones really flash in the light. And the white gold setting (which absolutely refused to photograph well, so I didn't include a photo) is an intricate filigree, with swirls and hearts underneath the stones. It looks very old-fashioned. *happy sigh* What a romantic gift, no? 

 

 

 

Oh, yes, and my husband got the new wedding band he wanted, but it won't be in for a few weeks. It's mixed white and yellow gold and had to be ordered in his size. It should come in in early June.

 

All around, a very confusing month -  a mix of happy excitement and heartbreaking loss.

 

 

I'm going to end with a gratuitous kitty photo - just to cheer me up. : )

 

 

I've decided that Callie is my Visa cat:  she's everywhere I want to be - on the quilt I need to bind, beside the sewing machine that I need to use... It's a good thing that the weather was so scary last night, because I sure wasn't going to get any sewing done with my little helper around! Love ya anyway, Callie!

 

Until later. Stay safe, everyone.

Debbi

A sad and loving farewell...

BUTCH

Spring 1996-May 17, 2013

 

 Butch in 2007 with his cool, summer look - all those long, furry locks shaved off.

 Butch and Belle just weeks after we brought Belle home from the shelter in 2008. Butch still had his long, winter look. Butch was still mourning the loss of his lifelong friend, PeeWee (our Doberman) a month earlier, and he ignored Belle for about two months.

 

 Butch and Belle about a year later.

 

Butch in 2010. This was the last year that Butch was really able to walk with us and enjoy himself. He adored playing in the snow.

 

 Run, Butchie, run!

 

 Are you taking my picture?

 

 My husband loved to give large, meaty bones to the dogs. Since Butch was convinced that he was just as big a dog as all of the others (after all, he was raised as a Doberman!), he also got a big bone. Of course, sometimes that big bone actually made him tip over...but he was happy!

 Butch and another new friend, Muffin, in 2010.

 

 

Goodbye, best buddy. You've been separated from PeeWee for long enough. I know you're running in Doberman heaven with your best friend, but I will miss you terribly down here.

 

Debbi

Spring is here!

Yep, that's my sentiment exactly! The spring semester is finally over. Whew. I just want crow along with my roosters. Of course, I started a new semester today... : / But on to happier thoughts...

In an upcoming blog, I will introduce you to the newest member of the family - Teddy. I need to get a photo of him first.

So in the meantime... it's SPRING! Finally! Here's what's going on in my garden.

A flourishing of wild irises. My cultivated irises taste too good. The chickens eat them every time I get any planted. The wild iris don't seem to be as scrumptious. And they bloom longer and more prufusely, too.

A bit of petunia love for the humming birds. (I was dive bombed twice while planting this.)

Some bright and lively coreopsis.

A bit of pink stuff. (Yeah, well, I don't have to remember the names of everything, do I?)

Some cosmos. I love these happy little flowers. I prefer the full sized one, but I'm sticking to container plants this year, so these are just perfect. I boughts LOTS of them.

A little taste testing...

Yep, it's confirmed. Petunias are as tasty as they smell. : )

More petunias and some verbena.

I bought three different colors of African daisies. This is one of them. I'll show you the others in another post.

Well, that's all I have time for today. So from all of us here at the farm, from kitten...

to chicken, we wish you a good day. I'll post again very soon with some more photos, including some new blocks for my kit quilt.

See ya later,
Deb