MY PERSONAL PHOTO ALBUMS and NOTES

JUNE 18, 2006:

The past month I lost one of my young kitties to a wierd ailment. She died suddenly and unexpectedly of a sinus infection that got into her brain. It was a terrible shock and sadness for me, as she was still a young vital pet...only five and a half years old! Her brother and sister miss her too. While I have several older cats whom I expect will leave us soon, I was not prepared for this loss. As a way to soothe my grief, I created this little wall-quilt. It is called "JASMIN BECOMING AN ANGEL"

I invite you to visit my personal paradise.

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TO VIEW MY SPRING GARDEN 2006 ALBUM click here.

TO VIEW MY SUMMER GARDEN 2006 ALBUM click here.

AUGUST 18, 2006:

Since my previous entry in this journal I've enjoyed time for creating more art quilts and taking classes, as well as working in my garden and just relaxing on my deck with friends. But more sadness came as well, with the death of my dear old cat, Bunji. He was my gentle and delightful companion of seventeen years...becoming the oldest cat I've yet had. As I did with Jasmin,- and with the inspiration of making this a new personal "tradition"- I created this little wall-quilt. It is called "BUNJI PASSES THROUGH THE VEIL...AND MEETS A SMALL FRIEND." The little mouse in the lower right corner...it has a story behind it. Bunji died while I happened to be home on a five-day vacation from WalMart. Consequently, I was able to spend lots of time with him as he gradually grew weaker and stopped eating, etc. But a couple days before he died he actually caught and killed a mouse! (It was one the younger cats had been toying with for a couple days...I think he finally got tired of watching them let it go and decided to teach them what to do with it.) He was a real character...and the fact that his tongue always stuck out of his mouth made him look especially comical and loveable. (we think his tongue was just a bit too long for his mouth!)

Thursday, September 21, 2006

I'm taking several days off from work to do fall cleanup but the wind and rain are keeping me indoors. Luckily I have lots of good rainy-day projects to keep me occupied. My "quilt workshop" is getting a bit crowded, as the photo here shows. It has me dreaming of building a new addition to my house!

My porch is my painting place and it's pretty crowded too! This is a shot of one corner...brightly colored anyway.

I caught this picture of Jezabel with her quilt portrait behind her. Isn't she cute?

Thursday, December 21, 2006

I am working on updating my web pages for Winter Solstice. Hope I can get it transferred yet today. We have had warm weather all month, so that the lake is not yet frozen over completely and flocks of water birds have been gathering out in the middle of the lake at open water. I really miss snow and dislike the dirty brown look of winter without it. Today we are getting rain which is predicted to turn to snow later this evening... so maybe we will get that "white christmas" thing after all. Here is a picture of my outdoor holiday decorations on my deck...that is my old cat, Reggie Roo, enjoying the view at the front window....(seems to be my "theme" at this time__ the quilt on the home page is also a view from my front window...and I used it on my holiday cards as well!! (am I in a rutt?)

Here is a closeup of Reggie Roo...he is now the senior cat in my household, since Bunji left us. Reggie has recently begun to come into the main part of the house. After living for years in the back "cat-room" he probably thinks he has died and gone to heaven!

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Well, that last entry was prophetic I guess, because little Reggie Roo did die on January 6. He died quitely in his sleep during the night, lying on my bed while I slept next to him. He enjoyed his last two months with the young cats and me in the house, and shared the holidays with us. Then he decided to leave us and join his life-companion and sister, Ruby, who passed away last fall. Here is a picture of the two of them taken a couple years ago.

I have experienced many departings from my old pets this last couple of years. My records show that, in 2003, when I stopped the business of breeding and selling kittens, I had a total of 22 cats. Now there are ten left, and I fear another one (Devi...ten years old) is dying as I write. It makes me melancholy but grateful for the many years of their companionship.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Spring is here at last and I am immersed in some very big "projects" that are keeping me completely charged up. A friend is helping me to renovate my "cat-room" into a big new "sewing and craft room"!! Needless to say, the four cats still living out in that area are surprised... but they also seem quite intrigued with the changes going on around them.

Thought I'd throw in a recent picture of myself. This was taken at a friend's house in March when we celebrated our mutual birthdays.

Now to celebrate Spring by getting out and doing some work in the garden. Hope you all have a great Beltane Season!

PS: Be sure to check out my new Quilt Gallery page.. it is a faster way to view some of my quilting projects.

Thursday, June 21, 2007 Happy Midsummer Everyone. Things have progressed very rapidly for me with my new Quilting Studio and I am so excited to get my stuff all moved in there. Here is a current picture.

My garden is doing well too, despite a general lack of rain so far this summer. I get out and water every morning before it gets too hot and it is such a pleasure seeing plants budding and blooming.

Friday, August 10, 2007

I'm late in updating my website for the Lammas season. Time got away from me between working on the studio project and trying to my garden growing during the drought we are having here in MN.

Also, the terrible bridge collapse on 35W over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis happened on August first...a rather miraculous tragedy, given how relatively few persons were killed in that devastating event. Seems there were a lot of busy "Angels" around there that day!

My new Quilting and Craft Studio is done and I have actually begun sewing in it. It is wonderful! Like a dream come true. Here are several views:

November 13, 2007

Once again, I missed my "dateline" for updating...this time with a good excuse....Another of my dear cats had an unexpected health emergency, and I completely forgot Samhain season update. Unhappily, the kitty's crisis ended in his being "put down"...and left me feeling totally depressed. This time it was Rexy...a ten-yr old flame-point himalayan... full of energy, loved attention, the lead mischief-maker in my new studio. (I have such guilt for all the times I hollered at him for little things) One evening early in October I returned home from work to find him sprawled helpless on the floor... took him the next morning to vet, although he was markedly improved already...diagnosis at first was a common syndrome of dizziness from an ear infection. He returned to normal for two weeks...and then I came home one night to find him again lying comatose... this time he did not recover...kept trying to walk and move about, but his hind legs would not function. He appears to have had a stroke. I decided to put him down rather than make him live in a cage and be miserable because he was not able to jump and run like normal. It was the most difficult decision because he still wanted to be okay... other cats' I've had to put down were already half-dead by the time I took them to the vet.... and most often, my cats have died quietly on their own here at home. (That is always the most comforting to me, though it can be quite devastating when it happens unexpectedly.)

Here is a collage photo of Rexy...with the sewing studio in the background...and images of him in various places and poses... The other cats out there miss him too.

DECEMBER 17, 2007

Finally I am getting around to updating these web-pages. Next year I hope to finish writing material from my book exerpts...that project kind of got stopped midway a few years ago! I have also created a number of new quilts that I have yet to add to the site... but not this time. Christmas is coming up fast and I have to get gifts and decorations done. I did get cards mailed out today, so that feels good. Hope you are all having a great holiday season. See you in "08.

MARCH 20, 2008

Okay...I'm back. Just spent the day re-designing my Home page and Season Themes, Oracles, and Goddess Galleries. You will find the links at the top of home page will be a bit easier to follow...I hope! I have also added several new quilts to my Quilt Gallery page...link can be found in the contents list on Home page...Do come and browse.

I have just passed through my 68th birthday! YIKES! It is hard to contemplate...but I must be greatful for good health and a very fortunate life, with a semi-retirement that gives me ample time to play with my various hobbies and interests. I'm still busy with online classes at Quilt University, and with learning many new and varied techniques for making my art quilts. The major part of January and February were spent finishing a quilt I began a year ago. It is a "memory quilt" for my friend, Gail, of her precious little dog, Lace, who died at a ripe old age just this February. Here are a couple of pictures... (If I can get them to come across without too much trouble. It is late, and I wanted to post this online yet...(though I may wait until tomorrow morning when I'm fresh and less likely to get frustrated). We'll see what happens:

MARCH 20, 2009

Okay...I'm back.... ONE WHOLE YEAR LATER EXACTLY !!! And, just having passed my 69th b'day, I am again thinking about how to simplify and revitalize my website (and my life too?) The past year has been a good one for me, despite the hard times of the economy. I am greatful for my job at WalMart which, along with my Social Security check, allows me to support my quilting and other hobbies, as well as my home and my kitties. There are still 8 cats abiding with me.... or should I say "letting me live with them"... providing good companionship. I've reconnected with several good friends from my past.... we reach back to each other as aging makes old friends more valued... and that is a lovely blessing. My highschool class celebrated our 50-year reunion this summer. I continue with my passion for the quilting arts, showed some of my pieces at the Annandale Art Crawl in October and sold three pieces on eBay auction at Christmas time... I hope to enter some shows in the coming year or two, but found I did not especially like selling my "creations" to perfect strangers on the web. I have made a couple of pet memory quilts for friends again... (will include photos below.) Also very recently I began sorting through a large collection of old 35mm slide pictures and scanning the better ones onto the computer for editing and then filing to disc for easier viewing and preservation. In the process, I have stirred quite a few very old and precious memories for myself... these, too, become more meaningful as I approach the venerable age of 70 in another year!! I remain blessed with good health and a (relatively) clear mind... which only wanders sometimes..

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