He's baa-aack!

I received a phone call from the shelter on Friday afternoon wondering if I could pick up Wren. He's sick, she said. Upper respiratory.

A simple cold can be a death sentence for a cat at the shelter, where there is little room to treat an illness for a few weeks while the sweetie gets better. Of course, I went and picked him up right away. I had dropped him off a week and a half before that, thinking he would go for surgery and then be adopted.

Well, that poor baby was crying, and had ringworm in four or five places, and a few fleas, and a cold, and his eyes were all crusty and swollen. And he was dehydrated and hungry. I thought, good golly, what have you guys been doing with this poor baby for ten days? He hadn't gained one ounce! I went and checked in the kitten cottage, and everybody there was fat, happy, and healthy. I just decided Wren has delicate sensibilities...a "Prince and the Pea" type situation had developed, and he needed some good loving in a proper home.

Luckily, I had my carrier in the car that afternoon, and so I scooped up Wren and started driving home. Within a few blocks, he was scratching at the carrier door and reaching his poor little paw out as far as it would go and meowing and meowing. At the next stop light, I unlatched the gate, and that pitiful orphan leaped into my lap and started rolling like a crocodile, over-and-over-and-over. Purr, purr, purr, said Wren, and he was practically saying: "I thought you'd NEVER come back!"

So, we got home, and he ran right to where the food goes when it's time to eat. I put out a tin of chicken, and he wolfed down a bunch of it, drank for a while from the communal water bowl, everybody gave him a good sniff, and then it was bath time. I used a couple different types of soap, then dried him off in a big old towel. And I put ointment on his ringworm (which isn't really a worm...it's a fungal skin condition). And I cleaned out his ears really well and scrubbed all the crusties out of his eyes. I picked the fleas off his belly. We all loved on that kitten for the next few hours, and he curled up in bed next to Steve that night, and wouldn't you know it, he already looks good-as-new.

We'll have Wren for another week while he finishes his antibiotic, and then I'm hoping a Facebook campaign will help him find a home, so he can skip going back to kitty "jail." He just likes to be pampered, that's all. He's going to be a big old orange cat who likes to sleep on laps, and I know he'll make someone a wonderful pet. How lucky we get to borrow him for a little while longer.

(P.S. If you want to see what Wren looks like, take a peek at my previous blog post.)

An angel, a bird and a girl

Some announcements today... (oh, and happy new year, by the way.) I had a nice Christmas with my family, a nice 21st anniversary the day after Christmas, and a nice case of strep throat and a cold virus on the 27th. I'm finally feeling better, but spent my week off sleeping, sneezing, coughing and dripping. That's how it goes!

This is the first in a monthly set of angels I'm releasing via Raise the Roof Designs this year. Above is February's angel which can be purchased as a graph from me (or through your local shop, which can get the designs from my distributors). OR, you can get it as a monthly offering as a complete kit with the custom-cut 30-count hand-dyed linen, enough threads, buttons and pins (JABCo) to finish for $35.00/month. You do not have to sign up as an auto -- you can pick and choose the ones you like, but if you get them all, the last one is free! They will all be about six by six inches (finished). This first one was fun, and I am looking forward to filling up your stitching baskets with 11 more!

Wren isn't really a bird -- he's a kitten we took care of for a few weeks in December. He's back at the shelter now -- I thought he was heavy enough for surgery, and although he was scheduled, he was slightly under the required weight last week, so they're beefing him up a little. I thought I'd share a picture. He is a great little guy. We're taking a kitten break for right now. The litters aren't coming in like they had been, and our cats need respite from the kitten storm. They have all been very lovey-dovey with us and with each other. They need some TLC, and things are definitely quieter for the time being.

And here is a PIECE of the Elizabeth Milner sampler from 1848 that I bought about two years ago for about $125.00 from eBay-UK. From now through June, you can collect one part per month to stitch the entire sampler by purchasing something at Shakespeare's Peddler. Get on an auto, or talk to me if you want to set up some orders over the next six months to make sure you don't miss out on one part of this band sampler. I am not showing the entire sampler now...but I will tell you there are squirrels and owls at the bottom...some strawberries...and a verse about how a good woman should be seen and not heard! Well! I will be releasing the piece for SALE as a full chart in a year's time, but you can get it stitched long before anyone else can find it, can't you?

Tate's Stocking and Hello from Mr. Zero

This is late in getting done, but it's done, and that's the main thing. This is Tate's Stocking by Raise the Roof Designs (which is ME!) I designed and stitched this for my nephew, Tate, and I told him on the phone the other day that Santa was going to be able to fit LOTS of presents in this stocking. The pattern is $9.00 and available now. I stitched on 20 count Straw Linen by Weeks Dye Works in a combination of Perle Cottons by Weeks Dye Works and Crescent Colours. A few sleigh bell buttons by JABCo. finish 'er off. What-d'-ya-think?

"If you're wanting to buy me a cashmere sweater, which I assume you ARE, I usually take a medium. But the holidays are simply murder on my figure. Better get a large. And would it kill you to get matching socks?" -- Zero

News about "A Wassailing"

Good news for you guys this morning -- I am going to be getting/making enough kits to fill ALL my folks on the waiting list for the limited edition "A Wassailing" kit I designed for the Christmas at Williamsburg event. And, I'll even have some extra ones! So, if you want to get a kit or two, let me know -- I will be filling all of these orders on a first-come/first-served basis, and at some point, I will run out.

A sad day yesterday

I had to have little Kringle (our newest foster that the shelter named "Frog Bean") put to sleep yesterday.

He did great at our house for the first two days, and then he quit eating. I tried switching him to homemade kitten formula, but he didn't like that either, and threw up everything I could get in him. Thursday night I took him to the emergency vet, where they gave him subcutaneous fluids (he was dehydrated). He spent all day Friday, and the first few hours of Saturday at the vet. We tried various medicines, subcutaneous fluids, tube feeding, heat lamps, but all to no avail.

Yesterday at 11:30, the vet was going over other things we could try (an IV port where I could continue to administer fluids over the weekend, barium to soak up any toxins, a new antibiotic). I looked at little Kringle, limp in one of the vet tech's hands, and asked what kind of a chance he had. "I have seen kittens pull out of something like this," Dr. Kristen said, but I could tell by the tone of her voice that this was a long-shot. In just a few hours on Saturday, Kringle had gone from running and climbing to a wisp of a kitten, barely hanging on. I said that I thought we had done our best, but that if two days at the vet couldn't get him on the mend, he was suffering, and not likely to survive. I did not want him to be in any more pain, and gave them the go ahead to put him to sleep.

His little veins were so small, their smallest needle could not fit inside (he only weighed 12 ounces.) They ended up having to directly inject his tiny heart, but the end was quick. Kringle will be spending his first Christmas in kitten heaven, along with his brother (who died at the shelter on Friday with similar symptoms.) His other two litter mates are becoming sick as well and may not have much time. But they were all surrounded by love and affection for one week of their short lives.

Little furry friends can make such a difference in someone's day. Please support your local shelter and remember to have your pets spayed and neutered.

God bless.

Have yourself a meow-y little Christmas...

Let your heart be light.

From now on our troubles will be out of sight.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Make the yuletide gay

From now on our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,

Happy golden days of yore

Faithful friends who are...

JiNGle BElls!!

jINglE BelLS!!

JINglE AlL the WAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!

(Oh, Pekoe.)

Cleaning Day and a New Kitten

It had to be done. Yesterday, I spent a good chunk of the day cleaning through my needlework things at home. When I'm designing and stitching, I'm pulling threads, and then, well, they end up in big piles, little piles, under things, behind things...and it's just a mess. And the same goes for fabric samples and embellishments.

And then of course there are my own UFO's, the kids' Christmas ornaments for this year, gifts for stitching friends, and the projects I'm working on "just because." Ridiculous!

So, with many helpful paws yesterday, I sorted through everything, put threads in their proper places, and neatly folded fabrics and put them away. I have maybe a dozen things yet to tuck here and there, and then, VOILA! It'll all be ready for me to tear apart again.

Pekoe is having his surgery this morning. He got his microchip and the last of his booster shots yesterday. We will miss him. But...there's a new furry face at our house now...his shelter-given name is "Frog Bean." Yep. That's his name. Well, we will not be calling him that. I'm thinking of "Gimli," after the robust dwarf from The Lord of the Rings (who charges in with his axe and his beard and his general sassiness.) This little cat is soft, loud, and very affectionate.

Here he is!