Still miss Chessie and cry when I think about her.  We got a new kitten in May 2014 and named her Shamu.  She's a little black and white tuxedo.  She's cute but not nearly as loving or friendly as Chessie.  She's very willful and headstrong and loves to run and jump.  Someday her curiosity is going to get her hurt; she's such a nosey little thing.  Mom and Lizzie are living with us now and Shamu doesn't like Lizzie.  She's always chasing Lizzie or tormenting her somehow.  Poor Lizzie just wants to be left alone.  After all Lizzie is 11 years old now and just wants to sleep in the sun.

It is with a broken heart I write this post.  Our poor sweet little Chessie was diagnosed with renal (kidney) failure on October 16th 2013.  We helped her as much as we could with her battle but renal failure is a terminal illness and we knew we wouldn't be able to keep her alive.  My poor Chessie was so weak and tired of her battle that on December 4th we made a vet appointment to have her put to sleep.  I'm so thankful it was a sunny day because she got to sleep in her favorite toy tunnel in the sun.  Later in the afternoon she got to spend a little time out on the deck remembering her hunting adventures.  At the end of the day we took into the vet's and she went peacefully with no fuss.  I miss her so very much.  It just doesn't seem fair that we had her liver problems back within normal ranges and she was a happy, loving, fun kitty.  The house is so quiet and empty without her.  Everywhere I look reminds me of her.  She gave lots of love and was loved greatly in return.  I'm glad your suffering is over and I hope you are having fun over on the Rainbow Bridge side.

My beaded piece was accepted

My beaded amulet was accepted for the auction and they have a picture of it on their advertising poster. It can be seen at http://truefriendsawc.com/events.html. Not sure how they have priced it.

New Year of 2012

Here we are again, a new year and I'm wondering where the last one went. Was a fairly busy year with a couple of short trips and lots of beading and making cards.

I have just finished an amulet to be submitted to an art show to benefit the local animal welfare center where we adopted Chessie. It's a juried show so I don't know yet if my piece has been accepted yet. The item submitted must have a canine or feline theme. This is the piece I'm submitting.

Been almost a year

A blogger I am not but I have been making cards lately for a craft show I'll be doing in another two weeks. Some of my cards are just so pretty (in my humble opinion - IMHO) that I wanted to be able to share them with my family and friends.

A few weeks ago I bought myself a Silhouette SD (SIL) electronic die cutting machine. I am in love! This machine is just so awesome and the software that comes with it. It hooks up to my computer and I can download either free or bought designs to manipulate on my computer and then send to the SIL for it to do it's magic cutting. Or when I get really good I can make my own designs. There is a definite learning curve with the software design package and I've only scratched the surface.

I feel guilty sitting here at the computer because it's such a beautiful day out and we certainly haven't many of those this year. When the show is over I'll have to get outside and do my gardening. Until then I'm busy creating!

Time Marches On

Time just keeps marching on and I have no idea where it's all gone. Summer is half over already. The Firemen's Picnics are going full strength and it's time to submit my entry form for the Harford Fair. Other than our peppers our veggie garden seems to be doing well. We've been picking yellow squash like crazy (even though we only have two plants) and hopefully we'll start picking cucumbers some time this week. We also have a couple of fair sized eggplants to be picked soon. The tomato plants are loaded with green tomatoes but they aren't even close to being ripe. Because of the heat and then the rains I haven't been out to the wild huckleberries lately to see if we'll have any this year. I doubt that we will have enough to do anything with since the late frost killed the blossoms and the same for apples. However, the elderberries are a later blooming plant and we should have plenty of them to pick.

Blogging is like my diary

I remember a few times I got a "My Diary" as a Christmas gift and I'd eagerly await 1 January so I could start to write in it. My blogging is alot like my diary experiences. I'd write in my diary every day for about the first 2 weeks and then it'd be once or twice a week for another 2 weeks and then it'd be about 3 times for the whole year. I have concluded "My Diary" and my blog reflect my life ... too boring to put into words.
I started part of this blog as a way to keep track of Chessie's medical history. She has now been on Denamarin for a year and liquid milk thistle for cats. So far it seems to be working fine. Chessie is still the one in charge in this house and demands much loving and play time. However, whenever she appears sick I panic. She has had one runny eye for about 5 months now and Paul thinks she's looking a little skinny lately. After looking at her this morning I have to agree she's looking thin. Now the panic begins. I worry so much about the FIP and her liver condition. Her appetite seems to be okay but she doesn't seem to be eating as much as she used to (progression from kitten to cat?) and she seems to tire faster when chasing paper balls (again, is it that she's outgrowing being a kitten?). More panic. I think maybe it's time to take her in for a checkup.
Lizzy, on the other hand, is still Lizzy. She doesn't particularly like to be petted nor picked up and of course any loud noise sends her running. I guess she's healthy except for the normal hairball hurl. She has started to jump up into my lap occasionally while I'm reading the morning paper so that's a nice thing. And Lizzy is usually the first one to greet me as I get up in the morning because she knows I'm going to feed her. She is definitely a chow hound although it has to be something she likes.