More News

We almost lost Confetti today. Her breathing was so labored that the vet couldn't hear her heartbeat. They pumped her full of Lasix and she managed to stabilize and tonight she's comfortable again. We have instructions to dose her as needed to keep her stable for as long as the medication works but there will come a point where it will cease to help.

Until this morning she was stable and enjoying every bit of life, and she seems to be content again for the moment. FH and I have decided that once the Lasix stops helping her quality of life will be totally worthless and we will have no choice but to have her put to sleep.

It was not an easy conclusion to come to, but neither one of us want to see her suffer. In fact we were both convinced we wouldn't be bringing her home this afternoon. She's been a fighter her whole life but I can see her beginning to get tired. I don't think we will have another miracle like we had today.

Confetti Update

Just so everyone is up to speed, there will be no recovery for Confetti. The ultrasound this morning proved the vet's theory of a cardiomyopathy.Basically her heart is working harder because one of muscle walls has thickened. It's congenital, meaning there's nothing we could really do to prevent it.

We are working on getting her stable and then we'll see if medications can bring her some relief for a while. We're lucky it even got noticed since cats tend to be stoic when they hurt. She's comfortable in the sun right now, so here's to as much happy time as we have left. Currently she is on a medication for the fluid around her lungs and we just started a cardiac medication to help her heart pump better. We also have to give her fluids each day so the medicines don't dehydrate her, but not so much fluid that her lungs are put in danger. She also gets whatever she wants to eat, which is never much as breathing is hard enough right now.

Thank yous to everyone who have commented on the first post. It really means a lot to us.

I will be posting occasionally and will let everyone know how things are going.

This wouldn't be as hard if Castor wasn't so sick too....

Left Field

I won't be around blogland for a few days. Confetti's heart has started to fail and FH and I are working with the vet to see if we can get fluid expelled from her lungs. If that improves by tomorrow, we may have a couple of options to treat the heart.

I will keep you all updated when I can.

Minis From the Easter Giveaway

Since Debbie has received her Easter box of goodies, I can show everyone the surprise Easter minis from the giveaway.

In addition to the chocolate and bunny statue,
I made these Easter/spring themed minis for Debbie:I hope you enjoy the goodies, Debbie!

A Blessing and Tulips

It still needs to be washed, blocked, and framed... but here's the latest finished stitching.I found the kit on clearance at Hobby Lobby on the 18th of March and have been stitching whenever I went to a Guild meeting. Why on Earth I bought a kit that has 41 French knots in the stitching (when I loathe them!) I will never know. But I needed something that wasn't all shades of one color or another to work on and this fit the bill. I just love the sheep! Wishing I had made one of them black with a gray face though.

Some of the tulips are opening in the gardens. These are a few that I could photograph from the deck.


That's all for now. I am going to be starting a new cross stitch in the vain hope I can finish it in time for the show next month.

Nothing, Nada, Ziltch

Nothing new and fascinating today. The camera has hidden itself somewhere and I can't get pictures of the "about to bloom" tulips without it. Nor can I show pictures of the current stitching project since none exist.

So...

I guess I'll get back to some housework so I can hurry up and finish the current stitching so I can start the piece that will hopefully get done in time for the Judged Show in May.

More Floral Surprises

More and more lovelies are popping up around the gardens.
I wonder what else is lurking beneath the soil...

A Message from Albert Wilbert

Tempie is busy running binkies around the house, so I'm here to wish everyone a Happy Easter.

Illinois or Wales?

It seems that the previous owner had a "thing" for daffodils.





Watching them in the breeze is just lovely.

Peril

One of the many perils of not having a room with a door to keep miniatures and pets separate.

"Aren't I simply divine?"

Make Mine Giveaway Winner

Getting Tempie interested in the bowl of names was pretty difficult.
Finally we had to scoop her up and hold the bowl in front of her nose.
And I couldn't get a picture fast enough since she immediately dropped the paper on the floor and kicked FH in the stomach. But here's the winning slip:
Congratulations, Debbie!!!

I will send you an email tonight!

Quick Tour Through the Incomplete Work Area

Pictures say it all, so I'm taking you on a virtual tour through the mini work area today. Things still need to be unpacked, sorted, and shuffled but at the moment it's usable for projects.

The desk faces the fireplace and television in the main part of the basement.
The larger dollhouse buildings on those handy counters serve as a movable wall to separate the two areas.Books and finished (mostly finished) minis.Three structures that need some work. I love putting mini scenes in old console TVs. The tall house is what will become my witchy department store. (More on that later.) The dresser along the back wall will eventually be home to several roomboxes. I need to get a shelf for the empty corner so I can move teddy bears of of it first. The drawers are filled with beads, buttons, leather, and other supplies. A handy closet for storing more supplies and unfinished roomboxes.
Maddie resting in the unfinished (read: needs major over-haul since I didn't build it) cafe'.It's really much safer for her in there while I'm sorting, etc.

That's all for today. More real life chores are calling my name and then I'm going for "coffee" (tea for me) with Holly.

Don't forget about the giveaway! There's a little over a day left.

Saturday's Work

This past Saturday I spent the whole day at workshops for Stitcher's Guild. The theme of the day was "Try Something New," and everyone had a wonderful time.

During the morning session I taught a class (with FH's help thankfully) on finger-weaving. Our students made a red and black, variegated bookmark. I took a class in the afternoon on basket weaving.

Here's Maddie holding the results.
Here's a better shot of the bookmark. It's approximately 12 inches long.

And then a better look at the basket. Unfortunately we did not learn how to make the frame for the baskets. The frame, complete with God's Eyes at the handles were supplied for us and we just filled in the weaving with waxed linen cord. But a friend of mine knows how to make basket frames so I plan on getting some #1-sized reed and learning from her.

That's all for today. I am very close to reclaiming parts of the house for everyday use and I'm desperate to be finished.

Oh and if you haven't signed up for the giveaway, you've got about two days left! :-)

"Make Mine" Giveaway

Easter is coming up soon as we know what that means!

I may have mentioned some of Tempie's story before, but in case you missed it:

Tempie was found hopping around my sister's neighborhood one summer evening. The vet said it was very likely that someone had gotten tired of their "Easter bunny" and dumped her. She's been with me ever since.

I've never been a fan of giving live animals as gifts, especially to young children. And watching the explosion of rabbits dumped outside or at local pounds a few weeks after Easter is both sad and frustrating. So I decided to start supporting the group "Make Mine Chocolate" in their efforts to educate people about living with rabbits, among other things. If you are interested in what they do, here is a link to their website.

So in the spirit of chocolate, Tempie's story, and just plain fun I'm going to have a giveaway for this chocolate, a bunny statue that looks like chocolate, and some miniature surprises.All you have to do is leave a comment on this post by 6:00pm CST on Wednesday, March 24th. If you leave a fun bunny/other pet story, I'll put your name in the hat twice. Oh and make sure I have a way to contact you, so you can get your treats! :-)

I will put everyone's name into a container and have Tempie pull out the winner that night and let everyone know. I'm hoping to have the goodies arrive in time for Easter weekend.

Good luck, everyone!

Faux Stained Glass

There's a lovely window in my miniature area that looks out onto the garden. However the height of the window allows for a good deal of sunlight coming in all day... and it's aimed right at my painted dollhouses.
So I fixed it.It took one and two thirds panels of "Wisteria" by Art Glass to do it, but I am in love with the result. The light still pours in at the bottom for kitties to nap in and my miniatures are protected more from fading.

I'm heading back to work now! :-)