Still Swimming Upstream but All is Good

Dear Sasha

Well it has been an interesting couple weeks since I last posted and I still feel as if I am barely keeping my head above water, but in spite of that things are overall quite good.  The main worry has been Sasha, but thankfully she is once again gaining strength thanks to the combined efforts of Dr. Nell her vet and Kay the vet tech who so kindly stops by our house twice a day to give Sasha her many medicines.  Sasha helped me quilt yesterday and assisted with my weaving today, so I know she is returning to her usual friendly happy self.  She still has problems with the litter box, but that seems quite minor after everything else.

Dear Sasha

Chauncey has also had his share of issues having to have surgery for his skin condition which got dramatically worse and it turns out he has a staph infection which does not respond to antibiotics, but he too is getting better and after the trip to the groomers last Friday he doesn't look quite so strange.  Most of his back and right side had to be shaved right down to the skin and when the rest of his fur was longer and shaggy the contrast was not great.  But now he is more evened out and more importantly he is feeling much better.

Dear Sasha

I got a new piece of garden art, and dinosaur, specifically a dromaeosaur which I have named Freyja, and I won her in the Vashon Allied Arts annual fund raising auction.  I was lucky that my therapist's husband loves that event and was very happy to bid on my behalf since I don't do social functions in the first place and don't go out at night in the second.  Freyja was delivered last Thursday and she looks really awesome.

Chauncey and Sasha

And I've done a lot of quilting lately.  I finished my new bed quilt yesterday and slept under it for the first time last night.  It is a lot bigger and it was a challenge to keep shifting it around to work on it.  I used the time when the dogs were at the groomers to lay the whole thing out, back, batting, and top, and get it all pinned.  The only space large enough was of course the floor and trying to do that with three dogs would have been a nightmare, so I learned once again, that sometimes things we don't like (ie., having the dogs gone--the house seems so empty) can still prove to be positive events.  Anyway I was very pleased to have it all finished yesterday and Sasha came and slept on it for a bit last night.  She was the inspiration for the quilt and the reason why I made such a big one because she does like the quilt to go over my big stuffed koala so she can perch on top of it.  Last weekend I was afraid she wouldn't live long enough to see the new quilt, but her improved health and my speed worked well together.  She even helped me quilt it, which was quite lovely.

Freyja the Dromaeosaur

Today I've gotten back to my weaving, working on a project of magenta colored hand towels that I put on my loom last December, but then had to stop work on as the loom when into storage, and since then I've mainly quilted and only done a little weaving.  But at the moment I don't have any names for quilts for Vashon Youth and Family Services so I thought I'd take a break from quilting and do weaving instead.  I spent about 3 hours weaving today while watching the movie Australia, and Sasha helped me with that as well, so it was a lovely way to spend my day.

Freyja the Dromaeosaur

I am doing more and more at Student Link including taking over the library management and how fun it is to be able to put my MALS  (the masters in library science) to good use as I catalog and sort that collection.  I am also writing questions for a world history class for one student as well as marking lots of math of all levels and generally being a coach for the students.  I really enjoy that work.  And one of my former students from my days of tutoring at the library has requested my assistance with Algebra II.  I worked with him as a freshman and then he went off island for his sophomore year, but he is back now and it is great to see him and get to work with him.

Sasha the Quilter

That's about it on this end, at least as far as I can remember.  Construction has been at a halt over the past week as Leigh was working in Canada, but I think things start back tomorrow and I'm hopeful that my kitchen may actually be completed.  I will be throwing a monkey wrench into the works (hopefully not a big one) as I realized where I need one more outlet and that needs to go in before the tiling, but I'm hoping that Leigh can talk Gary, my electrician, into doing it.  Some things can only be figured out when the room is in use, and this is such a case.  Hoping all is well with you and yours wherever you are.  Thanks as always for stopping by!

My New Bed Quilt (102"x108")

New Bed Quilt (and Oliver)