Sorry, again, about the long time between posts. Mom's been very, very busy finishing a custom quilt, her first on the longarm, and has also been working on stuff for her new guild and just been busy with life stuff. I should make a note that this is NOT her first quilt on the longarm. Far from it. She's done lots of practice pieces, panel quilts, customer quilts, etc. Most of those have been Stitch in the Ditch or meandering or stippling or pantographs. This is her first custom designed one. She's pretty much designed all of the patterns on the quilt and is going to finish off with some thread painting. Cross your fingers and pray this goes well for her as she's very nervous. Thread painting is fun for her, but it will be a bit different doing it on a longarm this time when it's usually done on a home machine. She's confident in herself and her skills...mostly (you know how it is...everyone gets rattled sometimes), so I have no doubt all will go well.
Now, onto my siblings...sort of. As I believe I mentioned prior, I have quite a few "siblings." I have eight, in fact. Let me introduce you to them...
First off there is the old lady of the house (as well as Queen according to mom. I let her think that because Flutie's been with her so long and it gives them both comfort to believe that). She's a very pretty tortoise shell calico with four white paws and a white belly and chest. She is 15 and is mom's "Queen of My Heart." We had a scare with her earlier this past summer when she was diagnosed with a fatal blood cyst from a rupture in her abdomen. The vets said she'd die soon, but I guess God knows best because that was over four months ago and she's still kicking. She's as tough, smart, happy and healthy as can be for her age. I'm really glad they were wrong.
Next, of course, there's me...You've already been introduced to me, so other than stating that my younger brother has unseated me from my position of power (for the moment...it's always in a state of flux with us), there's not much to tell. I WILL get it back from him one day.
Meet the usurper...Mr. Darcy or Dr. Darcy, as mom calls him. He loves to cuddle with her, especially when she's not feeling good, thus the nickname. He's a HUGE cat (that's how he unseated me. He's almost twice as big as I am!). He weighs in at 17 lbs., but is so big he can stand on his back feet and put his paws on the kitchen counter and almost put his head on it. He's our youngest sibling and the new ruler (for now...just wait). He's also a pure bred Snowshoe cat. They're very, very rare to find in shelters, but mom and our human sister, Deb, found him in one. Needless to say, they jumped at the chance to adopt him as owning a Snowshoe was on mom's "Bucket List." (What the heck is that?)
Then there are the blacks, or ferals. All solid black siblings from a feral colony. There are three of them, two girls and one boy. Boo, Zee Zee, and Jack. Mom and dad had decided awhile back that if they were going to adopt again (after having a couple of handicapped cats already), they would look for ones that were handcapped to take in. Black cats are still some of the hardest for shelters to adopt, so they decided if they could find a handicapped, black cat, they would adopt it when the time came. They found one online over an hour away. They went and got her and brought her home, but she missed her brother and sister so much that it broke mom and dad's hearts, so they went back and got her brother and sister. That was Boo. She has only one eye. Her sister, Zee Zee, is partially blind in one eye. Jack is healthy and whole, but very dependent on his sisters. We call him "The Toddler." It took a long time for them to trust mom and dad, but they do now (mostly) and are very, very happy to be here. It's fun for our humans to watch their interactions since they are born siblings and they enjoy it very much.
Now, onto the others....Another handicapped sibling is Leon. He's the second oldest now at 7 and is also one-eyed. He lost his eye as a kitten, mom tells me, after they got him. It didn't take long for him to adjust, she said, and he doesn't seem to notice he's handicapped. (She says that of all of our handicapped members). He is, however, VERY MEAN! He doesn't like people, except for my human brother, Phil. Leon loves Phil so much that he follows him around like a dog. It's fun to watch them because they have a love/hate relationship. Phil sometimes complains that he hates Leon because he's so annoying (he's part Russian Blue), but the truth is he'd be devastated if anything happened to him. (I know these things about humans. I'm a cat.)
Then there's our big "teddy bear/linebacker" sister, Bella. She's a British Shorthair. She wasn't a shelter rescue, but was rescued from one of Phil's friend's. The family, sadly, was falling apart and Bella was in danger of going to a shelter, so mom and dad told Phil's friend (who was living with them at the time. I wasn't born yet when this all happened.) that he could keep her while he stayed with them but that when he left she would have to go with him. Bella was extremely shy and depressed and fat, mom says. She found out that the friend's sister was abusing Bella and that she spent her entire life locked in one room with books. The friend's sister's favorite thing to do to Bella was to pick her up and throw her at the dogs who would go after her. Well, after mom and dad introduced Bella to catnip, it seemed to awaken her from a "nightmare" and she started coming out of her shell. They wouldn't allow her to return to the abusive situation she was in, so thus Bella became a part of the family. She is a very loving girl now, although I don't like her at all. That's because she was the previous boss/sheriff of the house prior to my tenure and I still feel that I need to constantly remind her of that, especially when she starts getting cocky. I mentioned the books because Bella still has a thing for them and loves to play with them whenever she can.
Last, but not least, is mom's "joke-named" cat, Weasely. Yes, Weasely, as in Ron Weasely from Harry Potter. The joke is that, unlike me, he is NOT a ginger cat. He is a brown tabby. He's very shy (we don't know why other than one traumatizing experience when he was young of being chased by a girl who terrified him). He loves sister Deb and is very, very close to Jack and Zee Zee. In fact, the blacks are his fans. From the moment they laid eyes on him, they were enthralled and in love. Mom thinks that whomever was their caretaker/mother in their feral colony must've looked like him and that's why they took to him so fast. He is a sweety once he gets to know you. He LOVES to talk, though, and that gets annoying.
So...there are my, sort of (not birth), siblings. They are my companions and friends and sometimes my enemies and irritants. However, I love them very much and just wanted to share them with you all in case these guys are mentioned in future posts for some reason. Maybe I'll post photos at some point. Mom's making a "Picture This" pattern quilt featuring us all, so maybe I can put up the photos she uses in that quilt.
We have a big home to roam around in and my human parents, who love us very much, keep us inside full-time for our safety and protection. It's not cruel, as some people think, and none of us has any interest in leaving the house to go outside. Just thought I'd mention that...in case you were wondering.
On a secondary note, mom asked me to make a statement about adopting pets, especially handicapped ones. She wants you all to know that, while it wasn't their intention to get a handicapped pet, once they had one (Leon) and brother Jay brought home his Turkish Angora (white with blue eyes, meaning deaf) from Korea, they realized that there must be lots of handicapped cats out there that need homes. Some are handicapped with illnesses such as FIV or Feline Leukemia. Those are harder cases to adopt and care for, but still can be rewarding. However, those with a missing leg, eye, ear, deafness, what have you (being solid black also counts, in a way here) make wonderful pets. There is very little difference in the way you would care for these wonderful cats and they would be very appreciative for forever homes. Please consider adopting a handicapped pet (or a solid black one). You won't regret it. Contact your local shelters or check online to search for handicapped pets in your area.
Signing off for now...
Remember, Paws Are Best Used For Quilting
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