August Garden of Stars

Gotta say, when you precut fabric the sewing goes fast! Sat down with my labeled piles and color coded patterns and knocked this out in a couple of hours. 

Very happy with the colors and glad I switched from the black and copper to this black dot background.

Notes for next time: label all the cut fabric piles! Cats and breezes happen. 

Don’t backstitch - start/end a couple of stitches over the line. 

In other news… remember the cat gate that was supposed to keep Coco from annoying Ginger?

Ginger’s first time sitting on my lap. 😍

Little stinker reached waaaay up above her head, pulled herself up with her front paws and through the bars to gain access. 

We had to add another layer on top to hopefully keep her out. 

Now she just sits outside the gate and yowls. Silly girl has opinions.

Garden of Stars

I told myself I was going to finish another UFO before I started Garden of Stars but… I lied. 

 First quarter down, 3 more to go

Isn’t it pretty??

Pre-cutting all the little pieces has been a pain but it’s going to make the sewing go so much faster. 

Coco’s first time helping me sew, yowling the whole time ‘Feed me! Pet me! Fix my toy!’

Hoping I can finish the August block before the next one is released September 1.  

Baby Gates

Thought we were done with baby gates, but Coco ran behind me last night to start a hissy fight with Ginger. No physical contact before I broke it up - I even remembered not to put my hands near the sharp end of either cat while I was doing it. 

Coco is now locked out of upstairs and Ginger has her own domain, if she ever comes out of the bedroom (working on it…)  

The old front walkways are gone as of this morning and the new paths are graded and … mudded? Or whatever they do before the new pavers go down. The old slate is in piles to be reused for walls. 

Back is done except for the gravel which hasn’t been delivered yet. 

See all those dark blocks by the gate? Each one was individually cut so it fit precisely where they wanted. These guys are good - it’s been amazing to watch everything come together. Now we wait for the next big delivery…

Pets, Plants, Pain and Construction

Coco has figured out that people laps are warm and comfy. We also - finally! - found a treat she likes. Hooray for Greenies Dental Treats! 

Ginger had 3 teeth pulled and has recovered well. She still won’t allow Coco in ‘her’ bedroom - or leave that bedroom at all - so Pop and I spend a couple of hours each day up there with her. Hoping she’ll get over it??

Kicked a shoe, broke a (different) toe. Owwwwwwwwwww!

Yard construction continues… 

Today was for leveling (by hand, on their knees…😳) and compacting the soil, 

connecting the remaining downspouts 

and finishing most of the piping. 

Pavers should be here tomorrow!

$4 aloe I found at a thrift shop.😊

Went to water one plant and ended up repotting a bunch*. 

This bromeliad was so waterlogged it was actually floating. I didn’t realize the store pot had no drainage holes. Hope I didn’t leave it too long. 

Christmas cacti were all root, no dirt (rootbound) so put them in bigger pots. 

Prayer plant didn’t like its self-watering pot so it got a redo too.

Put this Swiss Cheese Monstera leaf in water back in March, new roots are finally big enough to pot. 

If it survives, I’ll probably put it back with the mother plant to make the pot look fuller.

I loved the flowers on this African violet but the mom plant was a hot mess. Planted these 3 cut-offs and tossed the rest in the trash. Life’s too short for problem plants (and most other problems too.)

* I need a plant diary or I’ll never remember what I did when.

Cat-a-Palooza

It’s been a crazy week for cat stories. 

Early in the week, Mary stopped traffic to rescue a kitten from the middle of a road (kitty’s sibling wasn’t so lucky 😔.) They named her Princess Muffin Top… until the vet visit a few days later when they discovered he will need a new name. 

Such a cute little boy! Update! His name is Saber.

Next day, my niece in Oregon found and rescued a couple of two-ish week old kittens while on her morning walk. She’s already found them a home. 😍

Our cats missed me us while we were taking Jac home. Coco hasn’t been much of a lap cat since we got her in May but she’s practically living in my lap since we got home. 

My favorite refrain - “I’d get up but it wouldn’t be right to disturb the cat…” 

Ginger will flop on Pop or me, whomever is closer. Both girls love him.

We’re still trying to get the cats used to each other. There were lots of hisses and growls the first day I left the bedroom door open for them to get acquainted.

 Hissing from the high ground

It stopped fairly quickly and they sat watching each other with only occasional outbursts from Ginger.

I think Coco would really like to be friends. She sits at the top of the stairs or on the landing waiting for Ginger to come out.

And Ginger? Yesterday she had an hissy fit and ran under the bed as soon as Coco appeared. 

Today she hissed twice, then stretched out beside me while keeping an eye on the intruder. Hey, it’s progress!

Vet Day

Ginger needed her nails trimmed - poor kitty, every step she takes her claws get caught in the carpet or bed or me - and I wasn’t sure how much she would cooperate this first time around. Better to let the pro’s do it, along with a general check-up and vaccinations. 

My sweet 15 pound girl didn’t hiss or growl or even try to get away. She just cooperated and charmed everyone.

We also discovered that 2 of her teeth need to come out and she’s probably in a fair amount of pain. That led to blood work being done and surgery scheduled after we get back from taking Jac home this weekend. 

Seems Ginger might be holding a grudge… she decided Pop was her favorite person tonight since he didn’t help hold her for the vet.

I may have to bribe my way back into her good graces…

Ginger Progress

I’m kinda surprised at how much progress Ginger has made. We picked her up last Tuesday and released her into the upstairs bedroom with food, water, litter box and lots of hiding places. 

Goofy face

Wednesday we saw fleeting, hissing glimpses of her under a bed and in the closet where she’d forced the door open. (She’s very good at opening cabinet and room doors…) She was willing to eat a Churu while I was in the room so that felt like progress. (Churu = tubes of yogurt-textured treats that are like cat crack 😜)

Thursday she was still growling but was out of the closet, 

 Sniffing around Coco’s carrier while Coco checks out Ginger’s downstairs 

exploring, eating and relaxing on the cat tree from her old home. 

Friday I about fell over in surprise - ⬆️ she greeted me with hisses and growls, but also head butted me, demanding scratches. Gotta admit the growls make me (and Jackie) nervous but she’s never tried to bite or swipe at us with her claws. 

I’ve been spending a couple of hours with her twice a day, laying on the bed and letting her set the pace. By bedtime Friday, she had been up on the bed with me demanding attention,

 Jac is on the right, cat toy in hand

let Jac play with her (at a distance), and went to sleep pressed against me like we had always been BFF’s.

Friday Pop came up to visit… she loved him! No growls, just demands for pets. 

She also let Jac sit on the bed… 

then played with her… 

and demanded scratches and attention. Jac is thrilled!

We tried leaving the bedroom door open so Ginger could explore but she panicked and hid in the closet again. 

 Curious Coco

Tomorrow we’re putting a temporary gate at the top of the stairs so Ginger can explore and she and Coco can start to get acquainted. Crossing fingers this goes smoothly…..