Happy 100th

 Yesterday I attended a birthday at church of our oldest member.  Vernon was 100.  I have never been to a 100th party before.  His whole family was there but his wife. She has passed a few years ago and it was just him and his cat.   Half our church was there as well.  The night before one of the news channels did a little item about him and when I was talking to him a reporter was taking notes, she had pages.

Vernon has had an amazing life so far.  He was part of the team that drew the map for the state of Alaska from an airplane when it became a state.  He retired from the military and went on to teach school and be a scout leader.  His kids are all military as well as some grandkids.

I would often sit him at Fellowship after church, it was as if my dad was still alive.  He has not been doing well lately and has not been to church for a while but yesterday he was as sharp as ever and having the time of his life.

People like him need to be celebrated before they are all gone.  I asked him if he thought he would ever live this long and he said his first goal was 75, then to see the turn of the century and next year he was going to start all over again and turn 1.   

Happy Birthday Vernon, you definitely need to be celebrated.  Thanks for sharing your life with our little church, we are blessed to have you as a member.   

Garden

 The garden is really pretty right now, plenty of rain, could use some sun and everything is vibrant and growing like the weeds.  I have tomatoes like crazy and the pepper is growing fast and has blooms.  I love this time of year when it is all pretty and green.  And there is a ton of catnip this year too.

 

 

I Must Have Fallen and Hit My Head

 I took a collage class at a local quilt shop (The Fabric Chic).  Well actually I took it 3 times before the light bulb came on.  I admit this is my new addiction.  You take a picture and re-create it from fabric and other embellishments.  It is not for the faint of heart but it is fun. My Rooster took me 50 hours and it just needs to be framed now.

I have a list of Laura Heinle patterns I want to make.  I was at my monthly work day there and was going to work on the zinnia.  I found a charm pack in my stash and thought how pretty would this be, batiks of blue, aqua, purple, yellow, and pinks.  Well I started to lay them out and it was just not working, and my brain was not in the mood to deal with it.

So I went to the shop and none of the fabric jumped out at me.  Ok Oh look the flag pattern is in, on my list of to makes.  I got it and started picking out fabric to get me going for the day.  As I was having fabric cut the employee said you know there will be a class for this, wait what?  Ok sign me up not ready yet.  Ok I will be watching for it.  3 days later I was the first to sign up.  I got home and opened up the pattern and went to my stash to get more fabric.  

After realizing there was a class and not wanting to start the flag, I had noticed this very pretty red/white/blue quilt and thought why not do a red/white/blue zinnia for the 4th, so I found enough fabric to do that. I got all my pieces cut out and now I need to sit down and put the pieces together.

Holy Crap what did I do?  Can I do this.  Of course I can cos after all I made the Alice Starmore Water Lily sweater.  There are about 100 pieces of fabric melded together and pencils to do some shading and words and stars and flowers overlaid and it is a 2 1/2 day class.  As you can see each stripe is several small pieces of fabric. 

I have been collecting supplies and this is not going to be a cheap class, I may need a part time summer job to pay for it.  

I need a challenge and something to settle my mind right now and this will be it, may take all summer but the hard part will be finding a place to put in my house, after all it needs its own wall.

 

Iron District

 I finally got to the Iron District. They have a sourdough bakery.  They used to have classes, will keep checking to see if they offer them again. I got the regular sourdough loaf and the flavor of the day was Parmesan/Black pepper.  The flavor of the day would make great grilled cheese sandwiches.  I just slathered mine with butter.

The Iron District is a group of small container cars.  Each decorated differently.  Most are eating places with a jewelry store and clothing store.  It sits on a corner of a long block with empty cars to add more places.  There are picnic tables in the middle.  Unfortunately they do not open til 11 so I had to go downtown to the art supply store and hit it first as I need supplies for my Flag collage (more on this in another post).

 https://irondistrictnkc.com/north-kansas-city-iron-district-about

It has some food that I have no idea what it is but it all smelled good. DId I mention there is an ice cream place, a place that serves wine and snacks, burgers, a bar, etc.  If you are even in town check it out in NKC.  And then go to The Rabbit Hole, the museum about children's books.

Spring Garden

 Well it is Mothers day so we can plant now, even though we have had snow on Mothers Day before.  Some of these come back every year so I have no control over them.

I did plant some zinnia, calendula, and other flower seeds today.

I love these purple violets in the yard, just a splash of color. I also have white ones and clover and of course those yellow flowers.

Catnip anyone, the cats are happy and Licorice will spending a lot of time out there enjoying his garden.

These are pots I wintered inside, 2 geraniums, vinca and xmas cactus

My meadow sage (purple) comes back every year, the swallowtail love it, but it only blooms once.   There is a tomato in the back that has blooms on it and my milkweed is about to bloom by the sage. 

The whiskey barrel has a tomato plant blooming and in the top of the picture is my salvia.  

Lets see what they look like come August.
 

Riverdance

 I saw Riverdance last night.  WOW is all I can say.  The talent, the endurance, and I could go on and on.  I have heard of it but thought it would be boring so I never went.  Boy was I wrong.  From the first step to the last I was like a kid in the candy store.  I was 4 rows back and the expressions on the face, the grace of the dancers, they made it look so easy.

If you ever get a chance to see it, do so.  Even if you have to watch it on TV or online.  

I can not imagine the hours of preparation, the harm to the body to do all that stomping (yes it was very loud).  And the people playing the music, the violinist was over the top.  

As I sat there watching them all younger than 40 was my guess and maybe even 30, I had to wonder what they do when their time is over in this career.  I also wondered how many times they had a brain fart and forgot for a split second what they were to do next. the musicians had no sheet music.  

It was truly impressive.

 Go see it when it comes to your city.

Jackie Robinson

 You all know I am a Dodgers fan.  Born in LA what else would I be.  Today I received my Jackie doll.  He will go on my Dodgers Tree.  I love him.  Thanks much Trisha.

 

So Sad

 I wrote a few days ago about the Kitten Lady who tried to save the 5 black kittens whose mom was anesthetized to get spayed.  How much work went into saving them.  Well unfortunately 2 of the babies did not make it.  However the remaining 3 will be up for adoption in 3 weeks.  As my dad said we can't save them all.  I know how true that is by losing 3 of the 5 Lila had.  If she had been inside it would be a different story but we all know best laid plans.....

RIP little ones, you can run free now.   

Happy First Birthday

 

Grayson and Chunky Monkey turn 1 today.  Happy Birthday Boys.  Where did the year go?

Labyrinth

 I have become fascinated with Labyrinths ever since I was asked to make some finger ones for the congregation.  This morning I visited the one closest to me and I have to say I was disappointed.  We were going to visit it in a couple of weeks for Sunday School but it is not going to work.

As you can see it is not very big and there is only one way in and then back out.  It is too narrow for all of us to walk it, the concrete bricks are wavy in texture, and towards the middle the path is so short I kind of got dizzy rounding all those square corners.  You walk in to the middle and then walk back out the same path.  

  I did get some nice pictures and had a chat with a Robin and garter snake.  

 

The Kitten Lady

 If you have never heard of her, go look her up. I will wait.  Yesterday with my box of kleenex I watched her perform a miracle.  She received a call that a female feral had been trapped and was put under in order to spay her.  When she was taken out of the trap they found a baby kitten, she was in labor.  A caesarean was performed and there were 4 more kittens.  Problem was they were also under.  3 of the kittens came around pretty quickly but the one little boy took everything the Kitten Lady had in her to save him.  I know as I was watching the video I was sobbing and hoping she could save him.  After a lot of different things he finally was ok.  

I know I learned a lot last summer when dealing with the ferals and trying to trap them to get them fixed.  She has a ton of information and I know more about cats than I ever thought I would.

She truly is an angel and God has blessed her with the talent and love to protect as many cats as she can.

Go check her out, and grab that box of kleenex.  I know if she ever comes to town I want to go meet her.

BTW I love the blue cat fabric dress she has.  I may have to make myself a cat dress too.

 

I'm Sorry Little One

 My neighbor notified me there was a raccoon in my back yard by the deck.  She had put some food and water out for it.  She thought it was sick or something. I would not have got that close but she said he was not moving much.  It was about 2:30pm which is very unusual for him to be out in the daylight.  

I went out on the deck and looked down and sure enough. He is beautiful and not very old.  I watched him for a while and thought he was dying.  He acted drunk.  I finally got a hold of animal control and around 8:30pm they showed up to trap him.

Well he pretty much was all curled up all afternoon and sleeping I think.  They chased him around the yard and finally got him in the carrier.  They said more than likely he had distemper and they had a lot of raccoon cases that week as it was distemper season for them.  At least when I looked up distemper humans and cats do not get it. My fear was he would attack Licorice, my feral.  

I feel bad cos there is nothing they can do but let him go humanely.  So thank you to the nature center who took care of him.  RIP little one.

 

Happy St Gertrude's Day

 Not only is today St Pat's Day but it is also St Gertrude's Day.  Who is she?  Well if you have cats you should know her.  

Saint Gertrude of Nivelles was a Benedictine abbess, the daughter of Blessed Pepin of Landen and Blessed Itta of Ida, who founded Nivelles Abbey and installed Gertrude as abbess in 639.

She is also known as the patron saint of travelers, garderner, widows, and the mentally ill.

While the Vatican never officially declared her the patron saint of cats, her association with whisking away mice and rats made her a saint venerated by cat lovers.

 She was know for her kindness to the many cats and mice that lived at the monastery.

It was said that the little mice were like the souls in Purgatory, for whom Gertrude regularly prayed.