Nora's Vet, a book review & my problem quilt

May 28, 2014

 

i thought i would start off with a nora jean update and picture of our wonderful veterinarian and her assistant, adam. when we moved up here we didn't have a vet for our nora jean, so when she first got sick we put off taking her because we didn't know anyone or have anyone to give us a reference.  feeling like we couldn't put it off any longer, we finally picked dr brown because she was fairly close to our house. we are so lucky that we did! she is an all encompassing vet who is a small and large animal doctor. she also does house calls if needed! despite her busy practice, she actually emails or calls us to find out how our girl is doing! if we have a question, she always responds. since nora's cancer surgery dr brown has worked with the surgeon (which she found for us) to continue and modify her treatments.  nora is holding her own but our hearts are heavy some days. she's not her curious, energetic self but we hope she may get that back. dr brown's assistant, adam, is starting veterinarian school this fall. i am going to make sure we send him some nice care packages. he's going to make a really great vet. we didn't get a picture of the doctor's receptionist, regine, who is always so friendly and helpful. now if we could find these kinds of people to take care of us!!!!

 

this is the problem quilt I've been working on for a couple of weeks now. i made it at first with out the appliqued flowers on it and it looked blah!!! i added the flowers and it was much improved. i used WASHABLE glue to stick the flowers on and also ran an iron over them. whatever i did, i cannot get the glue spots out. I've washed it twice and sprayed it with shout it out. now I've decided that I'm going to unsew all the flowers and put new ones on. I'm really not that fussy but the glue marks really show and spoil the quilt. when i finally get through with this problem quilt it should HOPEFULLY be a cute girlie quilt which was my intentions! i'll let you know how it turns out.                                  

my cousin, Barbara came up for a visit and stayed overnight. it was fun to take her around to see the beautiful mountains that surround us.

Barbara loves waterfalls so we took her to a few that were just a few miles from us. this one is sabbaday falls. barb's mother is from Germany and we walked by some people who were speaking german. Barbara went over and spoke to them in german. they were so surprised when she did. it was fun to listen to them chat. i took german in college but only remember a few phrases. the mister and i have always wished our fathers had spoken to us in French. they both spoke it fluently but never encouraged their children to! i don't think it was the thing to do then. anyway, we had a great visit and was able to catch up on family gossip. we also got our house really clean since she was staying over!
i received the book i won from the Canadian quilter. it's called Give & Take by daphne greig and susan purney mark. the book is really meant for beginners so i think i will give it to my sister who is just learning how to applique. its well written, clear and the diagrams are well marked. i wish i had it about 10 years ago! my sister will appreciate it.

i got these cribs last fall at various yard sales for very little money. I've washed them up and have been making them bedding. they'll be ready to donate next Christmas. i have a few dolls and stuffed animals that i'll add to each. I'm using all fabrics that i have on hand. it is fun to rummage through my stash and find something I've forgotten i have! its also fun to just make whatever i want just for the heck of it and know that some little child will be so happy to receive it.

my latest project are these bonnie hunter inspired stars. i have been loving her site (quiltville.com). it is so inspiring! i am a scrap quilter all the way and I've already found 2 quilts on her site that i made without knowing that she had! i used the same colors too! i don't know what I'm going to put around these stars but am using the scraps that i cut up when my mother was sick. i have literally hundreds of cut squares, triangles, strips, hexagons.......you name it, I've cut it up! i'll let you know my progress on it! well, time to go and watch tv with the mister. today i am thankful that i have nice cousins like Barbara to visit with, the mister (of course!) and the people who have been caring for nora jean. i hope all of you have someone you can think about and smile too! see you in a few weeks. nancyb