In Auntie Heaven

Guess who came for a very, way to short, visit? Yep... my sweet boys! I haven't seen them in far too long! I thought I would go in January, but what with getting DJ, I haven't been able to visit. I had a great time with them. Colton (who's 3yrs old) showed me how to work his mommy's IPhone. Gray, is a bit shyer, but had definitely warmed up to me by the end of the evening. All in all, we had so much fun playing together. Here are a few pics... I have more to download.

Art Quilt Class

I am three weeks into a six week art quilt class taught by Jane LaFazio on joggles.com. Its really been a great class. The lessons are wonderfully presented: clear and easy yet very inspiring. The first week was to make a landscape quilt. They are all very small about 8x10". This isnt the best picture, but here's my first quilt. I used hand painted cottons, commercial batiks and silk. It was really fun to put together.


Week two was to use felt, but I ended up using cotton batting that I hand dyed using RIT dyes. I had a great time and ended up making two quilt tops! She suggested using mola or the quilts of Gee's Bend for our inspiration.




This week's lesson is to make a pet potrait... can you guess who my muse will be?

My Valentines

After a delicious breakfast we took DJ out for a wonderful walk. We had a great day and hope you did too!

Our New Hearthrob...

DJ our wonder dog! He is so silly, sweet and still such a pup. We are loving having him! I will post more pictures of him so you can see his complete handsome self.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I haven't posted in such a long time... life has felt so busy with no real spare time to write.

We did a crazy thing... we chose a dog based on three pictures and a brief description of his personality on-line! He was in a kill shelter so there was no chance to meet him prior to saying "YES!". My sweet BIL Richard picked him up for us and took him to Nevada City. I met him for the first time on Christmas Eve. He is a sweetie! He's a retriever, boxer, ridgeback mixie kind of dog, about a year old. He has a lovely red brown coat with a white belly, white paws, and the tip of his tail is white too. (pics to follow soon).

My brother Michael and Richard bathed him and gave him their own aggression test which he passed with flying colors! He is still a bit of a puppy, smart, curious but not destructive, and catching on to being house trained. He was a stray for a bit so he gets very scared by people and other dogs when were outside. (poor sweetie... but he will learn its ok). Were totally in love!

A Miracle!!!

Friday on my way into work I wanted to check on Paul... and there he was with Chiquita!!! I can't tell you how happy it made me to see her! I hadn't slept very well the night before worrying about him and thinking of all the ways I could help find her. But there she was!

Paul told me he had been without her for the entire night. He had seen her running early in the morning without her leash. He again said, "she was the only thing he had and his best friend."

The SF Chronicle had a great series of articles on the homeless and their animals. One vetenarian said she had never once seen an animal abused by its homeless owner. Oftentimes, the person takes better care of the animal than themselves. This vet went on to say that they use giving free medical care to the animals as a way to try to give the owners the services they need too.

Oh, and did I tell you that as soon as I got off the bus Friday morning a pigeon nailed me right on my freshly washed hair? My co-worker said it was good luck! Well, Chiquita was back so maybe she was right! But, YUCK!

I Am Utterly Heartbroken

Everyday as I walk through the Financial District on my to work, I pass this older man, a senior, who I figured was either homeless or living in a shelter. It turns out he is homeless. His name is Paul and his beautiful, brown Himalayan cat's name is Chiquita. They are inseparable. He carries her in a backpack or on his shoulder. She wears a leash and I have seen the two of them walking down Market Street, a main thoroughfare. He utter loves this cat and takes impeccable care of her.

Since I pass him everyday, we have become friends. In the past week or so he has been troubled by someone stealing from him while he is sleeping. First, it was his small, portable, radio & headphones. Its the only other thing he has and loves. He replaced the radio at the beginning of the month and then someone tried to steal his earphones. He had tied them into a hole in his jacket so when the thief pulled on them it broke. He had to replace these too.

Well, today when I saw him he told me that someone had stolen his beloved cat, Chiquita, last night. The two of them have been together for the past eight years. He tried to run after the thieves, but he cant run very fast. He started crying when he told me that she was the only thing he had. For the next three hours, he looked everywhere for her, but couldn't find her.

I can't tell you how sad this has made me. My friends at work remind me, with compassion, that this is life on the streets. A cat is stolen from a homeless guy so someone else can buy drugs. But, it breaks my heart nonetheless. I have been crying all daylong and praying for a miracle.