To Catch A 'Ghost'

1 pm. The trap is set.

The hunt is over. Praise the Lord! I am so happy, I am about beside myself. I did not want that sweet, shy kitty to perish because he was so scared. We had tried everything, and just could not get that kitty to come to us. We had to leave him behind, all alone last night, because we just could not get him to come out. My husband, Louie, borrowed a 'live' trap from a coworker, and I took it over this afternoon and set it up. I removed his food and water at 1am this morning, because I wanted him to be hungry and thirsty so he would come down and find his food and water when it was set in the trap. Louie decided we should wait until after dark to go back over because then the trap would be there for several hours, and things would have been quiet for quite some time, so Ghost would feel safe to come down. We waited until 7pm to go over.

I got to the top of the steps, peeked around the corner, and there was a 'Ghost' in the cage!!!!He started meowing very loudly when he saw me. I talked to him, and he was quite upset. I bent over to pick up the cage to carry him out to the van, and he tried to get out the far end of the cage. He 'yowled' all the way to the van, but once he was inside, he settled down.

Oh, you just cannot imagine how happy Louie and I feel to have saved this kitty's life. I called Nancy and told her we were on our way down with a 'Ghost' because I did not have the carrier, and I knew that if I let him out, I would never get him back in there, nor might I find him for a long time. She was very happy to know we caught him. He rode quietly all the way to his new home, and when I took him out of the van, he got scared again, but once I got him into the apartment, and he saw and smelled all his 'belongings' he quieted right down. I tried to find Sadie so Ghost could see Sadie. I thought he might be less nervous if he saw her. We got the catnip out, and I opened the trap door. I expected him to shoot out like a rocket, but he slowly meandered out. He didn't even run. He just looked around at all the stuff stacked up and I think he smelled all his 'things' and knew he was home.

Sadie finally came out, and she ate some catnip, so I put some down for Ghost, and shut the door so Sadie (the pothead) wouldn't eat that too. When I shut the door, Ghost was locked in the bedroom. I waited a few minutes, then opened the door to see if Ghost had eaten the catnip, and he hadn't, but he was waiting on the other side of the door, and calmly walked out. He and Sadie walked up to each other and touched noses, then laid down on the carpet together. Ghost started his 'motor' up, and was purring quite loudly. He was so happy! I even got to hold him and pet him, which I did NOT expect to be able to do. I told Louie and Nancy that when he was meowing so loudly, he was probably telling me, "YOU LEFT ME! I WAS ALL ALONE! I WAS SCARED!" He just acted so totally different that I expected. I thought once I let him out of the cage, he would hide until Nancy unburied him by emptying boxes. Not so. He is home, and happy! Yay!

Catching Ghost makes Louie's and my heart sing with Joy. We prayed hard for a happy ending, and it happened, Praise God! It would have broken our hearts to not have been able to save this scared kitty.

Moving My Sister, 'Ghost' In The Attic, and Wheel Troubles

My friend Christie responded Thursday to an email I sent her by asking me, "Why aren't you at work today, you bum?"

Oh, my. So far from that, you have NO idea. Here's what I was doing. My sister (in the picture with me...an old picture, by the way) found a new job in another town about 40 miles from here. She had begun looking for an apartment. Friday morning last week, she found an apartment in the Quad Cities, about 10 minutes from her job. Saturday-Tuesday, she worked every day, drove 40 miles home, and spent hours, packing her apartment. Wednesday, she had the day off. She packed, sorted, etc, rented a moving truck, and Wednesday night, had a crew of people, including Louie and I, in packing the truck. We then took the truck to her apartment, unloaded it up to the third floor, back to Maquoketa, loaded the truck again, and left it parked in her driveway all night. She went back to the QC's and slept there, as she needed to be at work at 5:50 this morning (Thursday). Louie and I took a vacation day to help, picked up Louie's brother, Walter, to help us, at 10:30am, went to Nancy's (here in Maquoketa) and unloaded the attic. That was after I went over to the apartment at 8 am and vacuumed the carpets, mopboards and along the walls next to the carpet, for an hour. (Did I mention her apartment here in town was an UPSTAIRS apartment?)


Her cat, Ghost, (NOT the cat in the picture, but he looks a lot like the cat in the picture, and looks cautious like the cat in the picture) has been hiding in the attic for two days under the floorboards, or down along the soffit, and in the insulation. He won't come out when people are there, no matter what we do. He is scared of everything, and everybody. We know he is there, because we have seen him walk across the floor and disappear again. So this morning, Louie and Walter took the truck to her apartment, and I took the van full of televisions and a computer monitor. We unloaded the van, and went to eat lunch. Before we went back to Nancy's to meet her after she got off work, we stopped at Goodwill, Amvets and the Salvation Army 'As Is' thrift stores. We went back to Nancy's and started unloading the truck again. Nancy's friend Tish drove down from Maquoketa to help. After a couple trips up the steps, she discovered that she had locked her keys in her car. She was beside herself with worry. The police departments do not unlock cars anymore. She called for someone to drop a key off at Nancy's old apartment, so when we went back to Maquoketa to get the last load, we could get the key for her, and when we got back to her new apartment, she could go home. By 6pm we were heading back to Maquoketa with the truck and the van, for the final trip to load the truck. Tish stayed at Nancy's new apartment, with her 3 year old son. Meanwhile, back in Maquoketa, we were loading the truck AGAIN, leaving stuff on the porch for people to pick up, I am vacuuming, and Nancy is up in the attic trying to coax Ghost out, unsuccessfully, I might add. So RIGHT NOW, at the moment you are reading this, the apartment is empty, and there is a cat in the attic that won't come out!!!!! We finally had to leave because we needed to get back down to get the truck unloaded before 10pm. There are other tenants in the building, and that's the unloading deadline time.


Before we left town to head back to the QC's, Nancy and I made a stop at the post office to check her mail. We had Sadie, (NOT the cat in the photo, but she looks just like the picture) her other cat, collected in the cat carrier in the van, and the van was full of 'stuff' and Louie and Walter were about 10 minutes ahead of us in the moving truck. Nancy and I soon followed, and we were only about 10 or so miles away, (almost 9pm), my left front wheel started making the most horrible noise you have ever heard. It was a very loud WAP WAP WAP WAP, and the front end was vibrating. I pulled over on the shoulder, and Nancy got out, looked, and called Louie. He didn't say what he is thinking, but was quite upset and worried. We asked if we could drive the van, and he said, "SLOWLY. Put on the 4 way flashers, and be careful." So here we go, about 10+ miles to go. We were doing ok, but WAP WAP WAP WAP, the front end was vibrating, and the noise WAS quite loud at times. We got to our exit, and stopped at the end, turned left, and drove into the complex. We turned onto the street next to an old grocery store, and the noise from the front end, now, sounds like CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH. I pulled over again, but by this time, we could see Nancy's apartment building. I decided to drive VERY SLOWLY now. I CREPT into the parking lot, and Nancy and I got out of the van. Louie came over, looked at the wheel and said, 'That's what I thought. The wheel is loose, and you have lost two of your lug nuts. Back it into that space over there, and when we get finished unloading the truck, I'll tighten the rest of the nuts back up. We'll be ok to take it home, and tomorrow, I will get it fixed." At this point, I felt relieved that we didn't have a wheel bearing going out, or some other part that needed replaced, at 9:15pm, forty miles from home on a Thursday night. The reason this happened, was because a month or so ago, we got new tires on our van, and evidently, the shop didn't get that wheel torqued down like they should have. My sister was VERY upset and wondered if she should feel sorry for the tire shop for not tighening it down correctly. On the way home, I asked him if he was going to 'have a talk' with '********' (no name please), and he said, "Probably not. If you look at the receipt, it says right on it, that you should recheck your lugnuts after 50 miles. I SHOULD have done that, and I am SO sorry." I had mentioned to him that I heard a scraping noise last week, but you know how life is. Time gets away from you, and other obligations take lead, and it just didn't get looked at. We both thought, at worst, that it had collected a rock in the hub, and was just scraping. This week, I really didn't hear it anymore and thought surely that is what it was, and the rock had worn itself away. Not so, I guess, huh? I hold no blame to Louie. He is the most wonderful husband a gal could ever ask for. He is so supportive of me, in every way, and my best friend. I told him it was OK, that we made it, we were ok, and life goes on. My sister was ok, but she just could not get over that I was NOT freaking out. Now, had I been alone, without a cell phone, it would have been a different story. I trust Louie with my life and if he said it was ok, and to drive slow, then I know he believed it would be ok. He would never do anything intentional EVER to jeopardize anyone's safety, and I am bright enough to know when 'enough is enough'. I do think he was a little shocked though, as to HOW loose the lugnuts were. He said of the three that were left, two of them he could easily move with his fingers, and the other one was probably just tighter because of the bind on it.


We finished unloading the truck, Tish went home, and I went up and sat with Nancy while Louie and Walter took some stuff to Goodwill. They came back, tightened the wheel back up, checked the other three wheels, and we headed for home. Louie has to work in the morning! We got home around midnight. We took Walter home to Baldwin, 10 miles on the other side of Maquoketa, and Louie went to bed. I went back over Nancy's apartment, to take a cardboard box with litter in it for Ghost, and I took the food and water out of the attic and put it in the refrigerator, so he can't have anything to eat or drink if he comes down. I want him to get hungry and thirsty, because a coworker of Louie's. is bringing a 'live trap' tomorrow, and I will set that up in the living room or somewhere out of the attic, so when, (and IF) he comes down to eat, hopefully, he will go in the trap. I pray to God that it works, because otherwise, we will have to call the landlord and tell him, 'The keys are on the counter and the cat is in the attic!'

I don't want Ghost to die up there, but I especially don't want for the landlord to have a dead cat decaying under the floorboards in the attic! No one deserves that. Please lift your prayers to Heaven for us, that we will capture this scared little kitty! If we do, I promise, I'll take pictures!

So, How was YOUR day?

My Friend Margaret's Baby Quilts

This is my friend, Margaret. She has put up with me for almost 29 years now. We work at the same place I do. She is a part of our original quilting group, and she is also the one who figures things out, and has the patience of a saint! I knew she had some baby quilts that she wanted quilted, so I called her today before I took down the quilting frame and asked her if she wanted to do her quilts. She came over, and here are the fruits of her labor. This quilt is for her new baby nephew.
Here is her other baby quilt. She isn't quite sure just which baby will get this one. She knows of a few babies on the way, so she will be ready for one of them anyway! After the quilts were unloaded, she helped me tear down the frame and put it away, then she headed home. A good weekend was had by all, and I can't believe all I got done this weekend.
It feels good to go back to work tomorrow and now that my weekend was productive.

Have a great week everybody!

Michelle

A Quilt for Joey

A very dear family friend of ours had a baby in August, and I am ashamed to say that I have not seen that sweet little guy in person yet, but I did finally get his quilt quilted today. The family lives in Minnesota, so we don't get to see them often enough. I put Joey's name on the quilt in several places, and put hearts and stars in several places too. I even put a crescent moon here and there. On the bottom border, I put his full formal name. It turned out nice. The front is flannel, but the back is just regular cotton. The middle has a thick batting, like warm and natural.
I did this quilt late this morning, then I put the binding on it while my friend Margaret came over and did a couple of her little quilts on the quilter. Wow, I sure did get a lot of sewing done this weekend! The garage is back to normal now, and the cars can be warm tonight

Quilt Number Two

This is Amber. She is the neice of a very dear friend of mine. Earlier this year, Amber, and her sister Jill came to my house, and they quilted quilts for the fair. They are active in 4H, and they live on a farm. Amber and Jill each made quilts for friends of theirs. One of the quilts that Jill made, was a quilt for her sister, Amber. All the quilts have the same pattern. They make them like this, so they can have their classmates sign their names to them. Amber, and her friends, graduate this year. The quilt Amber did today, was for her friend Kim. She wants to give the quilt to Kim for Christmas, so she has lots of time to get it signed. What a neat gift!

This is Amber's finished quilt. I had the quilt loaded for her when she got here, so it took her less than an hour and a half to get it finished. We left the batting and backing on it, because Amber is going to leave some of the backing on, to turn over and use for binding.

Quilting Mrs. D's Turning Twenty Quilt

Ok, so here is what I did this afternoon. This quilt was one of Mrs. D's quilts that was waiting to be quilted. This one is for her granddaughter Ashley and her husband Bill. I set up the frame about 1pm, had the quilt loaded by 2pm, and finished about 8:30. I only stopped for maybe a half hour to find something to eat, and occasional potty breaks. This quilt was really big. She bought suede fabric for the back. It quilted quite nicely, actually, and this quilt should be really warm with the Warm and Natural in the middle.

This quilt pattern was Turning Twenty, but Mrs. D did her own arrangement. The fabrics she used were really pretty, and most of them had gold sparkly designs in them. She will be very happy to get this quilt, finished, and on to it's new owners. By the way, the red and white sheet on the floor is there because I didn't have anyone to help me hold the quilt up off the floor, and I didn't want the quilt to get dirty from the garage floor. Using the sheet and the bricks worked out really well, and I think I will be using it every time. The sheet will be easy to keep clean just by washing it. I only almost tripped over the bricks a time or two though! Hee hee!

So, what'd you think? Getting two blogs in one day? Wow! A record for Michelle! Tomorrow afternoon, my friend Christie is bringing her neice Amber over, and she will quilt a quilt for her friend as a Christmas gift, and now, I'm thinking, while the frame is set up, I might just find a backing for the flannel baby quilt top I found at Goodwill and quilt that in the morning. Hmmmmm...maybe four blogs in one weekend? Take care and have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving Sewing Christmas Stocking

Thanksgiving sewing had me making Louie his new Christmas stocking. The other two photos included are the back of this stocking and the inside. As you can see from my previous blog, the back fabric of this stocking matches the one I made for myself. Louie has a love of playing pool (billiards), and my sweet, adopted 'mom' (she calls herself 'mudder') bought the pool fabric quite awhile ago for me to do something with it. Well, I have lots of fabric left, but this is a start! Louie and I stayed home on Thanksgiving day, and worked on ebay until about noon. Since we hadn't had any real breakfast, he made me homemade 'beer' waffles, and we put canned strawberry pie filling on them, and he made us some poached eggs. It was all delicious, then he went to his workshop and played, and I made Louie his christmas stocking to match mine....kind of.

I had talked to my sister, who changed jobs in the last few weeks, and she was at a friend's house in the town where her new job is. She has been staying there on the days that she works because her apartment she lives in now, is in the same town as I am, which is about 40 miles away. She did have yesterday off, I called her, and she was feeling pretty BLUE so I asked her to jump in her car, and come to see Louie and I. I told her I would cook a pan of lasagna for supper. She was supposed to call me back, which she didn't, but she did show up mid afternoon.

After she arrived, I had a little bit to do on this stocking, then I cleaned up my mess, put the lasagna in the oven, and we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and Prancer. If you have not seen the original 'Prancer', with Sam Elliott , you are missing out! I love the little girl that plays Jessica Riggs. It is such a good movie, and a tear jerker in a few spots. This is one movie that I make sure I watch every Christmas season, and sometimes more than once....(i.e., I watched it Sunday while I was sewing too!) We ate our lasagna, and I went upstairs and left my sister 'snoring' in Louie's recliner about 10pm. (Did I mention that I have never seen anyone who can go from snoring, to full sentences, to snoring in less than 10 seconds????) Louie went down later and told her to just stay there if she wanted to, and he would wake her up in the morning, which she did. Louie did wake her up.....three times, and finally went to work and left her there.

I got up this morning, and let her sleep for awhile, but finally got her up. By this time, she was laying on the couch, and I just went and sat on her. She got up finally, and called on a couple apartments. She just left to look at one, and put a deposit on it this morning, then she has to be at work at 12:30 this afternoon. She is so happy she has finally found a place of her own, as she has been staying with a dear friend, and would like to give her friend her 'space' back, Everyone needs their own 'space'. We are all different people, in different areas, and no matter how much we love each other, we still need our time to ourselves.

So far today, I have not accomplished much. I do have a couple ideas of what I want to do, so maybe if you are lucky, I will have done something, and will post my progress.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I am thankful for all of you....American and International. May you find peace, joy, and blessings galore as our Christmas holiday season begins. I love the Christmas season. It's not the gift giving, it is the love, the joy in our hearts, the music, and lights, family and friends, but most of all, the gift of Jesus, which God gave to us so many many years ago. Through all the holiday bustle, remember, the true reason why we celebrate Christmas each year.

'Jesus is the Reason for the Season'

Ta ta for now!
Michelle

My FIRST Quilty Christmas Stocking

This is what I spent a couple hours tonight making. I freehanded the template for the stocking, so I know it is not perfect, but I did have fun making this! I watched a video the other night of Eleanor Burns showing how to make one of these, and so I decided I just HAD to make one. I had thought of going to Walmart or the dollar store or somewhere and just buying some cheap felt stockings and using them as my template for sewing the strips to, and after I make another one in 'Louie' colors using the same size, I might make some more by using store bought stockings instead...especially if I make some 'little' ones. They would be darling. This stocking is completely lined, with no raw edges anywhere. The only raw edges were under the cuff where I turned it over the edge, and I sewed a 1/4" line all around, so now, no raw edges! I also did some decorative stitches along each seam line. I know I should have used a different color other than very light green, but this one was a 'test' stocking....but I like it well enough to make it 'mine'. Yes Jen, and everyone who knows me....these are my 'standard' quilt colors for my bedroom, and definately screams 'Michelle'. My friends would have NO problem guessing who made this stocking in a 'guess who' contest!

Eleanor made her back all one piece, so Michelle did too! (copycat, copycat!) I showed my stocking to Louie, who was quite impressed, but then he started to do the pretend 'pout', and said, "Where's mine?" Oh, he'll get one, but I don't think he wants his to look like mine! I might have to pull out some blacks and greens and pool cue, pool ball fabric for his!
The best part was, I sewed my stocking on my new, yet to be blogged, SOON, Pfaff sewing machine Louie found for me a couple weeks ago at Goodwill. It is a Pfaff Creative 1471, and it sews like a dream. Jen and Cindy will see it this weekend when I go to see them for our little quilt retreat. I will only be able to be with them on Saturday, but it will be so fun to spend time with them! Below, you can see the lining fabric I put inside. SO...........after my husband told me how nice my stocking was, then he told me I needed to make some the size of my car little bags I have been making, and put a tab on it so it could be inserted in the glove compartment. I GROANED....'WHY do you always do that to me?" "What?" he said. Oh, he ALWAYS comes up with some of the BEST ideas! I think he is trying to keep me busy and out of trouble!

My Juki Sewing Cabinet

This is the cabinet Louie and I put together a week ago Thursday night, that we bought at Walmart. It is a craft table type thing. When I bought it, I had the idea in mind to have Louie cut a hole in the top to accomodate my Juki, and put a shelf underneath it to hold it up. When we got the cabinet put together, I wasn't so sure it was going to work. I didn't think I would be able to sit in the correct position for where the hole had to be cut, and where the machine would sit. I felt like I had wasted our money, because with the machine not being able to sit down into the cabinet, the machine would still be as high as if it were sitting on my banquet tables. I was not happy about that, and decided I would have Louie look at it again, when he wasn't so tired.

Well, tonight, he looked, and said it could be done. He started taking measurements and drawing the outline on top of the table. Next thing I knew the phone was ringing, and we were getting company!!!! I quickly picked up the kitchen, etc, and Louie started cutting out the opening. I missed all the demolition of the top, but I did get the joy of cleaning up all the sawdust!!!!! Our visitors were Jack and Polly, my brother and sisterinlaw. Jack helped Louie finish up the project. Thanks, Jack! I love Louie so, for always making all my dreams and schemes come true! I am spoiled......I know this....and I love it!
There was only a very small limited area where the machine could be, because the opening could only go so far to the right, because of the shelf space to the right. In the end, it worked out just fine. This picture basically shows what the machine and cabinet look like when it is not being used. Since the machine cannot be lowered any further, or hidden, this is how it will be stored. The extention leaf on the left side drops down, instead of up and over to lay on top, like the regular Singer type cabinets do, so if I did not store the machine there, there would be a big ugly opening.

Here is a view of the machine and cabinet with the knee lift lever in place. Louie had to 'tweak' the lever a little so I could sit comfortably. It is hardly noticable.

No, you aren't seeing double....quit rubbing your eyes! This photo shows the shelf Louie built to hold the machine, and there is an additional shelf, which came with the original table for you to store your sewing machine, or whatever other craft you may choose. That shelf will hold my other Juki. That machine is the one I use with my Hinterberg quilting frame. There is some nice storage on the right hand side, and right now, it has the knee lift lever and the foot controller. The door has some plastic storage.

This photo shows the door closed and knee lift lever in place.

I thought this photo showed how much of the cabinet top is left. Quite a bit, I would say. Now, just in case you are all wondering where this machine is, it is in my laundry area at the bottom of my basement steps. That is where I planned on 'parking' it when it is not in use, but you know, I think if I was sewing alone, putting on some nice music and leaving it right where it is, would work just fine. I could put a clamp lamp on the side of one of my steps, turn on some music, and sew the night, day, afternoon, or whatever time of day it is, AWAY! I'm thinking I will clean out that cabinet against the wall there and put some more sewing 'stuff' in there! By the way, this cabinet is on wheels, so I can move it wherever I want. The center door has a piece of hardware on it, that goes up into a hole on the underside of the leaf extention on the right, to lock it solid. That makes the cabinet very solid. I just think this cabinet is really neat, very economical, and very well planned out.My Juki went to bed for the night. (I think I should too!) It is covered with the vinyl cover that came with the machine. I'm thinking it needs a prettier cover though. I'll have to see what I can come up with. Stay tuned!!!