Sunday, May 27, 2012

RIP MICHA

On Tuesday, May 22 at 8:00 am, my dear boy Micha passed away after a courageous and vigorous battle with Chronic Renal Failure. He seemed to be doing well up to that morning. After trying to "capture" him for a feeding, he struggled to get away and was panting. Unusual for him. I decided that we needed to get to the vet so I went to wash my face and dress. I was about half dressed when I decided to check on him. When I went into his room I found him curled up in the little house at the base of the cat tree. He was already gone. I am comforted to know that he didn't suffer much, if at all, and went very quickly.



Micha was one of my early rescues along with his two sisters. He would have been 12 years old in August. I guess he never got adopted because he was very shy. I'm glad he got to stay with us. He was a very sweet, if willful, boy and he will be greatly missed.




Sunday, May 13, 2012

MY MOM

Since it's Mother's Day today, I thought I'd post a bit about my mother, Nellie Lois Mobley Galentin. She passed way 28 years ago this month and I still miss her every day.

My folks had been married about 19 years when I showed up - the first, last and only child. My mom was 39 when I was born and I think she was surprised, to say the least. Nevertheless, she was a great mom. This picture is, of course, my mom and me when I was a baby. This pretty well represents our relationship for the rest of  her life. That unconditional love got me thru a lot of scary situations over the years.


My mom was born the 9th of 9 children in 1908. By the time she came along, the novelty of children had probably worn off. At the height of the influenza epidemic, her mom spent a lot of time away, nursing those afflicted. That left her home with her dad, who did his best, I'm sure. I think our close relationship stemmed from that sense of estrangement from  her mother as a child. I'm not badmouthing my grandmother - she and my mom had a close relationship when my mom was an adult and I believe she was a good, loving mother. 

You can see my mom in this picture with her dog, Spot. My goodness, she loved that dog. She even called herself  "Mrs. Spot"! I guess that's one place I got my love of animals.


My mom had a certain sense of style as you can see from this picture of her as a young woman. Don'tcha' just love the overalls? And the bobbed hair? She would look right at home today, I think.


And she passed that sense along to me as you can see from this picture take on a visit to Hot Springs, AR, when I was a child. We are decked out in fashionable hats and dresses, though I'm not sure I appreciated the hat at the time.


This is my mom with her mom, Georgianna Miller Mobley. Dressed to the nines again!!


My mom is also my hero! She only finished the 9th grade, but she was so smart. She loved to learn new things. She would read historical fiction and then go to the encyclopedia to learn the facts. She helped my dad run his liquor store before I was born. He probably would have gone bankrupt without my mom's superior business sense. She grew up in an tiny little rural town in Nebraska, but she was so sophisticated in the ways that count.

My mom loved to travel and was the impetus for my parents' move from Nebraska to Texas not long after they married. After my dad died, mom and I traveled a lot. She was a great travelling companion. She even went with me when I moved to South Carolina. She just soaked up the history of the area. We traveled to Charleston, Savannah, Asheville and Orlando in addition to our summer vacations at Hilton Head and Pawley's Island. She just loved Charleston. And when we moved back to Dallas, she felt like she was home. I guess she was a city girl at heart.

So my mom has always been a big presence in my life and I thank her for all the lessons she taught me. I miss you, mom, but I know you're always here with me. 

Friday, May 4, 2012

LEFTOVERS QUILT

The lady for whom I made the previous three quilts asked me to make a fourth since there were enough leftovers. I did the same four-patch treatment as the other quilts. She asked me to put the bird appliques from the girl's bedding as feature blocks and so I used two blocks from the boy's flannel blanket to balance the birds. I couldn't find any more of the yellow fabric I used on the previous three quilts so I used fabric that was just a bit lighter. I think it looks great!



Here's a close up of the center of the quilt with the feature blocks. The birds add a really whimsical touch to the quilt.


Again, I alternated the girl and boy blocks in the entire quilt. Another fun project finished and in the mail.