What's in a Name?

Allegra's AKC registered name was Kelonie's A Heartbeat Away.

Kelonie is my kennel name...a combination of my Gram's first and last names.

Allegra comes from music...her breeder is a concert violinist, so it was very appropriate...allegro meaning quick/happy. The 'o' ending is male, the 'a' ending is female.

A Heartbeat Away...She was born with a heart defect which was surgically corrected when she was 3 months old. I thought this phrase was fitting because of her heart defect...it comes from Whitney Houston's song, 'One Moment in Time'. (For some reason, I cannot get a youtube video to load...but click here to listen to the song.)

The Little Witch.

Here's Kaylynn in her Halloween costume.

She's coming to stay overnight on Friday!

I think it will be good for Tag & I

to have Little Miss Sunshine & Light here.

Been trying to keep busy.

Quilted & sewed bindings on the 2 kitty mats.

Made 2 doll quilt tops (for Joyce's granddaughters).

Reading "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown.

The Sun Has Set...

on Allegra's life.

After not being able to get much food in her

& after watching her go through 3 neuro episodes this morning,

- each one worse than the one before -

I made the decision to euthanise Allegra.

It wasn't easy.

In fact, it was one of the most difficult things I've ever done.

I've been worrying and stressing

about this for the last several weeks.

Knowing it was coming...praying I'd be ready.

Didn't matter if I was or not.

Allegra very clearly let me know that it was time.

Thank you all so much for your support, caring,

prayers & good thoughts.

I haven't been very good at replying to your comments.

Please forgive me.

And know that you are much appreciated.

April 8, 1998 - October 31, 2009

Something to Smile About...

I've been trying to keep busy. I quilted two kitty blankets for my sister, Julie. Here's a sneak peek. They make me smile. Need to square/trim these & sew the binding on them.




I got a package in today's mail! I won a giveaway on Monday from Shelly of Polkadot's Circus ...a charm pack of Gobble Gobble by Sandy Gervais! YAY! Fidget, her adorable little pup, picked my number! How fun is that!!!


First...take a look at the presentation...the orange wrapping paper, the orange plaid ribbon, the scissors pin!
And, here's the opened package and card. How fun that Shelly found a card with 'gobble! gobble!' on it...the name of the fabric collection. I smiled really big when I saw that!

Thank you so very much, Shelly!!

Good Days, Bad Days...

Today is not a good day.

For Allegra.

For me.

I am hoping that we will have many more good days together.

I am so not ready to say goodbye.

But, I know her time is coming soon.

She will let me know when she's ready.

Allegra.

Allegra has had 3 neuro 'episodes' in the past 24 hours. Not true seizures, but ataxia (unsteady/uncoordinated movements & staggering gait), nystagmus (involuntary movement of the eyes) and circling. It's so difficult for me to watch her having these episodes...I cannot imagine what those people who have had no experience with this must go through. As a CVT and a former CCU technician, it absolutely tears me apart to watch her go through these episodes...definitely an entirely different thing when it is happening with your own dog.

I had been weaning her off the Prednisone because it didn't really seem to make much of a difference. But, she started having more problems with swallowing and wasn't able to eat much. Apparently, the Prednisone did do some good! I put her back on it last night and she ate a good supper tonight. That's encouraging.

Please keep her in your prayers.

Au. Then. Tic.

Ohmygosh...look what came in the mail today!!!

It's a 'just because I love you' gift from Brenis! She's such a good friend! I have lusted over this fabric since the first time I saw a photo of it in June. Saw some at the LQS when my sisters and I were there...resisted (ohman, it was difficult!) buying any. Now I have some...YAY! Thank you so much, Bren! I love you, too!! There's about a yard total...what shall I make with it??? My brain is coming up with many possibilities!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You all never saw the apron I made for myself.

This is my 'sisters weekend' gift to myself.

(actually, I don't know why I didn't take photos of the other 3 like this!)

Allegra is doing well. Had a neuro exam today and Dr. Petersen was very pleased with how she is doing. Seems to have a gag reflex...or more of one (that was like nonexistent), anyway. Said she looks good. So.

But. Took urine in to be checked for bacteria. None showed. So, no UTI? However, it showed bilirubin and glucose. Glucose??? As in Diabetes??? Weird. I'll have some bloodwork done to see what that shows. 6 weeks ago, everything was completely normal.

So, prayers are still needed for my baby girl.

Today she is very happy and yappy. YAY!!

No way am I going to tell her to be quiet. Ya know?

Update on Allegra and More Small Projects...

Thank you so much for your prayers...they worked!
(but, don't stop, please.)
Allegra's fever is down,
I got 2 doses of antibiotics in her,
she ate some food (not a lot, but enough),
and she is resting very well.
Barking now, too. woohoo!!!
I need to give her a butt bath later.

So.

Thank you, friends...and Thank YOU, God.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since sitting and worrying about Allegra wasn't productive,

I got busy and worked on two more small projects.

When we were at Stitcher's Crossing last week,
Julie picked out some fabric.
"What are you going to do with those?", I asked.
She answered, "I'd like you to make kitty blankets for me, please."

And, yes, I did point out to her that those are dogs on that fat quarter.

She knew that. Wants her cats to remember that DOGS RULE!!! {grin}

She did a good job selecting the fabrics, don't you think?

I put these together for her this afternoon.
Need to sandwich and quilt them.
The big piece of green in the above photo is the backing.
I'll bind one of them with the blue...
not sure about the other.
The fabric is about all used up.

Take a minute and really look at this next one.
Remember my wonky log cabin squares
when I was trying to be random and used
practically the same fabrics/colors in the same place?
Look here to refresh your memory.
I cut the strips for the kitty blanket
in random sizes, and thought I was placing them randomly.
However, if you start with the narrow orange strip
in the middle and go both ways,
you will see how I just can not do random!!!

That's all for this weekend.
Have a good week!

Allegra.

My baby girl is not feeling well today. She isn't eating, has a fever and possibly another UTI. She is sticking closer to me than she normally does (see, she's right across the hall from where I am sitting).Will take her in with me tomorrow...in the meantime, I'll start her on antibiotics and see if I can get her to eat some chicken.

She doesn't bark much when she doesn't feel well...and since she usually has so much to say about every little thing, it's very disturbing to me when she is quiet.

Please include her in your prayers today.

Small Projects.

Hanging out...
reading, watching a movie,
& working on small projects today.

Here's the September Pioneer Sampler quilt BOM block.

Here are the wonky stars I made for
Brioni of my Bee Addicted 3 block swap.
They were fun.

Cannot wait to see what we'll get this next month!

25 Hours With My Sisters...

Wow, I finally have some time to do this while my satellite speed internet is being cooperative. Finally.

I last wrote on Thursday night, when I made a quilt block for Julie.

The next day, Friday, Julie & I went to the vet school (where I work & where she used to work) so that she could visit with some friends.

We did a few errands and then came home to get
ready for the other two sisters.
Julie wanted some photos

taken with the pups.

Here's Tag, sitting nice & straight for her

(her hand - holding a stick - is just outside the shot).

I think she's whispering sweet nothings to Allegra.

Joyce & Jill finally arrived! YAY!!!

We had pizza for supper and then sat & gabbed.

(l to r: Julie, Jill, Joyce)

Each time we have our 'sisters weekend' we exchange gifts. Jill gave sister plaques, Julie gave each of us 3 jars of jam (oh, it's sooo yummy), Joyce gave each of us a votive candle, dishrag that she made + money. I made aprons for everyone. Julie's has a wine motif, Jill's has motorcycles, and Joyce's is black/cream with a pocket that matches the fabric of theplastic bag holder I made for her last Christmas. I think they all were very happy.

(I made one for myself...pizza slices!)

Mom and Aunt Bev sent gifts, too,
but I don't have good photos of them.

Thank you very much...the gifts are great!

I wanted to give Jill her Christmas/birthday gift so

that Julie and Joyce would have a chance to see it.

(yup, she's crying.)

We got our jammies on and were all set to watch a movie (he's just not that into you). Julie grabbed my 'practice' quilt, Jill grabbed a tan quilt that I usually have on the ottoman, and I had my star quilt that Brenis made for me last year. Joyce sat there in the middle...here's how it went. (Close, anyway.)

Joyce: don't I get a blanket?
me: oh. do you want one?
Joyce: well, yeah.
me: {sigh} I suppose I can get something. (walking toward the hallway) I think I have an old...

Joyce to sisters: I suppose I'll get an old army blanket or something...that'll itch.

I came down the hall with the black and white quilt (I know, you haven't seen it, yet...be patient!) and tossed it into her lap. She looked at it and asked if I had made it. Told her I did...she noticed the patch of purple on the back (her fave color) and we told her to look at the label. She did.

It read: "To Joyce, From Jacque. Heart, 2009."

She sobbed. Not kidding! See?

And, sobbed.

For 10 minutes!

She finally calmed down and looked it over.

I think she likes it. 

And, here it is...the black and white quilt I made for her.

I bought the fabric last spring and made it
in 4 days a few weeks ago.

It's Joyce's birthday/Christmas gift.

See the text pieces? They are verses from Psalms.

Here's the back. See the purple?

She LOVES purple, so I had to put a piece in there for her.

I didn't want to have any quilting in the text blocks,

so I just quilted it in straight lines on both sides of each horizontal seam.

After all the excitement died down, we settled down to watch the movie.

The pups got comfy, too.

We stayed up late, chatting and laughing and having a good time.

The next day, Saturday, I made breakfast for everyone.

We showered, etc., and went shopping at Gordman's

(a discount department store that is Julie's all time fave store!).

Joyce and I talked about the doll quilts she wants me to make...

so we ended up at Stitcher's Crossing to look for some fabric.

Went in with Joyce saying she wanted purples and pinks.

Here's what we ended up with.

They are gonna be so dang cute! {grin})

Julie bought some fabric for a quilted kitty blanket. More on that later.

We ate lunch here...

(left to right: Joyce, Julie, Me, Jill)

Salute! To the 4 J's!

Of course, time for them to leave came all too soon.

I love them & miss them very much.