Journal: Memory Quilts and a Sick Kitty

Someday, as I mentioned last week, we want to go to Alaska.  We really would prefer to drive, since we like to do things at our own pace, and we love the entire route... but it’s a looong way.  Every now and then, I look at the price of tickets to Anchorage or Fairbanks. 

And then I look at pictures of the insides of airplanes... and I think... YES!!!  I’d rather drive!

I’m prone to get claustrophobic, though I have enough chutzpah (that’s like nerve with a good helping of guts, according to the Yiddish dictionary) to pretend otherwise.  But... at least, down on the road (as opposed to up in the sky), there are shoulders to catch you, when your engine goes kaput!

I’ve never been in a big plane.  I’d like to.

Sorta.

Maybe.

Or maybe not.

I’ve never had a problem with motion sickness.  Before my eyesight got worse, I could read all day long in a vehicle, and never have the slightest bit of queasiness.

I did have trouble trying to embroider in Larry’s bouncy, jouncy pickups, though.  But it didn’t cause carsickness, it caused blood from pinpricks to get on whatever I was trying to embroider!  😲😆🙄🤪

A few people have asked if I sew with my treadle sewing machines.  No, I don’t use them.  I could use the Singer, though; the lady who gave it to me showed me that it works.  And the manual is in the drawer.  There is also a lovely little wooden box in another drawer; it unfolds like a puzzle, and there are all sorts of tools and attachments in there.  Some are for buttons and buttonholes... some are for hems... and some, I haven’t the faintest idea what they are for.

A couple of friends have sent me info on refurbishing treadles.  Several mention that they find it relaxing to use the treadle... plus, they can then sew if the electricity goes out.  “But I keep trying to turn the light on, on the sewing machine, even though it’s never had one!” one lady laughed.

Habits are hard to break!  The electricity goes out... we light lanterns, candles, grab all the LED lights and flashlights... and yet, any time I set foot into another room, I flip the light switch.  😆

I doubt if I’d use these machines ‘for relaxation.’  I’m awfully fond of my Berninas.  😉  I want knee levers, needle-up/needle-down abilities... needle repositioning... fancy stitches... embroidery...

Sometimes I think, Well, I should learn to use that machine, in case I ever need to!  And then I think, But I haven’t needed to, in all my 57 years.  If the electricity goes out, I just cut stuff, or cross-stitch, or go outside and take pictures, or go for a ride in the car, or, or, or.  😊

I sure do like how those machines look upstairs on the landing, though.

Tuesday afternoon, Larry came bombing into the house looking for the Raid Hornet Spray.  He’d been trying to tug one of his little trailers out of a weed patch, and suddenly he was attacked by a whole swarm of wasps.  He got stung 4 or 5 times.  Fortunately, he’s not allergic to the stings.  But they sure do hurt!  He’s always laughed at me for either running from them like a skeert rabbit, or fighting with them like a wolverine on steroids.  BUT.  I’ve never gotten stung, ever.  The wasps had built a nest inside the trailer tongue.

A fellow quilter and I were discussing the quilting group that I ‘own’ and she helps moderate – specifically, what to do if someone posts something objectionable.

“What are we shooting for?” she asked.  “Three strikes, you’re out?”

“Or one strike and you’re out,” I responded.  “Okay, maybe two, with a warning after the first time.  Never was one much for multiple warnings.  People know better, after all.”

Did you ever hear a parent threaten... and threaten... and threaten... and their brats went right on with whatever they were doing, as if they hadn’t heard a thing?

I remember my father saying, after hearing a parent doing that, “The suspense was killing me!”  hee hee

Hester sent pictures of Baby Keira smiling, writing, “Keira’s got a bit of a cold but she’s still a happy baby❣️.”

It’s always such fun, when baby starts smiling!  She started out at 2 lbs. 8 oz., and is now about 10 pounds at four months.

That picture went to both Larry and me, in a group text message.  Larry answered it from his phone before I found the picture on my computer, and his reply came to me, too. 

Larry wrote, “I’d be happy, too, if I was that cute!”

Receiving his reply before I received her post sho’ ’nuff made me scratch my head!  heh

Our neighbor man came by and gave us three big bags of fruit and vegetables from his tree and gardens.  We gave him a couple of bags of coffee beans in exchange.  It wasn’t very noble, though; we gave him the flavors we didn’t like!  ha  Well, he said THEY liked it, so I guess that’s all right.

I bought several purse handles of various types from someone on SewItsForSale.  I paid $22 for eight sets, counting shipping.  I found the same handles on JoAnn’s website, and they are about $6.50 - $7.00 for each set; so I got the whole works for less than half price.  Now I need to make some purses!  One of my nieces gave me a pattern with several purses... and I have a couple of other patterns, too.

I worked on my customer’s Memory Quilt all day that day.  She asked me to take pictures of my machine and frame, along with the quilt, so she could show the family for whom she is making the quilts.

At a quarter after ten, I hit the halfway point, and got to a glittery patch.  Perhaps you’ll recall, the colored patches in the Circle of Geese blocks were cut from the clothing of a three-year-old little girl who drowned last year.  I carefully rolled my needle down into two or three of those glittery spots, and saw that they posed no problem whatsoever.  So on I went.

Each pass is 8 ½” wide.  It takes a few minutes to roll the quilt forward and make sure everything is lined up.  And it takes almost 19 minutes for each pass.  The quilting part of it, that is.  So... rough guess... it’s probably 30 minutes per row or pass.

As I rolled my customer’s quilt forward for the last time that night, the bottom border showed up.  That meant I would be able to finish it the next day, if nothing unforeseen occurred.

More pictures here.

Have you ever noticed how, if you have ... oh, say, a bad hangnail that keeps hurting, if you suddenly stub your toe good and proper, your hangnail practically quits hurting, by comparison?

Well, that was the way it was working while I quilted:  My wrist and thumb hurt so much, if my neck and back were complaining, they weren’t doing so nearly loudly enough for me to notice! 

I kept tightening up my brace... but this De Quervain’s tenosynovitis (doesn’t that sound impressive?) hasn’t gone away yet.  It’s getting better, but I don’t think quilting is good for it.  I’ve told my regular customers that I can’t do more of their quilts for a while.  Maybe that’s a good thing, since I’ve been needing to do a pile of my own things.  This tendon problem is making that expensive ProStitcher (computerized program that connects to my quilting machine and moves on its own) look better and better!  But... Good grief.  $10,000, for a new one.  😲

We can’t afford that right now.  Sooo... I’d better just rest my wrist when I can!

The best thing for me is if I don’t do one thing for too long at a time.  This goes completely against my nature.  I’ve always been a bit like a bulldog with projects:  grab ahold, and don’t let go ’til it’s done!  But I do always have at least two or three different things to do; I could make that work.  I could.

Loren and Norma stopped by Wednesday afternoon, bringing a package of the cookies Larry likes, some big yummy bing cherries, and thread and piping that used to be Janice’s. 

Since it was going to be Loren’s 80^th birthday the next day, I gave him his gifts:  a quilled, framed picture Hannah put together with song The Love of God as the background.  That’s one of Loren’s favorite songs.  Also, I gave him the coffee cup in the shape of a 1960s camper that says ‘Not all who wander are lost’ on the side of it.

Just before church that evening, I finished the first Memory quilt and took it off the frame.

Thursday, I took pictures of the quilt outside.  This quilt will be a wall hanging.  More photos here.

While I was outside, I checked on the peaches.  Most of them were ready to be picked – and in fact many had already fallen to the ground.  So I grabbed some bags and filled them to the top.  And then I ate some.  They’re sooo good.

This is the back of the Memory quilt; it was one of the little girl’s comforters.

My customer, Joyce, knowing I was about to start on quilt #2, wrote, “I’m not a praying person, but I know you are, so maybe a quiet moment before you start on that one might be a good idea. :)”

For some reason, that made me want to laugh.

In the quilting studio, I pieced together Warm & Natural batting, then loaded Memory quilt #2 on my frame.  I always ask my customers if they mind about the pieced batting before I do it.  In most quilts, the butted-together seams will never be noticed; and it saves them some money, as I don’t have to buy a new package of batting.

This quilt had thick fleece on the back, and a lot of minky, heavy terrycloth, velour, knit, and various fleeces on the top.  Some fabrics were thin, some were very thick.  Joyce had stabilized each square on all four edges with a strip of cotton fabric.

I sure hoped my machine wouldn’t protest. 

Joyce wrote an explanation of this second quilt:  “The backing is a very soft fleece the girls shared and loved.  The parents wanted something special for the older sister that would have special meaning.  Embroidered corners on blankets were salvaged.  Even the pocket on the bath robe was kept, for a character was climbing out of the pocket.  One thing I tried to use was some swans that were on a baby quilt.  Initially, I thought I could, but upon closer inspection, they were too frayed.  Since the swans meant so much to them, I reconstructed a pair of swans.”

When I got everything ready and began pushing my machine around on the quilt in a mock quilting run, I realized, as I’d feared, that a pantograph, which I do from the rear of the machine, watching my laser light on the pattern, just wasn’t going to work on that fabric.  The presser foot grabbed the fabric and pushed it along... and the fabric was stretchy, and got all shoved out of whack.  So I wrote to Joyce:  “With your permission, I’d like to work at this from the front of the machine, and just put in some gentle curves... daisies on the blocks with white cotton background, outlining the swans... outlining a few things in the fleece... and not trying to quilt over the seams.  If they don’t lay nicely, I can do a topstitch around the blocks.  Would that be okay?”

She quickly responded, “You totally have my permission to do whatever you think best.”

So with that, I got to it.

At a quarter after nine, I wrote to her, “Yaaay, it’s working great, doing freehand from the front!  I’m holding the fleece in place with one hand, and moving the machine with the other.

“Two good things:  1)  It doesn’t hurt my left wrist to hold the fleece down, and 2) this machine rolls smooth, smooth, smooth – so it’s not hard to control with just one hand.

“Time to outline a swan!

“When everything starts looking pretty, and I’m happy with how it’s going, I remember again just why I like quilting so much.”

Joyce, pleased with my progress, wrote a note about it to our quilting group, finishing with, “My suggestion to any who want to do this (make a quilt of thick fleece and terry cloth) is to tie it.  Actually, my first suggestion is don’t.  😬”

I answered, “You know, when I pulled it out of the box, and discovered it was quite a lot thicker, and more... well, just more, than I’d really expected, I thought, Wonder what Joyce would think if I sent it back just tied at the corners with yarn?  haha”

“I would not have blamed you,” she returned, “but I’m glad you didn’t.  😊”

At 10:30 p.m., I wrote, “I’m half done, half done!  Feeling downright pleased with myself, too, I am.  It’s kyyoooooooot, kyyyoooot, cute!  I can’t stitch in the ditch; it’s too thick at the seams.  But I think it’s fine without it.  I think you’re going to be tickled with it!”

At a quarter after midnight, I wrote, “There’s one more row than I thought there was!  I wasn’t half done when I said I was.  One more row to go now... and I’m just rolling it forward.  We’re agonna have this thing done tonight, providing nothing calamitous happens.  😉”

A little before two in the morning, the second memory quilt was done.

More photos here.

I was pleased with it, for the most part.  After I released it from the frame, a few of the seams didn’t lie down as nicely as they had done when it was somewhat stretched.  I don’t think there’s much I can do about it, though.

You know, I’ll betcha some of those people who say they ‘can’t find anything’ online, when Google turns up 2,331,072,089 answers to their question in two seconds flat, also had troubles with card catalogues and the Dewy Decimal System when they were children, whataya bet?  And many of them say they ‘can’t find’ something, when they haven’t even looked.  I think people like that should be put to bed without their suppers.

Happens almost every time I post things online:  a handful of people ask questions that they could’ve found the answers to themselves, long before I ever returned to the computer and discovered their query.  One person asked me to ‘draw a Sunbonnet Sue pattern’ for her, because she’d ‘looked everywhere, and there are none to be found’.

But when one types ‘Sunbonnet Sue pattern’ into Google, one gets 869,000 results.  Most are free.  Type it into Bing, and one gets 457,000 results.  Again, most are free.  So... where was this woman looking, for crying out loud??  In her sock drawer?

Friday, I went upstairs to get the fleece quilt and take pictures of it outside on our deck.  When I went into my quilting studio, I stopped in the doorway and admired that quilt, as it was lopped over my quilting frame, and the indirect afternoon light was filling the room.  When I picked it up, it felt ohhh, so soft, and has a nice drape to it, too. 

I also mailed a large crocheted afghan to Keith; I’d found it just a day or two before he got here, washed it, and dried it outside.  It’s mostly white, with navy and red accents of an anchor and a ship’s wheel.  My late sister-in-law Janice’s mother made it when Keith was a toddler, and Janice bought it from her to give Keith.  He loved that afghan.  When he saw it, he recognized it immediately, so I asked if he’d like me to send it to him.  He would... so I did.  😊

AND – while I was in town, my first pitstop was to give Hester and Andrew a gift; it was their tenth anniversary that day.  The traditional gift for the 10^th is aluminum, so I got them a heavy-duty aluminum bacon press – and a big box of pepper bacon from Schwan’s.  I got to hold baby Keira while I was there, too, and watched her give her Mama a big, adorable grin when her Mama laughed at something I said.  >...heart running over...<

Home again, I put away some clothes, did some housework – and then Larry got home, and we threw coffee thermos, mugs, camera case, laptop, tablet, sweater, and change of shoes and socks into his pickup, because we were taking the Volkswagen Touareg (little SUV that used to be Victoria’s) to Omaha to have it worked on.  There was a recall on a gas line – and it definitely needed the fix, because gas can be smelled inside the vehicle every time someone starts it.

A couple of weeks ago, Larry fixed the Big, Bad Problem the Touareg has had for years, of seeming like it got slammed suddenly into park while one is driving it.  It was a simple fix that he found online – something about rubber around a bearing, and... if I keep talking, I’ll be like the prophets of old:  they wrote of that which they knew not – but I won’t have the benefit of the Holy Spirit telling me what to say!  ha! 

Before leaving, we drove on up the hill to the neighbors’ house to check on their guineas, goats, and chickens, as the neighbors were gone for a couple of days.  He’d told us to keep the eggs, and we collected 7 that day, and three the next.  The chickens are young, and just started laying recently, and are only beginning to get consistent with the egg-laying.

The goats were a little timid of us, but then they bleated most piteously when we walked away.  “Come back!  Come back!  We didn’t mean it!  We want to play!”

As we drove, I checked the USPS tracking page – and then wrote to tell Joyce, “The box has now departed the post office, and is somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle with Elvis and Erma Bombeck.”

Then, “Well, maybe I paraphrased that a little bit.  Hopefully, it’s nicely trundling along on its way to the Omaha Regional Facility.  (Sounds like a mental health operation.)”

Joyce retorted, “I’m not even going to check the number until tomorrow or Sunday.  I’m just going to trust that all is well with the world and live in Lala Land until they arrive.”

We went past Richland at about 8:00 p.m.  Getting out of Columbus in that pickup with a heavily-laden trailer on behind whilst trying to use my laptop is a pain in the neck – literally and figuratively both.  The roads are terrible, and the pickup bounces like everything, and I wind up constantly clicking on things I didn’t intend to click on.  Plus, half the time I have to hold my screen to keep it from shaking too much (it’s a 17”), so then I have to type with one hand.

As soon as I got a few things done that needed to be done on the laptop, I switched to my tablet until the road got smoother.  Electronic gadgets are such fun!  Heh

We stopped at Hardee’s for supper, getting Frisco burgers, apple pies, and hand-scooped mocha coffee milkshakes.  Mmmm, those were good.  We hadn’t had Frisco burgers for ages.

Look at this humongous praying mantis we saw on a Range Rover at the Volkswagen dealership where we dropped off the Touareg.  It was a good 8” long.

It was all hazy that evening, and when the sun went down, it glowed dark red on account of the fires out west.  Imagine what it must be like to be right in the thick of it.  People with breathing problems are really in dire straits.

When we went to Canada in 1994, as we were coming back home through British Columbia and northern Idaho, there were wildfires, and we had to hurry through those parts of the country, because it was bothering Hannah and Teddy.

We didn’t stop for supper until we got to Coeur d’Alene, and it was 8:00 p.m., and the kids were hungry.  We pulled into a city park beside the lake – and met a Schwan’s food truck just coming out of a pretty housing development.  Larry stopped fast, leaped out, and waved both arms.  The truck stopped – and Larry got everyone ice cream sandwiches.

It was hot out, so we had to hurry and eat them before they melted.  The children were giggling, all delighted, because ------ they were having dessert first, for one of the few times in their lives!  Those ice cream bars sure tasted good.  Cooled us down and tided everyone over until I could fix some supper.  We had our Holiday Rambler and a pop-up camper on the back of the pickup.  Our big Siberian husky, Aleutia, was with us.  Caleb was 9 months old, and Victoria wasn’t born yet. 

Soon, soon, I will go through all my old albums and scan the printed pictures.  We didn’t have digital cameras, back then.

On the way home from Omaha, we stopped at a station that had a little snack store, and I got a cup of fresh blueberries and strawberries.  I wanted fresh pineapple, too, but it only came in cups with cantaloupe and honeydew.  (Do you think anyone would’ve noticed, had I pried off the lids and combined all the fruit I wanted into one cup?)  (I didn’t do it.)  Larry got a cup of blueberry Greek yogurt with granola.  Fresh fruit is always my favorite entrée, bar none.

Last week, Teddy learned the reason for the pain he’s been experiencing:  he has been diagnosed with degenerative bone disease.  I’ve been hunting around online for a good description of it, but most of what I find is about degenerative joint disease. 

Degenerative bone disease is usually hereditary.  Almost all of our children have some type of arthritis; that comes mostly from my side of the family.  I first knew I had it when I was 12; probably had it for years before that.

Teddy turned 35 today.  Young men who get this disease generally get it from their mother or grandmother, who display it most often as osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis.  My mother had osteoporosis; I have the latter two and a touch of the first. 

Keith told us that his doctor suspects he has the same thing, though he has not yet had the tests for it.  Caleb also has pain in joints and in his back.  Sure makes me feel bad, to see our children suffering.  Keith told us about the homeopathic treatment that helps him, 'T-Relief'.  He sent some for Teddy.  I think I'm going to order some and give it a try, too.

Saturday morning, I sliced peaches onto Corn Chex for breakfast.  Mmmmm... that was scrumptious.

Soon I headed upstairs to get the Sunbonnet Sue quilt ready for quilting.

Silly ol’ Tiger cat!  I’d rolled up my rag rug so he couldn’t lie on it, because I’m planning to take it to the State Fair later this week, and don’t want to have to vacuum all his hair off of it... again.  Sooo... guess what he did? 

First, he stared at that big roll of rug, all forlorn and pathetic-like, and then he clamber-waddled atop it, turned around half a dozen times, and plopped right down on the rubbery side of it.  Poor ol’ mistreated thang.

I pieced batting together until it was big enough for the quilt, and then began piecing the backing.  I’m using strips of coordinating fabric at the sides of the mottled cream fabric that I used for the background on the front, since the leftover piece wasn’t big enough. 

Loren and Norma came out that evening.  I saw their Jeep out front – but nobody was around.  I’d seen the Polaris Razor head west down the drive... thought it was Larry... but where were Loren and Norma?  I went out on the back deck.  Larry had been working on the camper, and I thought maybe they’d found him and were chatting... but I didn’t see anyone.  I filled the bird feeders while I was out there.  There are baby chipping sparrows around again!  This must be the third brood this summer.  I think this is the first time they’ve nested here; they usually head on farther north.

After sewing a while longer, I decided to go looking for everyone again – and found them in the drive on the west side of the house.  Loren and Norma were sitting in the Razor; Larry had been on the four-wheeler, and they’d gone for a ride on the hills along Old Highway 81!  Loren was laughing, because when he slowed too much to suit Norma at the top of the hills, she exclaimed, “You’d better step on it, speed up!”  She came from Trinidad, Colorado, you know, where Lyle, Larry, and Kenny raced dirt bikes.  😅

For supper that night, we had Canadian bacon pizza and potato salad... and peaches from our tree. 

After supper, I finished piecing the backing, ironed it, and then loaded everything on my frame.  It’s ready to be quilted!  I’ll start on it tomorrow.

At 1:42 a.m. Sunday morning, my customer’s Memory quilts arrived in Tucson.  I kept still about it, though, because, after all, she’d said she was going to stay in Lala Land, right?  However, I did say to Larry, “She won’t be able to resist looking, you just wait and see.” 

I was right.  Midafternoon, she wrote to me, “Oh!  They are in Tucson!”  😆

Meanwhile, the afghan I sent Keith, who lives in Salt Lake City, went to Des Moines, Iowa, and there it still sat.  No wonder the U.S. Postal Service is always about to go broke!  They have not yet larnt thar directions!

Ah, well.  Going to Des Moines on the way to Salt Lake City is what packages do, when I send them ground rate (the cheapest way).  So there’s nothing to worry about; it does that every time I send something to Keith.  Sensible, eh?  The cheapest way is the long way around.  Uh, huh.

Well, I suppose there’s a major sorting/distribution hub in Des Moines.

But I’d rather complain and mock them to scorn than admit that. 

After our church service last night, Jeremy and Lydia’s car was parked across the street from the church, and Lydia’s arms were full of Baby Malinda, and Jeremy was collecting the diaper bag... talking to Larry... etc. ... so I said to Ian, who’s 2 ½, “Do you want Grandma to hold your hand?” 

He, being a bit timid, stumped slowly along... so I changed tacks:  “I really, really need you to hold my hand, because I’ll get lost, and when Grandma gets lost, she bawls really loud!”

He grinned and popped that little hand into mine slicker’n a whistle.  😃

Last night, Larry put a new folding grab handle on the camper at the rear door.  He’s doing what he can to make it easier for me to scramble in and out – because we’re going to go camping at the end of this week, after taking my things to the Nebraska State Fair.

I want a funnel cake!  I learned last week why Larry manages to successfully avoid getting me one, so often:  He doesn’t even like them!!!  Then why, pray tell, would he get himself a large, super-duper-sized one last year??  ((rolling eyes))

Funnel cakes, I like – so long as they are crispy, and not smothered in sugar.  They’re one of the few fried things I like. 

Today Larry took Teensy to the vet.  I would’ve taken him a week or two ago, but I couldn’t pick him up and carry him, with this bum arm.  He had to leave the kitty there for a couple of hours so the vet could run a blood test.  Something’s wrong with him.  He has a big appetite, but gets skinnier every day.  Worming medicine didn’t help.  Now he has a black spot in a nostril. 

I don’t know how old he is... maybe older than we’d thought.  He’s been the nicest kitty we’ve ever had. We’ve had him for about ... ? ten years, maybe? 

Why can’t dogs and cats live as long as giant tortoises??

I have a hard time concentrating on what I’m doing, when one of my animals is at the veterinary clinic.  I keep thinking, What’s wrong with him?  And I’ll bet he’s scared to death, what with all the dogs barking their fool heads off. 

A friend wrote to say that I need a special name for my Sunbonnet Sue quilt, one that gives proper homage to grandmothers, time period, etc.

“Hmmm...” I wrote back, “How ’bout... Great-grandma’s/Grandmas’/Aunts’/Great-aunts’/Friends’/Teachers’/Neighbors’ Vintage New-and-Old Antique Sunbonnet Sue Irish Chain Illinois/North Dakota/Nebraska Quilt?”

She had to admit, that covered it.  haha

“Maybe just 1936 Sunbonnet Sue quilt,” I amended, and she allowed as how that might be better.

I’ve been wondering... wondering... how am I going to make a label for it?  18 blocks by 18 different women...  For starters, my machine won’t even store that many lines in its memory bank.

Amy sent me a picture of Elsie – marching along in Amy’s shoes.  That little girl loves wearing everyone else’s much bigger shoes.  Amy said that yesterday while they were driving through the park, Warren (with his megaphone voice) squealed, “I saw a fallerwall!” (waterfall)  Today he brought Amy a paper he had scribbled on.  “It says you are really nice!” he told his Mama. 😍

And then Joyce’s quilts got to her house!  She wrote, exclaiming over them.  So that part of the day’s suspense was over, at least.

At 4:30, Larry brought Teensy home.  The news was not as bad as it could’ve been.  He has an overactive thyroid... kidney infection... and the spot inside his nose is just a sore.  The antibiotics they gave him will help clear that up.  They gave us medicine for his thyroid.  And they told us a couple of other options that are not feasible:  1) leaving him at the pet university hospital in Omaha for a month or so while they give him a treatment that essentially destroys the thyroid – this, in case it’s a tumor on the thyroid causing the trouble... or 2) removing the thyroid... these options would be about $1,000. 

We’ll give him the medicine, and try to keep him healthy as long as we can.

He just came begging for food, so I gave him some of his favorite Fancy Feast.  He’s been eating like a horse – and getting skinnier and skinnier!  I’m just glad he doesn’t have cancer, or something painful.

Oh, wow --- he gobbled up the food in just the time it took me to type that paragraph.  Now he’s begging for more... purring... head-butting me...  He’s the sweetest kitty we’ve had, I do believe.

Listen to these symptoms of hyperthyroidism – they describe him perfectly:

·       Weight loss

·       Increased appetite without weight gain

·       Vomiting

·       Increased thirst

·       Increased restlessness

·       An unkempt hair coat

·       Anxious facial expression

·       Rapid heart rate

Poor little thing.  Makes me feel bad that I couldn’t get him to the vet a couple of weeks sooner.  Well, maybe he’ll get better, and be all right for a little while longer.

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn          ,,,>^..^<,,,