Tilt-a-whirl

What's THIS All About?

Inch by inch, we are having a death watch, in the house. Poor old Sadie, our NOW ancient calico cat rescued by Erik, when he lived in Denver, came to live with us when Erik came back home to California, about 13 years ago. She, Erik and Bill were all rescued by Rod and driven back to our Lafayette home in a big U-Haul truck. She was given some sort of herbal concoction to keep her calm and the rest is history. She came and went with him, but after the second rebound, we kept her and told him...she deserves to have no more changes. She thrived in Lafayette; bounding up and down trees and mousing in the field. She endured the last big move, 5 years ago, when she, Sugarpie and Teddy all howled and cried all of the way up to their new home. It was traumatic but each cat staked out their territory in the new house and our ridiculously large bathroom became Sadie's world. She had a large picture window, food, litter box and was the queen of her castle, which included a wonderful Kitty Tower. Over the years, she has declined and we saw the signs of the whole "kidney thing", by the copious amounts of water and peeing, but she ate and enjoyed life. Now, she has been pretty much Not Eating for the past week and is going to leave skeletal earthly remains. I do not know what in the world is keeping her alive, other than a little water that she takes in. She still loves it when I pet her and brush her head and shoulders and amazingly has gotten herself down off of her counter perch (she sleeps on a towel, covering a special heating pad) to use the Kitty Pan. I keep expecting her to be Gone, every time that I go into the bathroom, but nope, she lifts her head and says hello. I think that it is breaking my heart, slowly.

When you watch your mother go down hill to death, the subsequent deaths in the family are something to expect, but Sadie...let go, girl. (no, I am not going to stress her and take her to the vet. He would never find a vein, anyway.) She is going to be the epitome of the Sliding into Home, with an old body completely worn out, being the sign of a life well lived. We really don't know how old this cast off cat was, when she came to us but if our kittenish 18 year old Sugarpie and wacky 19 year old Teddy are any indication, well, Sadie must be in her 20's. (Meanwhile, our young rescued Tortie Point, Boopie (Geisha) has become the inside/outside/inside/outside (!) hunter.

I guess that it is no wonder that I got so emotional, yesterday, when I read this. I just went right down the rabbit hole, which is not something that I do very much, anymore. I got the full idea of the extent of the trouble that The Grace Foundation is in, thanks to the betrayal of the banks that foreclosed on the Susanvill property. it just hit me, like a ton of bricks. I really don't know why, other than the underlying sadness of The Death Watch.

We have done a LOT of dyeing and drying and shipping of beautiful skeins of yarn to happy Yarn Fondlers, who exchanged their money for our gift. I saw, yesterday, that what we thought was a Big Gift (we have reached over $4K) is just a drop in the bucket and I got SO SAD. We are almost caught up, after doing a big (to us) run of yarn, yesterday afternoon. Now, the key is to get the big pile of money (it is, to me!) down to them ASAP, so that we can get started in the process that allows them to get the matching grant. Any other skeins purchased after this big push will be the icing on the cake and we will send a subsequent check at the end of June.

More than anything, I want these damnable banks to Do Right by Grace. It can't all come crashing down for everyone because The Grace Foundation "did right by" the creatures saved from certain death.

We have done what we could do, in our small way and those of you who purchased our Offering have been wonderful. Now, I simply ask you to share that email newsletter and keep the word going, and if you can, please contact Wells Fargo and Bank of America and tell them to Fix This.

I's time to go see what is waiting for me. It is shower time.

Dinner Companions

The young Mama & Papa needed some grown-up dinner date time and so WE got to have our own FUN dinner date with Jakey-the-Schnickle and Syd-the-Biskit, last night. I dangled the keys to Miss Mini in front of The Mama and her eyes lit up as she said, "Really?". Yes, really. "When do you go anywhere without a load of kid paraphernalia loaded into the back seats of your cars?", says I. "Let Mini show you how much FUN it is to drive the curves of our road".

The Dinner Date at "The Bean Dip Place" (Jakey's name for Cascada, where the chips and salsa include a warm, creamy bean concoction) was a much needed Adult Time and Lauren treated us to a big piece of wild salmon to cook for ourselves and Jakey. It seemed a fitting Trade. :o)

Grampy and the six year old went out to do some batting practice while I tried to remember how to juggle an "almost toddler" while preparing dinner. Oh yeah, put her on the kitchen floor with a basket of playthings and watch the dogs come check her out, from stem to stern. How qickly I remembered why my own kids had dirty knees. While Jakey was afraid of the dogs, at the same age, Syd revels in the HUGE black faces invading her personal space, which is a BIG relief. She adores our "soft mouth" Trixie and hands her small plastic Pretend Groceries to sniff, while exploring something with her OWN mouth. Yes, I remember...

Dinner was yummy but dessert of buttery vanilla cake with a little whipped cream and fresh blueberries was even better. Syd had some graham cracker, which appears to be her new favorite, after sweet potatoes & chicken.

Of course, Jakey begged his grampy for some more baseball time and so they took the worn out bat (something from when he was 4 and could whack the ball. The bat makes cheering noises when you hit the Sweet Spot) and ball out to the space between the houses. Syd and I sat in their room, peeking out the windows at the crazy guys and the even crazier turkey hen strolling near them. The time had come to grab a blanket and take the Biskit outside, no matter the weather. She squeeled with delight at being out there and laughed each time her brother hit the ball up on the roof or against the wall or way out into the veggie garden. She, like I, just likes to Be Outside. Yay!

I am looking forward to taking a toddler on her first exploratory walks in the forest and to a place where we can just listen to the creeks. I am sure that her Papa is looking forward to teaching her how to bait a hook and sit serenely in Little Walter the Fishing Boat out on a small body of water in the Sierra. Shhh, Syd, no yelling. :o)

Well, we will test the strength of eveyone's love of the outdoors, this evening. If the weather holds, we will all bundle up and head for Rivercat Stadium, down in West Sac to loll around on the grass, eat hotdogs and see Manny Ramierez play in the minor leagues. (he is on "our" team and so no snarky signs)

It is an unseasonably chilly start to the Memorial Day weekend but these days, you just have to go with the flow and keep the cold weather gear out of mothballs. Heck, it is supposed to be in the 90's by Thursday so there is no whining about a cool night at the stadium because it is all about Family Time.

Now then, it is time to get my lazy self into the shower and dressed, so that I can be ready for a visit from a favorite customer and her friend, who will be driving up from Vaca Ville. Dress in layers, ladies!

 

It Must Feel Like Home!

It began, four years ago, with one, maybe two and now, Rod counted 17 of these silk moths hanging on the two buildings, yesterday morning.

Last year, they were picked off, one by one, falling victim to an industrious and very hungry Robin. (I found so many sets of wings all over the place!) This year, the Robin seems to be elsewhere and because of that, the moths that have returned, from whence they came, to do the Wild Thing and make more babies.

The walls around here are covered with little patches of eggs that reflect the colors of these two and I am amazed to say that a LOT of them are already hatching their teensy black caterpillars. (Photos all look too blurry, thanks to a blurry me).

Of course, there are these singing wonders, waiting to scoop them up. SOOOOOO fat! All of his cousins are yelling, out in the back yard. :o)

More on the Nature theme; it was Bring Your Huskie To Work Day and they found it to be very comfy digs, although no one put a paw on Tank or Trixie's beds. These two are on their way to the mountains for a long, well deserved weekend with their people, one of whom has come to work on her day off, quite a bit, this past week. See her cool shoes?

I have one more photo for you. The question is, how do we count to $3506 around here? This is

how!

See? I really am so very Old School and you can have a visual of how this has developed in ONE week. Mille gracie. Muchos Gracias. Merci beaucoup. Thanks.

The Matching Grant

So, yesterday afternoon, after Lorrie left, I came over to the house in dire need of a snack. The stomach was protesting a little too loudly and, knowing the signs, I proceeded to attain some peanut fuel. I made an aside, to the man happily working on his train lay-out drawings, that Lorrie and I had dyed Appaloosa Sock until there were NO MORE virginal skeins in the bin and I could have been blown sideways by the sad exhale coming from the man. Inside, he was probably thinking, "I finally have a minute to myself after spending all morning of Weed Whack-Day Four, doing my Duty, and now This". Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I kept telling him, no, you need some Time and he reminded me that we would have no Sock to dye, if we needed to dye OTHER colors. Oh yeah...that. (Thank you, by the way, to those of you who have bought "something else" along with the fundraiser. Seriously, thank you.)

When I told him that we had surpassed the $3K level, I mentioned that it was Time to get busy on whatever he needed to do, to get the ball rolling on the Grant and there was another Big Sigh. Hmmm, where was that mailer to Retirees that came in serendipitously on day 2 of this extravaganza? No where to be found. Just go to their website, says I. Grumble, whine, sigh, says Mr Happy. Off to Google, I go and BAM, there it was. I don't know my password, says he. Call them, I snarl. Call them, he does, retrieving a password and then, lo and behold, a form appears in his in-box. Matching Grant; a How-To.

Sweet, we are on our way but More sighing. "The check has to be written by ME", he says. "So?" "Well, YOU have done all of this and then the check to the Grace Foundation has to be written by me", he croaks. "Listen, do you think that my ego is going to get in the way of us being able to get this Three Thousand Dollar Gift to match that amount of money. NO WAY! I do not care WHO writes the check, as long as this can happen". The sighing stopped.

Shower, breakfast and get the mail bucket ready on the One Week-aversary of this journey.

Never in my wildest dreams...

Today, I joined Lorrie at the dye table, knowing that this thing had become too big for one gal to sling yarn. I rigged up another couple of dip buckets and off we went. She came in again, on her day off, for a couple of hours and MAN did we turn-and-burn a LOT of skeins, today. I am not good at counting how many and how far we are but I think that there were about 45, between the two of us. I am very grateful for the good weather because I have all of these Appaloosa babies swinging in the artificial breeze from the fans, getting them ready to either go out or be in the next mailing.

You see, we have surpassed the $3k that my daughter told me should signal The End. I dunno, how can I do that? We have gotten the info from Chevron, for the matching grant, so every penny above the 3k is strictly on us. Seriously? Never in my wildest dreams would I have seen this coming. I am a VERY small operation and was a one woman army for years. I am just thrilled with your outpouring of help for The Grace Foundation and know that, together, we can move a lot of pebbles, that grow up to be a mountain.

Tomorrow morning, Arlene comes up for another pile of pouches and so out they go...

Seeing Spots Before My Eyes

Well, that should be Lorrie saying that, simply because SHE is the one slinging the yarn for this project. Hell, the girl came in here for a couple of hours yesterday, before heading to town to give somebody a haircut (at Placerville's Bella Cappelli). That is dedication to the Cause and she asked me yesterday, between loads of yarn, when the cut-off date was. When I told her "the end of June", I saw her eyes rolling back in her head. Seriously, when I mentioned something about her putting some color on my emerging gray hair, next week at my hair appointment, she says...well, I only know how to dye one way...Appaloosa. Hah!

I have been so happy to see colleagues buy a skein "just because". Today, there were orders from Glynis Poad of Majacraft and Eric Robinson of Green Mountain Spinnery! Oooooooh, celebrities! Thanks to Sandi Rosner and Kate Lemmers! And, well...what can I say to Sandy and Larry Kolher (horse nuts) who ordered...wait for it...TWENTY. That's a lot of love for the horses living in limbo, at The Grace Foundation.

Sandy brought it home to me, yesterday, when I posted a picture of an Appaloosa Mare and her black & white foal, taken by someone at Grace. She said that she and Larry would adopt those two in a NY Minute, if they were closer. I had to tell her that it would be impossible and this is why Grace is having so many problems. They can't foster out or adopt out any of the horses from the Susanville ranch because of the whole mess created when the owner of the ranch filed for bankruptcy. It is putting the lives of the horses (property) squarely into a legal tangle that makes these guardians responsible for the lives that they are saving, without being able to stop the financial bleeding. Beth and the volunteers at Grace need our help and seriously, if you "loathe brown" or don't know what to do with a skein of yarn, save Lorrie the aching dyeing muscles and me the typing and shipping muscles by going direct to The Grace Foundation and fling them a buck or two. If you are on Facebook, "like" them Here .

And now, it is time for me to stop lollygagging around, get a shower and head over to label and stuff a lot more skeins of yarn into the waiting shipping pouches. Sandy, I think that your huge order will be filled, NEXT.

Seriously people...thanks a million.

On Our Way!

It was a beautiful morning, here in the woods. The Iris have been rising to meet the sun, everywhere in the garden, choosing to give me a thrilling display, this year.

On the "way to work" this morning, we hung out, listening to the myriad bumble bees humming their way from flower to flower. They were so noisy that they caught Trixie's attention and unlike other dogs that I have had, this girl has no interest in testing whether it it would be a good idea to catch one! Bzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Speaking of Trixie; our poster dog should be very very very proud because people are rising to the call and ordering lots and lots of yarn, so that the terrific gals at The Grace Foundation can afford to keep saving dogs like her, as well as horses and other critters! We have, as of 4:30 on Monday raised $2030 for them! I am so excited and happy and tired.

Here is the first array of bags that we could fill, for tomorrow's shipment.

Here they are, all ready for Arlene's pick-up, in the morning. Is yours in there? Perhaps but we have a LOT more dyeing, drying, labeling and shipping to do!

So, now we need to investigate whether Prophane Industries will treat their retiree (Rod) to a matching grant for Grace. Now, wouldn't THAT be wonderful? (Corporations are People now, aren't they?)

Keep it coming! This is awesome!

Grace Foundation Fundraiser

Well now, this went live at about 10:30 am on Friday and since that moment (it is about 2:15 pm on Sunday) we have taken orders for 72 skeins and my dear Renee has donated an extra $50 because even though she does not DO brown...she wants to participate. (How great is that?) We are on a ROLL and the dollars are at $1346 for the Grace Foundation SO FARRRRRRRRR. We need everybody to get on board and one of our customer/contributors is using HER yarn to make one of Brenda Patipa's Twist & Lace scarves which would be great, if you are not making stripey socks. You could also do one of her other scarf patterns like Do The Wave or The Long & Short!

I want to show you what Lorrie has accomplished on her TIME OFF...it is a beautiful day today and these guys are drying for you and your friends. By the way...tell more friends! Animal lovers, horse lovers, lovers of justice...whatever. We are going to make as big of a difference for these heroes, as we can.

Big big thank-you's to all who have participated, so far! You rock.

One By One...

I had vaguely heard about The Grace Foundation, when we moved up here but I really didn't know much about them. When Sasha died, I was sure that I did not want another dog here and you all know how that turned out, eh?

  When my enabling Vicki & Erik were here, at Christmas time, I heard that name again, and this time, in reference to adoptable dogs. Really? I saw Trixie on their website and of course, the rest is history. It has been just about 5 months now and that canine character who freaked out after her second "abandonment" (she had bonded with her foster family, who had her for over 6 months!) has become the happiest of dogs. She was one of those "sure, we will take her" dogs, rescued by The Grace Foundation. They took her, paid the vet to spay her and took on the socialization of someone who should have never been adopted by someone without the time or space for this kind of dog. To their credit, the sweet foster family brought her back from being a fearful dog that had suffered some abuse trauma to a family dog. They simply did not have the space or time for her and we became the perfect fit; finishing the socialization and helping her to get over her fear of men.

I am writing about all of this, simpy because The Grace Foundation is in need of help. They did another of their altruistic "sure, we'll take them" kind of things with the abandoned animals that became known as The Susanville 70 and because of all of the expense involved with this endeavor, they have been left begging for supplies and help. Their little mascot, Tiny Beyonce is raising awareness in one way and has garnered them international notoriety but now it is time for me to offer my help, in another way.

My friend and assistant, Lorrie Hunter, brought the plight of GF to my attention recently and I told her that we could do a fund raiser for them, just the way that I did one a number of years ago, when a gal needed help getting medical treatment. And so it goes. I just got word that the newsletter has gone out and there is no turning back. :o) We are offering ALL of the proceeds from this colorway (which I goaded Lorrie into creating) to Grace but for a limited time. From today until the last day of June, every penny of the sale of Sock! in Appaloosa will be put into a pile for them. Let's see just how high the pile can get. Will you help?

Buy one for yourself and one for a friend; tell your horse loving friends and two more friends, after that. This colorway will make super cute striped socks with the bands of rust and chocolate being broken up by the Appaloosa spots.