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Petra X wrote: "My son graduated yesterday on what would have been my mum's 82nd birthday. Law school next, if he gets accepted. My sister-in-law who is 94 is in hospital and very ill. I'm so proud of my kid, but ..."Congrats on you son's graduation. It's always such a big day! So sorry to hear about your sister-en-law and hope she is doing better.
Went to see Lisa See at a Seattle bookstore. Her new book " Dreams of Joy" is suppose to hit the best seller list next week. She was wonderful. My favorite is "On Gold Mountain" Her first movie comes out in July "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" Ridley Scott has picked up another of her books for a movie.
Petra hang in there. I know as we get older, the number of people in our "inner circle" seems to shrink. That happened with my MIL. She lost almost all of her friends before she died. There were a few left to come to her funeral, but most had passed on. Her mother and husband had also passed. She was ready to go, but I sure miss her.
I got a lovely sympathy card from my vet today, since I had to have Sammy, my 14 year old Lab euthanized. My question is, why didn't I get one when I had my kitties euthanized? Is this cat-discrimination?
LOL. Miriam, you just gave me a good laugh. It is a strange thing though. What's with that? Maybe you looked more forlorn this time. :)
Couldn't have looked more forlorn than the day I had to have TWO old girls euthanized on the same visit. And the vet had a really hard time finding their veins. Even he was almost on the verge of tears and shaking by the end. I do think it is cat-discrimination. This is farm country, people have unfixed cats on their farms, like 50 at a time, and don't provide any vet care. Every once in a while an illness like feline leukemia will come through and whittle down the population, and they just shrug, "oh well". So I think in this area, dogs are more valued. I still thought it was funny. Humor helps me cope, so I laugh at odd things!
Miriam--I agree about the farm country mentality when it comes to cats. They're considered a dime a dozen. I love dogs too, but to a good pet owner a cat is just as important and as much a part of the family. When I was a kid on the farm if a cat got sick, it died. No one would have thought of calling a vet, although my Mom and Grandma did their best if they thought there was something they could do.I too got a chuckle out of your sympathy card, but I think you're right about the cat-descrimination!!
Perhaps it's only a recent addition to the practice? (Sending out condolence cards). At the vet hospital we go to, only one of the vets sends condolence cards and he sent one this Feb after we had our kitty put down and a few years ago when we had our other kitty put down. My friend goes to the same vet hospital but to another one of the vets and she & her family have had 2 cats and a dog put down & never got a condolence card for any of them.
Ahhh. Never thought about that farm country mentality. Makes sense, I guess. I grew up in the country and sadly, when there were too many kitties around, farmers, ranchers, etc. would drown them in the river. That makes me sick to think of it now. And how many kitties can possibly be to many in the country for goodness sake? The kill mice and rats and then they are also killed by prey. Seems to me, nature would have kept them in check all on its own. Course any dogs that killed lifestock were shot on sight--it was a cruel world for our furry friends.
Jo wrote: "Perhaps it's only a recent addition to the practice? (Sending out condolence cards). At the vet hospital we go to, only one of the vets sends condolence cards and he sent one this Feb after we had ..."Others have suggested this. And I suspect it may be the case. This office went through a stage where they were taking photos of all the animals, and sending out reminder cards with those photos on them. It was pretty neat, but then they stopped. I think they read ideas in some vet magazine, but lack the follow through even with some good ideas. I think they got about half my kitties photoed before they just didn't seem to care about it any more.
A couple of vets we've had over the years sends a condolence card out. One of the larger vets we had for a while here in Austin never did, so I think it just depends on the vet!
Bit different here. My cat was very, very ill and I wanted to take him to the best vet in the Caribbean. It took a day to get the paperwork and another to get up to the US Virgin Islands. After about six hours I got a call in my hotel from the vet. I owed her $750 dollars. The cat was dead. I went and paid her in cash as she required (no credit card). She then, and only then, said to me that she must have misdiagnosed the x-rays as she thought it was something completely different. No wonder she insisted on cash, I would have cancelled the credit card charge. My cat had a huge hole in his diaphragm and all the organs had gone through it and were pressing on the lungs and heart. We'd sent her x-rays and she took more herself when I brought my cat in. She'd thought it was something with his intestines. I was nearly as angry as I was upset. I loved that cat so much and for him to die of a misdiagnosis which could have been treated was terrible.
Oh Petra, I am so very sorry. That is a terrible story. She should have her license revoked for lack of compassion!
Maria wrote: "A couple of vets we've had over the years sends a condolence card out. One of the larger vets we had for a while here in Austin never did, so I think it just depends on the vet!"I didn't realize you are in Austin! I have a brother, sister, and many nieces and nephews there. My brother is with IBM. My sister works teaching the ESL kids in the inner city HS. My brother has a house in Round Rock, that his wife lives in, that has a traditional yard. But the house that he built is Salcedo(?) he is doing a xeriscape native wildflowers yard in. He built it as an investment before the housing bust, but now, since he and his wife are separated, he is living in it since it hasn't sold. Anyway, my sister tried gardening when she lived way up north in Tulsa OK, and had such trouble due to the heat that she quit THERE, is making NO attempt in Austin. You have my sympathy for having to fight that climate!
Miriam wrote: "Maria wrote: "A couple of vets we've had over the years sends a condolence card out. One of the larger vets we had for a while here in Austin never did, so I think it just depends on the vet!"..."
I'm just north of Austin--and yes, the heat makes gardening extremely difficult. I am having better luck this year since I moved to partial shade, but I didn't move it shady enough! I also do a lot of my gardening in the winter because many things won't grow in even the spring (peas, beans, lettuce, etc). I'm down to one tomato plant (Juliet) and cucumbers. I pulled on cucumber because I'm getting enough on the other two and the ants just use them as aphid farms. I kill the aphids every morning and by the next day, they are back again...
Hey, at least he has a house! Yes, it's been a bit of a bust around here. We have the natural thing going in the backyard. Water is incredibly expensive here--no way are we watering a lawn in the back!
I used to teach ESL via the internet. Did it for two year and from the looks of someone looking me up recently, I am going to be doing it again...at least temporarily.
Maria
Maria, my sister doesn't teach English, she just has those kids for her classes. She teaches a lot of things that kids that are using their native language for schooling can figure out, but the kids who don't speak English first haven't, so they don't do well in school even though they are very bright. So she teaches things like how to read a multiple choice question to figure out the answer, tricks of T/F questions, writing papers, etc. It is pretty cool to listen to her talk about her kids. I think she has had 72 different home languages with her kids!
Miriam wrote: "Maria, my sister doesn't teach English, she just has those kids for her classes. She teaches a lot of things that kids that are using their native language for schooling can figure out, but the kid..."I pretty much taught adults. And this next project looks much the same. They are good, serious students though. No nagging on my part. I think in the two years, I taught two teenagers. Everyone else was older looking to learn or improve English either for a job or for writing purposes (to get medical papers published for example.)
Great that you can help them! My sister had been involved in a literacy project many years ago. I think it contributed to her decision to return to school for a masters in secondary education. She enjoyed it so much!
Petra X wrote: "Bit different here. My cat was very, very ill and I wanted to take him to the best vet in the Caribbean. It took a day to get the paperwork and another to get up to the US Virgin Islands. After abo..."Your story just makes me cringe. After taking and looking at thousands and thousands of x-rays over the years there is no way this diagnosis should have been missed. At the very least as a courtesy the vet should not have charged you as she admitted her mistake. I wonder who decided she was the best?
Petra, I am so sorry to hear that!
Thanks for the sympathy. It was four years ago now but you know how some cats are just much more special than others, this cat was one of my most special ones and my son's first cat too so the pain is sometimes still sharp.
I still grieve over all of mine. Something will remind me of one of their habits, like Luke putting the fur mice toys in the water bowl to play, and I will end up bawling all over again.
Since there are so many creative people in this group I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas about what my youngest daughter could do with the beautiful silky scarves she inhierited from my mother? She wants to use them in her bedroom for decoration and neither one of us can think of anything interesting to do.
Tack the four corners to the ceiling to make a silk tent like effect. Throw them over the back of chair. Make a padded headboard out of them. Get old wooden hangers and hang them on a collapsing cup holder. Throw them over the lampshade (use flourescent bulbs that are cool). Make a quilt out of them. Frame them in matching frames and make a grid of them for modern effect or in different fancy frames all painted the same for a retro chic look. Tack them along the top of the wall to make a prayer flag effect or hang them from a line of twine. Make throw pillows for the bed from them. I could probably come up with more ideas if none of these work...
Oh, make curtains with them, or decorate curtains with them or make tie backs with them...
Miriam--thanks for all the ideas--we had thought of a couple of those, but I will pass along the rest. I wanted to use them to cover pillows, but Meg wasn't thrilled with that idea, but she might like some of the others. Thanks again!
Or if she's willing to move from the bedroom, make a patchwork skirt, very silky. Very cool.
She could use them in a memory quilt!
I have seen some gorgeous embroidery and beadwork done on old scarves, which would enhance any use of them. Almost making myself want to pull out some old textiles I have to embellish and use. (I am saving them for when I have fewer animals inside. Right now the textiles in the house have to be washed almost weekly, which is hard on old ones.)
Friend gave me her grandma's old quilt. Needs to be repaired but a treasure.
I repaired an old quilt for my sister- was her husband's grandma's. It is a very time consuming process. That one just needed most of the seams redone, but if you need to replace a piece of fabric, I read a great tip. Use a scanner or copy machine to make a copy of the needed piece, just add seam allowances and voila! Really helpful for curved pieces!
What a great idea!!! Thanks for suggesting it. Will work great for making applique quilts from photos or pictures too and can adjust the size as well.Wonderful..
I think of all the time I used to spend tracing patterns, in the "old days" pre copy machines! Or trying to cut straight lines before rotary cutters!
Miriam wrote: "I repaired an old quilt for my sister- was her husband's grandma's. It is a very time consuming process. That one just needed most of the seams redone, but if you need to replace a piece of fabric,..."Excellent tip!
Miriam wrote: "I think of all the time I used to spend tracing patterns, in the "old days" pre copy machines! Or trying to cut straight lines before rotary cutters!"I tried quilting in my 20s and found it boring and time consuming. Years later when a friend suggested I try quilting I almost didn't go to the class because I didn't know about all the inovations that had occurred in the mean time. Wow, was I surprised and hooked on a craft that has given me hundreds of hours of pleasure in the past 20 yrs. Now the issue is the price of cotton which is prohibitive, but fortunately I have huge stash and should be able to sew for many years with only having to buy the perfect piece of fabric here and there to make a design pop. Quilting is how I get through our long Minnesota winters.
I have never gotten into quilting in a big way. I have made a few, but they were just squares. In high school I made one for my boyfriend. Every other square was denim from old jeans, and the alternates were reds and yellows. I was amazed to see it on his bed after he was married the first time! Complete with the square embroidered, Love always, Miriam! He was 6'4" so it was extra long. I made another for a girlfriend having a baby. It was just fifteen squares divided by strips, but I had a barn appliqued in the middle square, out of red cord with white bias tape accents. To either side was Sunbonnet Sue and Farmer Boy, then the six squares above and below had animals appliqued in them, a mouse with a braided thread tail, a horse with a thread tassel tail, a cat with whiskers, a pig with a squiggly tail, a cow and I think the last one was a chicken. Anyway, it was really cute. The baby I made it for still has it! We chatted on facebook a few months ago, and she told me how much she loved it still! As my knees deteriorate, I may get in to it again!
Miriam wrote: "I have never gotten into quilting in a big way. I have made a few, but they were just squares. In high school I made one for my boyfriend. Every other square was denim from old jeans, and the alter..."Be careful, it can be adicting!! Part of the fun is talking to and sharing with other quilting friends. We trade books, patterns and ideas and even the odd piece of fabric. Do you have a quilt shop in your town?
Cheryl, next town over (7 miles) is a very nice quilt shop, as well as quilt museum and stores selling gorgeous quilts. Kalona, Amish town. So I could get in to it in a big way. Local banks sometimes have quilts set up in their lobbies for people to quilt on, for charity. Do prayer quilts next door at the church every saturday morning.
I have heard of Kalona and know it's famous for its quilts. You're lucky to have somewhere that good so close to you. The quilt shop in our town closed a year ago and my closest one is 20 miles away. My friend, Suz, and I just signed up for a quilt retreat in Nov. It's a 2 day bus tour visiting 5 shops with a mini class in some new technique at each one. Might get some ideas for things to make for Christmas gifts.
I have bought wallets and coin purses made out of tiny quilts, tiny quilt jar openers with a magnet in them (hang on the fridge, have that white fabric with rubber polka dots on the reverse) and quilted picture frames in Kalona. Seems like there are some other quilt things I have bought for presents, but I can't think of them right now. Also have lots of nice wood crafts around here from the Amish. My neighbor works in one that makes incredible thin wood bookmarks. They glue tiny pieces of different woods together in a block, then slice the block. I have three, and I treasure them. They make other things, like trays, clipboards, using the same techniques, but the bookmarks use the tiniest pieces.
I'm so happy today. My son just heard he got into U of West Indies to do law, and got a scholarship for the fees (at least, there may be more). I don't think I could feel any happier.
I've always wanted to quilt because I love sewing but didn't realize how involved it was until I read The Quilter's Apprentice and then I decided to stick with knitting lol!!!
Well done Petra's Son. What a relief for you Petra. :):)Have a drink from me.
Petra X wrote: "I'm so happy today. My son just heard he got into U of West Indies to do law, and got a scholarship for the fees (at least, there may be more). I don't think I could feel any happier."Fantastic!!! Congrats to you, your son and family!!!
Thank you all so much. I have so many good feelings, but I have one really, really bad one. I want to let the headmistress know. At ten, she threw him out of the private American school here because he was supposedly so slow he should be in a special school. Forgive and forget doesn't always come easy, or at all.
Absolutely let the headmistress know. l. She should know her opinions are not infallible by any means; maybe it would make her have a more considered opinion.
2. Why deny yourself the pleasure? It's not like you're threatening her or anything.
Just a little note with perhaps a copy of his acceptance (with full fees paid, of course) notification.
Something along the lines of "Dear Ms. Whoever: I just thought you would be interested and pleased to know that my son, PetraJr, who you dismissed from the >>>>> school in 1999 with the suggestion that he belong in a Special Education school for the educationally challenged, has received a full fees paid (or whatever the correct terminology is at UWI) acceptance to the Law School at the University of the West Indies in Barbados (or wherever it is).
I know you will wish to join with the teachers at the (wherever he ended up) school in wishing him well in his future education.
Sincerely yours,
Truly, I'd do it in a minute.
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Books mentioned in this topic
The Quilter's Apprentice (other topics)The Quilter's Apprentice (other topics)
Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the Edge of the World (other topics)
A Society without Fathers or Husbands: The Na of China (other topics)
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (other topics)
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I desperately don't want my sister-in-law to die. Which is probably unfair of me since she is so ill. But I have no family here, my ex-husband's family are, at best, mildly pleasant to me, like to an aquaintance you hope to see only rarely. But this sister-in-law has been like real family, and like a grandma to my son because of the age difference. I don't really have anyone else here for me other than my sons.