Kitty Goes to the City

Gracie had a very bad day today.  She had to get crated up and taken to the vet to give up a potty sample.

They called this afternoon to say she hadn't given it up yet, but vee haf our vays in these situations.  They were going to get it a different way.  While it's tempting to think she's all better, it's important to know we've completely cleared up her infection.  We aren't certain how long she had it, and so it could have been a while.  We want to have her completely fixed up so that she'll be good for another 500,000 miles.  Mike is bringing her home as I write this.  She'll have to get an extra helping of kitty treats this evening.

Smitty was quite concerned about this turn of events for Gracie.  He was extra lovey this afternoon.  I told him this is what happens to cats who bring mice into the house.  He must have forgotten, however, because we had to chase one down a little while ago.

I made a little more progress on my Irish door today.  All the pieces are fused into place now, but I still need to do the top-stitching.  To remind you, here is what the original looked like:

And here is my version:

It still looks a pretty simplistic, but I think it will improve with the top-stitching I have planned for it.  I had to smoosh it in (technical term, meaning "squish") a little on the right because of the size I'm planning to trim the blocks.  Also, the door and quoining (thanks for that great word, LynCC!) on the sides didn't fit just right, and so I added the flowers to cover it.

I'm going to add some white satin stitching around the gray windows and also satin stitch for the window panes.  I'll also add some brown satin stitching for the window panes on the door.  I want to stitch some blocks into the quoining and stitch lots of lines onto the roof and off the edge to make the transition little less abrupt.  Also, I want to stitch some lines onto the sidewalk to make sidewalk cracks (to break your mother's back).  Then I'll add some hot fix nailheads for the lock, doorknob and mail slot on the door.  I think I might stitch around the leaves in the shrubbery too.  I'm hoping when I'm all finished it will look more like the original.  The red brick is a little bright, but I'm not going to think about that.  When it's made up into a quilt, I don't think it will matter.

So that's it for me today.  Time to start getting dinner on the table.  Oh yes, I almost forgot.  I went swimming again today and I've worked up to 50 lengths now.  Yay me!  Now if some of that would translate into weight loss I'd really have something to celebrate.  Even though the number on the scale hasn't changed, I do feel thinner, and my jeans are less tight...a very good thing.