I didn’t expect to be showing off a new kitty this soon. Bianca came into our lives today. Her former owner needed a home for her and I fell in love with her immediately. She’s all white with beautiful green eyes. We’re all still in the getting acquainted mode. This afternoon, she found a secret place to hide that gave us a bit of a scare but she appeared and now we know about the secret hiding place. She’s very sweet and is a wonderful addition to our home. It feels so wonderful to have a kitty presence in the house again. I know George and Chloe’s spirits aren’t far away and are curious about the new kitty.

All last week I was on vacation. It was a wonderful at-home vacation of sleeping late, reading and sewing. Definitely a much needed break.

The vacation started with a little trip to Oxford, Ohio to visit Miami University, where Bryan got his first master’s degree. It was a fun time of just walking around the campus and him showing me all of the places he and his friends used to hang out. There have been a lot of changes made to campus since he was last there. We also discovered an outdoor amphitheater he didn’t even know existed. It was definitely a nice get-away for a couple of days.

On our way home, we stopped in Indianapolis for the Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting exhibit. It was an interesting exhibit with some amazing pieces, including huge lace panels cut with an exacto knife.

With my sewing machine set up in the living room, I got a lot of sewing done. This week I’ve gotten a lot of sewing done too while watching the Olympics. One project I can’t show until it’s intended recipient receives it. I started the project a year ago and then got distracted with school. Having nearly finished this quilt, I’ve been perusing the sewing blogs and flickr photos looking at quilts. It makes me long for the day when I can afford to buy fat quarters bundles. I’ve had so much fun with this quilt and I can’t wait to show it off.

I also finished a skirt and made a top on Sunday.

Pattern for red top is Simplicity 4589. Skirt is the basic a-line pattern from Sew What Skirts.

My first attempt of the top I used muslin and cut the size that corresponded to my waist and hip measurements on the package. The bust turned out huge and I ended up taking it in about five inches around the bust but leaving the hips their original size. I cut the red top out for the smaller size in the bust and waist and then cut the hips to the larger size. It turned out perfectly. I’m planning on cutting out another top this week so I can finish it and I’ve already started another skirt which I hope to finish before school starts on August 25.

Thank you all for your kind words about our loss of Chloe. Our house feels so empty. Both Bryan and I keep thinking we either need to get home and feed her, if we’re running late, or I’ll expect her to be hiding under the bed before we go to bed. It’s truly amazing how much these little furry creatures touch your life and make you a better person. (This is a photo I took of her about four days before she died. She had food on her nose and kept giving me the look of “What? I’m saving it for later.” She was such a sweetheart and loved having her photo taken.)

Bryan, friends and school have kept me busy this past week. Wednesday I baked bread and learned all about what it means to have a very warm and humid kitchen. The end result bread was fabulous and was so airy. I have more bread in the works this morning.

Sunday we went blueberry picking for the third time this summer. We came home with just over seven pounds. We’ve slowly been freezing some of them to have for later. Last year we had blueberries until December. My breakfast bowl has been so filled with berries over the last few weeks between the blueberries we’ve picked and the berries from our friends’ backyard. Now our little garden in back is becoming fruitful with bell and jalapeño peppers, along with our amazingly huge plant of basil.

With my two classes this summer I’ve been reading a lot. Every summer, I sign up for the adult summer reading program at the local public library. I also keep a list on the fridge of the books I’ve read and “reward” myself with cute stickers I’ve had for years. (To decorate all of those letters that I was supposedly going to write all of these years.) This weekend I passed a goal that I didn’t think was possible for summer. Granted I started my summer reading as soon as school ended, but still I’ve read more than 25 books since May 3. This doesn’t even count the picture books that I’ve read for my Children’s Non-Fiction class. In summers past, I’ve been proud of 16 books over the summer but this will be hard to surpass next summer. So what are these books I’ve read, well here they are:
(one star = read for Adult Popular Literature, two stars = read for Children’s Non-Fiction)
* Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar
What Happened to Cass McBride by Gail Giles
* Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
** Laika by Nick Abadzis
* Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
* Thursday Next: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde
* Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
** Little People and a Lost World by Linda Goldenberg
* Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie
** Code Talkers by Joseph Bruchac
** Indian School by Michael Cooper
** 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving by Catherine O’Neill Grace and Margaret Bruchac
* Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
* Be Still My Vampire Heart by Kerrelyn Sparks
** Bearing Witness: Stories of the Holocaust selected by Hazel Rochman and Darlene Z. McCampbell
** Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman
** Maus II: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
* Forbidden Pleasures by Bertrice Small (I was surprised how explicit this romance novel was)
** Ain’t Nothing But A Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry by Scott Reynolds Nelson
** Steel Drivin’ Man: John Henry, The Untold Story of an American Legend by Scott Reynolds Nelson
* Mojave Crossing by Louis L’Amour
** What’s Going on Down There? by Karen Gravelle
** The Period Book by Karen Gravelle
** Kampung Boy by Lat
** Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos

For my sanity, a couple of them I’ve listened to as audio books so that I can get off the couch and do a little sewing. Only two more weeks of class and 11 more books to go. Then I can start reading for pleasure again, which seems sort of strange to say since so much of the reading I’ve done this summer has been pleasurable reading. On my list for after-school reading - Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, Bonk by Mary Roach, The Host by Stephenie Meyer and I’m literally drawing a blank on what else is on my list. I only have three weeks off before school starts in last August but I plan on getting more done than just reading. There’s a quilt the desperately needs to be finished and I have some fabric for tops that I’d like to get made before it gets too chilly to wear sleeveless tops.

It’s so hard to say good-bye. I didn’t think it would come this quickly, but we had to put Chloe to sleep yesterday. She hadn’t been the same since George died and the last week she just wasn’t doing well. It was obvious she missed George terribly and just didn’t know what it meant to exist without him.

We’ll definitely miss her silly ways. How she used to paw the edge of the couch before jumping up. Drooling as she kneaded anything. You could always tell where Chloe had been laying because there were little drool spots. Her obsession with chewing on plastic bags. And what I’ll miss the most is her mewing at night with her orange mouse and then putting it by our bedroom door so we’d find it first thing in the morning.

She came to live with George and me almost 11 years ago. They instantly loved each other and became the best of friends. I could always count on Chloe to make me smile, even when George was driving me crazy. She mothered George and he loved every minute of it, even when it turned in to a major kitty cat fight. When I watched Days of Our Lives, I could always count on Chloe to be sitting by my side within the first five minutes of the show. I gave her the nickname of “my soap-cat.” We created so many songs to go with her nickname “Kwo-cat” over the five years Bryan and I have lived together and it’s hard not having her to sing them to. Our house is so empty now and my heart has a great big hole in it. Both of my baby kitties are gone. We know they are together forever now.

Wow! So I read the Lipstick Librarian blog on a regular basis but with school I’ve been a bit behind on my blog reading. Then this morning a co-worker sent me this post. If you click on the “fearless soul” link, you may see someone familiar.

How cool is that?

My classes this summer have been keeping me very busy. I’m having a lot of fun in both classes, which is how summer classes should be. I’ve also managed to get a little sewing in during my breaks from reading.

My Adult Popular Literature is an online class and I’ve been reading science fiction, fantasy, romance and non-fiction books for that class. I’m in the middle of a romance novel now called Be Still My Vampire Heart. It’s really been a fun read and one that I didn’t expect to like. I still have to read three mysteries and a western.

This weekend I was working on a book talk that I have to do for Adult Pop Lit. I’m doing it on one of my favorite books, Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. It’s been two years and after reading over 90 books since then I needed a bit of a refresher. I’m not one to reread books but I reread Prep to refresh my memory and I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time I read it. As one of my friends said yesterday, “The cover really doesn’t do it justice.” If you like coming-of-age stories and haven’t heard of Prep, I highly recommend it.

My other class is Information Books for Children. It’s basically Children’s Non-Fiction but since there are fairy tales, poetry, plays and literature cataloged in the Dewey numbers with the “non-fiction” in a library, information books fits the books better. We’ve read some great and not-so-great books for the class. The point isn’t to read all wonderful books because we need to learn about the not-so-great books out there too. My instructor is wonderful, she’s the same instructor I had for my Children’s Lit class last fall that I loved.

The last several weeks have been a whirlwind. June has also not been a friendly month for the Lee kitties. My parents lost their second cat, Lucy, last week. She hadn’t been doing well since her friend Milly died on the first of June. My parents were out of town and Lucy was boarding at the vet. She’d been having trouble breathing on Tuesday and just slipped away later in the day. At least she went peacefully and knew she was loved, she was definitely a spoiled cat. My mom made sure of that.

This past weekend, Bryan and I decided to make it a three day weekend to celebrate his birthday and both took Friday off. Friday, we just relaxed and got a lot of reading done. We’d planned to go to Springfield, Illinois but the threat of bad thunderstorms made us rethink our plans. Saturday, we did one of our favorite things - blueberry picking! There is nothing quite as scrumptious as fresh, handpicked blueberries. We thought we’d pick just enough to get us through a week since we’ll probably go back this Friday. We had not idea we’d picked almost five pounds. So we gave some to our friend L and her husband to enjoy since we know they won’t be able to get out there for a while. Then Sunday, L brought us some black raspberries from her garden to add to the berry delightfulness in our house. Even Chloe seems to like the fresh berries, though she can’t eat them. She gets so excited when we open the container of berries. You’d think we had kitty cat food stashed way in those bags by the way she acts.

Bryan also spent part of the weekend getting his Etsy shop and new blog set up.

Once I get some photos of my sewing I’ll post them. I hope everyone is having a good summer.

In the time warp, otherwise known as May, I knit another little Baby Surprise Jacket for a friend’s daughter. I blocked it last weekend but with all of the rain we’ve been having lately it took forever to dry. Now it’s ready to send off to mom and baby. I was glad to finally have something to use with this Cotton 100 yarn. It’s been languishing in the stash for quite a while and is perfect for kids sweaters. I just needed the perfect sweater that fit the amount of yarn that I had.

pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann from The Knitting Workshop
yarn: Berocco Cotton 100 in 9208 (Lavender) from stash
needles: size 7 bamboo
started: April 30, 2008
finished: May 9, 2008

This morning, I finally planted a few plants we bought at the farmer’s market last weekend. With the roofers around for several days, I wasn’t about to go out and try to pot anything for fear of being hurt by falling shingles. I fear we may have lost one of our cilantro plants but the gerbera daisies and peppers are still doing well. The lettuce came already potted so it was just a matter of hanging it up in the back. I was excited to see that the mint I planted last year is doing quite well. Ooh, mint tea!