Emmy Lou and the Rainbow Bridge…

We knew the day would come.

We had hoped that by some miracle, Emmy Lou would find herself in the Guinness Book of World Records for “longest living cat ever!”

But it was not to be.

Emmy Lou crossed the Rainbow Bridge yesterday at the ripe old age of 20 1/2.  Because in cat years, that 1/2 is important.

That 1/2 made her nearly 100 in cat years.

And each of those cat years was full of unconditional love and acceptance.   She knew who her people were.  She was always there.  Like a couch ornament.  Meowing at you in hello and acknowledgement as you walked by.

Always ready to be let out.  Let in. Let out. Let in. Until at the end even SHE didn’t know if she was coming or going.  And we opened the door for her anyway – about 79 times a day because that’s what you do when you love someone as much as we loved her.

Run free, little girl.

Find Sadie and Dresden.

Say hello to Ollie Boy and Oscar.  Hiss at Chloe – wherever she is.  And know that we loved you. So very much.

I am so glad that Jason was here to help us say Goodbye.  He was 17 when Emmy came into our lives as a rescue kitten saved from being treed by 2 angry dogs determined to get her.  

She was brought to retreat in Texas with a "Someone needs to take her home or my dogs will have her for lunch" plea.  That Someone ended up being me.

You will always be in our hearts.

And your fur will likely be found everywhere for years to come.

This happened yesterday morning after the blog had already posted.  We knew it was coming.  She had definitely used all of her 9 lives in the process.

And truth be told – I am so glad that I have been sheltering at home since March.  I would have hated to have this happen while I was on the road somewhere.

Needing to get out, to do something – Jason and I stuck with our plans to drive to Wallburg to get the surround sound system he is taking back to Oregon with him.

And since we took the van, and I had he-man help, we disassembled a a couple of my wire shelving units so I can start dealing with the stored fabric stash here.

My thought is – if you make the trip, make it worth the trip and fill that van up.

There was one event a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to be at the Wallburg house to witness -

We had a HUGE tree, I mean HUGE.  And it had finally grown to the point after nearly 13 years that the trunk was TOUCHING the back corner of the house. GIGANTIC TREE.

The reason it had lasted so long?  It’s really expensive to have a huge tree taken out.  They had to bring in a crane.  And I wanted to be there to take photos and see the process.

There was no way to save this tree.  And I have no idea how old it is – but the house was built in the late 1970s.

This is all that is left.

I had worried that one good storm (or bad one) would have limbs taking out our roof.  And that come selling time – the first thing they are going to say is “That tree has to go!”

So it is done.

And this happened on the way home!

We dropped some household duplicates (pop corn popper and waffle maker!) off to Jeff and Ashlyn and I sat and ate pizza with both of my sons.

They haven’t seen each other in 2 years.

It was my first time eating INSIDE a restaurant since March.  They had every other booth blocked out, and many sanitary precautions in place.  I felt completely safe.

It was only 4pm, and the place was virtually empty so that felt even safer.

And it was so worth it to just sit across from my boys and watch them interact with each other. I am so proud of these amazing men and what they are doing with their lives.

While Dave and Jason were busy -

I got some stitching time in.

With the loss of Emmy Lou, I had so much still swirling through my mind and heart though the day was set to busy. (On purpose.)

This is what happens when all of your pets age at the same time.  Sadie was 13.  Dresden was 13.  Emmy Lou was 20. 

And likely we’ll do this again.  Lola is 11 (or maybe 12? Jason isn’t sure.)  But we have Zoey at 17 months and Ivy at about a year.  Hopefully it will be a while before we do this again.

Speaking of Ivy – we left the door at the top of the basement stairs open, and she has wandered the cabin a bit exploring, but she comes right back down to the sewing studio to where she is curled up most often on my sewing chair. 

Her world just got a lot bigger.  And she can take her time to make it all her new home.

55 blocks off the design wall.

I think it’s time to plan a layout for these and see what else is needed to make that layout happen.  Today may just be the day for that – as it’s raining.  Again!

Anything going on for your Tuesday?

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Pursue your passion, no matter your ability! Thank you, Albert Einstein!

When was the last time you made a log cabin quilt?

Happy September, folks!