Peggy Sue Pugster

Yey! Peggy Sue can open her mouth!

Peggy waiting with Papa for her turn to see the Dr.

Peggy and her Dr. Jennifer De Berry at Veterinary Specialty Hospital

Awwww! Poor Peggy Sue has been very sick. She has a disease called masticatory myositis, an immune disease that affects the facial muscles used for opening and closing the mouth. She has been on meds for about 2 months now and she can finally get her mouth open enough to chew and pant, etc., but when she tries to yawn, she still can't follow through. Her little cheek bones are more pronounced because the muscles behind them have atrophied. We went in for a recheck today, had some blood work done, and we're waiting to hear if she is handling the meds ok, insofar as her liver and kidneys are concerned. She'll probably be on these meds for a long time, if not forever.

I am so grateful to the Doctors at Veterinary Specialty Hospital for correctly diagnosing Peggy's problem immediately. And, thankfully, once they determined what they thought it was, there was a blood test that verified it. Unfortunately Peggy's titer for this disease was off the charts. The good thing is that because of that, they know what and how to treat her so that she can eat and be comfortable.

Sister, I Love You

Had a change of plans yesterday and ended up in my craft room all day. I was going to work on the Coin Envelopes some more. Didn't get much of that done...but I did make this little collage for my sister. That's us in the picture, when we were little kids. She's actually taller than me now. I got the idea of using the back of a canvas from one of the published artists at Somerset Memories. I painted the canvas back black and purple, used a crackle medium and then painted it off-white. I love the way it crackled. I painted the lace with a homemade alcohol ink. I made the ink by adding pigment powder to a little bit of alcohol. That was fun! The picture was old and sort of crappy so I decided to change the colors just to give it a more artsy look. I gave the collage to my sister this morning and she loved it. I love that she loved it!

Embossing the Coin Envelopes

Oh my gosh...had such a fun weekend with my sister. We went crazy with the embossing technique. We made cards and then I decided to work on my coin envelopes. The Book Club is doing a coin envelope swap. The point is to decorate the envelope and fill it with ephemera. Isn't that a fun idea. There are a 17 crafters who are participating. We will each embellish 17 coin envelopes and then when we do the swap, we will each get 17 different ones back. My coin envelopes turned out pretty good. Each one is a little different. I still want to add fibers and, of course fill them. I think the swap is such a fun idea...thanks to Elena with Scrapbook Royalty.

Happy Birthday Darlin'

Spent some time with my girlfriend Sherry. We worked on our beading. I made this necklace and earring set for my daughter's 26th birthday. Happy birthday baby.

Art Meetup at Jackie's

Now this was fun! We altered bottles. We made dolls out of them. I just love this art meetup. When we took the picture of all the dollies, Duchess didn't have her face on yet. But here she is all dolled up with her face, hair and hat...the Grand Duchess Dolly herself.

Scrapbook Royalty Book Club at the Pink Pineapple

Elena, Cheryl, Jana, Jenny, Kristie

I joined Elena's Scrapbook Royalty Book Club at Pink Pineapple. I had such a good time. There are about 35 exceptionally talented ladies in the Book Club. They all showed their beautiful creations. Wow! I don't know if I measure up, but I think I will learn a lot from these ladies. Each 3-month cycle we work with a book or magazine. This cycle it is Somerset Memories and The Stamper's Sampler, which are extraordinary magazines. The pictures are incredible. Even the paper is special. A cup of tea and one of these magazines makes for a very nice moment in time.

Jana Holstein, Managing Editor of Somerset Memories, Jenny Doh, Director of Publishing of the Stampington & Company publications and Cheryl Waters, Lead Fisk-a-teer for Fiskars, were our inspirational speakers for the evening. Jana and Jenny shared their stories of finding their own creative spirits, and showed us examples of unique art that has been submitted for publication. They shared ideas and procedures of how to submit to the Stampington publications. Cheryl gave us the courage and the will to go ahead and submit our artwork. Cheryl also provided a make and take of an altered tag. I had never done tags before so I was very inspired by all the ideas she offered. All three ladies were so delightful and wonderful. I can't say how much I enjoyed the evening.

Uncle Harry

My Uncle Harry's funeral was on May 4th. He was 98 years old. He was a great guy and will be missed. Here's his obit.

Hays Jr., Harry*
HAYS Jr., HARRY A. "The Last of the Savoy Players" Harry A. Hays Jr., age 98, a resident of San Diego since July 4, 1925, and a 1928 graduate of San Diego High School, died April 7, 2009, at Brighton Gardens in Carmel Valley. Mr. Hays arrived here with his parents, Harry A. Hays Sr. and Ruby Kisman Hays, to join the cast of the well-remembered and much loved Savoy Players, a local theatrical stock company. His first performance at age 15, was as Joey Shanks in "The Copperhead" followed by many hits such as "Pigs" and "Unusual Weather." Mr. Hays was the first baby in arms to be permitted aboard the "Cotton Blossom" river boat made famous by Edna Ferber in her book Show Boat. After the river boat tour, the Hays family trouped through Louisiana, Texas, and California on what was known as a tent show called "Murphy's Comedians." Harry often told the story of jumping from one town to another in his father's touring sedan with his mom and dad in the front seat, his grandmother with seven canaries in cages, and himself in the back seat, and opening the door to let "Topsy" his pony in to stand in front of his grandmother and himself! His longest stay in any one town was 56 weeks in Sacramento, where his father invested in a theater which burned down. Other than that, his early years were spent in one or two week stands, sleeping in his dad's trunk, living in hotels and rooming houses. Mr. Hays was affiliated with the Delta Sigma Fraternity, holding every office including three consecutive terms as President. He was fundamental in reviving the chapter quarterly luncheon meetings and was awarded the honor of President "ad infinitum." He was also chairman of his 50th, 60th, and 65th high school reunions, all very successful. On December 7, 1942, during World War II, Mr. Hays enlisted in the Navy serving on Guadalcanal and returning to the San Francisco area before being discharged. Since 1957, he had been associated with the steel industry. Harry is survived by his son Daniel who lives in Carmel Valley, his daughter Melissa who lives in Mendocino, his sister Mary of McKinleyville, CA, and six grandchildren. Mrs. Olive Hays, his wife of 45 years, passed away in June, 1984. Mr. Hays' ashes will be interred at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.
Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune on 4/12/2009