June and a New Guy

June has been a busy one. At some point I thought I would get a quilt sewn but that simply isn't happening. I started working with Aviary fabric by 3 Sisters (fabric from quite a few years ago) using a pattern from Blended Quilts by Marsha McCloskey and Sharon Yenter called Four Patch Strippy. I only got a little farther than this...

My attention has been pulled away though. Sabra was sick for a couple of weeks after eating some grass and who knows what. That was stressful but she finally cleared it all and is happy and back to normal.  Then I declared war on some ground cover that has taken over my yard, I helped my sister settle into her new home a bit, and then everything changed! This past weekend we welcomed (or some of us welcomed...) this cute guy into the family.

This is Sammy. He's 12 years old and very sweet.  His owner has moved to a Memory Care Facility and is no longer able to care for him.  Sammy has had some different experiences in life. Some that we don't know about.  He was found stray and sheltered about 3 years ago.  Advertised in the paper and adopted by my neighbors.  The past 3 years, he's been living the good life here in my Cambria neighborhood but then was sheltered again for the past 3 months with people in 2 counties trying to find a home for him. He came back to Cambria and was going to be surrendered (with apparently little chance of finding a home) to the local shelter but another neighbor called Thursday to tell me Sammy's story...and well, now he is a part of our family :-)  I didn't know about Sammy's plight but apparently the rest of the neighborhood did. As we walk around the blocks, we keep meeting up with people that knew him and are so happy he has found another local home.
This has been a bit of a challenging adaptation process. Sabra and Sammy both seem to have some issues with each other but I think we are moving forward. Luke who has been a trouble child in the past is getting the Good Citizen award.  My cats have been sequestered in a "room with a view" where they can be safely up on my large cutting table while Sammy comes in for some cat orientation. Marianne ( my grey kitty) is more comfortable socializing...both with people and dogs....so she is doing the bulk of the orientation and training. Sammy has never been around cats before.  He is a little too interested at the moment but seems mostly interested in smelling and doesn't show any aggression.  I'm sure chasing would be an immediate hobby though so there will be no free rein for some time to come and only after behavior testing has shown success. Elinor ( my black kitty) will simply join in later when she is good and ready.
So hello chaos! Things are calm enough this morning that I can leave the dogs in the other room and enjoy some quiet time with the cats. I miss them having the rule of the house. They will declare order again someday!
Next post...Seven Sisters Quilt Show pictures