Two days ago I got the most beautiful thing ever in the mail: an embroidered bag from aalia7. All my attempts to photograph this bag were pretty much miserable failures, so I'm thiefing this photo of aalia7's to show you the bag itself:



I was really hoping to win this auction because aalia7 does the most ridiculously beautiful embroidery and I wanted some for me. But then, of course, I had to decide what I wanted on it! Which is awfully hard because I'm very indecisive and who knows if the things I like will come together or just look ridiculous or... I don't know. Maybe I'm just indecisive. So I threw a lot of ideas at the wall and aalia7 found a way to make sure all of it stuck :D

I jibbered on a lot about this bag at my own LJ (it's unlocked if you're interested in reading about how the design came to be), but in lieu of recounting all that here, I'll just post another photo, with some close-ups of some of the detail.



Many thanks to Aalia! I can't imagine how much work went into the making of this, and I so very much appreciate it. It's wonderful.

How about a Lily update?!

She's got a pretty funky fur-cut from being shaved for her two surgeries and from the infection she had on her remaining front leg but she's healing up nicely and is over 7 pounds. She was just 4 pounds when she was first rescued. She goes up and down the stairs with no problems at all, and climbs up and down furniture and is a fan of 2 a.m. snuggle time!


Yeah, I see you!


Talk to the paw!

Thank you all again for helping to save Lily, we could not have done it without you!

She's come a long way from this little kitten with the shattered front leg:

Lily was spayed on Monday and is on the mend. Her mom and dad have promised pictures once she's back to her usual bouncy self!

I got a fantastic package from marus_puppy a few days ago!




Isn't it adorable? She made an ornament with my favorite furry companion on it. The perfect holiday accessory, and it's quite versatile - it's currently hanging on a bookshelf for all to see until next Christmas when it shall have a special place on our tree.

Bruster is quite flattered by the likeness! See? He gives it two classy paws up :D

Lily had a rough weekend.

She had a piece of wood that was embedded in her remaining front leg start working it's way out and she ended up in the Emergency Vet Clinic yesterday. It's likely that it was shrapnel from when she was shot, but it didn't show up on the x-ray because was organic material.

She now has a wound that can't be bandaged the way the vet says it needs to be because it would restrict her leg movement, obviously not an option since she only has one front leg. Instead, she has to wear a cone so she will leave the wound alone and have her wound washed twice a day.

Fortunately, we have enough reserve from donations to pay for this little emergency. And I will say it again...that is thanks to all of you.

The good news is that she'll be just fine and that she weighed in at over 6 pounds, which is 2 pounds more than she weighed a month ago! She follows up with her regular vet in a couple of days. Cross your fingers that this is the last emergency!

I was honored to win the auction where irishredlass offered up a scarf! I gave her the specs (half Slytherin, half Ravenclaw) and I swear, she must have magic in her fingers! A scant week or so later, and I received a box in time to present my son with one of this Christmas presents!





Once he opened the gift, he refused to take the scarf off - he even slept it in! More pictures below the cut.

( Brandon and Scarf )

I got to see Lily last night and I wanted to let you all know she's doing fantastically! She climbs the stairs, crawls into and under things, rolls around in her toys and is shameless about asking for pets. She's gained weight and looks absolutely wonderful. Thank you to all of you for helping to make that happen!

Thank you to sabrebabe for my amazing, new tote bag!

This is, I hope, a complete list of everyone that helped Lily. Please let me know if I missed your name. I compiled this from a metric ton of emails and messages, so it is possible that I missed someone.

Angela W
Shawny C
Catherine M
Robin B
Rachel G
Leslie W
Kerry O
Midge W
Taryn C
Linda A
Barbara S
Samantha M
Logospilgrim
Michelle T
Ann-Christin H
Lance R
Carrie H
Margie W
Amber L
Judy H
Alyssa R
Katherine C
Nancy B
Jenna C
Victoria H
Alisa W
Verlinda H
Eric M
Dominae P
Jennifer P
Rebekah C
Lorraine S
Kari S
Elsie W
Amber L
TERRILL K
Brenda W
Donovan D
Pam M
Alice G
Beth Ann D
Jessica T
Amy M
Kristen N
Victoria E
Kathleen L
Sabrina G
Jaimie A
Elaine H
Katrina H
Hannah B
Cynthia H
Christina S
brian a
Julia W
Osie L
Eileen H
Meredith P
Kathleen D
Elizabeth C
Sheryl H
Allison S
Petra R
Gaia F
Victoria K
Lorraine R
Sarah D
Stephanie L
Anneliese K
Theresa D
Corinne J
Kent L
Jean M
JoAnna B
Lois M
Hottie M
Samantha H
Marjorie B
Darren M
Aunt Ann
Uncle R & Aunt C

loveforlily
winners:
rivertempest
bonsaibetz
shecrazy13
hardhatcat
liljabs
Eric
quid_ink
robin8300
gelsey
floatingsoap
britfam
clumsey_chord
becca_8
elseinane
dozmuffinxc
pumagrrl
wildcard_47
enorto_1
craftylilthing
Secret Santa
dragonsinger954

donors
irishredlass69
droxy
dragonsinger954
tripperfunster
ofenjen
hewtab
guineapigpeanut
delphipsmith
dozmuffinxc
hp5freak
hardhatcat
aalia7
logospilgrim
marus_puppy
sabrebabe
hypnobarb1
clumsy_chord
ldar28
timestep

ALL donations are in for Lily!

*throws confetti*

I once again cannot thank you all enough for everything you've done for her.

Lily had her sutures out yesterday and now weighs in at 4.9 pounds. She had a good check-up and I will have photos to share soon!

Lily has yet to be spayed, which will be the last expense we have to cover before making our donation to the local humane society. Her vet wants to give her some more time to heal from the amputation before subjecting her to more surgery. I promise to let you know when we make the donation and how much we're able to give, as soon as it happens.

Winners, please make sure you let your offerer know when you've received your item.

Happy Sunday, everyone. :)