Sad Endings and Happy Beginnings

What a whirlwind this past week has been - physically and emotionally. We said good-bye to a very dear quilting friend on Tuesday afternoon, Eileen Chorley. Even though I didn't meet Eileen until 2002, I felt as if we had been friends for years. She always had a ready smile, a funny line and a mischeavious twinkle in her eyes!! Eileen was a war bride - although the fellow she married was British. She told me that she thought marrying a Bristish soldier would keep her at home in Britian, little did she know that her new husband wanted to emigrate to Canada. But being the determined lady that she was, she made a new home here and we are all the better for it. Fast forward many years and Eileen is a mother, wife, grandmother and friend and most importantly a quilter. That is how I met Eileen - she joined our quilt guild with her grandsons' kindergarden teacher, Loretta. I always looked forward to hearing of her latest adventures and projects. Eileen was a very proud breast cancer survivor, but also a lady who believed in giving back. One of her 'spare' time projects was to make chemo caps out of polar fleece for cancer patients at our local hospital. Unfortunately, her cancer returned and we lost Eileen. Good-bye dear lady, you're sorely missed!!



The same day as we said good-bye to Eileen, we added a new life to our home. Welcome Marley to the McCleary family!! Marley is a standard poodle pup and is about 11 weeks old right now. He is full of curiosity, energy and a cute ball of fur. Now begins the fun of house training, etc. We had a standard poodle named Dusty who was with us until last April when he passed away in his sleep at the age of 13. He was such a wonderful breed of dog that we thought we'd stay with the same breed. Right now I'm somewhat brain dead as we have bathroom needs in the wee hours of the night. My husband and I are sharing the duties, but since I have been out a lot this past week he's had more than his share of puppy patrol. We just keep reminding ourselves that he's a good pup and in the long run will be a wonderful addition to our family!

Add into this mix that fact that the CreativFestival is just weeks away and that we have Thanksgiving this upcoming weekend - and you get the whirlwind feeling. Ah, life! Ain't it grand?!?