Victorian Charm - started 2-Sept-2011

[vanessanjf]

You are making great progress

[Lizzieh]

Love the colours in this one. It looks like it would be fun to stitch.

[gyork]

this looks great, love the dark fabric too

[flumpz]

Well it's been a long time since I've had the urge to stitch. This project has been mothballed for now but seeing Squirrel's progress made me want to draw a line here with my last progress pic and tell you all why it's been put away for now. Sometimes these forums can act like psychologist's couch!! Sorry this will be a long bitter-sweet post so read on if you will!

The pics first

8th Oct 2011


23rd Jan 2012


I kept picking this up and doing a few stitches and then ...

OK - the reasons this makes me sad... In September my 2 older cats both became ill. We lost Chewy on 23rd September - she was 18 1/2 years old and just got old. I coped with losing her quite well but this may have been because Zubi got very poorly too and needed lots of attention. He was Chewy's kitten and was exactly a year younger than Chewy. Well after lots of ums and ahs from the vets and a small fortune (over £1300!) we had to say goodbye to our gorgeous boy on Christmas Eve. It's broken my heart and as I was working on the Vic Charm from around Sept through Christmas it just reminds me of losing at them moment.

I still struggle with it now - I am crying as I type. They thought Zubi had FIP which can be brought on by a stressfull situation and I just feel like it's my fault for giving Frankie a home back in June and causing him stress which caused him to die before his time.

Anyway - since then there's been a huge gaping hole in our lives as Frankie isn't a lap cat and my old cats were my babies and were used to being mauled whenever we wanted a cuddle - so... on 24th January we got Flossie...



And I am besotted!!! Frankie gets on really well with her and things are settling down nicely. She loves to cuddle and is making Frankie friendlier too!

I still miss all my old fur-babies - we'd had them since birth and over the years have had to say goodbye as we lost them one by one (we had a family of 9 in the early days! Too many some might say but we loved them all very much and they gave us so much joy!) Now we have Flossie and Frankie and hope we'll have another happy 18 years or so with them!

Sorry for all the waffling and if I have bored you but I found it quite therapeutic to put it all down on here!

Chewy 21-5-93 to 23-9-2012


Zubi 21-5-94 to 24-12-2012

[rcperryls]

there is nothing boring about what you said or what you have been going through. Many of us have been through what you have been dealing with and it is so hard to lose a pet, but remember the wonderful life you gave them. They lived good long lives for kitties so I don't think you should even think about blaming yourself at all. I think this past christmas was very hard for a lot of my friends. I have suggested Rainbow Bridge to a lot of people this year. I believe it is true and that one day I will see my husband and all my fur babies playing together (or at least see them annoying him again for pets and games and treats ). I'm so glad that you have found a new fur baby to help you through this and to help Frankie get a bit more cuddly too. Flossie is just too cute.

Carole

[pattiebelle]

oh, thank you for sharing your story.

sorry for your losses and glad we are here for you.

there is a happy ending tho - flossie is tooooo cute!

take care,

[Squirrel]

Flumpz, thank you so much for posting about this.

I know exactly where you are coming from as I had a similar situation a few years back. Muffin (a tiny tabby) was a darling and a wonderful mother and she had 1 suitor a big tabby. Out of her last littler we kept Silver a huge silver grey tabby. Muffin eventually went missing and I found her weeks later but when I tried to bring her inside she went mental. We got her to the vets and he thought she had been hit in the heador had a brain tumor. So at 18 we had to have her put to sleep. Silver kept on until he was 17 and just too ill and old to keep going.

So yes I know and even now years later I still want to sit and cry and about them both.

Flossie is so cute and gorgeous and just the thing to help you through this time.
Thank you for sharing this and for the lovely pics.

As for your absolutely gorgeous Victorian Charm its magnificent and I love it. I do hope in time you can come back to stitching it again. It sure is worth it.

Sally

[tiffstitch]

Wow, I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your wonderful cats. I hope Flossie will help fill the enormous hole they left and I'm so glad to hear she's cuddly. She looks eerily like my cat Max who is also a big cuddle fiend. I hope you have lots of kitty in your lap to keep your mind at ease, and definitely read the Rainbow Bridge poem, it helps.

[marniecat]

I'm so sorry for your loss. My husband and I lost our little girl kitty, Joey, on New Year's Eve going into 2011. We still miss her every day.
Chewy and Zubi were beautiful kitties, thank you for sharing your story with us.
Your stitching is beautiful and I hope that in time, the fond memories of stitching with Chewy and Zubi nearby will bring you peace and comfort.


And Flossie is adorable!

[charmagne_capalad]

Am so sorry for your loss... and we are so grateful that you chose to share your story with us... I'm sure Flossie will fill the hole in your heart.

Your Victorian Charm is so magnificent! Great project! looking forward to seeing more progress...

[megan_bright]

I'm so sorry to hear about your kitties but I'm glad you have Flossie to cuddle. Your stitching looks great I'm terrified of stitching on dark fabric!

[vanessanjf]

So sorry to hear of your loss. Your project is looking amazing!!

[Cecilia]

So sorry that you've lost your two lovely kitties. Flossie is a real beauty and I'm sure she'll help you through.

Your stitching is lovely although it brings you painful memories.

[flumpz]

Thank you.

I discovered Rainbow Bridge when we lost Dylan - he was our first cat and we got him a month or so after we got married. We lost him when he was 16 through a saddle thrombosis. I think I miss him most of all.

I really do hope one day we'll see them all again.

Sometimes I think I sound like a batty old cat lady but heck!! What's wrong with being a batty old cat lady anyway!!

I still love this design and I am sure will finish it one day but have started something simpler on white fabric with no mixing threads which I am enjoying when Flossie lets me!! I will start a SAL for that soon.

Thank you for your kind words - this forum can be so therapeutic.

[LadyS]

Losing a pet is always really sad, they're part of our families. And when a pet lives so long it permeates so many memories that's even harder saying goodbye. Your new kitty is lovely and I'm sure you'll make many fond memories with the new addition and will have great memories of Chewy and Zubi forever!