May 08, 2011

Madonna of the Trail

Greetings, all, and Happy Mother's Day to all you moms! I had occasion to go to Bethesda on Friday. I do not care for the escalator at the Bethesda Metro (although Dupont Circle is worse)--too steep. I cling to the railing on the way down, not skipping down the stairs as I see many doing (some wearing stilettos or flipflops). I walk up without fear, eyes forward, not imagining my demise, but I don't like the downward trip at all.


Right outside the Metro stop is this statue, placed by the DAR in 1929, to commemorate the mothers who ventured on the trail west. There are 12 such statues between Maryland and California, although only Maryland's faces east. Lost already? Reluctant? This statue sits right on Wisconsin Avenue, facing an Indian restaurant across the street, cars whizzing past.


I picked up and put down lots of projects in the past couple of weeks. Here is Essamplaire's Sarah Hatton McPhail. It just goes on and on, however much I stitch, but I don't begrudge a single thread, because it's really fun to work on. I added to the right-most rose and the tan alphabet at the top.


And Dorothy Walpole. Such a pretty sampler, but like the Bethesda Metro, it goes down and down and down. I can't wait to get to the large area of flowers at the bottom, and away from the eyelet-stitched alphabets.


We lost our kitty, Little Friend, two weeks ago, to a long illness. We miss her terribly. She had belonged to another family in our former neighborhood, but that family just moved away without her. She sat patiently on their step for weeks, which broke our hearts. We began feeding her and eventually moved her inside.


Little Friend must have whispered in this guy's ear on the way out. He showed up at the door the day after she died. We have been feeding him--he consumes a huge amount of food, but he's quite the scaredy cat.


Perhaps these guys look in the door and see this piece of needlework hanging in the foyer:


Here's little Peaches, waving hello, getting ready for her pedicure.
Peaches: "Heeeeellllpppppp Meeeeeeeeee!"


Happy week ahead!

38 comments:

The Fab Furs said...

So sorry to hear of the loss of your Little Friend, perhaps she did send Scaredy Cat to you. Is Peaches waving "hello" or frantically semaphoring "rescue me from the clippers"? I know what you mean about steep escalators on the downward slope, and sometimes it takes me forever to get on one. It just amazes me how many samplers you can be working on and they all are wonderfully stitched.

Jan said...

I'm sorry to hear about Little Friend. Lots of {{Hugs}} coming your way.
Peaches is too funny.
The stitching is great as alwayss.

MarchAnn said...

Love the samplers and oooooohhhh keep me away from that excalator.
Your Peaches is just so cute.

Julie M said...

Sorry to hear of your furbaby loss. Hopefully Scaredy Cat will become used to you and decide to join you inside.

Sylvia said...

So sorry again about your sweet kitty. Its so hard to lose a pet.

Peaches totally cracked me up...

That escalator is freaky!!

Sarah & Dorothy both look wonderful.

Annemarie said...

Aww, poor Little Friend. Big cyberhugs to you. dear lady.

Sarah is one of my favourite samplers ever. Not one I will ever stitch, but so, so beautiful. Dorothy is quite a looker as well!

Heehee, Peaches :o)

Anna van Schurman said...

Best pal used to live near that escalator. I hated visiting. :( Don't go to England; they've got worse. I hate them! Sorry about Little Friend, but I'm glad she sent her replacement. And that picture of Peaches is just adorable!

gracie said...

Sorry to hear Little Friend is over Rainbow Bridge...and welcome to the newcomer....
Love the WIPs

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

I'm sorry to hear Little Friend is gone. Thomma recently lost Hucklesby, so maybe they can explore the Bridge together. Bless you for being Little Friend's angel when she was in need.

Joanie said...

I am sorry to hear of Little Friend but it made me happy that you took her in. I can never understand how someone could leave a pet behind, it's like leaving a child behind IMHO. Sad. And I a glad Scaredy Cat is taking part in your hospitality. It's exactly how we came to meet our Frankie. He was scared for about 6 months but now he's moved in and is all settled. What a dear. Love your stitching and I always look forward to your posts about what your and your needle are working on that week. Love Peaches!

Cari said...

Your stitching is lovely Glenna...I'm always excited when I see you've updated your blog!! Love the story of Little Friend...and the new friend who has shown up. I bet they do see the sampler!! We so love our animals don't we? Peaches is just too darn adorable. Have a great week.... Hugs

Melissa said...

Sorry to hear about Little Friend. Hugs to you. I sure love Sarah McPhail, what a pretty piece of needlework she is!

marly said...

What a comical pic of Peaches. Sorry about Little Friend who was so lucky to be rescued by you. My menobrain couldn't take all those stitching choices! I'd spend so much time trying to decide which to work on, that nothing would be done!

Nancy said...

So sorry about the loss of Little Friend. Sometimes I do think that animals suddenly appear in your life at just the time you need a diversion from sorrow. Maybe they are all connected on some higher level.

Love all your samplers!

Hope Peaches had a good manicure!

Laurie in Iowa said...

Your Peaches makes me smile. Poor bun bun. Your WIPs look fabulous, as always.
Little Friend must have put the word out that your home was needing a kitty.

Margaret said...

Sorry again about Little Friend. I wonder if your Scaredy Cat will adopt you now. I love the pic of Peaches. So rabbits need a claw trimming too? Mia is half trimmed right now. Her back claws are easier to do these days since I can trim them while my son holds her. No go on that method for the front ones. lol! Love Sarah!

Anonymous said...

Glenna so sorry for your loss. I know how you are feeling. It was a year ago Buttons was sick and was at the vets for 5 days. They couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Friday we decided to bring him home because he wouldn't eat for them either. We brought him home and I enjoyed him for almost another year. As you know he died a few weeks ago. I am still crying and miss him everyday.
Give your bunnies a hug for me.. Thinking of you~~~~PAT

Karen said...

Glenna, I'm so sorry about your loss of Little Friend. Maybe she sent the little guy your way because she knew he would find kindness at your house, just as she did.

Your Sarah is just stunning! You're making great progress on her; she'll be finished before you know it.

On a totally unrelated subject...are there any needlework shops worth visiting on Cape Cod? We're going up for a couple of days and I'm always on the lookout for stitching shops! If you want, drop me an e-mail at conleyk57 at gmail dot com.

RG said...

Awww - sorry about the kitty. Hard.

We lost PJ and in due time shows up Kitty Boy - same story. Now he owns the house.

Release Peaches immediately!

Melissa said...

Oh I love that picture of Peaches!

I'm so sorry you lost your Little Friend. It's always sad when our furry friends leave us.

Love your stitching. Sarah is so pretty!

Beth said...

So sorry for your loss of Little Friend - but how wonderful you were to care for her after she was abandoned - I'll NEVER understand people who can do that - your bunny photo was the cutest ever!

Alice said...

I'm so sorry about your Little Friend. How can people just abandon family memmbers like that?

I don't like escalators either, they just don't feel stable to me. Especially going down.

Love your stitching; it is perfectly lovely.

Nancy said...

I'm so sorry to hear about Little Friend. Kitties hold a special place in my heart for sure - well, animals do that. What a sweet face, and it was a fortunate kitty to find you.

Glenna, your samplers are truly amazing! I just love watching you stitch - you always pick such beautiful designs! Do you by any chance remember the title or designer of the kitty and mouse sampler you have framed?

Nicole said...

Your wips are so beautiful Glenna!! I'm loving your DW progress. I think I'm going to break down soon and start it!

I'm so sorry about Little Friend. What a sad story and you were so sweet to take him in.

What a cute pic of Peaches!! ;)

Siobhán said...

I am so sorry about Little Friend! My heart breaks at the thought of her sitting and waiting for the family that left her behind. I hope karma has bitten THEM in the behind!! I'm so glad that she had a good life with you. Our beloved cat Ginger June went to the Rainbow Bridge in 2002, and we always say that she picked out Duffy for us because he is the same sort of lovebug that she was. I love the idea that Little Friend sent Scaredy Cat to you. :)

Your samplers are gorgeous! Love the progress on both of them. I liked the pic of the statue--the escalator, not so much. Yikes!! I can't imagine having to go on that as a part of my routine.

Natalia said...

Glenna, so sorry about Little Friend. I am so glad you took her in when she was abandoned and gave her a happy life full of love. How sad that somebody would just leave her behind. I do believe she sent you Scaredy Cat :-)
Beautiful WIPs, I look forward to seeing more.
Peaches is just too funny !!!!

Melody said...

I'm sorry to read about the loss of your cat. That is so sad.

I am glad to read there are people like you in the world that give homes to wayward cats. That is so sad about the cat watching for her family to come back. I'm so glad she found your family to live with.

Take care.

Daffycat said...

Oh no, so sorry to hear such sad news, Glenna. Little Friend was a beautiful cat.

ROFLOL Sweet bunny toes!

I enjoyed the big escalators when in London. They had some big ones! I was soon skipping right along, up or down. (I wear sensible shoes!) The only ones that bothered me was at one station they were all shut off for maintenance. OMG that's a lot of stairs when you've been sightseeing all day long!

Terri said...

What wonderful people to take in Little Friend. I can't imagine just going off and deserting an animal like that. I'm so sorry she's gone :( Scaredy kitty is so lucky, too, to have found you.

Karen M said...

Glenna, so sorry that you lost your Little Friend. What a beautiful cat, I can't imagine leaving her behind. It's good that you were able to give her a fine home, and that you are helping the new little sweetie, too.

Katherine said...

I hope people like that get what's coming to them. I'm so sorry that Little Friend has left you. You probably gave her the best years of her life - and the best playmates too!

trillium said...

We have a Madonna of the Trail at the entrance to Wheeling Park. I did not know that there were others.

Giovanna said...

Ack, what kind of person would move and just abandon the cat? How wonderful of you to take her in, and I'm so sorry for your loss. Your stitching is wonderful as always!

barbara said...

Very sorry to hear about your loss of your Little Friend. I hope your new friend will stick around and become part of your big, furry, happy family. :D

Deb said...

I'm sorry about the lost of your kitten. But I am amazed that a new one has shown up at your door. Perhaps Little Friend did whisper to him.

Love your progress pics - especially Dorothy!

Michelle said...

I am again so sorry about Little Friend. How sweet that she's told Scaredy Cat about the lovely accommodations at your house. Your WIPs look lovely - a bright bit of color. Yuck, escalators...I don't like the small ones - that one looks awful!

CalamityJr said...

I'm so sad with you. Little Friends was truly a good friend for you, and losing a pet is so painful. Peaches is adorable, though!

Berit said...

What a touching story about Little Friend. I'm glad she found a good home with you. It truly is curious that this new guy (he seems quite pretty or at least striking fromt the photo) showed up with such timing. Maybe it is true that LF had a word with him. :)