I Think of You Every Day!

Even though my dad's been living in his heavenly home for 16 years, I still think of him every day when I see the things he made for me or that I brought in from his home after he died.  I have things he made in every room of our house except the bedroom.  

Living Room and Dining Room

The living room has a tiger needlepoint hanging above our TV that my mom made for me.  My dad made the frame!  Our dining room has the big swan puzzle the we all worked on together one week.  Again, my dad made the frame and mounted it for us.

Computer/Music Room

This room is filled with his handiwork.  First off is the secretary he made for me when I was just a young child.  Pictured below that is a cabinet he made for the church but took back when they didn't need it anymore.  I use it for my printer and it has three shelves inside.  In the middle is a armoire that he made, but which could also contain shelves for things.  We used to have this in our bedroom, but moved it to make room for our dog, Roxy's, bed.  In case you are wonder, no, he did not make the piano; however, he did make the piano bench that opens up so music can be stored inside it.  Finally, he made all the picture frames that are hanging up.

Jail Break!

Do you know what this is?  It's a homemade cat carrier the my dad made to take his sick cat, Timi, to the vet.  I think it looks like a jail but my dad wanted his cat to be able to see his surroundings.  The top was on hinges and could be lifted up to drop the cat inside and the door could open to let the cat out.  Timi was not feeling well, he just laid in one spot all day for a couple days in a row and wouldn't eat.

Dad was not a believer in regular vet care so the trip to the vet was very, very scary for poor Timi.  When I went to get the carrier out of the back seat, I set it on the ground to close the door and when I turned to pick it up, Timi was gone!  He had busted some of the dowels out and ran, leaped up over a 5-foot fence and we never saw him again.  I ran to follow him but he was really fast!  We walked up and down the street looking for him and asking people if they'd seen him but we couldn't find him anywhere. 

Maybe Timi wasn't as sick as we thought after all or else he really was and wanted to go out on his own terms, being free and saving my dad some money.  We didn't ever use that cat carrier again! 

What kind of cat carriers do you use?  Did you ever lose a cat?

My Dad Would Have Loved This!

My dad, being the cat lover he was would be very happy to know the Barrister bookcases he made for me have been put to good use! Whenever I open the glass, a cat usually jumps in and spends some time inside.

Manny enjoying the bookcase.

Spunky Doodle making herself at home in the bookcase.

Here is a video of Manny choosing a book:

Kitten Krazy Makes Good Use of Dad's Work

(Bench made by dad)









Sven and Wendy (President of Kitten Krazy at her home in Medina, Ohio)

When my dad died, I donated a lot of his things to Kitten Krazy, a non-profit private organization that primarily does kitten adoptions. Many his things I donated to their auction to help them raise money to remodel their shelter and take care of the cats. Some of the things donated are now being used in the shelter. Today was the first time we got to visit and see the place first-hand. My initial impression was that these are very happy cats (I'm surprised any of them would want to leave!) There are many that are free to roam around in the office/medical area. Another amazing thing to me was that they didn't knock over all the stuff on the counter. I know my Spunky would and my dad's cats would have too, I think. It's a very happy, friendly busy place! There's another room which is for visiting with the cats and then a chicken wire dog run attached to the back of the building where the cats get get the feeling of outdoors with lots of things to climb on or lay under. My dad would have liked this place very much and would be so happy to know many of his things are being used there. In his words I know he would say, "Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful"!

Dad's file cabinet and Dad's cabinet

Shelves made by dad

Church's Fall Festival Brings Back Memories of Dad

Today Gerard and I ran a game for the fall festival at church that is open to the community. As I was walking around, looking at everything I saw the big wheel that dad had made for me when I was AWANA commander at my old church. ( AWANA stands for "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed" based on II Timothy 2:15. It's a worldwide ministry that churches use to run clubs for kids to reach them with the gospel of Christ and train them to serve Him.) I asked him to make sections with clips on them that I could attach papers to with different things we gave points for and we'd let one of the kids spin the wheel to see what we would give extra bonus points for that night. My dad was always thrilled to make things for me out of wood. He really was a wonderful dad and I still miss him.

At the festival, they put candy on it and whichever section it stopped at when the kids spun it, they would get the candy that was in that section. It makes me feel good to see that it's still being used, at least once a year anyhow. It was one of the things in his basement when I was clearing out the house and I just didn't have any room for it. I was happy when my nephew took it to use at the church! His wife is on the Children's Ministry team and he thought she would be able to use it for something. Here they are with their boys at the festival.