Welcome back!

 Wow what a crazy two years it's been since I last posted! My husband is a Methodist minister and in March we got a phone call saying that we were being relocated; yes, the United Methodists work like the military, they say we go, and we have no choice. I am still bitter about how the whole thing was handled but here I am. I will post pictures of my latest quilts and other things I've been working on later, but for now peace, love and cats!

A Visit From Santa Paws

I have a very special in my heart for cats. I absolutely love cats, all cats, any color, any size, any temperament.  There is just something about a cat that calms me.  On this Christmas eve I'd like to share a poem with you from the book A Cat's Christmas by Stefanie Samek (1996, Dutton) (find it on Amazon here)

'Twas the night before Christmas, in the sleeping cats' house,
Not a feline was stirring-for even a mouse.
Cat stockings were hung by the cat door with care,
In hopes that Santa Paws soon would be there.

The kittens were snuggled in Mama Cat's bed,
With brothers and sisters curled head-to-head;
And Mama Cat on her quilt, and I on my mat,
Had just settled into a delicious catnap,

When out in the yard there arose such a clatter
I sprang from my mat to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash, 
Climbed up the curtains, pressed my nose to the glass.

And what in the world did my feline eyes see
But a small golden chariot, pulled by cats just like me!
With a fluffy old driver so white and so furry,
I knew in a moment it must be Saint Purr-y!

More rapid than rabbits his kitties they came,
And he yowled and meowed, calling each by name:
"On, Slippers! On, Sneakers! On, Bigfoot! On, Spats!
Christmas is coming! Let's go, gentle cats!

Now White Sox! Now, Bootsie! Let's go, Gloves and Mittens!
To the back porch we fly!  Let's go, cats and kittens!"
So down to the cat door his kittens they flew,
With a catnip-filled chariot-and Santa Paws too!

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the latch
The pawing and clawing of Santa Paws' scratch.
As I sniffed for his scent and looked all around,
Through the cat door Santa Paws came with a bound:

His eyes, how they sparkled! His whiskers so merry!
His cheeks were like marshmallows, his pink nose like a cherry!
His little cat mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the fur on his paws was as white as snow.

He meowed not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all of the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
Then washing his whiskers, ears, coat, and tail,
After having a snack, out the cat door he sailed.

He jumped on his chariot, to his team gave a yowl,
And away they all flew like nine cats on the prowl.
But I heard him meow, as he drove out of sight,
"Meowy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"
                                                                               ---- Clement Moorecat

My cat "Lefty" (because she was missing her left eye).  RIP little girl.

More Art Dolls!

Here is a glimpse of some of my new (and not so new) art dolls that I've been working on this summer:

And now a look at a few "dolls" from my Halloween collection (my favorite holiday)

All of these will be for sale plus many more (including my Christmas collection) at the Newport News Folk Festival the first weekend in October!

Yes you've made it to KIMagination...

but after three and a half years I have decided to change the name of my blog.  I am also in the process of creating a website and I needed to find a web page name that isn't already taken and there are a few KIMagination's out there.  It's still an ongoing process though.

When I was a little girl my family and I went to the Appalachian Mountains.  The trail we hiked was called The Riprap Trail.  I remember saying "That is a cute name for a cat... when I get older I'm going to get an all black cat and name him Riprap".  I have always loved solid black cats.  In August of 1992 I got Rippy, as he was affectionately called, and his sister was Eureka.  A few years later I got a third cat named Lefty.  They all lived a very long and happy life.  So this blog has been renamed in honor of my Rippy, the black cat.

For the New Year I bring you a late Christmas poem

I consider myself a very organized person.  We moved here only six months ago and we already have all of our boxes unpacked and everything in their place, so I thought. 

When I found this Christmas poem last week that I wanted to share with you I knew I had the perfect picture to go with it.  Here lies the problem.  I couldn't find my photo albums to scan the picture into my computer (the picture is from 1992, before digital).  So I began looking around the house for my photo albums. 

Now mind you, one of my hobbies is photography and before digital cameras I would print most of my pictures and put them in photo albums.  I knew I was looking for at least seven albums so they won't be hard to overlook. Hmmm.  The only boxes we hadn't gotten to were the ones in the attic, but these consisted of "attic stuff".  I thought maybe the movers put my photo albums in the attic so I went up there.  I sorted, organized and relocated every single box up there and NO PHOTO ALBUMS! (This is a lot of work for one blogpost). 

I gave up and forgot about it.  One of the things on my "to do" list is to scan in some old negatives I have (remember 35mm film?) so my brother and I could get a good laugh at ourselves as youngsters.  This afternoon while I was looking at my negatives I found the picture! So now I may share with you the poem The Christmas Cat by Marcia K. Leaser

On padded feet the little cat
came silently creeping by.
Dad swears he never saw him--
neither did Sis, my mom, nor I.
But nonetheless, the whiskered pest
sneaked past four sets of eyes.

When next viewed, our furry friend
was grinning and purring with glee.
I looked at Dad, my sis, and Mom,
and they three looked at me.
Then we all laughed,
    for the sly little cat
was atop the Christmas tree.

He wasn't actually "atop" the Christmas tree but he was mischievous like that!

Rest in Peace my beloved Riprap, AKA "Rippy"