Recently I wrote about the end of year needs that my sister and I have. November is always a brutally expensive month for us. Not only do all the bills land at once (including the quarterly water bill) but it is property tax time, as well. We are fortunate to own our home — so this tax represents pretty much the entire year’s housing expense for the two of us.
It has been a terrible year, healthwise, for us. My sister was hospitalized three times for heart problems. And I have an autoimmune problem that is made worse by stress. Accordingly, it is now worse than it has ever been. We’ve been doing the best we can but our best at the present is not what it was.
I promised an update. We have raised enough to cover our household bills and part of the tax bill. For that, we still need $3208 — if we can pay it all by 11/15. Later than that, it will be about $150 more.
The major project we have going right now is the Community Quilt for the Tree of Life Synagogue. We are planning to complete it by the summer It will be several month’s worth of work and will be hand quilted by me. There is about $2475 remaining that we would like to collect to fund this work (some of which will go for materials) — and that amount will go a long way toward meeting our immediate need.
Then there are the Pootie Pads that we make — little aromatherapy quilts for cats and dogs filled with organic catnip (for cats) and lavender and thyme (for dogs). We make lavender pads for people, too — some people find lavender helps soothe stress. We also make some really cute catnip toys (Ann’s designs) that make great holiday gifts for people with cats. The most recent Pootie Pad diary is here — it contains links to buy all these things. You can also find our store at the Pootie Pad website, designed by our friend, linkage. If you have people with pets on your holiday gift list, please consider Pootie Pads!
If you don’t want Pootie Pads but would like to help us, we have a general donation link, too.
If you would like to support our work but don’t have a pet:
GENERAL DONATION TO THE COMMUNITY QUILT PROJECT PAYPAL LINK
Thank you all for your kindness and friendship over time. Ann and I are very, very grateful to this community.
Matching fund challenge from bluetownship
DOUBLE YOUR MONEY!! I will match all contribution$, dollar for dollar. If you give $20 it will become $40. Give $100, it becomes $200. Take advantage of this offer. We CAN raise the funds needed by the Catnip Manor sisters by tomorrow or the next day. Funds are needed by no later than 11/15. Please contribute something now and have your contribution DOUBLED.
Total for this challenge so far ( will update): $770