What's Going On

I have been so buy lately with the garden, yard work, getting the business going and doctor appointments for the hubby, I just have not been able to find the time to sit and write or work on my blogs.

First off, Chris (the hubs) has been sick off and on for several months now, and he finally decided to start really "bugging" the doctor about it. (You know how men are when it comes to going to the doctor.) After a small abnormality in an EKG, he was sent for more tests on his heart which thankfully came out negative. He was also sent for an ultrasound of the gall bladder as well as a HIDA scan, another gall bladder test. We were actually kind of hoping something would show up there as it would explain a lot and would probably be pretty easy to take care of. But, those tests also came out negative. So, it's back to the doctor tomorrow to see what's next. (Keep good thoughts for us.)

Second, the garden.....OH MY GOODNESS!! This gardening thing is driving me nuts this year. I finally got it all in, but it's not looking too good. Now, I haven't had to go out and water it but once since it's rained a bit every day around here, so I guess that's pretty good. But, the tomatoes and peppers aren't looking too good. I'm hoping it's just taking them a bit of time to really take hold. The baby limas haven't come up yet and neither have the carrots. The icicle radishes are holding on, so maybe I'll at least have some of those. The potatoes and onions aren't poking through, but they haven't been in long enough really. The cabbages? Well, I think I will be holding their funeral pretty soon. **sign**

Every thing else is the usual. The yard has grown up a lot, but I'm slowing getting it tamed. The pet sitting is slow moving, but I am still hopeful. I've had a few initial consultations, which are free, and have clients who are going to be taking vacations during the summer and will need me then. (If you surf over to my pet sitting blog at www.tccrittersitters.com, you can see a pet adoption success story I'm pretty happy about.)

Well, I remember hearing about an old Chinese curse that says "may you live in interesting times." Interesting? I think that may be an understatement.

Animals That Touch Our Lives

(Tango hanging out in my yard.)

Pets have a way of touching our lives, leaving their little footprints across our hearts and souls. And they don't even have to be our own pets. I've written about my cats before, but my neighbor Steve's cat, Tango, is also my little buddy. He hangs out at our house a lot and sometimes keeps me company when I sit on the swing and read or write. He has a habit of yelling as he's coming from where ever his wanderings have taken him. It's kind of funny hearing his voice echo around as he crosses the neighbors' yards. Like he's announcing his arrival.

(My favorite picture of Max.)

Right after Steve moved in next door, we met Max. I'll admit that at first, I thought he was a kind of aggravating dog. He would stand at the edge of our yard and bark like crazy. One night, he chased a raccoon on our deck. I went outside to find the raccoon clinging to the side of our house where Max had "treed" him. It didn't take long though for this Australian Shepherd mix to find his way into our hearts. My neighbor drives big rigs and when he was on the road, Max would come hang out on our porch. There were days when we would have to get him to get up so we could even open the front door, but I liked how he would hang with me when I'd sit out on the swing.

Max had bad arthritis problems and ended up unable to walk. He had to be put down on May 19th. I miss finding the big lug laying on the porch against our front door.

(One of the few times Rastas sat still for a photo)

Steve's other dog Rastas was a bit slower about getting friendly. At first, he would come as far as the edge of the yard and just bark at us. If we tried to approach, he would turn around and head back home. When he finally started coming to visit, I would give him a doggie snack, which he would gently take from my hand then carry back home to eat. At some point, he started hanging out on the porch with Max. He turned out to be a fairly friendly dog.

Rastas died about a week or so before Max. He had been sick for a couple days, and we found him one morning in our yard; curled up like he had just gone to sleep. He and Max are buried in Steve's yard near the property line. I visit once in a while and take them a flower or two. I think I will always miss them. I think Tango does, too. He used to walk up to them and rub against them the way cats do and hang out with them.

Sometimes, we don't realize how an animal has affected us until they're gone.

{One of my writers group members recently lost her wonderful Golden Retriever. I set up a small memorial on our group's blog: www.maylandwriters.blogspot.com.}

Sacked Out Cats

Statistics say cats sleep an average of 16 hours a day. I think mine sleep about 23 hours a day. And they can sleep just about anywhere. The picture above is Major sleeping on his favorite pillow. He LOVES that thing. When he's not sitting in the living room with me, he's sleeping on that pillow.

Eddie is the light sleeper of the bunch. She wakes up as soon as you step in the room, and she doesn't seem to sleep near as many hours as her brothers and sister. She sure is pretty when she's sleeping though.

Face's favorite place to sleep is in her basket. It's a small wicker laundry basket with a beach towel thrown in. During the day, we wedge it between our waterbed and the window. (Small bedroom.) There's a birdfeeder right outside that window, and she often falls asleep watching birds. Kind of how I fall asleep watching TV. :0)

Blondie is the loudest snorer and the champion sleeper of the bunch. He can sleep through most anything, although he sometimes snaps awake from a bad dream and has to be reassured. And if he wakes up to an empty room, he will come meowing through the house until he finds someone. Here he is sleeping in one of his favorite spots; on the bed under a large piece of lace. (Note the second wicker basket. He sometimes likes to sleep in there...on the bed.)

Spay/Neuter and Cat Overpopulation

Time for my lecture on spaying/neutering cats. Yes, it's a good thing for dogs as well, but my area is cats. The photo above is of a litter of six we found underneath our back porch. Their mother disappeared when they were about 2 1/2 or 3 weeks old, and we ended up raising them. Let me tell you, bottle-feeding six cats every four hours isn't a picnic. We were lucky; all six cats survived. We ended up keeping four, which is another story in itself, and two found homes through the local shelter.

Some estimates show that a pair of breeding cats and their offspring can exponentially produce over 400,000 cats in 7 years. That's a lot of cats. Also, there are 45 cats and dogs for every person born in America. Only 1 in 10 of the dogs, and 1 in 12 of the cats will find a permanent home. These numbers can be greatly improved if only more people would spay/neuter their pets, and adopt pets from the local shelters.

I wouldn't give up my kitties for anything in the world, but if we hadn't found them, some of them wouldn't have made it, and those who did would probably have had very short and very tough lives. They are now almost 9-years-old, and are living the "Life of Riley." :)

Having a cat spayed or neutered helps prevent unwanted behavior such as wandering, spraying, fighting, etc. It also prevents many types of cancers common in cats. It's a win/win situation.

OK, I'm off my soapbox....for now. BEWARE!!! I could jump back on at any time.

For more information, and to read about some great work by a great person, check out www.safehavenforcats.com.