New Room Mates

It's true what they say about words hurting more than broken bones. When I fell down the stairs I was very distracted. I wasn't feeling like my normal self. Shortly before that incident someone had been saying some pretty hurtful words.

It was done publicly in front of people I know. It reminded me so much of primary school. I do my best to respond with grace. I can't let myself stoop to that primary school level.

The broken arm is healing well, it just takes time. I'll be back to work on graduated hours as the arm permits and from there my issue will probably be more to not push to hard or try too much too soon.

Often I wear the sling just to make sure the arm is removed from use so I'm certain to rest it.

That's the hard part, giving up plans for spring in the garden.

It's a busy time of year for me that I look forward to it every year. I love working in the garden and getting my hands in the dirt.

A saving grace is that I also love sitting outside and reading books and observing nature and that I can do quite painlessly as long as I don't look at all the garden work that I can't do right now.

Photo - bags of soil from last fall and plans to finish the back yard with a curving path from the swing to the bench at the back. This is the view from sitting on the swing.


My niece has stayed the weekend and she's helping me with my new room mates - A mother cat and her only kitten.

They've been rescued from the city's animal pound and I'm fostering them until they're adopted. But first we have to get them healthy.

The downside is that they've been sick, really sick. Animalert had them at the vets where they got lots of care and now that Mom has improved she's in isolation with her kitten in a spare room at my place. She still has her meds which she gets twice a day.

It's that stress related thing--upper respiratory infection, gone bacterial so she needed heavier drugs. Her kitten is coming along but he's got the sneezes too. Unfortunately he got the illness from her but will also get the cure by being medicated via drinking her milk.

The problem with city animal pounds is the same as hospitals - too many sick people in one location and the germs just spread, despite everyone's good intentions. The down side is that it can often lead to the pound doing a kill because treating gets to be too expensive for the city budget.

It just makes me wish I was as rich as Croesus (the spelling may not be right but I mean that king that could turn everything to gold with a touch of his hands). I'd open up a huge animal shelter with the best of everything to help stop the spread of disease and viruses.

This brings me to tell you about Nancy. Nancy is a stray female cat that has been visiting my 'kitty corner' neighbour Mary. Mary has been feeding her for a while and has worked to tame her. Of course Nancy grew fatter, quite fat actually and we knew it wasn't just the food Mary was giving her. She was pregnant. Mary watched and kept an eye on Nancy and then she disappeared for a few days only to reappear thinner. We knew she'd had her kittens.

Mary did her best to find the kittens but Nancy had them well hidden so it took a couple weeks. Finally they were found, across the street in a rhubarb patch. Next to the patch was a plastic drainage tube which they crawled inside like a cage.
Mary brought them all home and put them in her basement bathroom. She planned to take Nancy to the vet and then she would keep her, letting her be a third cat in her home and then finding homes for her 5 kittens.

I got the call from Mary the next day in tears. Nancy is positive for FIV Leukemia and it's expected that her 5 beautiful kittens will be as well. Unfortunately the FIV would be transmitted by the Mom to her babies.

Mary managed to find a some friends who will foster these cats until homes can be found. Let's hope for a positive outcome for this small family.

There's never a shortage of need for a miracle.