World Cat Day

Often people may wonder at how i can be a wildlife photographer ,live on acreage and maintain a healthy happy balance between wild and domestic.

I can..it has been hard and financially costly but it is possible.

Occasionally Cleo likes to join me on a walk..she is like a dog..she follows me around..and follows me back inside the house..

Dinnermintz prefers the front porch if she goes out.and there she stays..maybe to venture across the driveway and hide under a bush…the driveway being in our front yard and safe.

Pickles likes to go scratch up the garden..then dart back inside.

Marbles likes to go out the back garden  and relax.

This is in the cooler months…when the snakes are not around..they spend the warm months in the house or the catio and are inside before dark every day of their lives.

Today is World Cat Day..and i wanted to share my girls …

 

Chillaxing with Dinnermintz in the Kitty Day Spa

 

Pickles relaxing in the Kitty Day Spa

 

Marbles enjoying the sunshine in the back garden

 

Cleo enjoying a misty morning walk with me

Modem Living is killing me

That’s right folks MODEM not modern..for the last two weeks my internet connection has had all the get up and go of ahibernating bear.

The circle of doom ever spinning..so every time i visit a blog..it spins…..waiting…waiting..you get the picture..

Finally the blog post opens ….the pictures…waiting to load…waiting….finally then i comment..waiting waiting…

Any attempt at trying to see or comment on blogger or blogspot is a nightmare…it just keeps spinning..no pictures loading..and well you get the picture (i hope you do because i don’t)

Hubby spent about an hour and a half on the phone to the service provider last night..we thought we had gotten to the bottom of it..and he also tried to get my emails fixed..

So this morning ..fresh start….same dang thing….and the bonus is now i get duplicate emails….i am losing my tiny mind…

I did a few posts and got them ready to post..stuck them away until the days i need them..tried to get some research stuff done..but the internet was soooo slowwwww…i tried Facebake..same thing…

I have been trying to read your blogs tonight and it is such a slow process that i gave up on blogger and blogspot ..sorry guys but seriously this is crazy slow…and even WP is slow…

It seems our Modem is getting it’s knickers in a not with the WI-FI on our computers and the T-Box may hold the clue..Hubby is fiddling with it now..i have not heard a blood curdling scream or any cussing…YET…

Our landline phones ..well one is dead the other is temperamental at the best of times..so that is another joy..

While all this happens we have a small field mouse which appeared in the laundry this morning…we saw it again tonight ..we do not know where it has gone..

Doc has the vets in the morning and is fasting..i do hope he does not find said mouse and ruin his fast..urghhhh…

Hubby is drying dishes and whistling…i have a feeling in my waters that when he goes back to the T-BOX all hell will break loose…

So if you do not see me comment..know i have tried and will keep trying..that i tried last night and threw myself at the mercy of the couch with a small biscuit and a sharp clawed kitty…seems i am not cut out for MODEM living…

And that is the end of my rant…:)

Crabby Monday

Most of the weekend i had a brass band dancing on my head..that’s ok..it’s a tough noggin anyways..while i headed to bed to try and find some respite from the booming,hubby was busy fixing my sewing room up so it will make a better work space..
He painted the whole room..bought and assembled a desk for me..shifted all the things out to be sorted.
We did manage a trip out when my head calmed down and got some bits and bobs i needed.
Today i thought i would paint some undercoat on the trim of the built in wardrobe that hubby removed the doors from..the space is amazing in there and the people who built the house had installed the most hideous and cheap sliding doors..when hubby removed them the bright aqua that they painted the room in was revealed..
The house had been (apart from the kitchen which was blue cabinetry orange wall tiles) all given a coat of paint to try and sell it..so far as we can tell from our extensive painting is that the colour scheme went as such…
Laundry navy blue..walls and skirts
Our Bedroom..maroon walls and skirts with a green and blue tiled ensuite with pale green cabinetry(ensuite has yet to be redone)
Single room purple walls and skirts
Double room purple walls and skirts
Loungeroom navy blue walls and skirts(now redone)
Sewing room aqua….yikes!
They did so much right…then lost the plot..
Anywho…so today i gave the wardrobe insides a good lick of undercoat..it has been hot and damn humid..i was sweating like no ones business,but finished then gave a coat of undercoat to the plain unstained shelf that will be going up…
Now to get to my Crabby Monday..
I leave the room to get a drink of water..come back…someone..feline…has taken a piddle on the floor of the wardrobe insert..not just a spritz but a fullblown bucket full…
Really girls?? I love em too bits..but some days i do wish they went to day care..as i put them to bed before i wished them nitey night and looked at their innocent faces..
Urghhhhhh…i am crabby…
I may be a tad awol also..i have some things new and exciting (well i think so) to do and it is taking a lot of my time..i also have an appointment finally with a Rheumatologist on Wednesday in Melbourne and hope i can get some good advice ..while in town i will be taking a detour to Lygon Street..i can hear the Cannoli and cakes calling me 🙂

Lovefest at our house

Hi everyone..i often talk about how much the dogs and cats love each other here..there is no species bias..
When it is a mild day I let the girls wander with us,usually just a stroll and a roll in the driveway then back to the Kitty Day Spa..this day Marbles was inside sound asleep on her perch on the back of the couch..i had taken the pups for a walk and let the girls come out to have a stroll..
Dinnermintz since she was first with us as a sick foster kitten has always had a special bond with Forrest and Doc..mainly with Forrest ,her main man and she hates to be apart from him..especially when they go into boarding..
Another day and another lovefest here at home in the bush 🙂

The countdown begins

Hi folks..well what a few weeks or months we have had here..yard work…and sick animals.. Well the good news is that Pickles and Marbles have both responded brilliantly to the Covenia shots and have ceased the pee patrol..the weird news is they must have passed it on to me…oh yeah ouchie..I have at least stopped short of going on the floor…although my poor old kidneys are aching a treat..so I have been guzzling water like nobodies business.. Tonight Fozziedad and I got home and when we got the girls sorted for dinner….Yep Dinnermintz is limping…arghhhhh she is on my bed and hissed at me when I went to check her paw (which looks fine) so here we go..Marbles needs a re visit check up this week and Forrest gets his bloods and annual vacc’s done also…may as well fill my stocking with coal now bwhahahaah. But I have great friends I can talk to here..people who know the ups and downs of life with pets..well of life full stop really… I want to thank Bacon for not only a beautiful post for our 32nd Anniversary but a wonderful package in the snail mails..btw I see that the mail took the same time to get to Australia from the USA as it did to get to France to Easy..bizarre.. Thankyou my sweet friend.. I have been twerkin for Australia bwahahahaha…

Twerkin for AUS!

And the FOZZIE toy is just adorable 🙂 the squeak drives the pups mad bwahaa..as for that Sucker…I am not game yet and Fozziedad has said NO WAY hahaha….but he loves his T-shirts too…huge hugs my friend for a surprise that made a bad week better 🙂

Too cute !!

And Easy the beautiful card you sent for our Anniversary is so sweet…I cannot thank you enough..you are a sweet and thoughtful Silvermistygrey darling and we adore you too…so huge hugs and loves to you!!

Thankyou my sweet friend xxx

And so I am off ..the bladder of death is paining me..i have my last class tomorrow..i have to hand in my final piece..i think it is alright.. The xmas tree needs to be set up tonight and I am sweating like nobody’s business..either the humidity..the hormones (which have been annoying me..awesome) or my kidneys… All I can say is thank goodness here in blogville friends forgive my tardiness and haphazard blogging style..hugs Fozziemum

Thankful Thursday

As it is Thanksgiving for many of our friends overseas I would like to share this little story.
These past few weeks has been trying..the girls have taken turns at being unwell and I have had school and the yard to get sorted and hubby has been interstate on business and flies out again tomorrow..i am run ragged.
So today when Marbles needed a trip to the vet I was beyond stressed..i just could not believe that another sweetie was unwell.

However tonight I was given a reason to be thankful…
You see Dinnermintz was a sick foster kitten ..very sick..she was a three time come back to me for meds..she hated them and as a result you cannot hold her for more than 10 seconds before she squirms and wriggles and wants OUT!
I believe she associates holding with pills..
She will snuggle with me..only me and has even laid on me a few times over the past nearly 8 years..but no holding..until..

Licking my arm even!

Still there!

Even a pose for dad!

She looks uncomfortable..she was not trying to go though (and boy she is heavy!) but she was licking my arm and looking around and started to feel a bit more confident..she was like this for about 2 minutes..

Now compared to Pickles who will drape herself like a toga on you all day this does not seem like much..but I was nearly in tears..this is a huge step for Dinnermintz..and I felt so thankful…there is another blogger out there who I KNOW will understand how I feel..Savvy’s mum Linda ..there is always hope Mum L ..and I know one day sweet Savvy will reward you with the same blissful if fleeting moment.
So I am feeling very Thankful..i also feel thankful that each and every one of you grace my blog with comments and love..and I thank you all for your blogs that make me laugh cry and rejoice ..you are truly family…
Much love Fozziemum (Bev )

WILL YOU BE MY ANGEL

For Sherri-Ellen….I wrote this for my much missed angels..but the sentiment is the same for us all.

Please accept our deepest sympathies and love at this time…we will all miss Nylablue terribly..but none as much as you..

Love and huge hugs Bev xx

 
WILL YOU BE MY ANGEL
Dedicated to all my precious pets who dance with the angels

Will you be my angel and place me in your heart

Will you always love me until the day we part

Will you be my angel and handle me with care

Will you keep me close and promise to be there

Will you be my angel and shelter me from harm

Will you offer comfort within  your loving arms

Will you be my angel and snuggle close at night

Will you reassure me if I should get a fright

Will you be my angel and spend your life with me

Will you be my angel when I need to be set free

Will I  now be your angel I hear within your heart

I will always be your angel I have been from the start

Bev

 

Wacky week

It has been a wacky week..i have been awol from the computer and only flitting in and out..the weekend festivities with finishing the girls KDS and Dinnermintz with the snake and blah blah..so I have been walking around hunched over and really dragging my feet..cars back and forth to be serviced and I started a course in Photography…about time.. and what are the chances my teacher is the cousin of a friend who was a chef and owner of our fave restaurant in the town we used to live in..3 hours away.. the red moon had us sitting out in the driveway and not five minutes after we both said ‘I hope a tree doesn’t fall on us ” we heard a massive crack and crash and a tree fell into the neighbours dam.. which instantly stopped all the little frogs croaking.. Cleo is not happy about being restricted to the whole inside of the house and the catio..so we have a bit of a battle.. but it’s getting there.. for some reason Doc has been unsettled at night so we have an eye on him..my sons have their 27th birthday today and so we will be seeing one tomorrow and the other on Saturday.. our daughter is in Japan and until I know exactly where I worry with the typhoon coming..so tomorrow night we have two of the kids up for the night…then Saturday we head into the burbs for an award night for Fozziedads uncle..one of our boys and his girlfriend is staying here to kitty/puppy sit.. but because Cleo is being a pill I want to drive back home Saturday night..so most likely we will be back here about 2am..i had to go clothes shopping for this event (which I hate) which has had me stressed as I really am not a shopper.. all this and so much still to get done..urghhh..
But today I got the bargain of a lifetime.. not for me for the girls…beach chairs..$5 each…so into the KDS they went.. and so.. i am here but not here…I am trying to catch up with peeps and doing a poor job..i wonder if maybe I have what it takes to be a blogger sometimes…

Meawhile here is a hijinx picture from the KDS today…I know what Pickles was thinking …do you ?

Pawing it forward- Being in a Pickle

Well as part of Savvy’s I would like to tell a story of rescue that I was called in to do.

Nearly nine years ago I was a volunteer at a no kill shelter called Victorian Animal Aid..i used to foster kittens..mums and newborns and kittens who were orphaned..either by loss of a mother or being dumped as rubbish.
These sweet darlings I would bottle feed..wipe their bottoms to encourage them to toilet and wash and dry them to prevent scald from urine.
This involved waking every three or four hours to tiny little hungry mouths..
If mums were with the bubs it meant letting mum have a break every now and then,as often these poor mums were not in good health or only babes themselves.some mum’s could not cope and they went back to a different foster to fatten up and get healthy while I looked after the bubs..sounds mean, but often these mums walked away from the babies and were not actively feeding or cleaning them.
I also spent time at the shelter, cleaning cages,playing with senior cats, or in the isolation ward tending the sick cats and kittens (this is how I adopted Dinnermintz)
So I received a call from the shelters Cattery manager Lyn, she asked me if I would meet the police at an address not far from where I lived as a woman had been taken in to mental health care and the house was filled with cats and kittens…urghhhh I knew this was going to be hard!

Hoarding is a terrible illness..and one that has far ranging effects, not the least the poor animals involved.
So armed with food I went down,i was met by the police who handed me a key and stood outside..
The entire front yard was swept bare just dust..and the smell from even the car was evident..the police would not come inside..in I went.
Horror..the smell was pure sulphur..it was pitch black (this was in the height of summer)there was no power.
My eyes adjusted slowly and the sounds of scurrying animals everywhere..i could make out buckets of dirt everywhere which were being used as litter trays..they were full of stench.Eyes were peering out from under rubbish and on top of who knows what was in there.
So I set about trying to get some feed down..my heart was breaking…there were two cages with birds in the kitchen and several bbq’s in there crammed in..where to start..
So I left..i rang the shelter and said to Lyn we need to get traps and get these cats out now! so in a period of about a week..after pleading with a larger shelter for help and getting nowhere our (little shelter was at capacity) eventually we started trying to trap some..most were almost insane with feral behaviour climbing curtains throwing themselves at windows..it was so distressing…
By now I had already been feeding them regularly,bringing in water and trays of litter some would shyly approach now but then scatter..the windows were boarded up so I could not let any light in.I worried that they all got food as I could never see who was eating and who wasn’t.
This one day I went down with my son…as we set about feeding them we heard a sound..a faint meow..we tried to see where it was coming from as it sounded stressed..a large dining room table had been placed with the top against the wall, my son moved it and down in between the wall and the table was a wee kitten..
We pulled the kitten out..and when I popped it on the floor it’s back legs splayed out and it was paralysed, it’s little head was badly misshapen..that was it I finally lost my cool..
We grabbed it up and left..poor little mite was being held by my son and it could not see..the light was too bright it had been born and lived in darkness.
I went to the Police station informed them I had removed the kitten and was going to my vet.
My vet Dr Findlay saw the kitten straight away..Sub Q fluids and I took it home.
When I rang Phil he said the kitten stays! which I had already decided 😉
This kitten I called Pickles..she was in a Pickle..
She has never really grown very big but has had a heart bigger than the world.
And now ,most likey due to her situation and the condition of her mother we have been told she most likely has FIV..would I have taken her in if I had known this then..YES..why..because it was the right thing to do for her..you see whatever happens down the track..whatever outcomes we have to face..our lives have been better for having our sweet girl in them..every animal deserves to feel loved and safe,fed and content and I could not ever guarantee that anyone else would give to this poor little sweetheart the life I knew I could.
Pickles is asleep on top of the couch tonight, tummy full,friends next to her,warm and cosy..she has played all day she has laid in the sun and she knows she is safe isn’t that what we all need ?
Thanks Savannah for allowing us to join your paw it forward blog hop..let’s all be aware of those who need us..

PICKLES

Springing into the week

Thought i would share with you all some of the spring colours that are arriving here at Samovila..after such a cold Winter and some really nasty frosts it is lovely to see life is coming back into my garden.

We have not had enough rain at all and so i am already watering..it does not bode well for Summer….but we are having some lovely warm days and sunshine and myself and the animals included are making the most of sunpuddles and pretty colours..soon enough it will be hot hot hot and brown…

So let’s spring into the week…

Hellebores also called Christmas roses..rallied after a beating by the frosts

These Ranunculus are all starting to bloom….they were planted mid winter and I thought they had died

Wee little and wee wee little look after my pots on the verandah

Wanted to add a dash of colour in the back while we clean the mess and get the Catio organised..so these will hang along the length of the fence

The beautiful but deadly Euphorbia..the sap is what is used in poison darts! when the centres get little pods they pop out and you wonder what the noise is..but they shoot up everywhere..so I have been pulling them out even in the backyard..nature makes sure she finds a way to procreate!

Irises line the length of the front garden and the back..they are all doing really well despite severe frost bite..i have been pruning all the frost bitten plants and now they are happy again

Doc enjoying the sunshine

I planted these daffodils and have had a 100 percent success rate so I am really happy

Forrest enjoying the sun too

The mystery fruit tree..with the first little blossom ..small fruit fuzzy like apricots..ripe when green and taste like peaches..we call it the peachnectaapriplum tree …

Pickles getting a sunpuddle on her sweet little feet after her big week..

One of my greatest loves..the Grape hyacinth

Felix and Oscar enjoy a bit of free ranging before they head to the back paddock ..Jock was somewhere eating my wattle trees when I took this..

Plum tree blossoms

Cleo in with the flowers hiding behind my Fig tree..

Dinnermintz getting her sunshine fix on the verandah