Thank You

Thank you, my friends, for reaffirming my faith in humanity. 

All of you to 100% confirmed you were as amazed as I 

with the bird lover who wanted to kill all the birds he considered 

nuisances.  

I did write to him privately last night, before I blogged, but 

why would he answer me?  We have never met, and were only 

friends in the broadest of terms, members of the same group. 

I am no longer a member. 

I appreciate all your comments, both on the blog and on Facebook.

Now, let's not think about it any more, as I can't change his actions. 

Here is something I literally thought I would never see again. 

Lilly, on the bed this morning, the big bed, my bed.  

She is so shaky now I didn't think she could jump up there.

She was watching the road.  

Yesterday, there was a contract Amazon delivery man who came to the gate.  Lilly picked up 

very bad vibes, she was actually trying to attack him.  She has always been our biggest guardian here... Ranger scared people but they should have been scared of Lil.  She disliked the man so much that she chased his truck... from inside the fence.  It took it's toll, too. 

But, because of her reaction, I steered clear of the man after I verified the package.  I trust her. 

Early this morning, I took Shiner, my son's bulldog, to the vet.  He had a follow-up to his entropion 

operation on his eyes last week.  His eyes are amazingly clear and it's so obvious he is no longer in pain.  He has fun in the car, and uses Lilly's steps to go up and down.  I can't believe I forgot to take his picture. 

I turned around this afternoon and took Lilly, who is having so much trouble with allergies that she has two bare spots.  She is now on Apoquel for the itching, Ceflex for the infection from the itching skin, tramadol and gabapentin for the pain.  BUT... at least we know what we are dealing with. 

In between, I went to the "Ag" as we volunteers call it, and began to decorate the 

General Store, where I am in charge of make and take crafts for Santa's Express the first two weekends of December.  Braden, our youngest volunteer (HE LEADS TOURS) helped me while his grandpa sorted out decorations.  I am trying to keep the tree as natural as I can, and I am putting real branches on the counter with tiny lights on them as we get closer to our opening of December 2. 

Braden put all the decorations on the tree for me. 

He did a great job, as usual. 

Braden has a birthday next week, on the 21st. 

I'll put a small blanket under that tree, I tried a tree skirt and it was too modern. 

Spooky and Harlequin were on the camera last night in the old henhouse. 

And then, along came Jones.  Actually, several Joneses. 

You can see what the Spookapotamus thought about it. 

I can tell when the raccoons have been there, even if I didn't 

leave the camera overnight... the food I put on the floor is all gone. 

Some mornings lately, there has still been dry food on the floor. 

Here is the thing, this is Tippy, the other black and white cat... and I think I also saw Blackie overnight.  Blackie was the fourth kitten who came just before the raccoons sprung the kittens from the little red henhouse. 

So, all four ferals are still alive.  Remember, these have been vetted and neutered. 

The gray and white kitty who eats at the gate has now been missing about 8 days.  I have not seen my former tenant's black and white kitten for almost 3 months now.  The grey tiger adult feral is also missing. 

Life is hard in the wild. 

At some point this henhouse will be put back into use as a henhouse, but probably not til next spring, I am not in a tearing hurry for anything, any more. 

This clear picture from the Bushnell camera on the porch is clearly Blackie.  He is the most feral of the older kittens. 

Ignore the weather and date, it's from last night. 

Blackie's tail is not "poofy" like Spooky's. 

This little guy visited a few nights ago. 

Lilly rarely senses these visitors any more. 

Ruthlynn had a question about Cogburn, the rooster. 

He is a Buff colored Cochin, a standard breed, and from 

Stromberg's Hatchery in Pine River, Minnesota.  The Stromberg family has been kind enough to support the Ag by donating chickens these last two years.  Unfortunately, we cannot keep roosters... last year, one attacked a child who got into the henhouse.  So, the five roosters were found homes. 

He is gorgeous, and is learning  humanely not to bite  the hand that feeds him. 

I hope you all had as beautiful a day as we had here!  Rain is on the way.