Wednesday: the 2 hat wagons arrive. We will put them together, then put a new "top" on them with many sheets of plywood. This is for the concert. Will start doing farmyard and front yard extra clean up.
Thursday: TV channel 24 will be here at 5:30 am to do a session here at 6:10 and 6:35, in the morning. The fresh movie popcorn will arrive. Our local garbage company, Werlors will come and empty our big trash container so it's good to go for the weekend. Farm yard work continues to make sure we're ready for the event.
Friday--the 2 porta pots, 2 HUGE tents, set of bleachers arrive. Also people will be bringing extra chairs and tables for us. Jamie with the horses will come and figure out where she will do the pony obstacle course. Helium balloons will arrive. The parking area will also be partitioned off. MINI-CONCERT will be at 6:30 pm on our kitty cam for all our chatters and lurkers! Mike will sing several songs and a special song too!
Saturday--morning is all about prep work. Putting the game tables in place, passing out the prizes, this is when it all comes together. Carnival is 2:00 to 5:30. Concert is 5:30 to 6:30.
We have taken in several new kittens in the past few days. Boulder arrived--all very pleased with himself for "finding" us! Someone dumped him here (he was spotted the evening before) and there he was, sitting on the boulder rock in the morning, waiting on us. He was soooo happy to come to us! He's buff and white, so playful. Then, Rudy arrived. He's a little kitten, gold tiger, male. Someone found him in their yard and he stayed there all night and cried. They brought him here the next morning. He and Boulder are already good friends.
We also had Tenzin arrive. He's a brown tiger, with a horrible front right leg injury. Tenzin went the next morning (yesterday) to the vet's. It was decided that an amputation was necessary. So, Tenzin spent the night and will have his surgery this morning. He will come back to us yet today. We will keep you posted on his surgery. (His name stands for triumph!) The fourth kitten is a grey female. Our friend Jane spotted her at the Power Dam, down the road from here. She stopped by there again to check on her, and she finally approached and went into the carrier for food. Once here, she showed her true personality--all sweet and cuddly! Her name is Betz.
Tomorrow, Weds., morning, we have 2 others that will go to the vet's office. Big Al will have his ear tumor removed (yes, again) and a resection of that ear done. We'll also send up Court for his neuter. So, another busy day tomorrow.
As you may know, my wonderful dog, Jazzie has passed away. She was a wonderful, older great dane. Jazzie was full of sweetness and was such a gentle dog. She also loved sneaking those quick bites of dry cat food. I will miss her terribly. I'm so sorry I didn't let people know earlier about this (happened Saturday evening). Jazzie was a personal pet and this was doubly hard.
We have also lost another kitten. Our sweet Harper passed away. Last week, we also had lost her brother, Callaway. I do not know why these 2 kittens passed. Sometimes, for lack of a diagnosis, it's called Fading Kitten Syndrome, or Failure to Thrive. Whatever the reason, they are both missed. I'm glad they were here and experienced what humans can do....give love to them.
Deaths are always hard to handle. We never ever "like" it, wishing instead for a very long life of all of our pets. We never consider our rescue cats and kittens as just a rescue--they do indeed become our pets while they are here with us. Death is never easy. But, we have a choice to make. Either we get "stuck" in the grieving process and wallow in this desperate feeling, or, we can carry on. Grieving is good and it's necessary so that we can "feel right" again. But, we also have to carry on. There is so much joy, energy and love here at the Rescue Center. Our work will continue, while remembering those that have passed away. We also have another choice to make. Do we stop taking in cats and kittens, because we fear death will happen again? In our case here, no---that is not an option any of us wants. We KNOW death will arrive again at some point, but the volunteers and I will continue what we have a passion for--running this Rescue Center. We also have this to remember--we (volunteers, chatters, lurkers, moderators) have become a family. An FFRC family that love and supports each other. For that, I am grateful.
We had BOXES last night! It was like a celebration of boxes! Thank you.
Jennifer C/Kayton19--case of Gravy Sensations pouches
Cantoncat--Hawaiian Lei's, 2 bags of butterfly rings and 2 bags of butterfly tattoos for Catstock
Arden & Charmaine from IN--18 cans of sardines (!) and a case of Fancy Feast
GrammaJune for Derecho--Case of Tiki cat food and a big bag of Fresh Step Litter (Derecho said he'll share this!)
Faith M from Maine--Donation, in memory of Bravo and a beautiful picture of FFRC. It says: "I cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from passing over my head, But I can keep them from building a nest in my hair". I love this and it will be hung here in the rescue center.
Beverly M--3 cases of Fancy Feast Appetizers
Mary C/Midwesterngirl from IL--LOTS of beautiful necklaces and key chains for Catstock
Kelly S/KellySong--6 cans of liquid KMR, 6 turbo scratcher refills and a case of Fancy Feast Medleys
Millebornes--big box of 13 gallon trash bags, big box of 33 gallon trash bags, 2 bottles of Tide laundry soap, and 8 packages of Northern toilet paper!!
GeekJean--4 cases of Baby food, meats
Bev M--a Fun Run mesh Tunnel--this is to replace the old one which is in bad shape. The cats are grateful, as they love their tunnels.
Deb R from IN--Chief Tapes
Jim & Kathy--donation to FFRC for Emaline's care and also from their cats Cali, Blackie & Scooter & Smokey
Phyllis B from MI--a very nice letter and a gift card for Meijers, coupons
Lori P/Emmie05 from AL--Walmart gift card, donation for FFRC and lots of great stickers
John & Pat K from GE--a wonderful book for the volunteers to share--"Making Rounds with Oscar"
Laurie--BIG bag of toys for the kitties (with those special ones that Derecho loves)
Michlynn & hubby--gift for Hannah, kitty toys, phone message notes, wash cloths, kitty treats, Appetizers, volunteer goodies. For Jacci--a neat rock, painted like a black & white cat. For Catstock--art work on driftwood and a painted bushel basket
Henry R Peeps & Ohmyguinness--birthday cards for Charlie, LaDonna, Honey and LeLe. These are all Covie cats! They also got one of the birthday pet ice cream treats!
Please know that if ever a mistake is made in the Box explanations, it's ok to let me know by e-mail so I can correct it!
Charlie--one of the birthday Covie cats
