First her royal Highness, Empress gets the comfy spot....
Then she is dethroned and Ceasar takes his rightful place as king of the chair.
Last and not least, the young upstart Pepper take over as a very sleepy ruler.
Sept. 30, 2006
My mother bought me a seat cushion for my outside chair, guess who gets to use it? Here's a hint, its not me....lol
First her royal Highness, Empress gets the comfy spot....
Then she is dethroned and Ceasar takes his rightful place as king of the chair.
Last and not least, the young upstart Pepper take over as a very sleepy ruler.
First her royal Highness, Empress gets the comfy spot....
Then she is dethroned and Ceasar takes his rightful place as king of the chair.
Last and not least, the young upstart Pepper take over as a very sleepy ruler.
Sept. 29, 2006
I was talking with a neighbor the other day and I mentioned how much I'm missing Rajjah. They said there a person giving away siamese kittens. I didn't really know how to respond to that. I love cats, kittens, and especially siamese....but hello? You can't replace a companion. You can never again have that same special bond. You can not just go and get another kitten. Someday, maybe I might be open to sharing my heart and home with another feline friend. But the new kitty will not be a "replacement", he or she would be a new addition to my memories, heart and my life. If there was a way to clone Rajjah, it still wouldn't be the same because her personality was shaped by the different events we both lived through during her short 5 months with me. I hand raised her, fed her bottles, wiped her little furry bottom, and in essence became her mom. She was one of those rare cats that completly submitted to being coddled like a baby, she let me carry her around and kiss on her cute adorable little fuzzy face. There will never be another Rajjah. None can replace her, nor would I want to try to do that.
Someday, maybe, a new pet will be welcomed into my life...but I can not give up hope that my darling will be returned to me. And even if she never is able to come back, she will still be a one of a kind love...never to be replaced. Always missed, always loved, I will continue to pray for her return...and I thank you all for your kind emails and comments.
Someday, maybe, a new pet will be welcomed into my life...but I can not give up hope that my darling will be returned to me. And even if she never is able to come back, she will still be a one of a kind love...never to be replaced. Always missed, always loved, I will continue to pray for her return...and I thank you all for your kind emails and comments.
Sept 27, 2006
Went to visit with my mother and grandmother today. Took a pic of Grandma with Murphy. Murphy is a senior citizen kitty, if you look back in last month's postings, I wrote about how my mother came to adopt him.
Murphy spends most of his time curled up with Grandma, sleeping with her if she lets him. She says she isn't a pet person....but she is. lol.
Sept 26, 2006
If I had known these would be the last pictures I would take of my special baby Rajjah, I would have taken a million more. I miss her so much! Its been hard for me to try and update on here, because there is no good news.
I heard about Luna coming home after a month+ and I am so happy her owner and happy for her! I can only hope and pray that my Rajjah is returned to me. But it has been 10 days now. The other day, for a split moment..I saw a cat and I thought it was her! My heart leaped into my throat and I was so happy. And then the kitty moved and I realised it wasn't her, wasn't even close. Just from a distance, for a moment, it kinda looked like her.
I miss you so much Rajjah!! Come home my darling! My life isn't the same without your sweet and gentle nature. You can jump in my lap and dig your claws in, I won't even complain or mention the claw trimmers. If I had known that day would be the last you would be here, I would have snatched you up and never let you go outside again. If you return, you can sleep in my bed and I'll buy you tons of toys and treats and pet you all day everyday!
Sept 22, 2006
My friend came to visit on Wednesday to cheer me up, and she brought many kitty toys to cheer up my darlings. Here is a pic of the basket of toys.
Here is a close up of some of the wonderful furry and feathery things.
There is sadly still no news of my darling Rajjah. I've fostered easily over a hundred cats and kittens, so I always could pick one if I really truly wanted one. They were all so adorable and cuddly, but there was only 2 out of all those that touched a special part of my heart that said, no matter what I could not part with them. They were special in a way that is indescribable. Ceasar and Rajjah are the two special fostered kitties that stayed. Empress Tao was a rescue and she didn't have any other place to go. She bonded with me and is very loyal and special in her own way, but its hard to explain...there wasn't the same deeper connection with her as with Rajjah. I adore all my kitties in their own different and unique ways, but I've never felt the loss of one of my own as I do with Rajjah. I've had kitties that I eventually adopted out after having them for a year or more, and sadly I've even had a few cats pass away...but I haven't felt the deprivation of that companionship as I have with the loss of my specialness Rajjah. There are no words to cover the enormous empty place she has left. There can never be another as wonderful and special as her. I still pray that there is some slim chance that she can come back to me, but the reality of days with no sign or hint of her breaks my heart.
Thank you one and all for your kind comments and please keep me and my kitties in your prayers.
Here is a close up of some of the wonderful furry and feathery things.
There is sadly still no news of my darling Rajjah. I've fostered easily over a hundred cats and kittens, so I always could pick one if I really truly wanted one. They were all so adorable and cuddly, but there was only 2 out of all those that touched a special part of my heart that said, no matter what I could not part with them. They were special in a way that is indescribable. Ceasar and Rajjah are the two special fostered kitties that stayed. Empress Tao was a rescue and she didn't have any other place to go. She bonded with me and is very loyal and special in her own way, but its hard to explain...there wasn't the same deeper connection with her as with Rajjah. I adore all my kitties in their own different and unique ways, but I've never felt the loss of one of my own as I do with Rajjah. I've had kitties that I eventually adopted out after having them for a year or more, and sadly I've even had a few cats pass away...but I haven't felt the deprivation of that companionship as I have with the loss of my specialness Rajjah. There are no words to cover the enormous empty place she has left. There can never be another as wonderful and special as her. I still pray that there is some slim chance that she can come back to me, but the reality of days with no sign or hint of her breaks my heart.
Thank you one and all for your kind comments and please keep me and my kitties in your prayers.
Sept 21, 2006
Rajjah went missing on Sept. 16th around noon. I desperately want to believe that she will return. I notice that both of my other cats, Ceasar and Empress, have been staying at home alot more then normal as if to comfort me. Usually they are home in the morning for breakfast, then off to play the day away and home again at dinner time. Then they usually curl up in or on the cat condo scratching post on the front porch for bed time. Since Rajjah went missing, they are outside the front door everytime I walk outside to smoke. They purr and meow at me and rub against my legs. Even Pepper (the neighbor's cat) is aware that something is wrong. He comes over everyday to play with Rajjah, and he keeps looking all around the yard and porch area for her all day since she went missing.
Sept 20, 2006
This is a pic from the second day I went looking in the woods for Rajjah. Empress is my very faithful kitty and loves to go on walks with me. We walked a couple of miles up and down hills and through thick brush and she kept right up with me. I think my other kitties know how upset I am. They haven't been lap kitties except when it suits them. Rajjah always wanted to be in my lap...they know I miss that. Empress jumped in my lap the last few days and snuggled and gave me kitty kisses. Ceasar even jumped in my lap and he is a strictly look-no touch kitty. Once in a while he will rub against my leg...but once he got to be a grown up, he didn't want to snuggle.
I had hoped that one of the posters I made would work, maybe someone was keeping her...but when I went to look again yesterday night, they were all disinigrated because of the rain. I got home at 10:30 instead of midnight, so I went out looking again in the neighborhoods...not in the woods. I hope to have a good update, but mostly I'm sighing deeply alot. Holding back the tears is getting harder.
I pray that maybe someone took her in and is loving her...thats the best hope I can have. Cause otherwise, she is out in the woods so far away that I can't find her, crying and soaking wet and all alone. No, I would much rather lose her to another family then to lose her in the woods.
I had hoped that one of the posters I made would work, maybe someone was keeping her...but when I went to look again yesterday night, they were all disinigrated because of the rain. I got home at 10:30 instead of midnight, so I went out looking again in the neighborhoods...not in the woods. I hope to have a good update, but mostly I'm sighing deeply alot. Holding back the tears is getting harder.
I pray that maybe someone took her in and is loving her...thats the best hope I can have. Cause otherwise, she is out in the woods so far away that I can't find her, crying and soaking wet and all alone. No, I would much rather lose her to another family then to lose her in the woods.
Sept 19, 2006
I'm writing this a few days in advance, hoping that there will be a good outcome to report by the time this gets published. This is Cricket, I had to "enhance" the photo to get the mixed white kitty to show up in the tree. The second shot is untouched, so you can tell how difficult it is to see her. poor darling.
and yes, there is a great update!!! Cricket has finally been freed from the evil clutches of the tree!!! Sometime this morning Sept 18, 2006...someone somehow managed to get her down. She is very matted now, and gets to go to the V-e-t to have them cut out of her fur as well as a check up. But her weight was very abundant to start with and she appears overall to be in good health! Yeah for Cricket!! Here is a pic of her reunited with her loving beans. :)
Still no news about Rajjah. Generally you have a 24-48 hour and if they don't come back in that time period...its not likely they can make it back. But I haven't given up hope yet.
Its going on 3 days now, I despair but try to have hope.
and yes, there is a great update!!! Cricket has finally been freed from the evil clutches of the tree!!! Sometime this morning Sept 18, 2006...someone somehow managed to get her down. She is very matted now, and gets to go to the V-e-t to have them cut out of her fur as well as a check up. But her weight was very abundant to start with and she appears overall to be in good health! Yeah for Cricket!! Here is a pic of her reunited with her loving beans. :)
Still no news about Rajjah. Generally you have a 24-48 hour and if they don't come back in that time period...its not likely they can make it back. But I haven't given up hope yet.
Its going on 3 days now, I despair but try to have hope.
Sept 18, 2006
I'm writing this on Sept. 16, 2006 at 8pm, (will post in a few days hoping for a good happy ending to add.)
My Rajjah has been missing for a few hours since the dog got out from the neighbors house and chased at least one cat up a tree. I looked all over in the woods around the development...but haven't been able to find her. Ceasar, Empress, and Pepper all came with me in the woods to help look. Sometimes you would think they are saying, come on this way mom...or ok mom, we need a break. Lets rest here for a sec. I have to wait till daylight to go back out and look for her. Please prayers for Rajjah who is missing.
Udate: Rajjah has been missing 30+hours and I'm so very very worried about her. My poor darling isn't use to being outside at night time. She only goes out to play for a few hours a day. I went through the woods for hours and hours and I can't find her anywhere! I'm about ready to cry.
Cats in trees, Sept. 17, 2006
See the kitty in this tree? Its a calico that was treed Sept. 16, 2006. I finally flat out told the children that were with the dog(was still on my property barking at the poor kitty) that if they did not get the dog out of my yard, I would take it to the pound. They were just standing around the base of the tree, looking up at this poor kitty in distress and just letting their dog bark his fool head off. Where were the parents in all this? Can they not hear this dog barking and barking and barking??? Why are people such bad pet owners? This is the 3rd cat this month that has been treed by the same peoples dogs. Why are their dogs running off collar/leash all over the neighborhood? GRRR!!!! I don't like having to be mean, but they don't deserve their animals. :( Thankfully once the children removed the dog from the area the kitty slowly but surely came down safely. She was very smart and went around the base of the tree jumping from branch to branch till she was low enough to get out safely.
I don't yet have a good update about Cricket who has been up in the tree for at least 9 days, I can still hear her meowing but she has to be starving by now. Poor baby, it rained again today.
Sept. 16, 2006
Extreme close up of pretty Rajjah enjoying the remains of the scratching post.
She is very difficult to get a good pic, cause she always moves her head before the shutter clicks. :(
Cat in the Tree Update: Going on day 8...still hear her occasionally meowing her heart out. I hope that when the owner gets up in the morning she is able to beg or borrow the specialty ladder to get up to her. We are hoping the 40 ft ladder will get her close enough....not sure...all else, we will try the fire department...and plead with them for kitty help! Prayers that she gets down safe and soon!!
Kitty Prayer needed!!
Can you spot the white kitty in the tree?? Biggify the pics, might help. Her name is Cricket and she has been up there for 5 days now! Thankfully it sprinkled 2 days, so she has water...but no food...except for an occasional bug. Please pray that she finally comes down. No one can reach her, she is too far up a skinny tree. Poor baby kitty, come down from there right now!!!
She was chased up this tree by the same puppy who chased my Rajjah up a tree. She has finally recovered but occasionally if she plays too rough with Pepper, she limps a little again. :(
Bonus pic
My mum had to struggle for days to get me to hold still for one photo...but I think I'm adorable...don't you?
Sept 14, 2006
The promised tale of Murphy's owners return. My neice and her mother were living with my mother and they have an orange kitty name Kittens, yup thats his name! Anyway, he and Murphy are both orange...but do NOT look at all alike, way different and very distinct markings plus the huge age and size difference. Anyway, one day the "owner" of Murphy who was away at college (I guess?) comes back and decides after all these years of neglect that he wants to take Murphy. So he drives up to the house grabs Kittens and leaves, apparently...one orange male cat that is only a year old...looks just like a 7 year old (at that time) orange male cat, so he mixed them up. He didn't even know what his own cat looked like?? He keeps Kittens for a whole week before he figures that this is not his cat and drives back and dumps Kittens off at my mother's house saying "oops, my mistake". Poor Kittens was traumatised and my neice had been devistated, thinking Kittens had run away or been hit by a car. Thankfully Kittens calmed down and settled back into the good life with lots of lovings from his real beans. Murphy never knew what a close call he had, and to this day still lives the life of luxury at my mother's home.
Maybe someday I can go over to my neices house and snap a photo of Kittens and do a side-by-side photo compare of Murphy and Kittens so you can see the differences. Murphy has this distinct black markings on his lips...very unique, doesn't show up too well in photos but I can try to get a better shot next time I'm in town.
Maybe someday I can go over to my neices house and snap a photo of Kittens and do a side-by-side photo compare of Murphy and Kittens so you can see the differences. Murphy has this distinct black markings on his lips...very unique, doesn't show up too well in photos but I can try to get a better shot next time I'm in town.
Sept 13, 2006
Pepper informs me that he will only sit still for his picture for one more second...and I better be ready to snap it!
Sept. 12, 2006
This is Murphy, my mother's cat. Though she hadn't planned on having a kitty, she ended up taking in Murphy. He once belonged to the neighbors at the end of the cul-de-sac where she lives. They never paid much attention to him, and didn't love on him enough. He use to spend most of the day in our backyard, and he seemed so grateful for a few pats and kind words. Eventually I moved out and I took my kitty with me. My mother let Murphy into the house more and more often, and slowly she adopted him. She feeds him so much, he's one of the biggest kitties I've ever seen. He's about 9 years old now, we think...since I first started seeing him in the neighboorhood around 95, or 96. Tomorrow I'll write a little story about what happened when the neighbor's kid returned before heading off to college.
Sept. 11, 2006
This is another mystery kitty from my mother's backyard. I was in the back room and looked out the window to see this kitty perched on the fence. She/He certainly was a cutie! I couldn't get all the way out and back around the yard in time to get a good photo, so I tried to shoot through the window....I think it turned out decent enough to post. Wish the kitty would have stayed around long enough for me to get better pics though.
Sept. 08, 2006
I am not am my home computer, so I can't upload any pics....however, I stole this story from the daily kittens comment section...lol
Why I own donkeys
By Jon Katz
When I got back from the hardware store this morning, I planned to write a column explaining why somebody from New Jersey who'd never seen a donkey in the first half-century of his life now owned three.As I was heading back from town, the cell phone warbled. My friend Anthony, working at the farm, was calling to say that there was a baby donkey in the pasture. Knowing this had to be a joke, since I had no male donkeys and, to my knowledge, no pregnant ones either, I laughed, fired off some obscene macho banter, and hung up.When I pulled into the driveway next to the big barn, though, I nearly drove into a fence post. There was a tiny new donkey, soaking wet from amniotic fluid, hugging close to Jeannette, my most recently acquired Sicilian donkey. The afterbirth was close by and fresh. And Jeannette was snorting like a bull and glowering at any interlopers.No way, I thought.Way. Obviously, donkeys have a very long gestation period. Jeannette must have been knocked up just before she arrived last spring. I phoned an SOS to the Granville Large Animal Veterinary Practice and ran into the house for some towels. Jeannette and I are close, thanks to my daily offerings of carrots, apples, and oat cookies. She let me pick up her newborn—I named her Emma, after my own daughter—towel her off, and make sure her throat and eyes were clear. When I scratched her fuzzy little nose, she closed her eyes and went to sleep in my arms. I gave Jeannette some cookies, checked to see that she had milk in her teats—she did, a lot of it—and brushed her down a bit to calm her.I knelt in front of her and she put her head on my shoulder. "Congratulations," I said. "Who is the father? You can tell me." But she just went over to Emma and nosed her.There aren't many donkeys born these days, so people from nearby farms began showing up, alerted by the mysterious rural news network by which everyone instantly knows everything. In an hour or so, the vet showed up, gave the donkeys their appropriate shots, said they were fine, and departed. He told me that Emma was, oops, a male. So, Emma became Jesus (using the Spanish pronunciation), thanks to the mysteriously virginal circumstances of his birth. I felt guilty about the way I'd been mocking Jeanette for her expanding girth and hearty appetite, never guessing that she was eating for two. Jeannette had fortunately chosen an unusually warm day to give birth. A bitter cold wave was approaching in 48 hours, though, so we scurried to find the heat lamps and make a cozy space for Jeannette and Jesus in the barn.All this made me think even more about why I own donkeys at all. Once, donkeys were the tractors and ATVs of country life, performing agricultural and mercantile tasks that were integral to farming and commerce. Now, they are useless. Local farmers call them "hay-suckers."When I got my troubled border collie Orson, we started learning to herd at a sheep farm in Pennsylvania. A lonely old donkey named Carol lived in the adjacent pasture. We bonded; I was enchanted by her soulful eyes and gentle bray, and she loved the apples I brought her and the pats and scratches that accompanied them. When I bought this farm in upstate New York, I imported some of the sheep we'd been herding with. They arrived on a livestock trailer, and Carol showed up with them, a surprise gift from the farmer, who thought she deserved a better life.Donkey No. 2 joined her when I got a phone call from a woman who described herself as a "Jewish donkey spiritualist," a term I hadn't heard before and don't expect to hear again. Pat bred donkeys and had studied and written about their symbolic significance, their place in the ancient world, and their profoundly spiritual natures.Both Jewish and Christian theologies are filled with biblical and other references to donkeys, she pointed out. Carol, like all my donkeys, wore a cross on her back, a pattern of dark hair behind the shoulders.Pat declared that, since donkeys are social sorts, Carol was lonely. She was not aware of her "donkeyness"; having lived with sheep all of her life, she probably didn't even know she was a donkey. She needed a companion, Pat said. My wife, already embittered (Carol ran up enormous vet bills that first winter), said she could live with Carol being out of touch with her donkeyness. I couldn't, so soon little Fanny arrived, and then Lulu, her half-sister.Pat was right about donkeys: They are sweet, powerfully spiritual creatures. Mine have an ostensible purpose: They're my security detail, fiercely protective of my flock of sheep. They run off stray dogs and coyotes. Since I've lost no sheep to these common predators, the donkeys seem to do their jobs well.CarolBut they also—and this is why I have more donkeys than I truly need—attach to people. They nuzzle and lean into humans they like, which can sometimes be disconcerting, but is also touching. They are gentle with children, calm around strangers. They coexist reasonably amiably with my dogs and chickens. My ferocious rodent-massacring barn cat, Mother, sleeps near them often, and last week I came into the barn and saw her curled up next to the baby, both of them dozing comfortably on a pile of straw bedding.When I come out of the house in the morning, all three girls are waiting at the barnyard gate, wheezily braying for their cookies. Serious about snacks, they're likely to nose into your pockets if you're slow to produce them.But our connection goes beyond food, I think. Almost every day, I sit on a tree stump in the pasture, and one donkey or another—sometimes all three—comes over to nuzzle with me, putting a big furry head on my shoulder or the top of my head. During winter storms, I trudge up to the pole barn and comb ice from their long eye lashes and brush the snow off their coats. They hold still, then nuzzle me in appreciation.When Carol was sick, I brought a boom box into the barn and we sat listening to Van Morrison sing "Brown-Eyed Girl." She also loved Willie Nelson and Ray Charles.Early last winter, Carol again foundered. The vet didn't think she'd make it through another season of sickness and brutal cold; we agreed that a lethal injection would, at some point, be merciful. Carol died within a couple of days.A few months later, donkey spiritualist Pat sold her farm. Before she moved away, she sold me Jeanette, one of her oldest donkeys (they live to be 30, even 40). Nobody said anything about anybody being pregnant. But Jeannette was, apparently. So, now there are four. "That's a lot of hay," one of my incredulous farmer neighbors observed. "Especially for animals that don't do anything."But he's wrong. They do a lot for me. They connect me to nature and to history. They're dutiful watchdonkeys and affectionate companions. They exude patience and calm. In many ways, they're the heart and soul of my farm.Once I got over the shock, I was delighted to have Jesus join the clan. If it was not imaginable to live with donkeys a few years ago, it is inconceivable to live without them today. This morning, I ordered another 100 bales of hay.
Why I own donkeys
By Jon Katz
When I got back from the hardware store this morning, I planned to write a column explaining why somebody from New Jersey who'd never seen a donkey in the first half-century of his life now owned three.As I was heading back from town, the cell phone warbled. My friend Anthony, working at the farm, was calling to say that there was a baby donkey in the pasture. Knowing this had to be a joke, since I had no male donkeys and, to my knowledge, no pregnant ones either, I laughed, fired off some obscene macho banter, and hung up.When I pulled into the driveway next to the big barn, though, I nearly drove into a fence post. There was a tiny new donkey, soaking wet from amniotic fluid, hugging close to Jeannette, my most recently acquired Sicilian donkey. The afterbirth was close by and fresh. And Jeannette was snorting like a bull and glowering at any interlopers.No way, I thought.Way. Obviously, donkeys have a very long gestation period. Jeannette must have been knocked up just before she arrived last spring. I phoned an SOS to the Granville Large Animal Veterinary Practice and ran into the house for some towels. Jeannette and I are close, thanks to my daily offerings of carrots, apples, and oat cookies. She let me pick up her newborn—I named her Emma, after my own daughter—towel her off, and make sure her throat and eyes were clear. When I scratched her fuzzy little nose, she closed her eyes and went to sleep in my arms. I gave Jeannette some cookies, checked to see that she had milk in her teats—she did, a lot of it—and brushed her down a bit to calm her.I knelt in front of her and she put her head on my shoulder. "Congratulations," I said. "Who is the father? You can tell me." But she just went over to Emma and nosed her.There aren't many donkeys born these days, so people from nearby farms began showing up, alerted by the mysterious rural news network by which everyone instantly knows everything. In an hour or so, the vet showed up, gave the donkeys their appropriate shots, said they were fine, and departed. He told me that Emma was, oops, a male. So, Emma became Jesus (using the Spanish pronunciation), thanks to the mysteriously virginal circumstances of his birth. I felt guilty about the way I'd been mocking Jeanette for her expanding girth and hearty appetite, never guessing that she was eating for two. Jeannette had fortunately chosen an unusually warm day to give birth. A bitter cold wave was approaching in 48 hours, though, so we scurried to find the heat lamps and make a cozy space for Jeannette and Jesus in the barn.All this made me think even more about why I own donkeys at all. Once, donkeys were the tractors and ATVs of country life, performing agricultural and mercantile tasks that were integral to farming and commerce. Now, they are useless. Local farmers call them "hay-suckers."When I got my troubled border collie Orson, we started learning to herd at a sheep farm in Pennsylvania. A lonely old donkey named Carol lived in the adjacent pasture. We bonded; I was enchanted by her soulful eyes and gentle bray, and she loved the apples I brought her and the pats and scratches that accompanied them. When I bought this farm in upstate New York, I imported some of the sheep we'd been herding with. They arrived on a livestock trailer, and Carol showed up with them, a surprise gift from the farmer, who thought she deserved a better life.Donkey No. 2 joined her when I got a phone call from a woman who described herself as a "Jewish donkey spiritualist," a term I hadn't heard before and don't expect to hear again. Pat bred donkeys and had studied and written about their symbolic significance, their place in the ancient world, and their profoundly spiritual natures.Both Jewish and Christian theologies are filled with biblical and other references to donkeys, she pointed out. Carol, like all my donkeys, wore a cross on her back, a pattern of dark hair behind the shoulders.Pat declared that, since donkeys are social sorts, Carol was lonely. She was not aware of her "donkeyness"; having lived with sheep all of her life, she probably didn't even know she was a donkey. She needed a companion, Pat said. My wife, already embittered (Carol ran up enormous vet bills that first winter), said she could live with Carol being out of touch with her donkeyness. I couldn't, so soon little Fanny arrived, and then Lulu, her half-sister.Pat was right about donkeys: They are sweet, powerfully spiritual creatures. Mine have an ostensible purpose: They're my security detail, fiercely protective of my flock of sheep. They run off stray dogs and coyotes. Since I've lost no sheep to these common predators, the donkeys seem to do their jobs well.CarolBut they also—and this is why I have more donkeys than I truly need—attach to people. They nuzzle and lean into humans they like, which can sometimes be disconcerting, but is also touching. They are gentle with children, calm around strangers. They coexist reasonably amiably with my dogs and chickens. My ferocious rodent-massacring barn cat, Mother, sleeps near them often, and last week I came into the barn and saw her curled up next to the baby, both of them dozing comfortably on a pile of straw bedding.When I come out of the house in the morning, all three girls are waiting at the barnyard gate, wheezily braying for their cookies. Serious about snacks, they're likely to nose into your pockets if you're slow to produce them.But our connection goes beyond food, I think. Almost every day, I sit on a tree stump in the pasture, and one donkey or another—sometimes all three—comes over to nuzzle with me, putting a big furry head on my shoulder or the top of my head. During winter storms, I trudge up to the pole barn and comb ice from their long eye lashes and brush the snow off their coats. They hold still, then nuzzle me in appreciation.When Carol was sick, I brought a boom box into the barn and we sat listening to Van Morrison sing "Brown-Eyed Girl." She also loved Willie Nelson and Ray Charles.Early last winter, Carol again foundered. The vet didn't think she'd make it through another season of sickness and brutal cold; we agreed that a lethal injection would, at some point, be merciful. Carol died within a couple of days.A few months later, donkey spiritualist Pat sold her farm. Before she moved away, she sold me Jeanette, one of her oldest donkeys (they live to be 30, even 40). Nobody said anything about anybody being pregnant. But Jeannette was, apparently. So, now there are four. "That's a lot of hay," one of my incredulous farmer neighbors observed. "Especially for animals that don't do anything."But he's wrong. They do a lot for me. They connect me to nature and to history. They're dutiful watchdonkeys and affectionate companions. They exude patience and calm. In many ways, they're the heart and soul of my farm.Once I got over the shock, I was delighted to have Jesus join the clan. If it was not imaginable to live with donkeys a few years ago, it is inconceivable to live without them today. This morning, I ordered another 100 bales of hay.
Sept 7-11, 2006
This is Carmelita remeeting Ceasar. She forgot him in the few months she's been away.
I'm going to be away from my home computer for a few days, and haven't found out if I'll be able to download any pictures to the blog. So, I thought I'd put a few pics in this post...so you can get your cutie kitty pic fix!
Ps. I wasn't originally making this blog just about my pets, so please feel free to send me any pics of your pets or stories. Email them to heatherwanderer@yahoo.com and in the subject put " PetPics and Stories" so I know its not spam. :)
Sept. 6, 2006
Rajjah out in the yard. Poor baby had a tramatic weekend. I'm so angry at the neighbor behind my house. They have a "puppy" who is about 4-6 months old. He's a big hound dog puppy, whom they let roam around their unfenced yard. He frequently comes up on to my unfenced backyard. Normally, I don't care too much....I don't use that area, there isn't any access to it without going out the front door. But my kitties do use the backyard. For fun and play time and all sorts of kitty games. Anyway, Rajjah as in the back playing with her sister Carmelita. The puppy comes woofing up to Rajjah and chases her up a tree. Far far up a tree! I wasn't in the back, but eventually when I noticed I hadn't seen Rajjah in a while I went looking for her. She was about half way up the tree meowing her little heart out. The puppy was still running around free, coming to the base of the tree and barking at her. She couldn't or wouldn't come down. The puppy's owner was in their backyard and seemed to not care at all. I was sooooooo ticked! Poor baby Rajjah is tramatized, stuck up in a tree, and she can't come down again till puppy goes away! Finally, the puppy went to play in their front yard, and I was calling Rajjah trying to get her to go back off the end of the branch closer to the trunk so she could get back down. She wouldn't do this, instead came to the very end of the branch, and then began slipping. She slid down to the branch directly below the one she was on. My heart was in my throat and I kept hoping she would go back to the trunk, but once again she slipped down one more branch. Apparently she thought it was safer to come down that way. She eventually lost her footing and fell out of the tree about 7-8 feet up from the ground. She sailed down to land on her feet and then immedietly took off like a bolt of lightening. I went after her, and found her huddled under a car in the front of the house. I picked her up and checked her for broken bones. She seemed a little freaked out, understandably, but nothing broken or bleeding. I took her inside for the rest of the day. She seems a little sore, but still wants to play with the other neighborhood kittens. I want to keep her inside, but she cries and begs to be let out. I told the neighbor if their puppy comes on my property again, I'll take it to the animal control shelter. They don't even have a collar for this dog. If I knew what bad pet owners they were, I never would have let them have Carmelita. I might have to kittynap her and get her spayed and get her shots for her. At the least, she shouldn't have to worry about disease and having kittens every 6 months. Food and shelter isn't all a pet needs to be happy and healthy. They need care and responsible owners. I'm very disappointed I didn't check these people out more carefully before I let them adopt Carmelita. :(
Sept. 5, 2006
Today is a sad day, I found out about the loss of a great animal conservationist, Steve Irwin. You may know him as the Croc Hunter from down under. Though I didn't know him or his family personaly I stillfeel as if I've lost a friend.
I hope you can all understand that I can't post any cute fuzzies today. Instead I offer a moment of silence on my site in memory of a guy who devoted his life to preaching conservation and education.
You will be missed, Steve. God Bless and see you in Heaven.
I hope you can all understand that I can't post any cute fuzzies today. Instead I offer a moment of silence on my site in memory of a guy who devoted his life to preaching conservation and education.
You will be missed, Steve. God Bless and see you in Heaven.
Sept. 2, 2006
I don't know what was so fascinating but all the kitties suddenly stopped playing and looked over at the neighbors yard. Its too cute!
I'm posting today, since I don't normally plan on posting on the weekends, but I might not be able to post on Monday....so I thought I would get at least 1 extra kitty pic in before I party hardy, lol.
Sept. 1, 2006
This is a quick photo of Carmelita in one of the few moments she wasn't running and play fighting with her sister. I'll add a photo either sunday or monday of when she meets Ceasar again. She doesn't remember him from when she use to live here.
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