THE LAST OF MY COMMISSIONED PIECES and my MODERN FAMILY.

I've finally finished my friend's pets.
Truly, she has waited forever for them.

This is her old guy.

This is Winter, who I plan on blogging about someday.
He lost his front leg.

Horrible story that I won't share today but a Happy Ending
as he now is living with my friend.

All of her other pets are rescues too.

And here's her kitty Peg.
Another three legger.

Many times people comment on my blog and say very nice things to me about ME
and how my pets are rescued.
I feel uncomfortable as I am not the only one that has a house full of rescues.
I plan on sharing some of my friends stories.
I'm afraid that sometimes I complain too much about the negative people in my life
but I'm fortunate to know some awesome people too.

Other news,
I also finished up some work for another dear friend that I will share later.
I don't want it to be seen here and the surprise ruined.

I've been working outside a lot.
I've come to realize that it's therapy for me.
Slowly my yard and is becoming what I want it to be.
A refuge of sorts.
Or as I told a friend recently about finishing up my fence -
Step One in becoming a recluse has been completed!
LOL!

I received a gift the other day that I'm very happy about.
My step-mother contacted me to ask if I had a need for a patio table and 4 wicker chairs.
I did not.
It's very pretty, a woven wicker kind of set but I'm no longer collecting things I don't need.
But I do appreciate her asking me.
Then she asked if I'd be interested in some 16" paver stones?
Well - YEAH!
She said she and her husband would be glad to deliver them and
that they would give them to me at a good price - FREE!

So yesterday she and her husband dropped of 40, yes FORTY of these pavers!
They are nice thick stones, weighing 35lbs a piece.
They will fit into my plan perfectly.

On a complete different topic,
it's so nice how well she and I get along now.
I mean, we are really good friends!
I wonder what my Dad would think of this whole situation? LOL!
She's only 7 years older than me
so it was never a mom/daughter relationship.
There was a time I think we honestly hated each other!
But what 15 yr old is going to listen to a 22yr old?
What was my Dad thinking?
OK, NEVERMIND. I don't want to think about THAT. LOL!

But here's the odd part.
After Dad died, instead of us going our different ways
we became closer.
My sister and I even stood up with her when she remarried.
She found a really good guy and I am a highly critical person of men most times
but she found the nicest man.
He had been a farmer and now hauls freight for a living
I must say, She lucked out with him.
A good guy
and I'd be the last one to approve of anyone else but my Dad.

At Christmas time, we all get together on Christmas Eve.
My sister's family, me and my step-mom, her husband and his kids
and their kids.
Yep, a Modern Family.

OK, off to work in the yard!
Have a Wonderful Fourth!

THE GOOD, THE BAD and JEFFREY

I wrote this post several weeks ago and never published it.
I suppose the reason was because I was hoping for a more complete ending.
Well, I finally have one!
You will find an update at the end of the post
and I can finally hit the Publish button on this one! -

The GOOD:
The Humane Society brings in animals to our clinic that they find or who have been released to them, who need medical attention.
It happens all the time.
Right now there is a kitten who was impaled on a fence.
He suffered damage to the area around one of his eyes and wounds to his belly.
He's doing great now. All fixed up, the eye was saved and his wounds almost completely healed.
Sometimes these animals get patched up and then sent back to the Shelter where they have capable staff to care for them.
But as we all know, the shelters are always full so sometimes we just keep these animals until they are more fully healed and adoptable.
We also have another kitten, who is fast becoming a cat, who was paralyzed on her lower body.
Her owner had a stroke and fell on her.
After a lot of care, chiropractic and laser treatments and therapy work, she's regaining use of her hind legs.
Not full use but if you set her on the floor, she flies across the room!
They seem to think there's a very good chance of full recovery.
Both kittens have people interested in adopting them as soon as they are given the green light to go home.
That should be any day now.

Then, just the other day they brought in a little Pitbull.
The woman that cares for the animals medical needs at the Shelter is a friend of mine.
We've become friends through work and the fact that I've rescued several pets through the Shelter.
So she was coming out of an exam room as I was walking by.
This little guy was so small that I thought he was a puppy but he's in fact a year old.
Sadly he doesn't really have use of his legs.
Right away I noticed the weird twist on one of his front knees.
My friend assured me that he could still maneuver around quite well in spite of his limbs.
I couldn't stop myself and I scooped him up and held his soft squishy body against my chest.
He had such a dopey wrinkly face.
If you've never embraced a Pitbull, I should tell you that they feel wonderful.
It's a soft smooth warm feel.
So I had him snuggled up to me and
my friend said "Oh my God Cindi NO!" and laughed.
I told her not to worry, I'm not acquiring any more pets.
I set him down and looked at his legs and she told me how Doc said the one knee might need some work done on it, some surgery, but it was very hopeful.
I looked down at him again and picked him up and handed him to her.
"OK!" I said, "I know you'll find him a great home!"
and then I went back to my work area.

I was glad to know that they were going try to get him better and adoptable.
Of course I did have that brief thought about how I could get that garden cart I've been wanting and pull him around on it....
I told that to one of the vet techs who is a friend and she laughed and said she had been thinking about getting a kids wagon.
So, that's all the good things.

Then there's JEFFREY.

Jeffrey came in as a kitten with a hole in his belly.
A big one.
They weren't sure, but most likely a dog got a hold of him.
So Doc stitched him back up and gave his antibiotics and pain medication and the staff cared for him.
I'm not sure who named him Jeffrey but one day, that was his name.

He had such a BIG personality for such a little kitten.
During lunch hours and after the clinic closed, the techs would let him run around.
Apparently one night as they pulled a blanket out of a kennel, Jeffrey jumped on it for a ride.
So the girls pulled him around the lab area and laughed that he was on his magic carpet.
They said that Doc turned from his computer and watched and LAUGHED.
It wasn't much longer after that, that Jeffrey was ready to go back to the Shelter
but then Doc told the girls to call and let the Humane Society know that the bill was covered and we were going to keep Jeffrey!
So Jeffrey became the new clinic cat.
There is one cat up in the reception area, Cinderella, but she just sleeps on the counter all day and only wakes up for meals.
Jeffrey was EVERYWHERE
and when he would finally need a nap, he crawled into one of the file bins and snoozed.

He claimed it as his own so the girls made it his bed, complete with a name tag.

So many people played with him and loved on him and dressed him up.
For Veteran's Day:

and Thanksgiving:

Here he is, joining in for the staff meeting:

He could be a rowdy boy and quite the stinker.
A couple of the staff teased him though and I'm sure that added to his behavior of giving a scratch here and there and little bites.

Back in my area, I have a cat room.
In the cat room are my Kanga, and Doc's very elderly cat and another elderly girl and another cat that Doc didn't want to put down during an appointment for euthanasia and asked the owner to sign the cat over to the clinic instead, which the owners gladly did. Apparently that cat peed outside of the box and they were moving and didn't want that happening at the new place. (Although she has never done so since she's been in the cat room...)

THE BAD.
So Jeffrey could be annoying at times.
There were times when SOME people were working and I could see them getting mad, even angry at Jeffrey, so I'd pick him up and carry him back to the cat room with me.
Then at some point during the day, Doc would ask the techs where Jeffrey was and they'd come back and get him.
So it became a back and forth thing.

Some days he was up front and some days in the back with me.
Then finally the day came when the girls who loved him, would come back and pick him up and carry him to their area and he'd immediately ran back to my cat room door.
Rumor had it that some others would get so mad at him that he just didn't want to be up there anymore.

Truth be told, he was very rowdy in the cat room too.
I'd come in many times to messes he made.

But how can you get mad? He was just a young cat full of pent up energy.

I would have to cover the paper instruction sheets that hung outside the cages and kennel name tags with packing tape as a sort of lamination because he would climb the cages and rip them into pieces.
Other times he'd climb up and reach into the cages and steal food.
He was very crafty.

Then he started jumping on the old cats, trying to wrestle with them and they would get angry and a cat fight would break out.

Finally one day when Doc came through the cat room I asked him if we could find Jeffrey a home.
He went over to pet Jeffrey and Jeffrey let him for a moment,
and then tried to grab his hand and get mouthy.
Doc laughed at Jeffrey and  then sighed and said that, Yes. that would be alright since he just got into trouble when he was upfront.
We had a home in mind for him but then that home fell through because
they had four cats already and the husband said that was enough.

Then just recently, a family decided they wanted to adopt a cat.
The wife/mom is a friend of one of my workers so my worker told her to come in and see our cats.
The Mom came in and looked at the eye kitten,
and the partially paralyzed kitten and
a pastel calico cat that we also have and who is very laid back and
at Jeffrey.
The family has three boys and two rowdy cats and old dog.
After the visit, the wife told my worker that she was interested in the eye kitten
and that was who they would like to adopt.
So we got the paper work ready.

I felt sad because every day when I'd pull up to work in the morning, before anyone else was there,
I'd see Jeffrey's little face in the window.
Just looking out.

I would make me want to cry, to think of him growing up in a single room.
I even thought about bringing him home, and only because my big cats would stand up to him and hopefully play.
But then I worried about my older little tiny dogs
and of course about the fact that I don't want to adopt anymore.

The GOOD and JEFFREY.
Then I got a phone call.
It was from my worker and her friend the wife had called her.
Apparently her boys told her that they didn't want to adopt the kitten!
They knew that other people had wanted that kitten too but they were worried about Jeffrey!
They didn't know who else would adopt him.
They told their mother that they wanted "The Naughty Cat!"
The husband had said the Toys R Us Giraffe mascot was named Jeffrey
and he said "We need to adopt the Toys R Us cat!"
So the mom apologized for not requesting Jeffrey from the start and asked if they could adopt him instead.

Yesterday the mom dropped the boys off at school and drove directly over to get Jeffrey.
She said the boys had been asking for Jeffrey so she came in to get him.
We walked into the cat room and Jeffrey was up in the cat tree.
The mom set her cat carrier down on the floor and opened the door.
As she stood up,  we both turned to Jeffrey.
He was on the cat tree in front of the window and he jumped off the tree and ran across the room and right into the carrier!
We both looked at each other and laughed.
"I guess he's ready to go!"

I reminded her if it didn't work out, she should bring him back to us.
She agreed but didn't foresee a problem.

That's the agreement we always have.
If a pet doesn't work out, they can always bring them back...
I have another story,
for another day about that agreement and what happened with a different cat.

I hope it works out, but I have a GOOD feeling it will.

UPDATE -

Jeffrey has fit in perfectly.

Here he is with his new brother/buddy George.

I love a happy ending.

WONDERFUL NEWS!

source

You might need to sit down for this!

I hired someone!

I interviewed a girl on Monday and she seems very nice and very mature.

I think she must be in her early twenties but she possesses a sense of calmness and confidence,

She came in and I showed her the place on a Monday while it was still a mess from so many dogs going home.

Dirty kennels, dishes in the sink and laundry going and also in a big pile

and she seemed to take it all in and be fine with it.

She's going to work Friday nights and Saturday and Sunday mornings!

That's right!

I will have weekends off once she's trained.

I tried to remain cool and collected

But inside my head I was screaming and jumping up and down in JOY!

source

I then called the high school girl that had stopped in the end of last week.

I was hoping to have her cover a few evening hours when the other girl (who's given me so much trouble), ends up quitting.

Unfortunately the high-schooler said she already found another job.

I'm not so sure if I believe that because of the way she kinda hemmed and hawed but that's OK.

I'd rather her realize that she doesn't want to do the job before she starts

than have her train and then a couple of months in, quit.

Now with this new Hire and my other new perfect girl....

things will eventually work out.

It's a good thing because this last weekend about just did me in.

I was there forever trying to get it all done and I never got to leave on schedule.

Then this Monday rolled around and I had so many dogs that were going home and yet more coming in

that I felt like I was mentally going to lose it.

It was just too much for one person.

My friend from Sweden, Christer, had let me know that it's illegal in Sweden to work all work every day,

even if it's not a full day of work, without getting a full 24 hours off at some point.

So Monday when there was a bit of a break in the action I went up to the lab room where the vet techs were gathered in a group talking.

One of the head techs was standing in the group so I walked right up to her

source

and I said - 

"It's ILLEGAL for me to work 7 days a week, I need some help, I need a day off, so figure it out!"

and I walked away.

source

So now I will have Wednesdays off for a while.

Later I interviewed this girl and suddenly it looks like things are going to finally fall in place.

Then I got a call from my temporary Saturday night help.

She had needed this coming Saturday night off and was wondering if anyone had volunteered to do it.

Of course no one would work it for her so I said I'd cover it, (although I already work Saturday morning).

She felt bad that I would be doing a double shift so she volunteered to take my Thursday this week!

That's right!

I am currently having 2 days off in a row!

Yesterday, Wednesday, the first thing  that happened was that the power went out.

A transformer blew a few blocks away and 1800 people were without power, including me.

So I started cleaning house and rearranging furniture.

source

I got A LOT done.

I moved almost ever piece of furniture in the house and it looks like a new floor plan.

All my art supplies, table, shelving and desk are on the main floor.

Most in the kitchen area but some in the living room area.

I don't care that it's not traditional looking.

I don't want to have to pull out my supplies from upstairs, carrying them downstairs

 and then worry about putting them away so that every thing appears like most homes.

source

My Art isn't going to be something that I TRY to find time for.

It's not going to be a hobby.

It's going to be a major part of my life

and taking center stage.

Finally the power came back on and I was able to go outside and cut the grass

(I have an electric mower)

Then of course I started transplanting some flowers and I planted a tree that I had found on big markdown.

source

Then I came inside and made everyone dinner and started laundry.

I still have housework to finish but I spent a big part of time catching up on blogs.

I'm feeling EXCITED

and I'm going to go full tilt on creating.

Paintings, prints, cards, calender's and COLORING pages!

(More on that later). 

and Halloween and Day of the Dead pieces.

So many things to do! LOL!

But I'm pulling out of this funk and remembering that my job is not my life,

it's just my job.

I will always worry about my boarders but once I get the right people in place

I can relax and just go crazy with my Art.

And finally, I must say how APPRECIATIVE of all the support my blog friends here have given me.

source

Your invisible hands have held me up when I've been so tired

and your positive energy has cheered me on when I felt so beaten down.

Thank you so so so much!

You will never know how much I value your friendships!

Thanks for being there.

XOXOXO

NO MORE DOGS! or CATS.

Thank god this week is over.

Of course it's just the beginning.

But Spring Break always hits hard at the kennel.

I had dogs and cats everywhere.

Friday morning as I was trying to get dogs outside and back in and feed and medicated,

several owners showed up to pick up their dogs early.

One of the receptionists offered to run the dogs up front for me.

She was racing back and forth and I was loading her up with their food and supplies 

and then another receptionist starting paging me.

She had more dogs coming in.

So the receptionist ran back more dogs and it was a mad house.

She finally stopped and looked at me and said

"I have no idea how you are able to do this every day!"

"Neither do I" I replied.

At the end of the day, my kennel worker showed up to take over.

She stated how tired she was of doing "all of this".

She does it four times a week

for 4 hours intervals.

I told her that I was tired too

and that I do it all week for 9 hours shifts.

But I reminded her that at least we worked with animals

and didn't have to deal with people.

She agreed, it was a better situation.

I left out what I was thinking,

That I'm 35 years older than her, so I didn't really want to hear how tired she was.

Yep, I hate to say this but it is REALLY getting to me.

Maybe it's the stressful situation happening here at home right now

that makes me so tired of it all.

I feel like my home has turned in a old dog nursing home.

I mean, I knew this day was coming but

I don't know...

Anyway, the other night as Ruby stood all wobbly at the water bowl,

she fell over

so I stood her back up.

and over she went again,

so I set her back up

and down she went.

I lift her up again and

finally she had her footing.

Later that night, after everyone had been out for their final nightly potty.

Claude just stood at the bottom of the three steps.

Staring at them and then at me.

It was like he needed a running start

and he just couldn't do it.

As I started to go get him, he walked away and circled around

and with great effort, hurled himself up the steps.

The next morning I let everyone outside and then when they were finished, I called them back inside.

Button was pacing back and forth along the fence.

She's totally blind now but usually knows her way around.

But she was confused out there and although I called out to her

she just turned around and listened, not sure where to go.

I went out and picked her up.

I reassured her and her tail was wagging like crazy.

And then there's Rosie.

Older than dirt.

Just two random snaggleteeth left on bottom of her mouth.

She's doing fine

but very quirky.

She has to walk against the walls

or along the furniture to go room from room.

She even squirms under the china hutch to get to the laundry room

rather than walk across the floor, out in the open.

Maybe she's not so dingy after all.

Maybe it's self-preservation.

After all, packs of dogs are known to take out the weakest link.

Although I would never leave her alone with the bigger dogs

where that could be a threat.

but she is very old.

So, I'm tired.

Which is why I recently turned down a Maltese dog.

I love Maltese's.

My first "little" dog, my first small rescue was a 10 yr old Maltese.

and this one is only 9 months old and deaf.

He's a boy dog. So there would be the potential of a leg lifting hassles.

Not all male dogs do that but some do.

But I don't have the energy

I'm trying to share info with them about deaf dog rescue.

So, no more animals are coming home with me.

Which reminds me

I need to do a post about my newest cat

that I got a couple of months ago.

MINIMALISM and ALL that STUFF and HAPPINESS

...thinking a lot.

cleaning, sorting and rediscovering "treasures".
I've been reading a lot about happiness
and how clearing the clutter, minimalism, simplicity....
can make you happy.
I've decided that while it could indeed make some people happy, it's not for me.
I had an Ah-Ha moment.
It's a very cool rainy October day today and while going through some boxes of things and also thinking about all that I've read, it dawned on me that I used to live a totally minimal life.

Very simple. One room, with a Murphy bed that pulled down out of the wall, a tiny 2 burner stove and a mini fridge.

(I've written about this place before, in fact I think it's one of my most favorite posts.
http://oldblackcatboo.blogspot.com/2010/10/i-lived-in-this-house-and-halloween.html
anyway...)
at the time, even though I didn't count my clothing, I know I had LESS than 33 items at the time.
So much for the 333 project.
and I was very SAD and miserable.

Now, some people might have been in paradise, knowing that they could pack up all their STUFF in a bag within minutes and be on their way to adventure.
But I didn't feel like that. I feel alone and ungrounded.
Just twisting in the wind.
Of course back then, there was no Internet.
No links to all the great ideas and images.
No way to type out and share my thoughts and feelings without leaving my room.
and of course. I wasn't allowed to have a dog.
Actually I wasn't allowed any pets at all but I smuggled in a cat.
Just me and my cat...

and now today as I find things that I forgotten I had, I feel happy and motivated.
I have new ideas about things to create.
Which is probably why I accumulated these things in the first place.
Now, I'm not saying that I haven't held up some items and turned it over and over and thought "WTH?"
and then tossed it.
I've have cleaned out my china hutch in the kitchen, next to the table that I paint at and filled it with bins of paint and jars of paintbrushes. On top of the hutch are my decorative shoes boxes filled with papers. pens. pencils, shiny things.
Above my white kitchen cabinets, I have white shoe boxes with others supplies. (dog brushes, heart-worm pills, etc.)
All very neat and tidy...
Yep.
I'm keeping what I need and really want. I just probably have more STUFF that I NEED than most people.
Kinda like my pets.
Yes, I have more than most people but THEY make me happy.
To some people, they would seem like a lot of work but they give me a purpose.
Some people like to manicure theirs nails while watching TV, I trim dog/cat nails.
While some people like to go window shopping, I'm home bathing my dogs.
Some people go to sports events, I throw a ball or Frisbee.
I know there are people who feel like just ONE dog is overwhelming.
I know that TOO well because that IS why I have some of my dogs.
So, I'm organizing and cleaning
and vacuuming up pet hair but basically I'm a lot Happier and I NEED to remember this day,
even if it means that I sometimes I feel like an indentured servant to the clinic I work at.
and Yes, I do have a BIG vet bill that seems to almost get paid and then something happens to pump it back up.
But at least I have that safety net.
Lots of reflection today.
But in a good way,

to realize, that I AM happy.

This one might be my favorite.

I'm not really sure why.

The cat doesn't even look like any of my kitties.
Or any of the clinic cats..
But I just kinda like it.
It's done in acrylics and ink and the bumblebee is watercolor on watercolor paper and ink.
Then sealed in a matte finish.

Listed currently on Ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320986286920
and I also listed Cat & Spider last night -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Folk-Art-Mixed-Media-White-Cat-Spider-Primitive-Naive-Outsider-PopArt-Painting-/320985666894?pt=Folk_Art&hash=item4abc3c954e

Wednesday's Word - BLACK

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