Friday, January 30, 2009

When the cats are smarter than I am!

Last Friday Jack and I discussed the bales of hay I had in the yard and the fire danger. I agreed that they really needed to be removed but I was concerned because the Mama cat and the kittens were missing and when they came back their home would be gone... the other cats were adults and could fend for themselves, but it had to be done.

The neighbor boy wasn't home from school yet so I went to the shop/barn to get the old flyer wagon that mom had and there was the mama cat and the babies! Her look said it all.... how come it took you so long to find us! Well needless to say the 6 bales of hay... patio furniture and cat table created by the neighbors a couple of years ago were all moved to the barn/shop and all by this lady. My plan was not to leave anything that would encourage a cat to spend any time on the patio.

Of course I had plenty of help and the four legged inspectors checked each item, it's placement, the blankets, old pillows, boxes of hay, and compartments made by the bales, everything. All the feed containers and pans were placed around the room. The 10 litter boxes were cleaned and new litter added...... you know the bad weather hit that weekend.

Monday was so bad but we had a doctor's appointment so we started and two miles out of town our windshield was a sheet of ice.........time to turn around. We cancelled and made a new appointment. Schools are cancelled. Tuesday is so bad we called and cancelled the Wednesday appointment to only find the doctor's office would be closed and they would not have any patients that day. Schools are stilled closed. We tried for an appointment on Wednesday afternoon but roads are still bad. Finally we got an appointment for Thursday afternoon at 3:30.

I hired a ride along neighbor who really likes to drive so I let her! (smiles) The roads are fine but the parking lot where the clinic is located is filled with deep ice and snow. In fact the sidewalks in most places are not cleared and we were in a quandry about how to get Jack's motor chair into the clinic...our driver bless her goes in and gets people to move.... helps the laundry truck load and clear the way to use the handicap ramp....we down loaded Jack and had to help him because his chair was really beginning to skid and slide in the ice....but we made it... coming out at 5+ it is again frozen and icy... but the parking lot is cleared of cars and we pull the van right up to the sidewalk and onload Jack from there. Our driver was surprised to see the ramp was so versitile. Stopping for fast food was a real hazzard! And getting home at 7 was a nightmare of ice and slippery walking. But these vans are great.... I can outload Jack on the sidewalk at our door and then drive directly into the garage.

I had fed the felines extra at noon before we left and told them see you in the morning! LOL They were really waiting with eager appetites this morning....These strays and discards are really spoiled! I wonder if I could get a government grant to take care of these mouse, rat, and bird eaters...but then I probably would get in trouble because what they were catching and eating might be protected or endangered.... yeah, any of the above are endangered in this neighborhood.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yikes, just reading "the 10 litter boxes." That is dedication. The 4 legged inspectors are the most diligent kind :-)around here also. I found you by way of Patrick's blog. ~Mary

Unknown said...

Amen on these vans and their versatility. MY gripe is that for whatever reason snow plows seem to be trained to pile snow in front of curb cuts and ramps. What is with that???

Caregivingly Yours, Patrick
http://caregivinglyyours.blogspot.com/