Now that I have done my final tweaking (not THAT kind of tweaking LOL!) I see I can finally post again.

Things here are okay. There are still projects to be done. I have been working on my memorial flower garden, for the cats who have passed over. I still have probably 15 hours more of weeding to accomplish, but the bulbs have been planted and the biggest challenge is keeping Kota from crashing into the sprouting tulips and dahlias! I am going to be bricking in the sides this coming week after the rains stop.

This morning, for the first time in a year, I was able to pet MK. She is a beautiful Persian/Maine Coon long hair. She mats as soon as you look at her. I am so desperate to get ahold of her, but every time that happens, I have to take her to the vet. Then, I can’t touch her or get close to her as it traumatizes her to no end. It’s been about a year since her last vet visit.

Seven of the cats have refused to go into the enclosures and instead taken up residency in the shop. I have been going in there periodically during the day, and just sitting on the step and letting them get used to seeing me. It is working, but it is a slow process and some of them really need help.

Pigeon, Baker and PITA inhabit the main enclosure. Anyone else I put in there (Twist was the last one I tried to introduce) gets pounced on immediately. Bentley was too Alpha to put with Pigeon, so he is in the patio enclosure. The others are still free-roaming.

I finally ended up emptying out the big enclosure of all my furniture and belongings moved in there during the build. I have decided, since there are so many escape tunnels in there now- that I will tear down the wire covering the two stall doors, and clean it out and open it up 24/7 for the cats to go in and out as they please. It’s a  big job, I have at least 100 cat carriers stacked in there. (People have donated them to me for years.) I think what I am going to do, is when I do the clean out- I am going to put some of the carriers out on the front lawn with a sign- FREE for the taking. I know in the future, if I do rescue, it will be on a much smaller scale than before. Without Mike to help out, it is too overwhelming to rescue dozens of cats.

I have finished my floors! I hope you enjoy the photos. It is so nice to be able to go barefoot again in the house without fear of splinters. And the sub-floors were getting so dirty, what with Kota and the cats, traffic and shedding. I haven’t done the patio yet- I’ve run out of supplies and money to get that huge room done, but it is coming. It was a labor-intensive act of love that’s for sure. Not bad for brown butcher paper, Elmer’s glue and Varathane and some back-breaking labor.

With all this new information coming out about cats being silent carriers of Covid-19 without exhibiting symptoms, I am sad for the cats owned by the ill-informed or uneducated. I fear so many cats are going to be dumped by panicked owners. The corona virus is common in cats- especially cats owned by hoarders, stuffed into over-crowded shelters and catteries and in feral colonies. There are scientists now, who are intentionally injecting, not only monkeys, but cats with this virus, then sitting back on their heels to “watch” what happens. Animal testing HAS GOT TO STOP! There are so many better alternatives our there now. I know the biggest lab in Maryland is guarded on the outside like a prison. You can’t even take a picture of the front gate without your camera being seized! They know it’s wrong, yet they keep doing it. 🙁 Lecture over, I know I am talking to the informed and educated here.

Some people do not know this, and I am speaking from first-hand experience here. But there are underground labs who will periodically send messages to elderly people hard up for money. They will pay $50.00 or more, for a specific kind of cat (or dog) and suddenly all these pets are vanishing and no one knows why. My beautiful calico Smudge was a victim of such a snatch and ultimately, before I could get her back, she died. It was heartbreaking and occurred the first year we moved here. I don’t blame the woman (dressed like she was going to church) that snatched her. I blame the unethical basement labs. So watch your animals closely during this panicked pandemic time.People are nuts right now, quick to anger and slow to use common sense. It’s a powderkeg just waiting to explode.