Dennis (my youngest stepson) spent over four hours this morning trying to figure out why my emails don’t work. Dennis inherited his father’s smarts when it comes to electronics, computers etc. and he is a crack IT wizard living in Colorado now.

normally when my emails have a glitch in it Dennis can solve it in the matter of just minutes. Not so this time. Finally, he put me on a conference call while he called Comcast. That’s when we found out that for some unknown reason. They have deleted all of my emails! No it’s not because I didn’t pay the bill. Although I consider their bill outrageous every month I pay it every month. They can’t tell me why it happened because the person helping us on the phone isn’t a high-level technical assistant. Supposedly in the next few days the second level team  from research and recovery are going to call me and tell me what happened, why it happened, and when it happened. In the meantime if you need to get a hold of me for any reason. You will have to go through an email that set up on Denises server which is in his living room . That email address is: MaryAnneM@ladydawg.net

at the end of the year, this may be the email that I send out thank youse for those who have donated to our organization. Because as of right now, mother Mary 55 and cats at risk no longer exist. I am so angry right now I could spit nails. It’s kitten season and I know that I’m getting emails for help from people from all over. Because that’s what happens this time of year. I just hope the people will find help somewhere else. I can’t help anybody at the moment.

My 300 year old Fir  tree is no more. I have retained a few pieces of it including the very last piece that came off of the stump. Apparently when a tree has no branches, it is no longer a tree. It is a stump. My plan is once the weather gets nicer (meaning cooler) I will get out my woodburburning set and make a memorial to all the kitties that are buried underneath or near history including one dog my old service dog German Shepherd Brandi.

The cats that were in the enclosure are all fine. Right now they are in my patio room. There was an incident on Friday when one of the cutter’s was about 40 feet in the air cutting on the tree. They had cut all of the branches from the bottom up first and then they cut all the knots out of the tree that were protruding. I keep trying to put pictures on my blog but I keep getting told I can’t so I’m not sure what’s going on. But anyway when they got to the very top of the tree they found a blackberry bush growing out of the top! They also discovered that among the dozens of tops that this tree was growing, four of those tops were actually maple trees! So it’s been very strange around here. But as I said the cutter was up and as he nudged the tree on the cut part it went down the tree but he neglected to cut one knot and it bounced off the knot and landed on my cat enclosure! There was quite a dent in the top of the roof. I immediately went inside to see the damage which was substantial but there was no escape hole for the cats to get out of thank God.

This is the final day of the cut, I am down just to a flat stump on the ground. They are going to fix the roof completely so I have captured all the kitties and put them inside. I know they’re going to spray, but there’s nothing I can do about that except buy a gallon of urine off after this is over and get to work. The vet had given Bentley some Xanax which put him over the top. He was so anxious after he got that first pill. He was beyond stressed and the chemical wasn’t working as it should so I didn’t give him any more. He has gone through this whole ordeal with no drugs on board. He’s doing OK. Better than I expected that he would.

One other casualty of this job is my emails are non-working right now something happened somewhere. Comcast can’t figure it out and all the links they’re sending me I can’t figure it out either. They are backed up on appointments and the gentleman is not going to come out until next Tuesday. So if anyone’s trying to get a hold of me via email you will be unable to do that at this time.

I am personally glad that we are on the end of this they’ve been here for about a week now and they were having issues. When they climbed up the tree to the very top and dropped a tape down they put the tree at 70 feet tall! What they were finding when they got to the top and started cutting, the more they cut off the tree the more the tree leaned towards the structure, a.k.a. the cat enclosure. So they had to start taking smaller cuts and being very careful where they directed the pieces to fall. I had some pretty big craters in my ground. Those are all gone now they’ve smoothed out everything they put shavings over the top mixed with new dirt and you can’t really tell  that any creator was ever there.

I hope they do as good of a job on my cat enclosure roof as they did on my tree. I will miss this tree it created great shade for the entire house for so many years. Now we are entering into a major heat wave and it will be interesting to see if the inside of my house stays at a cool 60 or if it responds to the horrible heat outside and gets hotter. I just wanted to bring this up-to-date and now I have to go because they need me outside for a few minutes. Everybody stay safe, stay cool and I’ll catch you later.

Tomorrow is the morning I am not looking forward to. It has been decided before the project can move forward, that my Fir tree which towers over my house will have to be completely removed. The arborist gives the age of this tree well over 200 years old! It not only is a Fir Tree, but it’s also a Fur Tree. This tree and I go way back. Unfortunately a lot of kitties have scampered up its branches in the last 30 years. They have all been successfully rescued and one, my beloved mackeral tabby  Gulliver who loves to travel, hence his name. He was so high up in the tree I could hardly see him. This was around the time we moved here. Mike had come in to tell me that Gully had been chasing a chipmunk. Now, Mike explained: Even with his tallest extension ladder he would not be able to reach this kitty.

Gulliver and I were inseparable based on his early beginnings and how he was rescued. He was quite sickly and we had to go through a lot together to get him better. He loved to travel. He would go with us everywhere when we were in Alaska. He even would hop in to the UPS truck from time to time. The driver used to get a big kick out of it and used to drop him off at the end of his rounds. We could keep all the windows down in our truck and Gulliver wouldn’t even consider jumping out he was an amazing kitty.

I go outside and I look up in this tree. I scolded him for going up there. I yelled to him: “Gulliver you come down right now!“

well he did just that. He jumped! From Highup in the treetops, this kitty took a leap of faith and jumped right for me. I couldn’t believe it I’ve had to do a lot of rescues out of trees and never once has a cat ever jumped down on its own accord. I knew it wasn’t going to survive the fall all I could do was pray that I would catch him in some manner. He landed on my chest with such force he knocked me over on my back. He scratched my face my neck in my chest trying to get away and then scrambled into the house but he was unhurt. I wasn’t so lucky but at least he was down out of the tree and he never went back up it again.

As stated earlier this tree and I go way back and now it’s going away. We made the mistake of trusting a arborist in the past who wanted to top the tree. If anybody has evergreen trees don’t ever top them. They carry a protein in their sap which allows them to grow normally. Once you interrupt that process the tree loses the ability to grow correctly. My tree is growing in ways a tree should not grow. It has become a danger to the house, the neighbors house, the power poles and the cat enclosure which is right underneath it.

they will be here tomorrow morning to remove it completely. I can’t even ask for a piece of it to retain for the kitties to climb on because pine oil is toxic to kitties. It has kept my house cool in the summer and warm in the winter and now it’s going away. Knowing how sensitive Bentley is to this type of activity and noise. I went ahead and put extra pieces of plywood up in front of the cat enclosure to block off as much activity as I can from the cats view. The vet also gave me some sedatives to give all of them because I don’t have any other place I can stash them during the work. Hopefully Bentley will not have a negative reaction and the pills will keep him calm enough that they can do what they have to do and leave.

I have warned the arborist that we have a cranky pants raccoon that lives in the top of that tree. Although I did also tell him that I haven’t seen this raccoon since the fires. I don’t know if he survived the fires or if he moved on but he may be up there. And he doesn’t like anyone in his tree. If this tree could talk what stories it would tell. The damage is so great that the wood is not even sellable. Plus the arborist explained that the tree is so wide around the trunk that most mills aren’t set up anymore to cut that wide of wood. All of it’s just going to be discarded. I find that rather sad.

Currently, I am waiting rather impatiently for the vet clinic to open. Kota has now been vomiting intermittently for over a year. All the tests which they have run have not revealed any answers as to why. The plan now is to put him on a cocktail of medication which will include antibiotics, some coating agents for his stomach and a prebiotic.

The last instructions from the vet came right before Memorial Day holiday. I was told to try to hand feed him small amounts during the day until he gets his full amount. This elicited a change in his vomiting pattern. Instead of vomiting food, now he is vomiting bile. Concerning behavior prior to vomiting are these huge bubbles flowing out of his nose before he wretches the bile up? He literally looks like he is auditioning for the Lawrence Welk show. The bubbles are massive! Some as large as his head.

If this cocktail does not work for him, the vet wants to run an ultrasound. A  very expensive procedure, he needs the $600.00 upfront. I can’t in good conscience do that. I still owe the vet a great deal of money for past procedures on my rescues. Until that gets paid down to a reasonable amount,, I cannot justify coming up with $600 for another vet to step in. So I am really hoping that this mixture of drugs and other ingredients will put Kota back to his normal self. That would be amazing after all this time. But until I can pay down what it’s already owed I can’t even think about any other tests for him.

Next week, they will begin the final build on my house. This work is all stuff that should’ve been done in the initial build, but got derailed, due to let’s just say an unscrupulous contractor. The initial company that I dealt with is stepping up and we are going to finally demo my carport and fix my fence which is badly in need of repair. They are also going to have my large white pine that towers over my house evaluated and worked on. Since the last topping, it has been growing in the strangest directions. If you look at it, it looks like it has three tops instead of just one.  I did tell the arborist that we used to have a cranky pants male raccoon and living in the top of the tree. He is not a happy camper to be disturbed, but sadly I haven’t seen or heard from him since the fires over a year ago.

Speaking of the Holiday Fires, my two burn kitties are still throwing challenges my way. I came home yesterday and Ashley was in the kitchen and she had a mouse in her mouth! I have looked everywhere to see where this mouse is coming in from and I cannot find it. I do not see any mouse droppings anywhere along the lines of where they were coming in before or until we found the hole and sealed it up. It is possible because I moved the very last of the donated cat litter into the back patio recently, that the mouse was inside one of the litter bags and found its way into the house. I’m hoping that’s what happened. I need some help in order to move my refrigerator to see if for some reason they found a second hole back there to gain access into my home. At least she allowed me to capture the mouse without stressing herself to the point that she had a poop attack. So we are gaining with her.

It was quite odd when I was moving the litter into the patio to see holes in most of the bags? They certainly looked like mice damage, so I opened one bag out of curiosity and I found four mouse nests inside the cat litter bag? I’m not sure how a mouse could breathe inside of a bag of cat litter but the nests were fully intact. That may be where this mouse came from. I am grateful that Ashley caught it. She did not kill it, but she called attention to it and I was able to scoop it into a glass and put it outside. It was just a little gray field mouse. It’s also possible that this last weekend I finally was able to mow my back pastures. Could be that removal of all those tall grasses disturbed the mice and this may not be the only mouse I find in my house. Crossing my fingers that this was just a solitary traveler.

Now most of the two pastures have been cut. The rest of it will have to wait until it gets a little bit drier. It’s supposed to rain for the next three days so it’ll be a while before I can attack it again. The wildflower seeds they sent to sow on my field, are taking root. They should be blooming next year. On the bucket it said that the seeds were cultivated to attract butterflies, moths, ladybugs and hummingbirds. I  spotted a lot of fish in the creek and bullfrogs on the creek bed. The cycle of life is returning.

The gentleman in the back was probably not very pleased to look out his window and see tall grass for months. But I’m still glad I did it.

Well my vet’s office just opened so I’m going to get out of here and take Kota and get him weighed and pick up his medication. Wish us luck that this works. Otherwise right now, for options, I am completely out of them.

It’s been a few days since Bent went to the vet. He was given a shot of Covenia as well as a week’s worth of appetite stimulants. Two days after the visit, Bentley showed great improvement. He was no longer just lying in a fetal position in his cat bed. Before, when I would try and pick him up, he was so tense and stiff that he felt like a cinder block and not a kitty.

We discussed the upcoming workers who will be repainting and re-shingling the house. The vet suggested I put all three of the cats on Xanex until the workers leave for the final time. I have agreed to that plan. Bentley is now back to his lovely self. He goes for his morning walk-abouts (just on our property before he will return back to the door of the enclosure, crying to get back inside. It’s nice to have him back.

A few days ago, one of my hazelnut trees that was closest to the powerlines was cut down. The reason is it posed a great danger. It seems that it couldn’t handle the extreme climate it has been exposed to in the last five years. Extreme drought, followed by torrential rains and Highwinds. Then followed with ice and snow and more rain. The tree was over 30 feet tall and there were several large branches which were hanging virtually in mid air not attached to anything. So the company came in and because of all the current rain we’ve had, they couldn’t get their truck close enough to the tree to use the bucket  They did everything from the ground. Extremely dangerous and risky but they knew what they were doing thank God and now the tree is gone. The noise of their chipper was driving my main enclosure cats crazy. There was nothing I could do to alleviate their distress. There was no place to put them where they wouldn’t hear all the noise and be subjected to the activity all around them.

Bentley has been in great distress ever since. I’ve kept a close eye on him and this morning he is extremely agitated. He is so out of character. He is moaning, he’s not crying he’s actually moaning. I know I need to get him in and get him looked at. I managed to open his mouth and look and it appears there’s something underneath his tongue? I’m not sure because his stomatitis has flared up big-time. I’m waiting for the vet to open to see if I can even get him in. I know that stomatitis flares up during certain times of the year. Generally in the winter but it also reacts to stress. His mouth smells putrid. I really hope he’s OK and it’s just the stomatitis and not something else going on.

I’ve been trying to get the yard ready for Spring. This winter we had a lot of loss of limbs on the trees here. Some of my trees despite all the recent rain are still so dry that I can bend them gently down to earth and they’ll just snap off. Our rain level is lower than it’s ever been and our snow pack hasn’t really happened yet. We aren’t as bad as California and their drought issues. But we are darn close.

This evening after I came in from working outdoors. I sat down in my chair and promptly fell asleep. There was a soft thump on my chest. I knew it was a kitty so I reached out to pet Magoo and the fur felt different. To my surprise, it wasn’t Magoo it was Ashley. This is the first time in the year that I’ve had her that she has actually jumped on my lap. Unlike her brother, who turns into a whirling dervish when he’s on my lap, Ashley just settled down and we both fell asleep. It was nothing short of amazing.

Yesterday morning, my doorbell rings, it’s a private delivery service with all these bags. I signed for the delivery and asked who sent it. The gentleman winked at me and said: I’m supposed to tell you the Easter Bunny!”

I received cat food (two bags of dry cat food) which I desperately needed. I was so happy, but in the other bags there were items that puzzled me. Soap, shampoo, paper plates… I quickly opened the door and ran out to my driveway. Thankfully, the driver was still here. I asked him if those items that he gave me were mine?  Yes he said it was all on the order. He said that he was told to give it to the lady who rescues cats. Then he drove away.

Around noon my doorbell rings again. There’s a second delivery, this time it’s food. Not cat food though, a full. Easter dinner (as if I was entertaining six people) Including dessert. So I am now staring at a half of sliced ham, along with 2 buckets: one containing homemade mashed potatoes, the other homemade gravy, smaller buckets of raw broccoli and sliced cooked apples. when I inquired who sent it, again I was told “the Easter Bunny.”

Today, I just finished making multiple batches of broccoli, cheese, and ham pasta casserole. I also made several different kinds of pasta salads and put them in the canning jars and into the freezer. I had a full ham dinner last night which I shared with my wonderful animals. They were surprised to see the ham on their plate as I was.

Even being a writer, I don’t think that I could adequately  express what that meant to me to receive such kindness especially right now.. I quite simply was blown away.

A few days ago Poe returned to his friends. He is limping slightly on his back left leg. I see no evidence of an abscess or a wound. He is very skinny. His appetite is ravenous and overall, whatever he went through he looks like he’s survived.

I am relieved to see him because we are in the middle of a winter storm warning supposed to deliver snow tomorrow and Wednesday. It’s just nice to see him back. I still don’t know where he vanished to? I had a friend go and check out around the underside of the house to see if she could see any tunnels or holes and she was not able to. So I guess it will remain a mystery.

I am currently truckless. My truck is very ill. It’s going to take a lot of mullah to get it fixed. I was told that I could only drive it to get groceries. Something about a VCT solenoid that controls the oil pressure, the driveshaft and the transmission is going out. No biggie, just a lot of money and it’s going to take quite some time for me to come up with the funds needed to get it fixed. But I will do it because it has to be done  I never thought growing up that I would be growing old living paycheck to paycheck but there you go.

We are down to one 16 pound bag of dry cat food and I will get paid next week. The canned food is no longer being offered even though we are in cold weather still, there are plenty of flies coming out of the cold  Thank God the yellow jacket invasion hasn’t arrived yet but it’s coming soon.

Ashley is trusting me only in small spurts. Mostly now she’ll visit at night when I’m in bed. I guess she thinks because I’m laying down I’m safe. But she will come up and spend about 20 minutes with me, she tries to smother my face which doesn’t make me very happy but I tolerate it because that’s how she is. It’s either how she shows her affection or she is a silent assassin wanting to cut off my airway. Silly kitty!

I was actually able to flea treat her two days ago without capturing her or taking her into the bathroom so she couldn’t escape. That is a definite plus in our journey together. She did not poop on me, or on the floor but she did jump in to the cat box immediately following the application of the flea stuff to do her business  Another milestone reached with her

We have another visitor here. This is a mackerel tabby that looks remarkably like Twigglesworth. This kitty is also hanging out at the creek. I have provided a protected shelter where the kitty can go to eat and not get wet or cold. Looks to be about the same age as Twigglesworth so possibly a littermate  Unlike Twigglesworth, this kitty is not friendly she’s very skittish. She’s also quite thin. If someone does own her they certainly are not taking good care of her.

In March 2016, the local Humane Society contacted me about a kitten who failed his initial test for acceptance into their adoption process. Their “test” consisted of several volunteers forming a circle and passing this 5 month old, scared to death kitten around like he was a Cracker Jack box. Well needless to say he didn’t like that idea. He bit one of the volunteers so he was put into quarantine which unfortunately is in an open area that’s also full of dogs and other cats. He was observed for two weeks. His sister, she also failed this test and she was put in the same situation as him. At the end of the 30 days that’s when we were called to come and get them. Both of them are deemed “feral” they have been here ever since  Poe’s sister is Twist

Poe has been missing now for a week  although not approachable by humans he has never gone astray. He and his sister hang out under the back porch, or under the back patio. I always see him in the mornings and at night when I go out to feed. Although he is now six years old he was the runt of the litter and he looks more like he’s six months old. The vet believes that early neglect has led to his stunted growth.

I noticed him a week ago, he was staggering a bit. He was walking alongside the house and when he turned the corner, he just vanished? They sealed up under my house so I don’t believe he’s under there but anything is possible when it comes to cats. Especially ones that have been wounded or injured or scared. I walk the line of the house yesterday with my flashlight in hand and a stick and I tried to find any sort of passageway where he could get under the house. The barrier is solid. The ground around it has not been disturbed so there’s no tunnels. He’s just gone?

I hate it when they disappear and you’re left wondering what happened to them? I know most times they go to ground and go to sleep. Either they wake up healthy or they don’t wake up at all. I will be on the lookout for predator activity out in the fields, crows, turkey buzzards, eagles and ospreys circling. That would be my first indication of where he might be. Otherwise I have to just sit here and wait and hope that when he does eventually emerge he will be healthy and okay