Every day, the diabetes continues to throw curveballs into our lives. For Mike to do anything now that requires even a bit of effort is a total surprise. It falls on me now to do everything around the house, including any repairs on the place. Yesterday, the main rafter of the garage started to come down. I almost got hit in the head by the darn thing. When I asked Mike if he could help me refasten it to the beam, I was told he doesn’t think he can keep his balance on the ladder anymore. I think it came down because it was near the impact point where the limb crashed through the garage during the last windstorm. We tried to shore up underneath the hole, but the rain has gotten in and weakened the beam. I will need to put it up tomorrow as it is almost to the point of totally collapsing.

The cats are instrumental in helping me relieve stress, and at night when I get off of work, they crowd on top of me the minute I sit on the couch. Everest sits on the armrest, Sierra wraps around my neck and purrs comforting sounds into my ears. Charlie perches on my knee, and Cole wraps his beautiful blackness around my leg.

Just having them near me lowers my blood pressure and I become so much calmer and at peace.

The kittens are being let out into general populaton during the day and they are growing like weeds. I haven’t named them yet- the author names didn’t really fit them, so I have resorted to just calling them Bk1-5. Mike wants to call the girl “Shots” because the minute you open the bedroom screen door, she shoots out of the room so fast. But I don’t want to call her shots. That’s a weird name for such a beautiful girl.

Around 6:00 a.m. I headed outdoors to feed the horses and the dog. I was dumping Gretchen’s food into her bowl when she suddenly exploded next to me and raced down the lawn toward the back pasture.

Startled, I looked up in time to see a beautiful sight. A buck, a doe and a fawn had stopped by to graze the grasses and get a drink. Upset at the dog, the Doe took off first with her baby following and the Buck bringing up the rear. I yelled at the top of my voice ‘GRETCHEN NO!” and to my surprise and delight, Gretch skidded to a stop and whirled around to look at me. Her eyes said it all “Please Mom let me play with them.” I called her back to me and she came at my call. I put her into the kennel with her food and swung the door shut. I had a feeling once I vanished into the house, she would have given chase.

Thank God that even at 7 months old, Gretchen is smart enough to listen when she has to. That buck would have defended his family and he had at least 6 points of defense at his disposal.

Ever since beginning this blog, I have been touched…(and not in the head) with the positive responses received by those who stop here.

When I find that the person contacting me, knows very little about dealing with a stray cat, a feral cat or a bottle baby- I often wonder just exactly how they found me. But I know that God has given me a resource to help people shift through the misinformation and confusion that exists on the Internet in regards to these wonderful cats.

In some instances, those I am able to help, decide to also open up their heart and home to other strays and begin to rescue, this warms my heart and is indeed a rich reward, especially for the cats long abandoned.

Someone who stops here on a regular basis recently contacted me. She holds a special place in my heart, and she knows who she is when she reads this excerpt. She lives overseas and we have never officially met- but came together one day two years ago, when she happened upon a motherless kitten in the bushes. Her husband refused to let her take it to the vet, and this little piece of orange sunshine, sounded (by her description in the emails) as if it wouldn’t live to see the next day. I started working with her, using everything that God has given me in regards to this rescue. The kitten survived and thrives to this day. He is her best friend.

Because of her exposure to my world, she decided last year to rescue the strays in her village. For days on end, emails flew across the ocean between us as she picked my brain regarding TNR.

Her husband, less than thrilled with the prospect of more cats in his home, opposed her from time to time but she continued on, posting messages on a village bulletin board that she would pay for the first ten people responding to her ad for a neuter of their cat.

She would tell me of sitting out in the rain, watching the traps, her coffee long cold, wet and miserable while neighbors laughed at her and even refused her the use of their toilet to relieve herself.

A few months ago, her husband began making viable threats towards hurting the next cat she brought home. Now mind you, she brought these cats home only until they were vetted and neutered, then she let them go. But he had reached his limit and the threats started to get ugly. She was told she was a mental case (hmmm how many of us who rescue have heard that?)

During our correspondence over the years, she was responsible for so many kittens that I rescued finding good homes. How? She would contact me and tell me she would pay for the spays of the latest litter, or she would pay for the initial vet visit and she was good to her word. My adopted families were so amazed that someone not a part of this house rescue would do such a thing. They were bowled over by her unconditional love for these creatures, and so was I.

Recently, she reached her limit with her husband and has left him and her grown-up children so that she can continue to rescue the strays. She lives in a rented home along with all the current cats waiting for their vet visit and she confided to me that for the first time in a long time, she is relaxed and at peace. She said, she will never go back to the man she married.

C- I know you don’t have access to a computer anymore on a daily basis. But I just want you to know that I admire you immensely for your love and your committment to these cats. Although we have never officially “met” I consider you one of my dearest friends. I can’t imagine what it cost you to walk away from a marriage of so many years, but if he indeed was making those threats against cats, pretty soon violence towards you or the girls might have started and that would have been a travesty.

You are a prime example of how one person can make a difference. I am proud to call you my friend and I wish I were close enough so we could share a coffee and some laughs. Take care of yourself and watch your back. He may just be beginning to get even with the cats that took him away from his wife and all that she could do for him.

Here are the babies after being fed and cuddled

The latest rescues went to the vet’s yesterday for a check-up. They were wormed and evaluated and although to young to test, they appear to be pretty healthy.

I have named them after authors although someone suggested because they are black kittens and there are five of them, that I name them after the Jackson 5. I think I will pass on that idea though and keep the names for now that I came up with.

Here is Hawthorne. Multiply his image by three and you have his brothers, add a long-hair smoky girl with a burst of color on her chest, tummy and neck and you have his sister Chandler.

They are becoming well-socialized and they want out of the bedroom, but I cannot allow it- not until they get their vaccinations.