Sunday, May 31, 2009

The Big Siamese is Dead

Meet Gabby, the brown tabby girl, from the disabled mom. A pair of prevet students named both of them.
Gabby gabbing!
Napoleon, the boy kitten.
Gabby in the arms of a prevet student at the clinic, where I took them after the SS woman and neighbors down near the office, were able to get under the building and locate the pair.

I had to come home from the clinic. I am too upset. The big Siamese I netted actually had a broken upper front leg. The broken off bone, they said, had slid down beside the other piece. He also had shattered teeth and broken toes. Possibly a broken jaw, too. Must have been living in horrible horrible pain. It just was too much for me, with all that's gone on. I came home.

Good news now, on a different front. The SS woman got permission to go under that next door building. I went over the moment I got her e-mail but just missed her. Two kittens in hand, much older than I expected, very healthy. And I met two neighbors over there, who will take in the white female. First she'll spend time with her kittens for a few days.

The Big Siamese is Dead

Meet Gabby, the brown tabby girl, from the disabled mom. A pair of prevet students named both of them.
Gabby gabbing!
Napoleon, the boy kitten.
Gabby in the arms of a prevet student at the clinic, where I took them after the SS woman and neighbors down near the office, were able to get under the building and locate the pair.

I had to come home from the clinic. I am too upset. The big Siamese I netted actually had a broken upper front leg. The broken off bone, they said, had slid down beside the other piece. He also had shattered teeth and broken toes. Possibly a broken jaw, too. Must have been living in horrible horrible pain. It just was too much for me, with all that's gone on. I came home.

Good news now, on a different front. The SS woman got permission to go under that next door building. I went over the moment I got her e-mail but just missed her. Two kittens in hand, much older than I expected, very healthy. And I met two neighbors over there, who will take in the white female. First she'll spend time with her kittens for a few days.

The Pain of a Mother

The lactating white female, doomed now, has turned vicious. I am the person, to her, that took her from her kittens, sealing their fate. The SS woman's hands are tied. She has not been able to reach the manager of the building, to get under there and find the kittens. She can't go back or she too will die.

And what am I to do, watching her pain and knowing kittens are slowly dying because I trapped their mother. It is a terrible position for me to be in. I asked that woman if the female could have kittens and was told "no" that she was not lactating.

I went over again tonight, after a fruitless journey to Sweet Home. There was allegedly a trailer park with over 30 cats needing fixed. When I got there and met another volunteer, who had spoken with the manager about the situation only an hour before, and there were no cats. They'd disappeared over the last months, but the manager had told the volunteer over there they were all there. Why, I wonder. Who knows, but they're not there anymore and probably were killed by someone.

When I was at the building, I could only look through the hole the mother cat enters, and make mother cat calls. The only response I got was from Scrunch, the orange scrunched ear Heatherdale double crypt fixed a week ago Friday who doesn't know he's neutered yet and probably thought he heard a female in heat.

I said "Scrunch, I helped you out. How about helping me out now? You could go under there and carry them out to me. You could, you know." He eyed me suspiciously then took off.

Over in Sweet Home I had the distinct pleasure of meeting the old woman about whom an article was written in the paper last week. The article stated Senior and Disability Services had abandoned her, asking that she pay almost $300 per month towards a caregiver. Disability Services response to the reporter's inquiries were guarded, citing client privilege.

Well, turns out, the old woman wanting our sympathy is a notorious mean cat collector that KATA has had to deal with already on two occasions. When we were trying to figure out where all the cats were, we decided to ask Charlotte, since she's the cat woman in that park. She invited me in. She sat, surrounded in trash, with two cat carriers on either side of her. Inside each carrier, was a Siamese cat. She never lets them out, she told me. It was unbelievably sad and this is her M.O.

She told me she keeps them in the carriers because the female is in heat, until she can get her spayed. I said, thinking stupidly I could cajole her into allowing me to get them fixed, "I am a cat lover. I will be happy to take them in for you."

She started in then. "Them vets spay them without anesthesia and I'd want to be there right with them, because I love them, for the whole 24 hours. I ain't handing my cats over to nobody because they won't treat them right."

I stared at the poor cats, confined in incredible heat to those tiny carriers. The law went after her in Lebanon. Dead cats in carriers in the back, I think was part of what went on, it was just horrible. Then she landed in Sweet Home and KATA took about 15 out of the trailer, at the request of a relative, when she was hospitalized under police supervision.

Then the woman wanted to know who I really was. I told her, that we had been told there were 30 cats needing fixed in the park and I came to try to help them, and, since she was the resident cat lover (I was still being nice), she'd know how many there were and where they hung out. She then demanded that I adjust some piece of equipment on the floor, and began yelling at me that I was doing it wrong and what the hell, didn't I know what "a little bit" meant, in regards to moving it. Oh my gawd, I thought, no one in their right mind could be paid enough to be this woman's caregiver.

Besides the refuse of this being the trailer of a collector, trash and stacked papers everywhere.

She lit into me again in a fit of cussing and threats and I said, "I need to get going." I literally ran down her handicapped ramp to be away. Oh my gosh, that woman is mean!

The reporter didn't tell the whole story in that paper article. Not even close. She should have done so. I sent an e-mail to the online editor, suggesting they actually tell the whole story.

The trailer park manager then began to get calls from her, repeated ones, over and over. I felt for her.

The old woman needs committed, in my opinion, if ever anyone did. Animal abuse is no laughing matter and this woman is abusing animals and anyone alive who gets close enough to give her opportunity to unleash her venom.

I got a contact from someone wanting barn cats. But I think the name is fake and I think its a kid playing games. I actually get a lot of those. Spoiled kids. Bored kids. Or disturbed kids usually.

The Pain of a Mother

The lactating white female, doomed now, has turned vicious. I am the person, to her, that took her from her kittens, sealing their fate. The SS woman's hands are tied. She has not been able to reach the manager of the building, to get under there and find the kittens. She can't go back or she too will die.

And what am I to do, watching her pain and knowing kittens are slowly dying because I trapped their mother. It is a terrible position for me to be in. I asked that woman if the female could have kittens and was told "no" that she was not lactating.

I went over again tonight, after a fruitless journey to Sweet Home. There was allegedly a trailer park with over 30 cats needing fixed. When I got there and met another volunteer, who had spoken with the manager about the situation only an hour before, and there were no cats. They'd disappeared over the last months, but the manager had told the volunteer over there they were all there. Why, I wonder. Who knows, but they're not there anymore and probably were killed by someone.

When I was at the building, I could only look through the hole the mother cat enters, and make mother cat calls. The only response I got was from Scrunch, the orange scrunched ear Heatherdale double crypt fixed a week ago Friday who doesn't know he's neutered yet and probably thought he heard a female in heat.

I said "Scrunch, I helped you out. How about helping me out now? You could go under there and carry them out to me. You could, you know." He eyed me suspiciously then took off.

Over in Sweet Home I had the distinct pleasure of meeting the old woman about whom an article was written in the paper last week. The article stated Senior and Disability Services had abandoned her, asking that she pay almost $300 per month towards a caregiver. Disability Services response to the reporter's inquiries were guarded, citing client privilege.

Well, turns out, the old woman wanting our sympathy is a notorious mean cat collector that KATA has had to deal with already on two occasions. When we were trying to figure out where all the cats were, we decided to ask Charlotte, since she's the cat woman in that park. She invited me in. She sat, surrounded in trash, with two cat carriers on either side of her. Inside each carrier, was a Siamese cat. She never lets them out, she told me. It was unbelievably sad and this is her M.O.

She told me she keeps them in the carriers because the female is in heat, until she can get her spayed. I said, thinking stupidly I could cajole her into allowing me to get them fixed, "I am a cat lover. I will be happy to take them in for you."

She started in then. "Them vets spay them without anesthesia and I'd want to be there right with them, because I love them, for the whole 24 hours. I ain't handing my cats over to nobody because they won't treat them right."

I stared at the poor cats, confined in incredible heat to those tiny carriers. The law went after her in Lebanon. Dead cats in carriers in the back, I think was part of what went on, it was just horrible. Then she landed in Sweet Home and KATA took about 15 out of the trailer, at the request of a relative, when she was hospitalized under police supervision.

Then the woman wanted to know who I really was. I told her, that we had been told there were 30 cats needing fixed in the park and I came to try to help them, and, since she was the resident cat lover (I was still being nice), she'd know how many there were and where they hung out. She then demanded that I adjust some piece of equipment on the floor, and began yelling at me that I was doing it wrong and what the hell, didn't I know what "a little bit" meant, in regards to moving it. Oh my gawd, I thought, no one in their right mind could be paid enough to be this woman's caregiver.

Besides the refuse of this being the trailer of a collector, trash and stacked papers everywhere.

She lit into me again in a fit of cussing and threats and I said, "I need to get going." I literally ran down her handicapped ramp to be away. Oh my gosh, that woman is mean!

The reporter didn't tell the whole story in that paper article. Not even close. She should have done so. I sent an e-mail to the online editor, suggesting they actually tell the whole story.

The trailer park manager then began to get calls from her, repeated ones, over and over. I felt for her.

The old woman needs committed, in my opinion, if ever anyone did. Animal abuse is no laughing matter and this woman is abusing animals and anyone alive who gets close enough to give her opportunity to unleash her venom.

I got a contact from someone wanting barn cats. But I think the name is fake and I think its a kid playing games. I actually get a lot of those. Spoiled kids. Bored kids. Or disturbed kids usually.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Netted that Big Lynx Point

33 Cat Trailer Brown tab on white male, to be fixed Sunday.
The front leg injured big Siamese I netted this a.m., to be fixed Sunday.
The SS office white female, to be fixed Sunday.

I was over at the trailer park this a.m., looking to catch the two males still there unfixed. But, I saw the injured Lynx Point napping on her back porch. I set up my drop trap.

I have a new toy courtesy of Mason in Florida. It is a remote controlled drop trap stand. The remote receiver also will detach from the drop trap stand, to reattach and hang off any live trap and using the same sender unit, will remotely trigger any live trap, too. Mason is going to market these eventually and wanted me to try them out "in the field" and so I got the unit for free! Yahooo!

But in the end, a medium hair orange tabby showed up, limping due to fight injuries, and began spray marking everything, including my drop trap. For good measure, he squatted and peed on the old woman's patio chair. There are two orange tabby males in the trailer park. Both are owned and both owners are extremely hostile to the idea of spay neuter, despite the behavior of their cats to neighbors properties.

The Orange tabby wanted to get into it with the injured Lynx Point. The Lynx Point wanted to avoid a fight and I watched as he headed up onto the woman's porch. I knew he was going to come over the gate and down the steps. The old womans' son had just arrived. I waved him back, grabbed my net and just as the Siamese made a lunge by me, having come down the stairs of the porch, I netted him.

The son then helped me transfer him into a live trap. I could not have transferred him alone into a live trap. It's hard. I could have done so had I had a carrier with me.

I was going to leave then, but then I saw one of the two males I was after fed by the old woman, the brother of the two tabby on white sisters, now spayed. He is tabby on white long hair, and half tame. I called him close enough to pet him, then the son handed me the net. I scruffed him and brought him to the asphalt and dropped the net over him. From there, I transferred him to a live trap with the help of the old woman's son.

At this point, half the other now fixed and hungry cats were pillaging my car. I'd left my door open.

I decided I would try later for the one remaining male not fixed there, one of four black tux brothers. The other three are fixed.

I have five reservations for tomorrow's FCCO clinic and I now have four cats in hand. The Lynx Point injured male. The long hair tabby on white male. The white deaf blind female. And the ten week old orange and white kitten, one of three abandoned on Frye Road. KATA is going to take in the two orange and white female kittens, so they will get them fixed.

KATA also came forward, happily for me, and paid for the old gal black manx's dental and tooth removal of yesterday. She is on pain meds and antibiotics now and housed in style over at the couple's house, in a rabbit hutch.

The couple's daughter and son in law are moving in. He was laid off, from his HP job, and, without an income now, he has put his house on the market and the couple are moving in with her parents.

I met the daughter. She is very nice, has a horseback riding injury currently, so has time to care for and socialize this old gal as she recuperates. It's really quite a wonderful end to the story. Her mother and the neighbor across the road, for whom I once trapped over 40 cats, that came with the property when they bought it, unbeknownst to them, are volunteering at the FCCO clinic tomorrow. The former owner's daughter allegedly snuck back onto the property and dumped several unfixed Siamese, before the current owners moved in. They bred and what resulted was a huge feral Siamese colony. They're all fixed now, long fixed in fact.

The couple upon whom the elderly manx female and orange tabby mother with kittens were dumped, have three more out there, recent dumps, to catch. Another manx, this one a long hair torti, and likely the black manx's sister, a black and white, and a male Siamese, who has showed up in the last month and also likely was dumped.

I went back over to the SS building early this morning, searching for any kittens out there. The food I had left was gone, but likely had been eaten by birds. I set a trap and left it for several hours and it was not touched.

The SS woman now tells me the cat must have had a recent litter that are under the building. There is easy access under there, but the building has an alarm system and she can't get ahold of the manager. She must have permission. She is hoping to do so. She has left a message and e-mailed him.

I will find somewhere for this white girl to go. The SS woman adopted her brother, who does just fine at their house. Also, I found out the white cat I was told about at Heatherdale, with the half length tail, was indeed a male and was trapped, neutered and released by a neighbor of the SS building. So he's fixed now too.

Everybody is fixed now, and maybe those kittens also will be saved and maybe they won't. But there's no choice in it. Their mother can't be released or both she and her kittens will die next week.

Sometimes the life of caste out cats and their kittens is very hard, and the end, for some, is extremely cruel. I'll find somewhere for this female. I will.

Netted that Big Lynx Point

33 Cat Trailer Brown tab on white male, to be fixed Sunday.
The front leg injured big Siamese I netted this a.m., to be fixed Sunday.
The SS office white female, to be fixed Sunday.

I was over at the trailer park this a.m., looking to catch the two males still there unfixed. But, I saw the injured Lynx Point napping on her back porch. I set up my drop trap.

I have a new toy courtesy of Mason in Florida. It is a remote controlled drop trap stand. The remote receiver also will detach from the drop trap stand, to reattach and hang off any live trap and using the same sender unit, will remotely trigger any live trap, too. Mason is going to market these eventually and wanted me to try them out "in the field" and so I got the unit for free! Yahooo!

But in the end, a medium hair orange tabby showed up, limping due to fight injuries, and began spray marking everything, including my drop trap. For good measure, he squatted and peed on the old woman's patio chair. There are two orange tabby males in the trailer park. Both are owned and both owners are extremely hostile to the idea of spay neuter, despite the behavior of their cats to neighbors properties.

The Orange tabby wanted to get into it with the injured Lynx Point. The Lynx Point wanted to avoid a fight and I watched as he headed up onto the woman's porch. I knew he was going to come over the gate and down the steps. The old womans' son had just arrived. I waved him back, grabbed my net and just as the Siamese made a lunge by me, having come down the stairs of the porch, I netted him.

The son then helped me transfer him into a live trap. I could not have transferred him alone into a live trap. It's hard. I could have done so had I had a carrier with me.

I was going to leave then, but then I saw one of the two males I was after fed by the old woman, the brother of the two tabby on white sisters, now spayed. He is tabby on white long hair, and half tame. I called him close enough to pet him, then the son handed me the net. I scruffed him and brought him to the asphalt and dropped the net over him. From there, I transferred him to a live trap with the help of the old woman's son.

At this point, half the other now fixed and hungry cats were pillaging my car. I'd left my door open.

I decided I would try later for the one remaining male not fixed there, one of four black tux brothers. The other three are fixed.

I have five reservations for tomorrow's FCCO clinic and I now have four cats in hand. The Lynx Point injured male. The long hair tabby on white male. The white deaf blind female. And the ten week old orange and white kitten, one of three abandoned on Frye Road. KATA is going to take in the two orange and white female kittens, so they will get them fixed.

KATA also came forward, happily for me, and paid for the old gal black manx's dental and tooth removal of yesterday. She is on pain meds and antibiotics now and housed in style over at the couple's house, in a rabbit hutch.

The couple's daughter and son in law are moving in. He was laid off, from his HP job, and, without an income now, he has put his house on the market and the couple are moving in with her parents.

I met the daughter. She is very nice, has a horseback riding injury currently, so has time to care for and socialize this old gal as she recuperates. It's really quite a wonderful end to the story. Her mother and the neighbor across the road, for whom I once trapped over 40 cats, that came with the property when they bought it, unbeknownst to them, are volunteering at the FCCO clinic tomorrow. The former owner's daughter allegedly snuck back onto the property and dumped several unfixed Siamese, before the current owners moved in. They bred and what resulted was a huge feral Siamese colony. They're all fixed now, long fixed in fact.

The couple upon whom the elderly manx female and orange tabby mother with kittens were dumped, have three more out there, recent dumps, to catch. Another manx, this one a long hair torti, and likely the black manx's sister, a black and white, and a male Siamese, who has showed up in the last month and also likely was dumped.

I went back over to the SS building early this morning, searching for any kittens out there. The food I had left was gone, but likely had been eaten by birds. I set a trap and left it for several hours and it was not touched.

The SS woman now tells me the cat must have had a recent litter that are under the building. There is easy access under there, but the building has an alarm system and she can't get ahold of the manager. She must have permission. She is hoping to do so. She has left a message and e-mailed him.

I will find somewhere for this white girl to go. The SS woman adopted her brother, who does just fine at their house. Also, I found out the white cat I was told about at Heatherdale, with the half length tail, was indeed a male and was trapped, neutered and released by a neighbor of the SS building. So he's fixed now too.

Everybody is fixed now, and maybe those kittens also will be saved and maybe they won't. But there's no choice in it. Their mother can't be released or both she and her kittens will die next week.

Sometimes the life of caste out cats and their kittens is very hard, and the end, for some, is extremely cruel. I'll find somewhere for this female. I will.

Want to Eat Some Iron Fortified Processed Cereal?

Check out this video:

Want to Eat Some Iron Fortified Processed Cereal?

Check out this video:

Friday, May 29, 2009

Blind, Deaf and Lactating

I caught the female I was asked to trap, living under a building next to the SS building. She is all white, deaf, blind and lactating, but she can't go back, because the insurance office people are going to block the hole she uses to go under their building on Monday.

I guess the SS security said he saw a couple kittens with her a few weeks ago. I am hoping she is nursing one or both of those, and does not have a new litter under that building. Either way, it's sad. I don't know what on earth I can do with a blind and deaf cat.

I will try to catch her kittens. At least one is still alive out there.

I know this cat. It is the third cat I was told about a few months ago, when a woman who lives at Heatherdale Trailer Park called about more strays she was feeding. The three strays were: a brown tabby female; the orange tabby male with scrunched ears, and the white cat. I asked the tenants to trap the cats with the managers trap. The woman who called won't get involved, for some unknown reason, but got some friend of hers who is nuts to trap.

She did set the trap and caught the brown tabby. She was very pregnant at spay. SafeHaven took her in afterwards. The woman then wouldn't try for the other two. It was almost two months before I heard from her again. That was after the man found the badly injured orange and white male in his carport. The old woman then vowed to try for the other two. But it was almost another month before suddenly she called last Thursday that she'd trapped that orange tabby long hair male and come get him, and kill him. I was really not very happy with her. The cat was fixed and returned. I was told the white cat had disappeared long ago. Well now I know where she disappeared to.

Blind, Deaf and Lactating

I caught the female I was asked to trap, living under a building next to the SS building. She is all white, deaf, blind and lactating, but she can't go back, because the insurance office people are going to block the hole she uses to go under their building on Monday.

I guess the SS security said he saw a couple kittens with her a few weeks ago. I am hoping she is nursing one or both of those, and does not have a new litter under that building. Either way, it's sad. I don't know what on earth I can do with a blind and deaf cat.

I will try to catch her kittens. At least one is still alive out there.

I know this cat. It is the third cat I was told about a few months ago, when a woman who lives at Heatherdale Trailer Park called about more strays she was feeding. The three strays were: a brown tabby female; the orange tabby male with scrunched ears, and the white cat. I asked the tenants to trap the cats with the managers trap. The woman who called won't get involved, for some unknown reason, but got some friend of hers who is nuts to trap.

She did set the trap and caught the brown tabby. She was very pregnant at spay. SafeHaven took her in afterwards. The woman then wouldn't try for the other two. It was almost two months before I heard from her again. That was after the man found the badly injured orange and white male in his carport. The old woman then vowed to try for the other two. But it was almost another month before suddenly she called last Thursday that she'd trapped that orange tabby long hair male and come get him, and kill him. I was really not very happy with her. The cat was fixed and returned. I was told the white cat had disappeared long ago. Well now I know where she disappeared to.

Good News and Bad News

There is good news and there is bad news on the old black long hair manx female. She had many very bad teeth. And she's quite old, too. Plus, her uterus was falling apart and infected. This comes from having way too many litters over the years and age.

So there wasn't much I could do but tell the vet to pull her bad teeth. She'll need a couple weeks recuperation and to be on antibiotics. Then she'll be feeling MUCH better.

The bad news is: The extra services cost $100. And I have to come up with that out of pocket.

I'd like to personally wring it out of the louse who dumped her, along with her sister, who, once trapped, will likely need similar help.

Takes a real asswipe to take elderly cats out and dump them along a road.

Consider this: For euthanasia and body disposal, the charge would have been $60. For $40 more, she gets to live, and pain free now too.

Good News and Bad News

There is good news and there is bad news on the old black long hair manx female. She had many very bad teeth. And she's quite old, too. Plus, her uterus was falling apart and infected. This comes from having way too many litters over the years and age.

So there wasn't much I could do but tell the vet to pull her bad teeth. She'll need a couple weeks recuperation and to be on antibiotics. Then she'll be feeling MUCH better.

The bad news is: The extra services cost $100. And I have to come up with that out of pocket.

I'd like to personally wring it out of the louse who dumped her, along with her sister, who, once trapped, will likely need similar help.

Takes a real asswipe to take elderly cats out and dump them along a road.

Consider this: For euthanasia and body disposal, the charge would have been $60. For $40 more, she gets to live, and pain free now too.

The Last Cat

Someone is trying to catch a feral female, very thin and young, with bad eyes over just off Waverly. Neighbors trapped the others, hordes I was told, of abandoned cats who took up living under an empty building and the woman does not know what the neighbors did with the cats. This is the sole survivor.

She lives under a building and the management of that building wants to close up the holes. I have agreed to take this poor gal in, if she is caught, at least temporarily. Her story is just so sad.

Sadly, I had to return Tia, the teen caught by the Albany business, who, at just under four pounds, was pregnant and skinny. Her skinniness however turned out to be mostly worm caused. She had a severe tapeworm infestation and also roundworms. I bought her a tube of Profender, which helped her immediately.

At first, she was so happy inside here. But then three bully cats here took after her: Dex, Panda and Comet, attacking her if she tried to eat or use the litterbox. She began staying 24/7 up on the cat runs. She even began to poop up there, afraid to come down. So I got her down last night and put her in the bathroom, for which she was grateful.

It was a rough night for me last night. My knee hurt. I was tired but couldn't sleep due to my knee and also I got the intestinal thing again, the severe constipation, left side. Then, deliberating Tia's fate, too.

She needs her family. I took her home. She knows where I live now. If she gets in trouble, I hope she'll come looking for me.

Three cats are up being fixed today. One is yet another male trapped by the Albany business. They also retrapped the Lynx Point male last night. But he's fixed now, so they let him go.

Cats two and three are the manx black long hair dumped out on Frye and the orange female, mother of three kittens, also dumped on Frye. The woman whom they were dumped on has a friend who is adopting the orange mom and the boy kitten, once they are fixed. And KATA says they'll take the two orange and white girl kittens. So they won't be going to the FCCO clinic Sunday.

Countryside is going to call me just as they are about to close up the manx long hair. The cat is feral but she has such long hair I want to try to clip some of it off for her, while she's (hopefully) still under the influence of anesthesia. Being a long hair feral cat is not a fun thing in summer in Oregon. Makes a cat overheat, not to mention the matting problem.

The two manx's dumped are not true ferals, but they were dumped about three months ago, so they've kind of turned feral in the meantime. This cat may turn out to be already fixed, since the black short hair female, who appeared at the same time, was previously spayed, albeit left with those horrible metal wire sutures.

The Last Cat

Someone is trying to catch a feral female, very thin and young, with bad eyes over just off Waverly. Neighbors trapped the others, hordes I was told, of abandoned cats who took up living under an empty building and the woman does not know what the neighbors did with the cats. This is the sole survivor.

She lives under a building and the management of that building wants to close up the holes. I have agreed to take this poor gal in, if she is caught, at least temporarily. Her story is just so sad.

Sadly, I had to return Tia, the teen caught by the Albany business, who, at just under four pounds, was pregnant and skinny. Her skinniness however turned out to be mostly worm caused. She had a severe tapeworm infestation and also roundworms. I bought her a tube of Profender, which helped her immediately.

At first, she was so happy inside here. But then three bully cats here took after her: Dex, Panda and Comet, attacking her if she tried to eat or use the litterbox. She began staying 24/7 up on the cat runs. She even began to poop up there, afraid to come down. So I got her down last night and put her in the bathroom, for which she was grateful.

It was a rough night for me last night. My knee hurt. I was tired but couldn't sleep due to my knee and also I got the intestinal thing again, the severe constipation, left side. Then, deliberating Tia's fate, too.

She needs her family. I took her home. She knows where I live now. If she gets in trouble, I hope she'll come looking for me.

Three cats are up being fixed today. One is yet another male trapped by the Albany business. They also retrapped the Lynx Point male last night. But he's fixed now, so they let him go.

Cats two and three are the manx black long hair dumped out on Frye and the orange female, mother of three kittens, also dumped on Frye. The woman whom they were dumped on has a friend who is adopting the orange mom and the boy kitten, once they are fixed. And KATA says they'll take the two orange and white girl kittens. So they won't be going to the FCCO clinic Sunday.

Countryside is going to call me just as they are about to close up the manx long hair. The cat is feral but she has such long hair I want to try to clip some of it off for her, while she's (hopefully) still under the influence of anesthesia. Being a long hair feral cat is not a fun thing in summer in Oregon. Makes a cat overheat, not to mention the matting problem.

The two manx's dumped are not true ferals, but they were dumped about three months ago, so they've kind of turned feral in the meantime. This cat may turn out to be already fixed, since the black short hair female, who appeared at the same time, was previously spayed, albeit left with those horrible metal wire sutures.

Isn't This Funny?

From the crime report in the Gazette Times:

Benton County Sheriff’s Office

Tuesday, May 26

HAPPY CHICKENS: 1:23 p.m., 700 block South 13th Street, Philomath. A deputy did a welfare check on some chickens that reportedly didn’t have access to shade. Not only did the birds have shade, they had fans and a sprinkler system for when the temperature rises.

Isn't This Funny?

From the crime report in the Gazette Times:

Benton County Sheriff’s Office

Tuesday, May 26

HAPPY CHICKENS: 1:23 p.m., 700 block South 13th Street, Philomath. A deputy did a welfare check on some chickens that reportedly didn’t have access to shade. Not only did the birds have shade, they had fans and a sprinkler system for when the temperature rises.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Latest Dumps

These are the latest dumped cats, an orange mom and her three kittens, plus a long hair manx who looks like a female to me. Be interesting to see if she is fixed or not. This cat isn't discolored as I was told she was. The woman thought it was another manx, also dumped out there recently, with this one, who is a long hair torti. She thought the torti's coloration had turned into a black red, but it's a different cat. This is the one she thought had disappeared, after the two manx's suddenly appeared together. No kittens have been seen, however. A Siamese male has also been dumped out there recently, plus a black and white cat.

The adult orange female and the manx will be fixed tomorrow. The woman is bringing the three kittens, all about 10 weeks old, two girls and a boy, to the FCCO clinic to be fixed Sunday. A friend of hers is taking in the mom and the male kitten. The other two kittens, the girls, will remain with the woman they were dumped on, until she finds them homes, if she finds them homes.

This manx long hair black has a very pretty and unusual face.


Latest Dumps

These are the latest dumped cats, an orange mom and her three kittens, plus a long hair manx who looks like a female to me. Be interesting to see if she is fixed or not. This cat isn't discolored as I was told she was. The woman thought it was another manx, also dumped out there recently, with this one, who is a long hair torti. She thought the torti's coloration had turned into a black red, but it's a different cat. This is the one she thought had disappeared, after the two manx's suddenly appeared together. No kittens have been seen, however. A Siamese male has also been dumped out there recently, plus a black and white cat.

The adult orange female and the manx will be fixed tomorrow. The woman is bringing the three kittens, all about 10 weeks old, two girls and a boy, to the FCCO clinic to be fixed Sunday. A friend of hers is taking in the mom and the male kitten. The other two kittens, the girls, will remain with the woman they were dumped on, until she finds them homes, if she finds them homes.

This manx long hair black has a very pretty and unusual face.


Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Mom Cat and Kittens Dumped on Rural Linn Road

An orange mother cat and her three orange and white kittens were dumped along a rural Linn Road just outside Albany.

Funny thing. I saw an ad for three orange and white kittens on craigslist very recently. The poster was trying to get rid of three orange and white kittens. I responded with an offer to help get the mother cat fixed.

Are these the same kittens and mom? Probably. The post was removed. I need to start saving the free kitten and cats ads again, so when they show up dumped, I'll know where to go to find the mean mother fuckers who did it.

Mom Cat and Kittens Dumped on Rural Linn Road

An orange mother cat and her three orange and white kittens were dumped along a rural Linn Road just outside Albany.

Funny thing. I saw an ad for three orange and white kittens on craigslist very recently. The poster was trying to get rid of three orange and white kittens. I responded with an offer to help get the mother cat fixed.

Are these the same kittens and mom? Probably. The post was removed. I need to start saving the free kitten and cats ads again, so when they show up dumped, I'll know where to go to find the mean mother fuckers who did it.

Four Cats Being Fixed Today

Photos of the four cats, three males and a female, up being fixed today, below:

Injured Chocolate Pt. Snowshoe male Siamese, being neutered today. He suffered rear leg injuries but is getting better.
Rescued torti pt. Siamese, being spayed today.
One of two owned males, being neutered today.
The second cherished owned boy, being fixed today.


Only one female made it into the four being fixed today. The female and one male I found as a result of attempting to locate where the injured Lynx Point Siamese might be spending time.

This woman also is feeding a stray injured Siamese male, by coincidence, but not the same injured Siamese. One is a Lynx Point, the other a Chocolate Point. The Lynx Point has a badly injured front leg, while the Chocolate Point injured both rear legs. The woman who feeds him said he couldn't even walk for awhile, on either rear leg, but is slowly getting better.

Usually, this sort of injury occurs when the cats' rear end is clipped by a car, when the cat dashes across a street. It's usually a crack in the pelvic bone. The other Siamese's front leg injury is usually the result of fighting with another male, or a dog bite/mauling. It's usually the former cause, however, this time of year.

So that male is being neutered today along with a female torti pt. Siamese the woman rescued from somewhere. She has a black cat that comes up on her porch, also, but that black cat has a very prominant eartip.

The other two cats being fixed today are two male cats owned by a guy who lost his job and has no money to pay for their neuters. He is very nice, I think. But then, so is the woman feeding this particular injured Siamese male. Nice people all around.

Four Cats Being Fixed Today

Photos of the four cats, three males and a female, up being fixed today, below:

Injured Chocolate Pt. Snowshoe male Siamese, being neutered today. He suffered rear leg injuries but is getting better.
Rescued torti pt. Siamese, being spayed today.
One of two owned males, being neutered today.
The second cherished owned boy, being fixed today.


Only one female made it into the four being fixed today. The female and one male I found as a result of attempting to locate where the injured Lynx Point Siamese might be spending time.

This woman also is feeding a stray injured Siamese male, by coincidence, but not the same injured Siamese. One is a Lynx Point, the other a Chocolate Point. The Lynx Point has a badly injured front leg, while the Chocolate Point injured both rear legs. The woman who feeds him said he couldn't even walk for awhile, on either rear leg, but is slowly getting better.

Usually, this sort of injury occurs when the cats' rear end is clipped by a car, when the cat dashes across a street. It's usually a crack in the pelvic bone. The other Siamese's front leg injury is usually the result of fighting with another male, or a dog bite/mauling. It's usually the former cause, however, this time of year.

So that male is being neutered today along with a female torti pt. Siamese the woman rescued from somewhere. She has a black cat that comes up on her porch, also, but that black cat has a very prominant eartip.

The other two cats being fixed today are two male cats owned by a guy who lost his job and has no money to pay for their neuters. He is very nice, I think. But then, so is the woman feeding this particular injured Siamese male. Nice people all around.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Regarding Same Sex Marraige

It's ridiculous not to allow same sex marraige. I wonder if those three brother cats, I saw at the trailer park, taking turns doing each other, rolling around happily afterwards making muffins in the grass, I wonder if they know they're going to hell and need to repent.

I didn't tell them.

A cat would consider that a ridiculous concept.

We humans should too. There's not a lot of love in this world. Where it exists, we should celebrate it, no matter whom it is loving whom.

I was going to trap the two males left unfixed at the old woman's 31 Cat Trailer this evening. But her daughter in law called and said the old lady wanted it done some other time. It's tough when you're helping people out and they won't accomodate your schedule with vet appointments, but want you to accomodate them instead.

It's the same thing with that last Millersburg male, too. I think that man might purposefully subvert trapping him. Why else would he tell me, when I left him a trap one day to use the next week "I'll have him ready," but then go ahead and feed him, and make all sorts of excuses as to why he didn't really have time to try much? And this same scenario has played out twice now, almost like a game.

I get the feeling the man likes the drama of excuses and borrowing and reborrowing a trap, rather than just catching the cat so it can be done. I won't loan him a trap for the job again. Nope. No sense in it, just more pain if I did, for me.

If I'm ever up real early, I'll go out there and catch that boy myself. Otherwise, it's their problem to solve. Afterall, that man told me they would pay $20 per cat to cover a rabies vaccine, and so, stupidly, I got the three done a rabies and a distemper and paid out of pocket. And he stiffed me. That's just mean and very very dishonest.

Regarding Same Sex Marraige

It's ridiculous not to allow same sex marraige. I wonder if those three brother cats, I saw at the trailer park, taking turns doing each other, rolling around happily afterwards making muffins in the grass, I wonder if they know they're going to hell and need to repent.

I didn't tell them.

A cat would consider that a ridiculous concept.

We humans should too. There's not a lot of love in this world. Where it exists, we should celebrate it, no matter whom it is loving whom.

I was going to trap the two males left unfixed at the old woman's 31 Cat Trailer this evening. But her daughter in law called and said the old lady wanted it done some other time. It's tough when you're helping people out and they won't accomodate your schedule with vet appointments, but want you to accomodate them instead.

It's the same thing with that last Millersburg male, too. I think that man might purposefully subvert trapping him. Why else would he tell me, when I left him a trap one day to use the next week "I'll have him ready," but then go ahead and feed him, and make all sorts of excuses as to why he didn't really have time to try much? And this same scenario has played out twice now, almost like a game.

I get the feeling the man likes the drama of excuses and borrowing and reborrowing a trap, rather than just catching the cat so it can be done. I won't loan him a trap for the job again. Nope. No sense in it, just more pain if I did, for me.

If I'm ever up real early, I'll go out there and catch that boy myself. Otherwise, it's their problem to solve. Afterall, that man told me they would pay $20 per cat to cover a rabies vaccine, and so, stupidly, I got the three done a rabies and a distemper and paid out of pocket. And he stiffed me. That's just mean and very very dishonest.

I've Been Comcasted!

Once again, I've been comcasted. My limited basic cable just dropped three more channels without warning--all three Eugene stations. I don't know why. Comcast does not consider me a customer is the problem. My bill for limited basic goes to my brother. I lost my password almost immediately after connection. Without the password, I can't request another because they want to e-mail it to my comcast e-mail address which I cannot access without a password. So, I've done without. Calling does no good because without a password they don't believe I am a customer.

So, they have their way with me and I have no way to get around that. They've apparently Comcasted me again, reducing limited basic to really really limited basic. If I ever get ahold of them, that's what I'm going to ask, if they've changed their Limited Basic, to Really Really LImited Basic, just for laughs.

I've gone back and forth with a potential cat adoptor from Springfield all weekend. He wants Matilda. But he's young, about to start college, and doesn't think he'll ever move, but he will move and get a life beyond college and then what will life end up for a cat he adopts?

Today he was just going to take a look at Matilda. She has an ear infection going on right now, so isn't really up for adoption currently. But he was an hour late and I was supposed to be elsewhere at 4:00 and had to tell him "some other time".

It's terribly hard on me, not knowing who these folks are, who want to adopt a precious rescued kitty, if they'll take care of them, or maybe abandon them one day. I just hate it. It's horribly stressful on me of late, gives me nightmares and probably high blood pressure and I just absolutely hate it.

I tried to net the injured HUGE Lynx Point this morning. It was a stupid stunt.

It was so hot. He wasn't interested in the trap. I was to get back to meet that adoptor who was way way late. The big cat is very badly injured, front leg, and I was able to get within a few feet of him where he lay napping in some berry vines.

He's so cross eyed, he doesn't see well. I decided to take a chance and net him. Getting him netted was no problem. Getting him from the net into a trap was a huge problem alone. I wrestled in cat poop filled dust and dirt with the massive Siamese before he just slipped out through a hole he enlarged in my rotting away fish net. I was upset with myself. He loped a few dozen feet up the sidewalk and darted into the next yard up through a fence hole.

I came home then, kicking myself over that stunt, washed up and cleaned up, waiting on that adoptor. By ten til 4:00, with him almost an hour late, I had to leave. I went back to meet up with someone who lives around the corner from where the injured Lynx Point hangs out. She has a Siamese mix male on her porch too, with injured back legs, probably from being hit by a car. He's getting better but he too needs neutered. I left her a carrier so she could put him in it herself.

The old trailer woman across Salem Road has another male who showed up. She thinks he is a new show, but then says he's likely the brother of the two tabby and white sister short hairs, now fixed. So she has two more males over there who need fixed.

The other woman, who feeds the Siamese with the back leg injuries, and I walked around looked for the injured Lynx Point Siamesee and found him sleeping in the yard he'd run into after slipping through my net. He was just dozing but ran when we got too close. Then the man who lives at that house got home. I asked about setting traps on his property. At first he seemed all for it. Then suddenly he said he really didn't care at all about the strays or whether they were fixed or not and he didn't want involved at all. He was rather blunt about his apathy.

I chose to pick up the trap and not leave it in his yard. I think this surprised the woman from around the block, but apathetics are pathetic in so many ways and often interfer regardless of what they may say. He had said, "You can put the traps on my porch and by the shed, but I don't want to check them or watch them because I just don't care."

Control freaks and apathetics might seem like exact opposites but they have many traits in common, I have found. I don't deal with either type and find it far easier, down the line, to just leave.

I didn't explain myself to him or to his neighbor, a cat lover eager to help that injured Lynx Point. I just loaded the trap and told the woman, "nope, not leaving it on that porch," and came home. It's just the best way, I've found, to stay clear of apathetics and definitely not to leave equipment on their property. That way, no arguments when there is frustration, like if the apathetic suddenly calls me to say 'the neighbors little dog is in that damn trap, get over here now or we're calling the cops.' That sort of thing.

A free roaming cat has absolutely no knowledge or respect for human property lines that you can't even see or smell. This does bother cat hating people very much. They must think things like "Darn those animals, coming onto my property! How dare they!"

It does complicate efforts to catch a free roaming stray like this Siamese, who gets food in multiple locations. You have to find a human friendly and set up shop. But it's hardly worth it with some people, who disavow any involvement or any empathy for the person helping the cat or the cat himself.

I've Been Comcasted!

Once again, I've been comcasted. My limited basic cable just dropped three more channels without warning--all three Eugene stations. I don't know why. Comcast does not consider me a customer is the problem. My bill for limited basic goes to my brother. I lost my password almost immediately after connection. Without the password, I can't request another because they want to e-mail it to my comcast e-mail address which I cannot access without a password. So, I've done without. Calling does no good because without a password they don't believe I am a customer.

So, they have their way with me and I have no way to get around that. They've apparently Comcasted me again, reducing limited basic to really really limited basic. If I ever get ahold of them, that's what I'm going to ask, if they've changed their Limited Basic, to Really Really LImited Basic, just for laughs.

I've gone back and forth with a potential cat adoptor from Springfield all weekend. He wants Matilda. But he's young, about to start college, and doesn't think he'll ever move, but he will move and get a life beyond college and then what will life end up for a cat he adopts?

Today he was just going to take a look at Matilda. She has an ear infection going on right now, so isn't really up for adoption currently. But he was an hour late and I was supposed to be elsewhere at 4:00 and had to tell him "some other time".

It's terribly hard on me, not knowing who these folks are, who want to adopt a precious rescued kitty, if they'll take care of them, or maybe abandon them one day. I just hate it. It's horribly stressful on me of late, gives me nightmares and probably high blood pressure and I just absolutely hate it.

I tried to net the injured HUGE Lynx Point this morning. It was a stupid stunt.

It was so hot. He wasn't interested in the trap. I was to get back to meet that adoptor who was way way late. The big cat is very badly injured, front leg, and I was able to get within a few feet of him where he lay napping in some berry vines.

He's so cross eyed, he doesn't see well. I decided to take a chance and net him. Getting him netted was no problem. Getting him from the net into a trap was a huge problem alone. I wrestled in cat poop filled dust and dirt with the massive Siamese before he just slipped out through a hole he enlarged in my rotting away fish net. I was upset with myself. He loped a few dozen feet up the sidewalk and darted into the next yard up through a fence hole.

I came home then, kicking myself over that stunt, washed up and cleaned up, waiting on that adoptor. By ten til 4:00, with him almost an hour late, I had to leave. I went back to meet up with someone who lives around the corner from where the injured Lynx Point hangs out. She has a Siamese mix male on her porch too, with injured back legs, probably from being hit by a car. He's getting better but he too needs neutered. I left her a carrier so she could put him in it herself.

The old trailer woman across Salem Road has another male who showed up. She thinks he is a new show, but then says he's likely the brother of the two tabby and white sister short hairs, now fixed. So she has two more males over there who need fixed.

The other woman, who feeds the Siamese with the back leg injuries, and I walked around looked for the injured Lynx Point Siamesee and found him sleeping in the yard he'd run into after slipping through my net. He was just dozing but ran when we got too close. Then the man who lives at that house got home. I asked about setting traps on his property. At first he seemed all for it. Then suddenly he said he really didn't care at all about the strays or whether they were fixed or not and he didn't want involved at all. He was rather blunt about his apathy.

I chose to pick up the trap and not leave it in his yard. I think this surprised the woman from around the block, but apathetics are pathetic in so many ways and often interfer regardless of what they may say. He had said, "You can put the traps on my porch and by the shed, but I don't want to check them or watch them because I just don't care."

Control freaks and apathetics might seem like exact opposites but they have many traits in common, I have found. I don't deal with either type and find it far easier, down the line, to just leave.

I didn't explain myself to him or to his neighbor, a cat lover eager to help that injured Lynx Point. I just loaded the trap and told the woman, "nope, not leaving it on that porch," and came home. It's just the best way, I've found, to stay clear of apathetics and definitely not to leave equipment on their property. That way, no arguments when there is frustration, like if the apathetic suddenly calls me to say 'the neighbors little dog is in that damn trap, get over here now or we're calling the cops.' That sort of thing.

A free roaming cat has absolutely no knowledge or respect for human property lines that you can't even see or smell. This does bother cat hating people very much. They must think things like "Darn those animals, coming onto my property! How dare they!"

It does complicate efforts to catch a free roaming stray like this Siamese, who gets food in multiple locations. You have to find a human friendly and set up shop. But it's hardly worth it with some people, who disavow any involvement or any empathy for the person helping the cat or the cat himself.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

The Teen and Big O


This is the teenager who was pregnant and roaming an Albany business unwanted. I couldn't return her, which is bad, because I have too many here now waiting for homes.

This is the Big Orange Male, not quite neutered, whom that crazy mean lady trapped and wanted killed, at Heatherdale. I believe she set that trap and didn't check it and I bet he was in there more than one night. I just believe he was. His face is beat up by the trap. The food dish she had in for bait was flipped over. The trap was not covered. Some people should never touch a trap in a million zillion years. She is one of them.

The Teen and Big O


This is the teenager who was pregnant and roaming an Albany business unwanted. I couldn't return her, which is bad, because I have too many here now waiting for homes.

This is the Big Orange Male, not quite neutered, whom that crazy mean lady trapped and wanted killed, at Heatherdale. I believe she set that trap and didn't check it and I bet he was in there more than one night. I just believe he was. His face is beat up by the trap. The food dish she had in for bait was flipped over. The trap was not covered. Some people should never touch a trap in a million zillion years. She is one of them.

The Cook





I love to cook, but never learned to cook in my dysfunctional childhood nor in my dysfunctional wasted decades within the mental health system.

Now, especially with my bum knee, I have taken to learning new things in my down time. Cooking is one of them. I have been trying simple exotic new recipes whenever I can. And, after discovering Amazon and their cheap used books of all sorts, often with free shipping, man alive, what a world out there open to discover even if I cannot travel.

I am also attempting to learn a couple of new languages.

My latest cooking attempts are ethnic Israeli foods, middle eastern and Greek cousine and Russian cousine.

The world is like an active infection, in some ways, teaming with all sorts of life and cultures. I suppose that metaphore is unappealing to some. Is that why life began on earth, I wonder? A vacancy promotes opportunity and opportunistic organisms. Why did the Europeans come to America? A perceived vacancy. Why are we looking into space? Perceived vacancy.

I do want to move out of this neighborhood. I only think this now and then anymore. Because I actually now have a wonderful place to live and the best neighbors I've ever had in my life!

It's the yard thing is getting to me. I don't have much money and what I have I cannot use to invest in yard supplies and equipment. I see this as self destructive. But the people living on this street are just very strong yard people. I feel inadequate and judged all the time solely on the basis of that square of front grass.

I need a lawnmower, at the least. Those are expensive and it can be expensive to repair and maintain a used one. I am on the hunt for a used one, however, and when I get one, and can maintain my front square myself, it will all be ok.

I have a rake and a shovel and a broom and that is the extent of my yard maintenance tools. That old Habitat store bought manuel mower is no good and never was. I miss my first manuel mower that worked so well I often mowed a half acre lawn with it at my old place in Corvallis. It was, sadly, run over and mangled beyond repair.

The only way I might become accepted completely in this neighborhood would be if I become a front yard fanatic. I also think about the peeling paint and disintegrating roof. My brother isn't going to come paint this house or have a new roof put on it. I don't expect him to. But the paint is peeling off and the siding is bowing and splits and swollen places in the siding are apparent. I'm not sure how to fix those.

I don't have the sort of money necessary to maintain a house. In other neighborhoods a bit of peeling paint would not matter much and I would not feel self conscious about it. But on this block, appearance is everything I think. I did spray the roof last year with a moss killer but it didn't seem to work.

The backyard has too many trees--five in all. My backyard is not very big, really. You would never think it could hold five huge trees. The two maple hybrids alone spit down massive volumes of leaves in the fall. Their trunk girths are small, however, and I am told the Cottonwood grew to its astounding height in under ten years.

But, the biggest problem of too many trees, outside of too many leaves, is too much shade. I can't grow a vegetable garden. Besides the two maples there is a cottonwood and birch or hemlock. The one tree I would keep, if I chose between the five: the cherry tree, which produces high volumes of really good cherries. Trouble is, I can't get to most of them. It needs pruned, after which, a couple years would pass, I'm told, before it would produce again.

The back two trees and one maple could be taken out, in my opinion. All have trunks under the diameter required by the city for a tree removal permit. It is extremely costly to have a tree removed by a service, however, costing close to $800 to $1000 per tree. There is no way in the world I could afford to have even one of those trees removed.

This afternoon I did go after a few of the lower branches of one maple, removing three, although the three each had many side branches. I used the sawzall I have, although it's power is minimal, because the battery packs I have that also fit my drill, are shot, been recharged too often I guess.

However, I stood on the ladder, cut what I could of the branch with the sawzall, then used a handsaw and finished off the branch by pounding it with a hammer. I had to cut around the now rotted boards my brother put around the branches to attach wire to for the cat yard, to free the branch, which I then would pull out from the outside, or pull through to the inside of the cat yard.

I was methodical and careful, so I would not hurt myself further, something I don't need, more injuries. I cut up some of the branches afterwards, into firewood long lengths. Maybe I'll go camping one day and need to take firewood, although it'll be green wood. Maple is a very dense hardwood.

Just taking out three small diameter branches produced a massive amount of debris. Boy, think I made a big mess! But even removal of three, with their offshoot branches, opened some space for light penetration into the backyard. I think it helped.

The Cook





I love to cook, but never learned to cook in my dysfunctional childhood nor in my dysfunctional wasted decades within the mental health system.

Now, especially with my bum knee, I have taken to learning new things in my down time. Cooking is one of them. I have been trying simple exotic new recipes whenever I can. And, after discovering Amazon and their cheap used books of all sorts, often with free shipping, man alive, what a world out there open to discover even if I cannot travel.

I am also attempting to learn a couple of new languages.

My latest cooking attempts are ethnic Israeli foods, middle eastern and Greek cousine and Russian cousine.

The world is like an active infection, in some ways, teaming with all sorts of life and cultures. I suppose that metaphore is unappealing to some. Is that why life began on earth, I wonder? A vacancy promotes opportunity and opportunistic organisms. Why did the Europeans come to America? A perceived vacancy. Why are we looking into space? Perceived vacancy.

I do want to move out of this neighborhood. I only think this now and then anymore. Because I actually now have a wonderful place to live and the best neighbors I've ever had in my life!

It's the yard thing is getting to me. I don't have much money and what I have I cannot use to invest in yard supplies and equipment. I see this as self destructive. But the people living on this street are just very strong yard people. I feel inadequate and judged all the time solely on the basis of that square of front grass.

I need a lawnmower, at the least. Those are expensive and it can be expensive to repair and maintain a used one. I am on the hunt for a used one, however, and when I get one, and can maintain my front square myself, it will all be ok.

I have a rake and a shovel and a broom and that is the extent of my yard maintenance tools. That old Habitat store bought manuel mower is no good and never was. I miss my first manuel mower that worked so well I often mowed a half acre lawn with it at my old place in Corvallis. It was, sadly, run over and mangled beyond repair.

The only way I might become accepted completely in this neighborhood would be if I become a front yard fanatic. I also think about the peeling paint and disintegrating roof. My brother isn't going to come paint this house or have a new roof put on it. I don't expect him to. But the paint is peeling off and the siding is bowing and splits and swollen places in the siding are apparent. I'm not sure how to fix those.

I don't have the sort of money necessary to maintain a house. In other neighborhoods a bit of peeling paint would not matter much and I would not feel self conscious about it. But on this block, appearance is everything I think. I did spray the roof last year with a moss killer but it didn't seem to work.

The backyard has too many trees--five in all. My backyard is not very big, really. You would never think it could hold five huge trees. The two maple hybrids alone spit down massive volumes of leaves in the fall. Their trunk girths are small, however, and I am told the Cottonwood grew to its astounding height in under ten years.

But, the biggest problem of too many trees, outside of too many leaves, is too much shade. I can't grow a vegetable garden. Besides the two maples there is a cottonwood and birch or hemlock. The one tree I would keep, if I chose between the five: the cherry tree, which produces high volumes of really good cherries. Trouble is, I can't get to most of them. It needs pruned, after which, a couple years would pass, I'm told, before it would produce again.

The back two trees and one maple could be taken out, in my opinion. All have trunks under the diameter required by the city for a tree removal permit. It is extremely costly to have a tree removed by a service, however, costing close to $800 to $1000 per tree. There is no way in the world I could afford to have even one of those trees removed.

This afternoon I did go after a few of the lower branches of one maple, removing three, although the three each had many side branches. I used the sawzall I have, although it's power is minimal, because the battery packs I have that also fit my drill, are shot, been recharged too often I guess.

However, I stood on the ladder, cut what I could of the branch with the sawzall, then used a handsaw and finished off the branch by pounding it with a hammer. I had to cut around the now rotted boards my brother put around the branches to attach wire to for the cat yard, to free the branch, which I then would pull out from the outside, or pull through to the inside of the cat yard.

I was methodical and careful, so I would not hurt myself further, something I don't need, more injuries. I cut up some of the branches afterwards, into firewood long lengths. Maybe I'll go camping one day and need to take firewood, although it'll be green wood. Maple is a very dense hardwood.

Just taking out three small diameter branches produced a massive amount of debris. Boy, think I made a big mess! But even removal of three, with their offshoot branches, opened some space for light penetration into the backyard. I think it helped.

Dog in the Road

 I went to get groceries yesterday morning fairly early. I was expecting visitors, brief ones, pop in and out, so I wanted to get done with ...