Thanksgiving and the KIttens

I didn't do much Thanksgiving.   My older brother and his wife now live in Idaho.  I'm not sure if I will ever see them again.  I used to spend a day somewhere before Thanksgiving with them.  Or rather a few hours.  And sometimes I'd go there at some point near Christmas.  Now I'm on my own both holidays.

My younger brother and his wife stopped briefly on their way north earlier in the week to spend the holidays with their daughter in Washington State.  They had spent the night in Eugene, and were having breakfast in Albany and invited me to join them.

It was nice to see them, even if for such a short time.  I'm not a breakfast person but the food at this place just off I5 was very good. They looked good too and were so funny, they made me laugh.

In the end, I went out to someone's place I've known for years for dinner.  Through cats, when she encounters them, and they need fixed.  She took in three barn cats from me too, but I didn't see any of them when I was out there, which is not surprising.  She took in Siletz and Angelo from Mountain Shadows trailer park in Sweet Home and the female, Bambi, I trapped at the Albany porn shop.

I was so tired by the time I got there and they were already sitting at the table ready to eat.  I guess I got the time wrong. I'd been up to the county park, as it was the day to feed the cats there, and to the farm colony too, as I knew the cats in both places would be waiting and hungry and relied on me and there's no one else who feeds them or will.   I fell asleep on the couch right after eating, could not stay awake.  They have a room with a couch in it, and its mostly windows and the view to the west of the mountains and valley below them is spectacular. It is so beautiful out there and they keep making their place more suited to enjoy the beauty.  All I needed was a short nap to revive a bit.  It was so nice of them to invite me.  They had other folks there including some graduate students with no place to go.  One from Ireland.  One from Brazil.  One from South Korea!   I then came home, and unbelievably, fell asleep by 7:00 p.m. 

Black Friday I spent at Petsmart, once I got moving and paid bills I'd put off paying.  A really nice donation from a grass seed farmer allowed me to stock up on cat food for colony cats I feed.  However, by the time I got there, the stock left at sale price was low.  Petsmart Black Friday wet and dry cat food sales are well known by the cat rescue community.   I got as much as I could and even saw a Brooks woman there I know.

Their sales only lasted til noon, so I was home early.  I fought off holiday depression or tried to by singing to myself and staying busy and counting my blessings, repeating in my head the lists of things I have to be thankful for and how good I have it, which is true.  Everyone else on the block seems to have company, people and family visiting and doing things together. In the end, I was ok.

I do suffer occasional depression but mostly it is sparked by lonliness.  Over the years I've developed strategies to combat these feelings.  I have to keep rested because being too tired can bring it on.  I have to limit my exposure to depressing negative news about the world too.  And I repeat positive things and constantly remind myself I could be dead any moment, better enjoy this minute, like Miss Daisy did.  She never wasted a moment on self pity.  I am determined to stay positive, too.  She is still inspiring me.  But I sure miss her.

The bathroom kittens are doing ok.  The 2nd Harvest Drive kitten, Pisces, is a silver tabby.  Well, she's really the fourth, but Blizz and Rabbit are long gone.  I left a trap set out there for the little black kitten, but last night, when I finally called the couple, whose porch the trap is on, they'd not had any luck and had not rebaited the trap, so my heart and hopes fell, and I asked them to rebait and keep trying.

Here's a video of the river and falls at the county park.  The water is now very high on the South Santiam because of all our recent rain.  It's very warm rain too.

Here's a video of Pisces, as she gets acquainted here, with the bolder bonded pair of Winnie and Copper.

Winnie and Copper have a home to go to together once they are fixed but that won't happen until week after next.  Copper and Cheetah, the torti girl, keep fighting off eye conjunctivitis, but Copper cannot tolerate eye ointment, makes her eyes worse.  Some cats and terramycin eye ointment don't mix. So she's going to the vet with me and Mops next week.

I still have to find homes for the other four, once tame enough.  I'm getting there with them.  Here's Meadow, although the video isn't that great, was trying to show how much she loves to head bump.  She's the cute muted torti.

Meadow

Copper is the funniest kitten.  She talks and is so loving.  She reminds me of Miss Daisy.

Cheetah is fun too!

One holiday gone, one to go.  And I've got a garage stocked with cat food now, should be enough to feed the colony cats for three months.