Gray Fluff

I have another kitten here, from the colony.

They found him Saturday evening, out by a shed near the colony house, and sent me this photo.

Those eyes look bad!

I went and retrieved the poor little guy Sunday about noon.  I couldn't reach them by phone or text.  I'm not sure if they have any internet.  They live in kind of a storage shed. So I finally just drove over there.  Sometimes I am embarrassed I have an actual house to live in, with a bathroom and a roof when I see how other folks must live.

 In fact I had begun to experience terrible trouble with my phone reception.  Calls dropping, nothing going through. For awhile I might get to talk to someone, then it would go fuzzy or drop.   I did not know what to think.  This problem only got worse over the next days.

I took make up remover pads I get from the dollar store, to clean eyes and faces.  I took eye ointment and kmr (kitten milk).   I pulled into a parking lot and cleaned his eyes, applied meds, fed him, on my lap.

Oh wow, he has eyes!

The rain has continued here almost nonstop.   Sunday there were short breaks and I knew I should be mowing the lawn, in any break from rain.  But.....instead I cuddled the kitten.

 He loves to play already.  The little girl who found him said she saw the mom.  She's the short hair brown tabby Pepper, fixed almost two weeks ago.  She saw a little black kitten too.  The cats continue to lactate after spay and the kittens, if they have them, and we never even know sexes for sure until they're fixed on many of the cats, are usually fine for the time the mom is gone.  However these kittens out there, with the exception of the board pile three, have all been quite ill with URI's and would not live if not taken and treated.  I've only caught three of the 20 kittens taken so far from the colony.  The board pile three, now with Chelsea in Lebanon.  The rest the daughter of the colony caretaker and her daughter, who is ten or eleven years old, have caught them.

He is kitten number 20 out of that colony.  I don't really see people anymore.   The Covid thing, the two month shut down.   I saw Karen from Portland for a few minutes when she picked up the mom cat who had kittens in the trap and the last three kittens I'd collected from the colony.  That was Saturday.  I think.  Yeah, it was.   She was waiting for me to get home after I delivered all the cats back after they were fixed, some clear to Cascadia and it takes an hour just to get to there.   She was napping in her car out front when I got back with all those dirty empty traps in the back of my car that were making my eyes water from the smell.

She booked it back to Portland as she had cats to pick up at the FCCO.  Friday when I took all those cats to be fixed and also netted four other adults, then handed those four over to a friend who places barn cats, well that seems already like eons ago.  The good thing about netting those four adults in that utility room was the lady gave me a check for $100 made out to my friends cat fixing fund in Yamhill county.  I felt good giving her that check.

This latest colony kitten is so darn cute.  By yesterday, my phone barely worked.  I panicked I admit.   I have an upcoming appointment by phone the 25th.  Not only did they have the wrong number, in the letter sent, about the phone review, but now the phone I have isn't working long enough to take a call.  I got a cheap prepaid online, and one month of text and talk.  It won't get here for a couple of days.   I thought it was my phone that was bad, is why and I was so panicked I'd miss the review phone call and be cut off from medical care.

I have a phone courtesy of my brother, who put me on his plan.  Otherwise I can't afford a phone, other than maybe I could with a prepaid, a few minutes a month.  Prepaids used to be a lot cheaper however.  The bird lady doesn't have internet and her phone only has minutes sometimes.  Usually I have to go to her place if she needs a cat fixed to get information and make arrangements.  She doesn't complain.

  I have internet courtesy of my other brother otherwise I wouldn't have that either.   I'm in the same boat lots of people around here find themselves.   I can't complain because I have it better than most because of my two brothers.  I'm happy I have internet and a phone.

By last night, I finally knew the cause of phone problems across the country, although I did not know others were experiencing problems too as I haven't seen it on the news.   A T Mobile problem has created issues across all carriers and their customers and it may have been caused by cyber attack!

I don't know when it will be resolved.  For now I just text and don't even try to hold a conversation by phone.  The weather is really lousy but may clear up for the weekend, even get warm.  About time!  We have had no hint of summer yet.

I got my emergency brake fixed yesterday.  I went to the shop that did my rear brakes before the covid shut downs.  They did it free, said it just needed adjusted.  Took about ten minutes.  Nice to now not have that worry.

Since Sunday when I picked this little guy up, about all I do is play with this darn cute kitten from the Sweet Home colony.  Sunday seems a long time ago already.