Nebraska Visit

Von, Sheila, Halie, Alexis and I made a quick trip to Nebraska for Makenna's blessing on Sunday, Oct. 18, at Dave and Jenn's church. Halie made herself at home with her cousins, playing super heros in their hooded bath towels, leaping from the stairs, and hiding in the closet. Jenn's parents were also there, so we spoiled all the kids rotten with all the attention.


Halie, Tanner, Hayden and Maren

Maren, Alexis, and Sheila

Makenna

Maren

Maren practicing being a big sister with Alexis

Hiding in the closet...love this one!

Hayden leaping down the stairs.

Tanner doing the same.

Dave and Makenna on blessing day

Family of 6!

Sheila and girls

Von and Tanner at play

Sheila and Maren

Grandma Judy and Makenna one last time!

Super heros

Maren and her funny smile.

Farewell to the kittens

After work today, I took the kittens out of their cage onto the back lawn for some rays. Animal rescue came and took them tonight, so our lives are back to "normal"again. Mama still comes into my backyard, and the food will still be there for her (and the rest of her buddies out there.)

Kittens part 3

Just an update. CAWS animal rescue brought me a cage for the kittens, food for the cats, and a trap to catch the mama. Two nights and three other cats later, mama was finally caught in the trap. Hunger is the key factor. I took her in for a spay, which is free to CAWS through this vet. The vet recommended the kittens stay away from mama to avoid infection. So, mama and kittens are in separate cages in the garage. Kittens are eating just fine on their own, and getting a lot of hands-on from Von and me, and anyone else who comes by. They are still very wild, but calm down a bit when held (recommended by CAWS to help tame them). Mama is still very quiet and reclusive, probably confused about what happened to her. But, she's eating and should be ready for release tomorrow, unless CAWS wants to take and tame her along with the kittens!

Kittens part 2, and babies

Well, the mama cat brought 3 of the 5 kittens back to my yard a few days ago. We assume the other 2 were taken or died. They've been hiding out under our junipers until today. The neighbors are doing major construction on the house next door, and that had mama worried. When she left today, a couple of the kittens followed her, leaving one behind again.
It so happens that the wife of the construction worker(Tracy) was outside and noticed the mama and kittens out back, and let us know she is an animal rescuer (CAWS Cat and Dog Rescue). With Sheila's help I captured the one kitten, and Tracy had a look and recommended we capture the rest of the kittens and mama, gave us a cat kennel for the night, and will be back tomorrow with a trap to catch the mama. She will take them all, fix them, tame them, and find homes for them, or release mama back to our neighborhood. She is not friendly, so I would be curious to see how Rescue does with her. After supper, I went where I thought the other kittens would be, captured them, and have all three in the kennel. They are very mad and just hiss at us. I'm feeding them tuna, and they have a much warmer bed tonight than the outdoors. Stay tuned for part 3.


Sheila with two of them

Von with the third.

Lexi crawling and getting around at almost 9 months.

Halie pretending she's holding a kitten.

summer, fall and winter!

Just threw this in, since it was so cute. Lexi (8 months) standing up to play with the musical thing-a-ma-jiggy. Halie coaching. A few days ago while it was still summer.

We went from 87 degrees on Tuesday, with fall colors on their way.... (I've been passing these "tumble weeds" the last week or so. Across the street from our subdivision next to Wal-Mart.)

To this early snow storm, mostly in the mountains, today...Sept. 30! All of the mountains in the Salt Lake Valley were sprinkled with snow down to their bases. Highs in the upper 40's-low 50's.

KITTENS

Tuesday evening, Sheila's family joined us for supper, and Halie went out into the back yard when she was finished. Soon she came running back telling us there was kitty in the yard, and as we looked, it was following her! Probably 3-4 weeks old, white and light brown like its mother, with blue eyes and screaming as they do when suddenly moved. Evidently the mother was moving it into our backyard behind the tall bushy junipers, that she has napped under the past year since Homer left us. Halie scared the mother off, so Sheila and started looking for the rest of the litter. Found them in the shed next door. Owners had just moved out, so we put the baby back with the rest (5 all together, 3 white like the mama, one black and white, one gray and white).
Wednesday evening, the new owners of the house came, we talked and learned they were planning to demolish the shed with the kittens!....so, I rescued them, put them in a plastic container and moved to my shed, then to the junipers where I hoped the mama would return and stay with them, since she began to move them there anyway.
Well, when she returned, she began moving them somewhere else. After she had moved 3 of them, I went to make sure it wasn't the old shed again. They weren't there, thankfully. It gets down into the low 40's, upper 30's at night, so I was concerned they all were moved before I went to bed.
Well, it was after 11 pm, and 3 were left and hungry, so I brought them in to warm and feed them. I opened a can of evap milk, mixed a couple tablespoons with warm water in a little bowl, and let them have a go. They were so young that they were breathing it up their noses as they sucked on it. They managed to suck it all up. I cleaned them up, put them in a cardboard box with newspaper for added warmth, then returned them outside for mama. By 1am there was 1 left. By 1:30 it was still out there alone in the cold and screaming. Time for another feeding, and no mama. So, brought it in. I no longer have the little bottle and nipple I used to nurse other standed baby kittens, so got out a regular baby bottle, then dripped away onto my fingers and into its mouth. It caught on in a hurry, since it was probably starving. I put it back in the box, put a heating pad under the box, covered it, then took a nap on the couch for a couple hours. At 3am and 6:30 am we repeated the procedure. But after the 6:30am feeding, I spotted mama out in the yard waiting, so took a cup full of fresh cat food, with kitten in hand, filled her dish and placed kitten on ground next to it. Kitten screamed enough to alert the whole neighborhood, and mama FINALLY carried it off.
As long as they aren't in the shed next door today, they should be fine. I've prepared a place in our shed for them, in case mama decides to move them again, but even though I feed her every day, I have grandchildren that come and go, so she probably won't venture.

Return to Pismo

Von and I took my annual trip to Pismo Beach. On our way we stopped in Bakersfield for lunch with sister Jane and family, and her grandson Nathan entertained us with his attempts at walking. He was one on Sept. 10. Thanks for the meal and company. Good to see Erin and Scott, too!

In Fresno, I took Von to see some of my old haunts. Stopped in on my old church, St. Paul's Methodist. Other than the paint job, and a few Sunday School rooms made into offices, it was amazingly the same over 50 years later.

Fellowship Hall full of memories as a youth. Same brown tile floor and curtains on the stage.

We stay in the Kon Tiki resort hotel at Pismo Beach, with girlfriend Cece and her mom, who have frequented the place for over 50 years.

Cece

Von even got his feet wet for a change.

Cece and Lois.

Pedro put in another appearance at Cece's house, just before going into hibernation.

He came right to Cece when we got back from the beach, ravenous for something to eat, usually fruit and lettuce. Cece found him when she was 7 years old, and he uses the doggy door to get in and out of the house along with the dogs.

On our way home, we stopped in on Zion, took the shuttle and a two-mile hike along the Pa'rus trail. Got home today in good time, and grateful for a good time with friends and family.