Take what you like and leave the rest.

I don't know how I feel these days.  It's confusing.  Part of me feels like I am in an isolated place.  But that is not necessarily a bad thing.  It's just that it would be nice to have someone to talk with, to share bits of my life, to share bots of theirs.  Ah, well.

Here's the latest update on my situation:

Last week, Sophie, the rescued dog, killed a cat.  It was horrible.  She was so proud of herself, but I was ready to get rid of her!  At first I thought it was one of our Feral kittens, but a nose count proved they were all well and present.  So whoever it was, was a stranger.  My heart still goes out to it, poor thing.   Now I have to figure out what I am going to do about Sophie.  This is a problem.

Poor Sophie was abandoned by her people when they moved out and left her chained to the mobile home. She mourned for them for over three months.  She was almost totally denuded of fur, since she was allergic to fleas and was flea-covered.  Her ears had been damaged by the chain on her neck and were poor little shriveled up appendages on her head.  She was cowering all the time and seemed to have no joy in her.

Well, she is beautiful now.  Full fur coat, no fleas, and I have been massaging her ears.  They will never return to normal, but at least they are no longer infected and painful.  Sophie has finally started trusting me and she takes very good care of Fred, the blind, diabetic dog.    She was also very good with the abandoned kitten we found.  (So why kill older kittens but nurture the younger ones?  I think it may be partly a case of wanting to chase anything that runs away.)  Anyway, what to do with Sophie and still keep all the cats safe?  I am NOT going to put her on a chain!  Period.  She had seven years of that with her former people.  Never again.  Right now she has the run of the house and a doggie-door that gives her full access to the fenced-in yard.  She deserves a Good Home with people who love her and other dogs to play with.  I just don't think I can provide that and still maintain a safe place for the Ferals.  One good thing, she does not even try to bother my house cats.  I think they may have swiped her with claws at one point, so she has respect for them.


The Ferals are doing well.  Several of them let me pet them a little when I feed them.  Two new kittens have joined the group.  They are very young, prolly around 6 weeks.  And they are very hungry.  One of them now lets me pet him.  This is the one that ran away at first because my eyes met his.  Scared the daylights out of him, but now he is beginning to get the idea that I am a friend, since I bring him food.  One of these days I will take a picture of all the Ferals eating and post it here for you to enjoy.

And my home.  Ah, my home.  Three weeks ago it was absolutely beautiful.  Homey, comfortable, inviting. Then someone (human) needed a home, so I cleared out the back room to make room, Looked through over 75 boxes (!), moved the furniture and a couple of walls.  Chaos in total.  For various reasons, it did not happen, but here I am now with the Chaos and furniture that cannot be moved back unless I take down some walls and then re-do them.  So, a different configuration is in order.  I figure that I can do it better this time, making all my art supplies accessible, not hidden behind things.  I will be switching out the desk and my bed in just a little while.  Then everything else can move at my leisure.

Finally, my health.  I survived the cancer.  The jury is still out on whether or not I shall survive the treatment.  Two weeks ago they had to stretch my throat so I could swallow. ( Man, that hurt!)  And I can swallow better now, but not freely.  Plus chewing is a challenge.  So I am drinking most of my meals, soups and protean drinks.  Smoothies hurt too much.  And I think I am still losing weight.  That makes over 80 pounds gone.  I am very slim now and none of my pants stay on unless they have belts or safety pins.

OK, that's enough of this.  I will type things later when life (or my stories)  are more interesting.