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Rikkis Refuge, VA, USA
Current stats have us at NUMBER ONE
in Virginia with 38.22% of the votes. That's AMAZING - that's YOU ! The runner up in second place has 4.69% of the votes, so we are WAY in the lead. YOU ARE SO AMAZING! Planet wide we are ranked at number seven with 1.01% of the total votes. Best Friends is, of course number one with 2% of the votes. Only DOUBLE the number of votes that we have! Not bad for us HUH? The runner up, at eighth planet wide is has 0.99% of the votes, pretty close on our heals. Please vote till midnight PST so we don't lose our lead!
HELP!!!! MORE RAPPERS NEEDED
Just a couple of days away from our wrapping at Barnes & Noble. Steve, our friend from Barnes & Noble, called tonight, and told me there were extra sessions available on Monday and Tuesday from 11 am to 4 pm, and would we like to have them. I said YES!!!.
Barnes & Noble has been very good to Rikki's Refuge. They called us to offer the additional hours. That means money for us.
Now, I know that a lot of you have signed up for our other times. Would anyone like to help Fred and me fill these additional hours? PLEASE????
I'll take Monday, since I'm supposed to bring the newsletters, posters and handouts and do the first 5 hours ( from 11 am to 4 pm) and then my scheduled 4 pm to 7 pm. Fred has said that he would cancel his plans in Tuesday, and be there at 11 am and continue to his scheduled shift from 4 pm to 7 pm. Can anyone else help us fill these additional hours? It means money for the animals, and DOUBLE the funds with the matching challenge. Please help!
Thank you for your support of Riikki's Refuge. The animals send their love.
Catnip Candy paulcandy214@verizon.net
Does anybody
use a P-Active or wacom cintiq touch pad? If you do what do you think of it? What do you use it for? Does it do what you expected it to? Why'd you choose the one you did? Any comments on which is better and so forth? Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org
Anya is SAFE
Anya really scared us today. She's been here a couple weeks. An elderly gal dumped at the pound all matted and unkempt. She had to be shaved down. She’s lovely, gentle, loving, gets along with everyone, likes to lean against your legs. She looked out the cage and begged for a home. And still nobody would adopt her. I cannot stand the seniors just left behind to be offed. Once loved and cared for and here she sat, now loved by no one.
She's lucky and got to come to Rikki's to spend her golden years. She has to wear a coat when she goes outside till her fur grows back. She wants to be out all the time, but we don't let her, except on warm days, and then she must be in a fenced area or with someone.
Well this morning somebody took her out to potty. Something happened, they ran for something else, one of those distractions that could happen to anybody, and when they realized it - Anya was gone.
Already too many tracks in the snow to track anybody. All hands on deck and everybody went searching. Soon all the 4wd vehicles were on the hunt too. Then people were trekking in the wood.
She had on a bright orange coat, so she should be easy to spot. After an hour and a half her coat was found. And she wasn't in it. It'd gotten caught on branches and she'd wiggled out. Oh no, now this poor old gal, sight failing, not really knowing where home was, maybe trying to go home to her owners who’d abandoned her was alone, lost, no doubt cold, and trekking thru the snow covered woods and fields. What would become of this poor gal.
A couple volunteers showed up and started the hunt too. We circled the perimeter road in case she finally came out the woods. Thankfully we’re very secluded and surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of acres of woods and at least a mile from any road .... but .... we were scared. really scared.
We called all the neighbors. Went to the county shelter to let them know - they’re very close by and in case they got a call or somebody picked her up. Nobody had seen her. The nightmares going thru everybody’s heads were really scary.
After two and a half hours Valerie saw her and chased her down and called for a 4 wd truck to come pick them up as close as they could get to where they were in the woods. Joe zoomed off and soon there was Valerie and Anya climbing out from the back of the truck.
And what did Anya want to do? Not go inside and sit by the heater and warm up. Not dry her feet and thaw her toes. No. She wanted to head right back to the woods! She fought like heck being hauled back inside!!!
Soon as she was safely inside all the hoomans began to notice their freezing body parts and they wanted to hunch up by the heaters!!! But no luck for them either! Everybody’s work was two and a half hours behind schedule and it was time to hop to it!!! Luckily Anne and Katarina and a group of volunteers were here to help!!!
Starr Suds Up
Poor little Starr. I tried to help by sitting on the edge of the tub and explaining to her that the hoomans weren't really trying to drown her and if she’d hold still it’d be over a lot quicker than if they had to keep stopping and cleaning up the blood and bandaging themselves. But she wasn’t listening to me!
Poor kitty. All she wanted to do was help wash dishes and she jumped right under the pouring dish soap. Uh Oh, she had a big streak of soap down her back. You know what happens if you eat soap! So mom and Valerie had to hold her for a bath and she didn't like it one little bit!
On the Nineteenth Day of Christmas,
look what came to Rikki’s,
nineteen rebellious roosters,
eighteen litter challenged kitties,
seventeen emus escaping,
sixteen dangerous ducklings,
fifteen peaceful pigeons,
fourteen peacocks plotting,
thirteen humans helping,
twelve temperamental turkeys,
eleven pouting pussies,
ten crotchety creaking canines,
nine grumpy geese,
eight kicking kittens,
seven guinea fowl freeloading,
six lizards a lazing,
five guinea pigs a gnawing,
four elderly equines,
three burly bossy bovines,
two rabbits a mating,
and a chukar in a cherry tree.
See all the pictures
Rudolph the Red Nosed .....
Yesterday was a good volunteer day!
Of course, all volunteers are GOOD !!!! Cindy came and took care of doggies, like she does every Saturday!!! Happy Doggies!! Katarina came and had a photographer come and take pictures of her. The paper is doing a story of her Angel Trees!!! Bob came out brought lots of dog food to donate!! Num num num. He helped out around the farm and then too the generator that isn’t working so he can fix it and bring it back. Yippee !!!!
Zoe is 13 years old. She met me at the National Capital Cat Show
and we fell in love!!! She kept coming back for hugs and purrs!!! Mmmmm I love you Zoe.
She’s become a volunteer and has gotten her family and friends to help too. Yesterday they came to clean up cat runs. That’s a big job and lots of hard work. All that pooper scooping smells better when it’s below freezing but their toes and noses were getting cold - and they kept right on working all day!!!
Today Katarina had a group volunteering and Ann came to help too. That was real lucky cuz with all the extra things going on, we were all way behind schedule. Thanks to them - my meals were served right on time!!!
Lucky Cat Smiles on Volunteers
Vincent’s Very own 25 Days of Christmas
On the Nineteenth Day of Christmas
wouldn’t it be wonderful if
all the doggies got wonderful long walks
nineteen dogs a walking
We never have enough dog leashes and collars to walk the dogs who live in Doggy Downs! Having a bunch of spares would ensure that the Doggy Downs dogs (as opposed to our mascot dogs) get walked regularly. Any color and any brand will do, as long as it is a nylon leash – not retractable – and the collars should be wide and snap close. No need to buy matching sets – unless you want to.
Click on a doggy to feed him or her, click on a collar or leash to send a gift
seventeen ears a listening,
sixteen healthy hoomans a caring
fifteen seniors breathing easily,
fourteen feral kitties happily helped to the speuter clinic
thirteen terabytes of memory,
twelve glorious gift cards,
eleven wondrous packets of warmth
ten hooman helpers illuminated to see,
nine domed doggy igloos,
eight cozy kitty condos,
seven guinea pig garages,
six months of warm and wonderful heat,
five gentle, soothing, healing musical CDs,
four lights to help us see all the creatures at night,
three nummy cans food for each of the doggies,
two snuggy pads to keep us comfee,
and one VINCENT eating FANCY FEAST ....
You can have Amazon send it right on it’s way to
Anya
Rikki’s Refuge
10910 Barr Ln
Rapidan VA 22733
AND it even counts towards Amazon point for Rikki’s cuz you’ll be going in thru our site with this link!!!!
Interested in buying other items from Amazon for yourself or for gifts for all your friends and family? Use this link to make your shopping shop for Rikki’s - it doesn’t cost you a thing - Amazon will make a donation to Rikki’s when you enter their site thru this link!!! http://www.amazon.com/?&tag=wwwrikkisrefu-20&camp=212361&creative=392013&linkCode=wsw&
If you missed any of Vincent’s Shopping Suggestions - here they all are!
Mom’s Son Checks In
I just wanted to tell you that I survived my first scooter drive here in Thailand! Grampa is still in the hospital. He is feeling a bit better, but might still need a day or two more in there. That is actually kind of good since we need to work under his bed to finish getting the AC running in his cabin. So Kirk and I had rode tandem up to the hospital and had Subway there with Gpa. Then it started raining, so we all fell asleep. The scooter is borrowed from a fellow American yachtie so Kirk wanted it back here for the AM, but he wants to be with Grampa in the AM for when the doctor makes her rounds. I needed to be back here in the AM to work and direct our laborer. We woke up around midnight and saw it had stopped raining. So I said I was game to try my first solo trip. I had done some scooting around general vicinity of the marina complex (you can't actually come in the complex with a scooter) but hadn't yet got up the guts to ride on the main streets. The trip was pretty uneventful and late Sunday night was probably about the least traffic out. It will be a different story the next time I try to ride.
Mary Ellen has been studying Cat Nap Art!
I think my very own brofur Mr. Darcy can top all of them!
Yaaaaawwwwnnnnnn that made me sleepy. I think mom’s got the lectic bankie on and I think I’m gonna have a snack and try a cat nap myself!!!
I haz a happee cuz you’re my HERO !!!!
Love,
Vincent
.... Scoots back to office ..... climbs up on step ladder to turn on light ...... Yaaawwwwnnnnn ... pulls up into chair ..... turns puter back on .......
Hey Hey MY HEROS I’m so excited, I had to come get out of bed to tell you !!!! We’re up to $4,235 of our $15,000 challenge!!! We’re getting closer!!! I so hope we can make the whole $15,000 challenge. It’d help mom so much to be able to pay off the bills and start the new year not still owing for our food and meds. That’s what I’d like to give her for Christmas!!!
If you can help me, or were wondering what to give her for Christmas, this is the purrfect gift. And it’d be purrfect for my Christmas Pressie too!!!! (((my stomach must be full from my midnight snack)))
I’ll even make you deal - give the gift of life to somebody you love for Christmas, make a donation to our Double your Donation challenge and I’ll send them a card telling them what you did!!!
Nighty night!!
