I’m Vincent D. Cat and here to make you happy! You are HEROES! You work hard every day and you deserve to smile every day! Those of you working to save us animals hear so very many very sad things. And there’s lots of very glad things too and that’s what we talk about here! All pawsitive all the time! I want my friends to be happy and smile and know there’s a lot of good - including YOU - in this world!! Be kind and pass it on! Please send me your Good New and Fun Stuff to share, personal or global. Let’s keep it fun and interactive!! After all, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane! Vincent@RikkisRefuge.orgWhat a beautiful day !!!
I do love living here on planet earth !!!! It’s the greatest place ever !!!
So what have you been up to?
It’s been super busy at the refuge! More daylight and more hours to work, sometimes it’s 9:30 at night before we realize the day’s about over !!! Love the early morning crowing.
Early morning sounds are really wonderful in the new Rabbit Rotunda II - all the pigeons cooing. Yes - we’ve gotten video - it’s just taking the time to sit down and down load it.
Hey! Sorry if I haven’t answered your emails, messages, etc. Got a great big huge pile I’m way behind on here. If it’s really important and you can’t wait for me to catch up - holler or send another email.
Both the trailers have arrived. The decking needs to get taken apart and come on up too. We were very surprised the trailer moving guy had equipment to lift the trailers up and pull them out without having to move the decking first. Amazing what the right equipment will do!!!
So this is gonna be another fund raiser I guess!!! First gotta go get the permits to set the trailers up. Then we’ll need to get the money to put in the foundations and bring in more electricity. This gonna be a big job.
This needs to be the summer of fundraising I think!!! Come on mom, I just want to play in the sun and nap in the shade!!! Don’t make me work!!!! Please ....
We got some great big vet bills we gotta pay. Thank you Rebecca for putting a payment down at the hospital for us. Most of our hospital news is good news and usually everybody recovers and lives happily ever after. We had very sad news this week, beloved little Munchkin passed away very unexpectedly after two surgeries. She was so looking good and we all thought she was out of the woods and going to heal and be with us a very long time. Her doctor thinks she’d probably formed a blood clot that broke lose. Our happy little girl, sitting with us, purring, eating well on her own, looking so good one minute and then within an hour gone. We’re all still very sad about this. Though we gotta keep working for all the others that need us too.
Still working on the great big huge debt to save the Woods and Wetlands too. They seem safe now and we’ve just gotta pay off what it cost to keep them that way.
The survey is recorded and now we have let the attorneys work on the issues of neighbors who have some of our property fenced and such things. Ellie, will be in touch, the days just keep sliding by.
Saturday, 9 am NEXT week the 23rd will be Clear the Perimeter Saturday. Bring your boots, hats, tic repellant, gloves and your hedge trimmers and trudge off into the woods with us.
Flea Market
This Saturday - TOMORROW - Kim and Kathy will be doing another sale at the Locust Grove Flea Market to help raise money!!! Can you help??? Have good things to bring?? Help at the booth?? Have a yard sale in your home town to help raise money.
Saturday Fun
Donation Drop off noon - 2 pm
MOMS & SONS DAY - come out as a team and see how much you can accomplish in one day. Who can do more? Moms and Daughters? Dads and Sons? Moms and Sons? Or Dads and Daughters?
FULL MOON WALK, Bon Fire, vegan bbq, pot luck
Sunday Fun
TOUR THE REFUGE - NOON
ANIMAL ATTENTION DAY - Give some extra hugs to the homeless - take a dog for a walk, scratch a pig's belly, pat a cat.
Next Week and Beyond
Next Saturday 7/23
VOLUNTEER TRAIN BASIC 11 am- 3 pm Learn the basics about volunteering at Rikki’s Refuge. Help with donation logging, washing dishes and liter boxes, socializing the animals and much more
Birthday Party and Open House - August 14th noon - 4 pm
The biggest event of the year - get it on YOUR calendar.
CLICKS COUNT
PRIZE MONEY MATTERS
PLEASE VOTE TODAY
vote every day thru Sunday September 18th
and enter USA , VA, Rikkis Refuge
The Animal Rescue Site - Shelter Challenge
quick, simple, free
Your daily vote can win $1, 000 - $5, 000 for Rikki’s Refuge’s Animals!
YOU MAKE RIKKI’S REFUGE THE WINNING SANCTUARY
WE CAN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU!
Yes, having a dog or a cat really is good for you
Well duhhh I’m living proof of that aren’t I?
Lots of research has indicated that having a dog or a cat can help people live happier, healthier lives. But it’s been unclear whether there really is a cause-and-effect relationship between pet ownership and better physical and mental health. Now, new research indicates that the benefits of having a canine or feline companion are real and broad.
Read more, by Rob Stein
Put the Picture Together
Tomorrow I’ll tell you all about this wonderful beautiful guy!!!
How fast are you? The time it takes you to do the puzzle is in the top right corner!! Tell me your time!! Who’s the fastest at solving puzzles? I’ll list your names and times here tomorrow!!
Online jigsaw puzzles from JigsawSite.com
Animal Art
Melissa has done wonders advertising and showing and selling our art work !!!! Have you seen our shows yet?? We’re currently on display at the Salem Church Library in Fredericksburg and The Orange Art Center here in Orange County!!!! I think you should visit and insist that they invite the artists in for a Meet the Artists Evening!!!! Tell ‘em Vincent D. Cat sent you !!!
On display at Salem Church Library in Fredericksburg and The Orange Art Center here in Orange County are full sized canvases that us animals painted all by ourselves. Well almost, Melissa poured out the paint for us. Getting the lids off those jars requires opposable thumbs.
We’ve also painted some mats and Melissa has used them to frame pictures of us.
Click on any of these for more details and stories about the artists.
I want one of these!
Solar Plant Generates Power for 24 Hours
Spain celebrated a huge milestone, based on the power of the sun.
This week a company in Spain celebrated an historic moment for the solar industry: Torresol’s 19.9 megawatt (MW) concentrating solar power plant became the first ever to generate uninterrupted electricity for 24 hours straight.
The plant uses a Power Tower design which features a field of 2,650 mirrors that concentrate sunlight onto a boiler in a central receiver tower. The plant also utilizes molten salt as a heat transfer fluid that allows it to generate electricity when there’s no sunlight. Recharge News reported on the milestone:
After commissioning in May, the plant was finally ready to operate at full-blast in late June and benefited from a particularly sunny stretch of weather, according to Diego Ramirez, director of production at Torresol. “The high performance of the installations coincided with several days of excellent solar radiation, which made it possible for the hot-salt storage tank to reach full capacity,” Ramirez explains.
Torresol says that the plant will provide electricity for about 20 hours each day on average, with numerous days in the summer seeing 24 hours of supply. How does that compare with a similar-sized photovoltaic plant? The 21.2 MW Solarpark Calaveron in Spain generates about 40 gigawatt hours (GWh) a year. This smaller 19.9 MW power tower plant will generate about 110 GWh per year.
Who wants to be Vincent’s Alternative Power Hooman?
Seriously now. I need YOU to talk to companies, write grants, see if you can convince companies to put up a working model at Rikki’s. What company doesn’t want Vincent D. Cat advertising their product!!
Your Yard Work Can Help the Animals
Mowing? Save the clippings for the guinea pigs and rabbits. They love your fresh clippings. If you’ve used insecticide or fertilizer (other than natural) recently we’ll skip this meal !!!
Pruning fruit trees? The rabbits and guinea pigs love to chew on the branches. And it’s good for their teeth. If they don’t chew, their teeth can grow too long. They’d prefer to have good things to chew on instead of having Lena clipping teeth!!!
RECYCLE
Remember to recycle all your metals at Summit Recycling in Fredericksburg. Or wash your cans and bring them to Rikki’s. Washed and tied tightly in bags please. Separate aluminum from other metals and label please !!! Thanks ...
And remember the best recycling of all .... ADOPT !!!!
I hope my Good Morning Good News helps to bring you a little quiet where there is chaos; light where there is darkness and put love in your heart. Cuz I love you very much.
Love,
Vincent
Not gonna nag today, but if you can spare a couple bucks today I’d really appreciate it. All of us would. All 1,269 of us here. We need food everyday !!
PS You tell me what you want! Email me at Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org with instructions to change your subscription: additions, deletions or modifications! Subscriptions: Vincent’s VIPs - up to the second alerts about issues at Rikki’s Refuge for those who care and want to be intimately involved. Scheduled as needed. Good Morning Good News - a little something to get you going in the mornings, for those of you who want to keep smiling with us! Scheduled daily. Hairballs - so you know what’s coming up at Rikki’s! Scheduled weekly.
Rikki's Refuge, supported solely by private donations, houses over 1200 animals of 22 species. On line at http://bit.ly/Give-a-gift-to-Rikkis Checks, money orders, cash, items at Rikki's Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
Rikki's Refuge is owned and operated by Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc., an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Virginia Corporation, tax-id 54-1911042. Combined Federal Campaigns #77674, Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign #3163, PetsMart Charities #1377. A financial statement is available upon written request from the State Office of Consumer Affairs.
Learn more www.RikkisRefuge.org and help spread the good word, tell everyone you know about Rikki’s Refuge
