Saturday, May 03, 2014

Good Morning Good News !!!! May 3, 2014




Thank you Dennis Bane and Spotsylvania County REACH kids for picking up Vincent’s Birthday Present yesterday ---  a WHOLE pallet of canned cat food .... and for delivering it to Rikki’s .... and for stacking it in the pantry.  I might not be around much for the next few days ....   lots to eat ....NUMS !!!!

And thank you to the two folks, serving 50 hours of community service, who picked Rikki’s Refuge to do their time at and who came out yesterday to help us with the chores.  They washed litter boxes and food totes.  And that’s not a small job.  It didn’t take 50 hours.  But they’ll be back !!

Thank you to Orange County’s elementary differently abled class who came out to volunteer.  They worked on organizing and cleaning up the cat food storage pantry and they got some produce ready and fed it to the animals.

Ohhhh and the ickiest chore of all was mucking out the layers and layers of straw that had been winter bedding.  Oh ick ...  the total down pouring of rain washed it into huge piles.  And oh my, does it stink !!!!   It’s got to be pitched forked up, loaded in the truck and hauled to the compost pile.   They made a big dent in the work .... but there is so much more to do !!!!   The heavy rains really added a lot more work for the hoomans.   Anybody want to seriously muck some stinking stuff ... just let me know  Mail@RikkisRefuge.org

Spring is here now
And with spring we should expect rain .... but oh my gosh ... did we get rain the other day.  Everything ... absolutely EVERYTHING flooded.  We were just getting ready to open for tours and events since all the mud had dried up from all the winter rain and snow ....   And now the spring has us under water, washed away and under mud.

All the cat house yard furniture was washed down to the lowest corners, all dirty and muddy now.  Straw was washed from barns, clogged up fences and made huge pools.  I think half the driveway washed away.

So much clean up and fix up now .....   We’re hoping to open by mid May but it will depend on how fast them hoomans can clean up.  This is hard, heavy, dirty clean up work.  You want to help us out?  Just let me know mail@RikkisRefuge.org

Today’s Happenings

We ran out of paper towels yesterday and mom had to go buy 36 rolls.  That’ll last a couple days.  Please bring paper towels to Donation Drop off - noon - 2 at the Education Center.  People say why not use rags?  Cuz we’re cleaning up vile and nasty stuff and trying to disinfect all the rags would be quite a chores .... and lots and lots more loads of laundry and we already can hardly keep up with washing the beds and linens. 

Speaking of laundry ...  Dollar General has a great deal this weekend only.  The laundry detergent that is the best deal of all at only $5 for a big jug is on sale for ONLY $3.50 ....  AND I’ve got two coupons to buy $25 and get $5 off .... so that makes it a REAL bargain.  I just need to get $40 together so I can buy it this weekend !!!!   www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate

I need volunteers to be at the Education Center from noon - 2 on Saturdays to be Donation Drop off Docents.  It’s easy.  You can play with cats while waiting for folks to show up, and then just show them where to put their donations.   mail@RikkisRefuge.org




It’s festival and event season.  If you’d like to volunteer to hooman our booth or table at wine festivals, craft fairs, animals events, vegetarian festivals, adoption events, and so on ....  please let us know.  mail@RikkisRefuge.org

Looking for a job serving animals?
Today, Saturday, at the Education Center at noon, we’ll be interviewing for full time employment at Rikki’s.  You need to be able to life 40-50 pounds, run fast to catch goats and sheep and feral cats, be willing to learn to medicate all the animals, large and small, to do general maintenance and to do construction.  Since so many people give up after a few days or weeks cuz of the hard core physical work, we’ll be running tests so you can see what it’s really like.  We’ll have sacks of grain, salt blocks, boxes of cat litter, on hand for every one to pick up and walk around with.  Then you’ll get to run across a field and back.  It’s not a speed contest, but more endurance.  It can take 3-4 hours of running back and forth to catch every body .... of one species ... or in one area .... each month for wormings and de-fleaing.  Then we’ll do the written application and talk about how your skills match up to what we’re doing.  If it sounds like a win win for you and Rikki’s, you’ll volunteer a full day so you can see what it’s really like.  If we’re both still happy at the end of the day ....  Doug, our staff manager, will most likely make you a job offer.  And then you can clean my litter box every day !!!!!

In Illinois


Volunteers ... we NEED you !!!

Blue Dog came home yesterday !!!  That’s our nice blue pick up truck .... it’d gone in for state inspection and fix up time.  The door handle on the driver’s side was busted and the handle for the little triangle vet window had rusted off ----  fixing that stuff was really expensive !!  YIKES .....     I need volunteer mechanics.  Both hard core who can do serious stuff like brakes, and fix doors like this and replace fuel pumps and such --- I’ve got several vehicles we could use on the farm if we could get somebody to fix them.

And I need light duty handy hooman type vehicle folks ---  who can check out vehicles before inspection and replace bulbs ... who’ll keep fluids topped off .... do oil changes ...  detail vehicles that get so muddy and dusty.

I need a volunteer to tow a couple vehicles to Rikki’s.  Pick up trucks that don’t need that much work and then we’ll be able to use them on the farm.  One is in Orange, the other in Culpeper.  Do you have a tow truck or a tow dolly?

I need a volunteer who’ll finish getting the wallpaper off in the half bath at the Education Center ....  and then paint it nice and pretty.  It’s really ugly and a mess with the wallpaper mostly stripped off, but never finished. 

Also volunteers who can do fence repair at the Education Center so we can get ready to have animals there.  Replace rotten boards, paint and so on.

I need a volunteer who’s into drugs ......  nooooo   not THAT kind ....  somebody who wants to help and measure out individual doses of worming meds, supplements and things like that.  It all comes in bulk and needs to be very carefully measured and put in oral syringes or capsules. 

We still have most of the 3,000 feet of fencing that’s 15 miles west of Rikki’s and that was donated for the sheep and still needs to be taken down and brought to Rikki’s.  I really need volunteers NOW to pull out the staples and roll up the fencing and bring it to Rikki’s.  If you don’t have a vehicle you can transport it in ....  please pull the staples and get it ready and someone else will pick up.   HELP ...  this is a critical project.

Volunteer produce haulers are needed to pick up nums at stores in Fredericksburg and bring it out to Rikki’s.  This is done in the morning.  You’ll need a truck or van or big suv to do this .. or trailer.

Mooooove over Hay -- we’ve got grass growing now !!!!

I bet you do have a lawn mower or weed whacker (gas powered, electric ones don’t work out here, too far from sources of electricity) !  Would you bring them out and help mow and trim things up?  We need hoomans doing it in places the cows and sheep aren’t allowed to go !!

We need volunteers to help at Re-Tail, our shop in Fredericksburg.  Take donations, sort things out, price, put on the display floor.

Who wants to build a new cow / goat / sheep barn?  We also need some run-ins built.

Oh I know what else we need ... really bad .... a volunteer to build an area that Timmy and I can go out to play in ....  right next to the office, so we can go and come as we please thru a kitty door !!!

Contact me ASAP if you can help with any of these chores: mail@RikkisRefuge.org


Look who got adopted !


Are you good at teaching?
We want to get some new programs going at the Education Center.  Anything that teaches kindness, tolerance, and/or helps animals or kids.  Vegan cooking.  Animal care.  Spirituality.  Book groups.  Reiki.  Meditation.  Yoga.  Build a dog house or bird feeder.   I need volunteer teachers now !

Interested in running or helping with a kids reading program?  Read with the animals.  We need 5-6 books for different age ranges as a summer reading list.  Then have special times for reading or reporting on your reading at the Education Center and at Re-Tail, our shop in Fredericksburg.

Email me if you’d like to help out: mail@RikkisRefuge.org



It was a beautiful warm sunny day yesterday  .....  so nice ....

Everybody was out and enjoying the lovely weather.

Meeka peeks out early in the morning

Spring has those birds up to crazy antics !!!!    Smoochie smoochie ...  they just won’t stop ....  peacocks, ducks, geese, chickens .....   Geezzzz guys ... let up, will ya?   Thank goodness, everybody else has been to the speuter clinic!!



Please VOTE today and EVERYDAY!! 
The Shelter Challenge is a wonderful opportunity to help the animals with only a few clicks !!!!  Totally FREE and EASY and QUICK ....  turn your clicks into meds to prevent ticks !!!!

Please vote today and every day thru June 29 !!!   Just go to this link http://www.shelterchallenge.com/web/charityusa/nomineehome?userId=53331&nomineeId=17448
and enter Rikkis Refuge (no ‘ ... see ??)  in VA in the USA and that’s it !! Thank you


NUMS for YOU
you share with me, and I’ll share with you
try this wonderful vegan recipe today



WOW Check out what’s coming Tuesday !!!
If you can, please tune in Tuesday and donate $25 or more thru this program to help us win some of the prizes !!!!



THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME TO
SAVE SO MANY LIVES
... with your support we’re able to help so many into their new furrever happy homes ....  and to give that life long home to those not quite so fortunate ...  Thank you for your support
Without YOU none of us would be looking forward to Spring!!

Love,
    Opie

Rikki’s Web Site:         www.rikkisrefuge.org
Help the Animals:        http://rikkisrefuge.org/donate.php