Well hi my friends! Opie here. I wanna
tell you all bout what’s been going on and what’s coming up too! There’s
good news and a little bad news but more good news!
And Mom thinks I may have lost an ounce or two in time for summer … my um, personal hygiene is improving she said!
Spring finally made it and now we're into summer
..... but first things first ... cuz I gotta catch you up !! It
was so warm most of the winter we all thought it would just turn to spring and
no cold stuff falling from the sky. Well
we got all confused when it started to snow.
And snow some more.
We only got one really big snow and we had to have a
sleep over for it! That’s right some of
the peeps who take care of us stayed over during the snow and kept checking on
us all night long to make sure we were safe!
Nobody liked the snow, especially the cows!
Chicken Little was very upset...the sky was falling
on her!
We are so very grateful for Doug, our Sanctuary
Manager and the other staffers for being so caring and responsible and being
here for all us animals!
Thank you
Doug! MWAH!
Joe had to fire up Dusty to dig some areas out too!
Joe
and Dusty gettin to work
And then the sun came back and just when we thought
it was gonna be spring again we had a little more snow. And the animals got all confused again.
Where's the
grass? Where did spring go?
That weather human was being really mean to us this
year. Make it start to get warm then
make it cold then make it snow then rain then warm. UGH!
Twix reporting :
There's too much snow. Fix it!
And the warm started to come. And the snow all melted. The ducks and geese loved when the rain came
and it rained and rained. We had mud
and puddles everywhere!
Oh Puddles! We love puddles!
And then it finally happened. Spring came! And the trees started to bud and bloom!
The beautiful
road to Rikki's ...... where so many animals find sanctuary because
YOU have cared .....
The grass started to get green again!
Look how green!
And all the animals were happy and celebrating!
Yay!
The warm is coming back!
I
feel mahvelous!
Oh,
the sun...I love the sun.
AH!
The
peacocks hold a meeting about spring
There's
just no place like home on a warm spring day !!!!
Nothing
like a nap in the sun with a friend. Twix and Patrick enjoying the day.
Fang
is thrilled it's warm and dry again!
We had some sad news though too. Our dear
horse Candy finished her journey here and moved on across The Bridge.
Candy was a professional jumper that came to live at Rikki’s in 2008 after a
serious hip injury. Such a sweet girl whom we, and all her best friends
the cows, will miss very much.
Gimme
a smooch
In
her Easter finery a few years ago
You
haz peppermint for me?
Waiting
on spring
We had some new arrivals recently that are now safe
here at the Refuge.
Momma Goose and her six babies moved in….
And Volvo who was hit by a car near Rikki’s. He looked like he was in a really bad way but by some miracle he had nothing broken and no internal injuries. He was in quite a bit of pain from injuries around his head and face though but with lots of care for head/brain injuries and time in the 9th Life Hospital Unit of Rikki’s Refuge he has mended and is now a happy resident. He is a super sweet boy and we were able to help him because you were there for us!
Handsome
Volvo has healed because of YOU!
Join
our dream of making the planet a safer and happier place for the animals
.... help the next Volvo or Mama Goose
or other poor animal who needs us ......
your donations save lives every day.
CLICK
here NOW and SAVE ANOTHER LIFE !
And joining Phil the pheasant in Chicken City are a
few new pheasants needing a safe haven.
Still
shy but safe now
Red the Muscovie duck lost his mate to a predator
and had been very sad. He wouldn’t eat and his people thought he would
die. But now that he’s here at Rikki's
Refuge, he’s starting to make friends and is doing better. We hope he’ll
be happy here once he settles in.
The pallet of dry cat food YOU helped us win from
Nature’s Logic got delivered! It won’t last long cuz there’s so many of
us but it was greatly appreciated and thank you for nominating us! We
love winning food, litter and most of all green papers!
The Shelter Challenge was back and for some reason
we didn’t do good at all. In fact it’s one of the the worst we ever did
finishing in 13th place! I hope next time we can win
something. I got the bestest friends in the world and so many of them that
we’ll get them next time right!?
We had so much fun last year that we had an Easter
Egg Hunt again this Easter!
So
many eggs!
What's
inside?
Juice
break!
There
has to be one under there!
Everybody had a good time and all the kids that
came got a stuffed bunny to take home!
A
happy hunter with his bunny
That’s cuz real bunnies are not Easter gifts!
Chicks and ducklings neither!
I
gotted a bunny big as me !!!!!
And
I gotted an egg too !!!
And
it had treats inside!
Even Daddy Fred came out for a while it was such a nice day!
Thank you all for the prayers and healing light and energy you
sent to daddy this year, it's worked miracles and he is doing wonderful .....
and I credit YOU for that !!!!!
Bub and Goose are stars! The local newspaper came and did a story on them. They famous now!
Bub and Goose are stars! The local newspaper came and did a story on them. They famous now!
Bub
and Goose are happy the sun is back too!
Bestest
Friends
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to have a place to
sit on our tours? We had a bench contest with prizes and everything and here
is the winning entry! It’s a beautiful bench from Becky Kennedy who lives
far away!
Thank you so much Becky, it’s beautiful!
Did
you see the duck feets and hoof print? So creative!
Auntie Melissa entered a contest for 9-Lives cat
food and one of the things she won was…well…me! Just look how big it is!
The Dream Like Morris Bed!
I
gotta catch you up more later on what happened as spring turned into summer
.... but I gotz go eat fancy feast now ....
First I tell you some things coming up !!!
Now that it’s getting so nice we gots tours on
Sundays. We love to see you but we can only have so many visitors at a
time so you gotta tell us you're coming! Make sure you make a reservation
so I know you’re coming and can get all my furs in place for picture takin!
We have some volunteer opportunities coming up! Ever
want to help out but only have a few hours here and there? Helping at
events is very rewarding so come join us!
Come
visit us .... or email Volunteers@RikkisRefuge.org to learn how you can help at events like
this !
Everyone
here loves our volunteers! No matter
what you do, all help is a gift and we love you for it!
Rikki’s
Refuge will have a booth at the Richmond Veg Fest at Azalea Gardens in Bryan
Park On Saturday, June 25. The show runs from noon till 6:00 pm; we could use
some help at 11:30 to help with set up, help anytime during the show and some
help packing up. Click for details and
directions Email Ron at topcat@cstone.net
if you can help.
Stop
in and drop off some goodies for the critters ..... or ask how YOU can be a Docent for Donation Drop Off by emailing Volunteers@RikkisRefuge.org
This
Saturday, June 11, there will be a charity yard sale at Re-Tail! Starting at
7:30 a.m., come out and support the Pet Assistance League, Traveller's Rest
Elders Equine Sanctuary, and Shadow Cat Advocates! Our thrift store will open
early so that you can help the animals at Rikki's, too!
Join
us on Saturday, June 25 at 6:00 p.m. for Paint your Pet night!! No, we're not
going to put paint on your pet, silly! You can paint a picture of your pet!
Cost is $60 per person, and is being held at our thrift store, Re-Tail. 3503
Lafayette Blvd., Fredericksburg, Va. 22408. You will go home with a 16" x
20" acrylic painting of your pet that YOU painted!!! Professional
instructors will be there to help you make your painting look great!! Deadline
for signing up and e-mailing a picture of your pet is Saturday, June 18. Sign
up right here: SIGN UP NOW Space is limited, so hurry and sign up soon!
We also love our donors for without YOU we wouldn’t
be here at all!
I want you to know something very important. We always spend your funds very wisely and
frugally. We buy the basic necessities,
we buy generic in bulk, volunteers drive many miles, donating the cost of gas,
to get the best deals, we use day old produce, recently expired products,
others' left over construction materials and recycled products.
We don’t need luxury, we don’t need the best ... we
just want to save lives and create a world of happiness and contentedness.
When we can meet our basic needs, we are happy ...
so very happy.
Thank YOU for making that happen.
Special
thanks goes out to everyone who helped Dennis run the Boston Marathon for
Rikki’s! All miles were sponsored so he
could finish the race! That also means
we get 500 cases of canned nums!
Somebody make sure there's some Fancy Feast in there for me!
And
Dennis did it! He ran and he ran and he
ran some more! He ran for 4 hours and 2
minutes and 20 seconds just for Rikki's Refuge!
What
an awesome job he did! Thank you so
much Dennis!
It
be my brofur Timmy's Big Number FIVE birthday .... mine doesn't come till
August. Poor Timmy always gets ignored .... his birthday gets forgot .... he's
shy and scared, but that's cus he was hurt real bad as a little baby and has
never totally trusted again .... he's ok here and he's friendly and loving with
his friends .... but he's never gotten ok going out and doing Spokes Kitty
events with me. So I have to do all the work.
Now
I need YOUR HELP to do some special work for a special BIG NUMBER FIVE BIRTHDAY
for Timmy !!!! I promised Timmy a big
Fancy Feast Birthday Party .... help me
make it come true !!!
Rikki's Refuge, the jackpot at the end of the
rainbow for the lucky animals you have helped !!
I love you,
Opie
Don’t forget to SAVE A LIFE TODAY !
Rikki’s Refuge
PO Box 1357
Orange VA 22960
And please come see me soon !!
