March
17, 2018 - Opie's Diary of Daily Doings
at Rikki's Refuge
Happy
St Gertrude Day !!!!
artwork compliments of Carolee Clark, King of Mice Studios
Patron
Saint of Cats and Crazy Cat People !
meme shared compliments of Lisa
DeFilippo
HAPPY
ST PATRICK'S DAY MY FRIENDS !!!!
artwork compliments of Wayne Morris
I
hope your have your green on !!!!
There's
a glimmer of sun in the sky
photo compliments of Doug Deal
and
it looks like Madison is thinking about breakfast. When your charges rise at sunrise .... you have to rise earlier to be prepared for the day of caring for
them. Nobody want to wait for room
service to get their breakfast to them !!!!
photo compliments of Doug Deal
Once
the light starts coming over the trees ..... it brightens up fast
photo compliments of Doug Deal
It's
just lovely how the tops of the trees shimmer for a few minutes as the sun
rises, one of the lovely things you miss if you sleep the sunrise away .... or
are sitting inside watching tv .... or
....
photo compliments of Doug Deal
One
sheep .... two sheep ....
photo compliments of Doug Deal
WHERE
are all the sheep ? Something isn't
right here .... it's breakfast and
Honors the horse who thinks he's a sheep and all the other sheep are ....... WHERE ?
Time to drop standard Morning Rounds and take disaster prevention action
NOW ....
Morning
rounds - and evening rounds - mean walking all over and around the property to
make sure everything is ok. Checking
every single animal, looking into their eyes, to see that they are ok, no
injuries, no sniffles, no runny eyes, no scratching at something ..... from 10 pound feral cats who'd rather slap
you in the eyes than look you in the eyes ..... to 2,000 pound cows who want to
check out your pockets for anything good to eat .... yup, it's up close and in your face time for every animal on the
property.
But there's more!!!
You also have to check that every structure, every building, every fence is
safe and intact and nothing has broken or failed or suffered a disaster. And that means walking all the way around
and checking out literally miles of fencing.
Big animals don't live in small pastures !!!! And the fencing goes all the way around .... thru the woods, across creeks ..... and every inch of fencing must be checked
twice every day for ....... and you
can't do it will till the sun is up and you must do it again before the sun is
down ..... see why we like long
daylight days better ? Just too much
outdoors to cram into the short daylight hours of winter !!!
DISASTER
.....
photo compliments of Doug Deal
just
like this.
Oh
no !!!!! Fence down !!! It's all hands on deck !!!!!
It's Ramsey Residence. Make sure the
sheep and horse in this area are safe and while some folks stand guard at the
break, the rest round them up and secure them.
The last few are really eluding and not cooperating .... they want to watch how the hoomans are going
to fix this fence .... It's decided to
let them stay out instead of continuing the chase .... chasing and frighten
them or make them bolt and thankfully no one decided to leave thru this new
gateway ..... a charging freaked out
sheep is pretty hard to hold back .....
They're all accounted for, thank goodness ..... no need to search the county for a wondering sheep this morning
.... eating someone's flowers ... those zillion dollar rare show flowers they
were growing .... or munching on their
recently fertilized, or bug sprayed, and now unhealthy to eat, grass ... Sigh ... a quick glance upwards and a thanks
goes out for keeping everyone safe.
The chain saw arrives ..... dang ...
it's needed service since the last trees down in a recent storm .... this isn't going well ..... How else can we do this? Working at Rikki's means thinking outside
the box .... not just for us cats!!!
Bigger
than you thought, huh?
photo compliments of Doug Deal
Skillful
maneuvering and twisting and turning and winding thru the woods got the tractor
safely and quickly on site. If you've
never operated a tractor, there's a LOT to learn. All kinds of gearing and shifting levers and switching the power
to use this or that and adjusting the hydraulics.
You think driving an automatic is easier than a manual car? Well a manual car looks real easy compared
to all the controls and coordination needed to run a tractor effectively. Yeahh you can jump on a tractor, pull the
throttle and go slam thru a building .....
but to really skillfully maneuver the tractor, complete with implements
on the rear and front ..... yeah
.... you're looking at a lot of
knowledge, practice and keeping both hands and both feet all synced
together. That's why they don't let me
drive the tractor, with no feet, I'd have a real problem .... The goat cart is differently-abled so I can
drive with my front paws and the goat hooves only.
Now,
the goal here is to lift this tree off the fence, maneuver it around, and drop
it on the other side of the fence, without, remember without, any more damage
to the fence .... oh and don't let those sheep get over here and under foot
.... well under tractor .... that
could be even more disaster.
Katie
heard a creak and a snap .... and YIKES ....
photo compliments of Doug Deal
Luckily
this one was much smaller .... but
another tree snapped .... And just you
look at that !!! Katie caught it
before it hit the fence and was able to hang on till folks leaped to the other
side of the fence and got it safely to the ground.
Back
to work as everyone takes time out from their tasks to quickly repair the fence
and to give thanks the sheep choose to stay home and not go on a walk about
!!!!
photo compliments of Doug Deal
This
is our last spare fence panel ... yikes
... that means we won't be ready for the next fencing disaster. We like to keep half a dozen on hand for
emergency repairs. Adding a couple
hours travel time and only being able to get them during store hours ..... could seriously result in a much worse disaster.
Sturdy, yet somewhat flexible, cattle
panels are useful for all kinds of emergency repairs and containment. Even for small animals. They can be used as a sturdy base structure
and light wire or mesh easily affixed in an emergency. Even for a hole in a roof. They can support a tarp or other
weatherproofing material in a pinch.
It's not so smart to be with out emergency any time of day or night
repair supplies on hand !!!! It's when
you don't have any .... that the big
disasters happen!!!
ad
compliments of Tractor Supply
Won't
you contribute towards ONE of the panels I need ? When I've raised the green trading papers for six of them, Papa
Doug will take the trailer up to Tractor Supply and pick them up ...... unless you can do that !!!! And if you can ... just let me know !!!
YES
I want to get you one emergency fence panel before the next disaster strikes !!
www.RikkisRefuge.org/donate $21.99
..... more than a cup of
coffee, I know. But maybe if you were
thinkin of a nice brunch today you could just have a can of Fancy Feast instead
and help us avert the next disaster?
Pleaz ........
$131.94
for all six panels we need ..... that's
about 10 whole CASES of Fancy Feast .....
HELP .... Pleaz .... I no
wanna go hungry THAT long to pay for it ...
Ok -- everybody back to work ... now you're behind schedule for the day
... good thing Doug started extra early
knowing there would be visitors at the Life Center by 9 am ........ Indoor work can be done well before
there's a glimmer of light in the sky.
Well
HAY to you too .....
photo compliments of Doug Deal
We
hear you were using OUR tractor for an inappropriate function this morning
..... Uncle Paul got that tractor for
US so you can haul our breakfast over here ON TIME ......
Uncle Paul .... have you noticed how
grateful we are to have the privilege of using your beautiful great big tractor
and how much easier and even possible, it makes so many of our tasks. We know it's YOUR tractor, and we so
appreciate the generosity that let's us use it every day just like it's our
tractor. It's a huge gift to the
animals and the hoomans alike each and every day.
THANK YOU !!!!!
Mr
Peacock is up on the roof calling for the hoomans .... who are now late for
breakfast
photo compliments of Doug Deal
He
really doesn't care where you were, what you were doing, or why .... he just wants you to hurry up and get the
Feed Store open and the cracked corn out ....
NOW .....
What
IS it with this roof look out thing !
Cat
on a Cold Tin Roof !!!!
photo compliments of Doug Deal
Morning
meditation and manifestation practice
photo compliments of Doug Deal
Ommmmmm
let the hoomans arrive with great platters of nummmmmmmmsssss
It's
amazing how well manifestation visions materialize around here in the morning !
photo compliments of Doug Deal
Goliath,
the big Siamese guy, looks back ....
wishing his best friend Obie would come to try and steal his breakfast
...... if Obie could come back, Goliath
promises he'd never never again smack him for taking his food. Poor Goliath and Obie were inseparable and
had a very very special bond. It's as
hard for them as it is for the hoomans when one of the residents moves to
Rainbow Bridge. They do go down to
visit and wonder amongst their friends there and to snooze by them in the sun
..... but just like it is for you
..... it's not the same as having their
friend right there in this world with them.
Today
is the first day of Fence Painting at the Life Center !!!!
photo compliments of Lolly Busey
Aunt
Nora and Uncle Paul are in charge of this project and leading volunteer work
parties every Saturday from 9 to 4 .... weather permitting.
Today
was one of those really questionable "weather permitting" kind of
days. Really cold, too cold for
paint. But not too cold for prep work. Nora worked on wire brushing the fence and
Paul worked on cutting back brush. Me
thinks Uncle Paul might be exhausted!
They kept working until the sleet started!!! Then decided that was a weather not permitting sign!!
Meanwhile Aunt Nora had coffee and delicious home baked scones for volunteers
!!! And ME !!! Num num num ...... she even filled one for
me with my favorite flavor of Fancy Feast.
I hope YOU are coming next Saturday to get the painting started .....
Outdoor
Kitty's first ever attempt to eat canned food off a platter !!!!
photo compliments of Opie
Outdoor
Kitty became Indoor Kitty about 4 years ago and has never eaten canned food off
a platter. He licks cans. He'll even eat canned food if some opposable
thumbed creature just opens the top.
But it it's dumped out on a plate, he won't touch it. Lately he's been going over to sniff the
plates. Today, for the first time ever,
he decided to try it ..... and he likes it !!!
Uncle
Kirk needed help reaching the roof where he's working
photo compliments of Opie
He
said, come on out here Little Orange Dude .... I need YOU to sit on the tractor
and make sure nobody comes along and moves that "drop the hydraulics"
lever .....
Actually
not quite all the way to the roof
photo compliments of Opie
he's
working on replacing rotting fascia and soffit and painting it all !!! Wait till you see the purrty colors he's
got all picked out !!!!! I'm thinkin
we need a big mural on this wall. What
YOU think?
Just
making sure everything is fine at Ramsey Residence before we call it a night.
photo compliments of Doug Deal
Love,
Opie
Thank
YOU for making it all possible !
