Rikki's Refuge

Thursday, March 22, 2018

March 14, 2018

March 14, 2018 - Opie's Diary of Daily Doings at Rikki's Refuge

Early clouds over the northern end of Bovine Boulevard South

photo compliments of Doug Deal

More clouds over Bovine Boulevard North

photo compliments of Doug Deal

Frosty 20 degree morning

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

nobody is out and about .... cept da hoomans ..... they'll wait for the sun to warm things up a bit before coming out of their warm homes.

The guineas are waiting for the Feed Store to open up and start serving breakfast

photo compliments of Doug Deal

That's how much cat food was left after serving breakfast ..... Uh Oh ...

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

I put out a plea for help .... don't let the cats go hungry !!!! Pleaz !!!

Not warm enough this morning to hose off the deck and scrub the poop away.

photo compliments of Doug Deal

We'll have to come back and finish that after the temp is above freezing. Do it when it 22 degrees and you have a great big huge ice slick !!!

Rolling in the sun in the still frosty grass

photo compliments of Doug Deal

Cats and Goats and Ducks waiting outside the Feed Store hoping for a late morning snack !!

photo compliments of Doug Deal

Ben napping in the sun in the window seat at the Life Center

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

Buddy likes the window seat too and often shares with Ben.

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

I think Buddy is a disgrace .... he came here lots bigger than me ..... and he's cooperated with da hoomans about this diet thing ..... look at him .... he's almost the size of a regular cat .... not a super sized one like me !!!!

Ben wakes up to ask ..... Is breakfast served yet or should I go back to sleep?

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

Timmy and Sylvestra were playing king of the mountain

video compliments of Opie

taking turns wrestling to see who got the bed and who got the steps. Of course you know it distracts them if you point a camera on them!!!! Tried the red dot and the batteries went out ..... guess that means a trip to Dollar Tree today!!!!!

Cindy to the rescue !!!!!

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

Arriving in the afternoon with cracked corn, sweet feed, senior horse feed and best of all !!! CAT FOOD !!!!! Four bags of the best dael you can get.

Best Deal Cat Food

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

available at Tractor Supply .... $16.99 .... our kitties eat TWO bags of his size a DAY !!!

Please pick up a bag for us when you're coming out to visit ..... or if you give me the green trading papers, I'll hook up the goat cart and go make the trade and lug it home !!!
www.RikkisRefuge.org/donate

Don't worry about your favorite little orange dude gettin squished with such big heavy bags ..... they all know me at Tractor Supply and they'll load up the goat cart and my hoomans will unload it for me back at Rikki's !!!!

This is mere fraction of why we need so much cat food !!!

photo compliments of Doug Deal

When Cindy saw how bare the Feed Store was she said she'd check and see how many bags of cat food tractor supply had left.

Beauty says, drop on the spot, it's 5 pm and my union contract says .......

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

This is why the dogs never win Cats vs Dogs and get to be the rulers of Rikki's. You don't see them workin all day and all night to make sure everybody is fed and taken care of. No way .... you see ME doing that .... and I'm a CAT ..... Cats are Rulers ..... Dawgs are Droolers ...... and tomorrow Beauty will be in my office AGAIN asking why she hasn't gotten a raise in years !!!

Good night from Bub, Goose and Bella

photo compliments of Doug Deal

And despite working since well before the sun was up .... and looking forward to some supper and sit down time ..... when the call came as the last pink rays of sun were on the horizon ... Papa Doug geared up for another round when that voice on the other end of the phone said, "a nice lady named Cindy stopped in and asked us to reserve cat food for you but it's got to be picked up tonight."

photo compliments of Doug Deal

Yup, we gotz most of a pallet here you can come and get !!!! But you gotta bring the Little Orange Dude so we can snuggle him !!!! Everybody just loves me !!! You can come meet me at out book signing at Re-Tail on the 24th .... I hope you do ..... and bring nums !!!!

Off into the sunset to stock the pantry !!!

photo compliments of Doug Deal

Now THIS is the kind of truck I'll get up out of my nice warm bed to go open the gate for !!!!

photo compliments of Doug Deal

Home to unload our weeks supply of dry cat food !!!!

photo compliments of Doug Deal

Will Papa Doug get ANY sleep tonight ????? He's missed dinner ..... and after unloading he'll do a round to check on every body and make sure nobody's water has iced over and everybody is safe and sound and all is well .....

And he's got to be on the road again at o'dark thirty to go on a mission for the dogs ......

Love, Opie

www.RikkisRefuge.org/donate

Thank YOU for making it all possible !

March 13, 2018

March 13, 2018 - Opie's Diary of Daily Doings at Rikki's Refuge

photo compliments of Doug Deal

Nope ... not comin out till that sun's all the way up !!

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

Riley and Big Ben

photo compliments of Doug Deal

don't care if there's still no hot water today.

And there's not. Cuz there is never enough hoomans to do all the work if somebody bugs out, Papa Doug will have to do his fair share of feeding and cleaning too, before he can go to town for hot water heater parts.

Good Mooooorning ....

photo compliments of Doug Deal

Bringing breakfast to the big guys!

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

Lovin that morning sunbeam !!!

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

Chicken see ... chicken do .... or should I say poo ?

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

The whole door assembly was falling out of the frame AGAIN this morning at the Life Center

photo compliments of Doug Deal

This isn't the first time and we don't know why it does it. It gets screwed back in and stays a while ... and then ..... So today Clarence pulled it out and fixed the frame up right and then put in extra long screws .... paws crossed it doesn't try to fall out again.

photo compliments of Doug Deal

The less colorful side of a peacock

photo compliments of Doug Deal

though the structure is amazing. Lots of different sized feathers of different stiffnesses and that move in different ways. It's all designed to lift all the plumage up and hold it there and to shake and rattle and rustle till a girl looks !!!!

Finally in late morning Doug was able to set off for the big city and parts for the water heater.

photo compliments of Doug Deal

but ... uh oh .... when he got there .... they said .... so sorry ... looks like it was shipped to our store in Manassas ..... it's only another hour and a half away ....

Sighh...... and so off Papa Doug headed in the goat cart all the way to Manassas ..... and sure enough ... there was the part.

BUT the guy said $88 and Doug feaked ..... but you said $16 on Monday .... oh well said the guy .... don't know who told you that but it's wrong .... $88 or no part ... no hot water ....

So poor Doug had to count off all those green papers ...... www.RikkisRefuge.org/donate

Now there be nothin left for nums ......

At Rikki's, mostly the afternoon brought all kinds of interesting clouds ....

photo compliments of Doug Deal

And finally Doug got all the way home to Rikki's. And then went to work installing the part. And then having to do all kinds of reset cus it's a fancy super duper hot water heater to make lots and lots of hot water and quick quick quick ..... so it's got puter parts and all kinds of silly things for a water heater.....

But about the time the sun started to go down .... we had hot water again !!!!

Can you find the orange kitty watching you from Cat House #2 ?

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

Moon in western sky before sunset

photo compliments of Doug Deal

The sun sets on another day at Rikki's Refuge

photo compliments of Doug Deal

Love, Opie

www.RikkisRefuge.org/donate

Thank YOU for making it all possible !

March 12, 2018

March 12, 2018 - Opie's Diary of Daily Doings at Rikki's Refuge

photo compliments of Doug Deal

Early morning and nobody up at the 9th Life Assisted Living, Retirement and Psychiatric Center

photo compliments of Doug Deal

Wake up Blue! Gotta get used to our new time !!!

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

Remember .... we have no hot water. That bad vapor sensor went out on the water heater Saturday morning. So Papa Doug gets on the phone and calls and calls and calls. And finally locates a place in Fredericksburg that can get the part. That's like an hour away. They check the computers .... they say, yeah.... you better buy several of those, those kind of water heaters burn those out all the time .... and then they don't run .... and don't even thinking of trying to bypass it cuz you'll ruin the board and then that's like hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

They find out there are four of these vapor sensors in the United States ...... but none in Virginia. They can have it in tomorrow and it's only about $16 says the nice man. Come on in tomorrow and we'll have it for you.

Oh well .... one more day of heating every thing in the microwave ..... all the cleaning water and the mopping water and the laundry water .... oh no .........

Clarence had noticed some leaking in the roof in the Feed Store ..... that's the big red barn where we store the nums for the big animals. You can't have leaking on your nums .... no sireeee .....

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

Mr. Clarence is a really good fix 'em upper .... so he climbs up on the roof to take a look ..... and uh oh ...... I thought I was gonna have to get a bar of soap and wash his mouth out !!!!!

He said, come on little orange dude ... come on up and you'll see why I'm saying that. And look at that !!!!! OH NO .... there was a small leak a couple years back and look how somebody "fixed" it .... If you know even 1/2 what I do .... and I don't know much cuz I'm a cat and I make hoomans do that kind of work .... you'd know you ain't a gonna fix a leak by putting a strip of rolled roofing down ...... where the higher shingles are just running the water right under it ..... and now a whole lot of wood is rotted.

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

So Mr. Clarence made up a list of supplies he needs me to get for him and said go get to work figurin out how to buy this wood and shingles and stuff for me ...... and hurry up .... if this gets any worse all this food will be ruined.

OH NO ..... it's a lot of supplies ..... I'll have to take the Goat Truck and go fill it up ..... but I need green trading papers ..... maybe you can help me? www.RikkisRefuge.org/donate

AND then Mr. Clarence said, and while you're at it little orange dude ...... the temp runs need decent roofs.

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

You won't be able to use this space this year until it's done. So you better hurry up. You want to save lives .... you need a place for a group of ferals to quarantine .... well get me 550 square feet of metal roofing and let's get it done.

OH NO ....... more green trading papers !!!!!!

But look !!!! Said Mr. Clarence .....

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

Little Orange Dude, Did you notice I fixed the door at the Life Center yesterday? And I didn't ask you for one single green trading paper, now did I? I had everything I needed to fix it so the door didn't keep just about falling out the jam right in my truck and it didn't cost you a cent. So don't complain about what I need.

Oh ...... and one other thing ...

photo compliments of Clarence Deal

Mr. Donkey's roof got a hole in it during the last storm. It's really in bad shape too ..... you just can't patch it up anymore. So grab me this list of materials while you're out shopping, Little Orange Dude, and I'll fix that too .......

Sigh ....... I've really got my work cut out for me, don't I ? Papa Doug had asked for gravel for all the driveways, he wants to put up a few small barns and run ins, the medical treatment room still needs the inside finished, we have a new quarantine building that needs lots of work before it can be used, and Miss Cindy wants to fix all the roofs on the dog Club Houses ....... and everybody thinks I can just find the green trading papers to make it all happen.

Will YOU help me look and find some? Every $ counts. You know, nobody had nuf money to do it all, but when we share, we can get everything done the animals need.

www.RikkisRefuge.org/donate Thank you .... every little nail is a great big help ....

I took a little break in the afternoon and snuck off to the Bandit Memorial Picnic Pavilion with half a case of Fancy Feast to relax, watch the clouds and have eat in peace .....

photo compliments of Doug Deal

but I got no opposable thumbs and I still can't figure out how to open these cans .......

Sigh .........

photo compliments of Doug Deal

Thank YOU for being MY friend.

Love, Opie

www.RikkisRefuge.org/donate

Thank YOU for making it all possible !

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

March 11, 2018

March 11, 2018 - Opie's Diary of Daily Doings at Rikki's Refuge

Good Morning .... Did your time just like randomly change? Is this like a weird thing hoomans do, or what? I thought it was Sun's job to set time. Like straight up Sun say it be noon. But now hoomans is deciding this? I think Sun might be mad cus I don't see him yet this morning .... I think maybe he send clouds to cover da hoomans who don't show the respect to agree with Sun bout time.

But the really good new is it stayed light longer tonight !!!! And that is really nice !!!! It makes work at Rikki's so much easier when I can keep my hoomans going on to 7 pm and they can still see what they're doing !!!!!