Tues. Feb.16 - Seems to be the only way to keep up with the days

     I could hardly believe how much Ice was everywhere when I stepped out this morning to carry warm water. It was so slick I had to come back in and get a different pair of boots. The temperatures were above freezing so it was starting to melt but the ground was very soggy under the ice and hard to keep your footing.

                                                                             

     I was so glad to get back in the house in one piece. I was working in the house and heard what I thought was a cat calling - kind of a rough call and my heart was sinking because I do not want another cat around - visitor or other wise. I opened the door to see if I could see the "Sound" but could not -then noticed the bird feeders needed attention. 

      I am still working with my little camera trying to get a better focus. I finally gave up and went back in and worked on another cloud bootie. I know I have to finish the yarn up or I will get dishearted and quit and I do not want that. I was having much trouble just seeing today.

     I looked out and decided I would carry the trash down to the highway -all the way down to that little grey strip. I did not want to risk my car sinking out of sight in a soft spot or getting hung up on the ice. So, I pulled on my highest boots my daughter had got me for Christmas and took off.

     When I got to the creek - I learned a lesson. The water was up and as I waded out in it - the currest was stronger than I anticipated and it almost swept my feet out from under me - SO - I Learned to Go SLOW and take tiny steps and keep my feet as close to the bottom as possible. I was very glad to make it across and back.

    As I walked back to the car - I noticed these weird tracks????? This was where the cat sounds had been coming from I had heard and the tracks went up under my car and then out the other side and up the side of the house -ONLY - these were some REALLY BIG tracks for just a plain kitty cat????

Hum???? I don't like the looks of these?????

     Well, at least the little birds have their tummies full tonight. 

     I had been on Facebook trying to see what my family were up to and had noticed last night that my daughter had had to put her beloved dog to sleep. It caught me off guard , as I loved Joe as one of my own too. 

     I had only got to know him the last 3 years and we had become very close. He was a black and tan coon hound-but very different in personality than any I had ever met before. We thought from some kind of abuse he had endured before she got him. He distrusted most all human beings and hated men. The day I first met him was just like we had known each other our whole lifes and that was the way it stayed. That night he very SLOWLY put one paw at a time up in my lap and circled his whole body into as small of a ball as a 90 pound hound could squeeze into and balled up in my lap. Well actually my lap and both arms of my chair. It was so very funny. So naturally when I heard the news I started bawling.  I guess it hit especially hard after being so close to my Cowboy on Saturday. Giving up these little animals just breaks my heart. I wonder why I keep wanting another one when it hurts so bad????? My thoughts have been that I know I am in my "Golden Years" now and will not have as many years to shelter the next . That was one reason I wanted these last two kitties to be older cats -but love just has a way of wrapping around her heart - or at least it did with Gabby the manx from the shelter and then the little stray had no say so in the matter. She just had to settle for what she could find and we will put it in God's hands.

     I once had a friend who raised registered dairy goats and he took top notch care of them -from weighting them to weighting the amount of feed it took to produce a certain amount of milk. These animals received the BEST care and deserved it too because they were top of the line milkers. I asked him one day if it ever bothered him when he sold an animal because we knew they would not receive the same kind of care they had been raised with??? He said no, because the people who purchased them were then responsible for their actions and not him.