What I saw offline today.

[pineapplebunnybounce]

Raeven, thanks for posting a pic of Kevin! He is adorable and, after all he went through, surprisingly fat. Or is it all fur?

[Raeven]

Must be fun to have all those animals around. Do they require a lot of care beyond feeding?

No, not much, really. They're all pretty low maintenance critters. I don't shear the llamas. Goat and llama hooves need to be trimmed and I do the goats myself. My vet does the llamas twice a year when we do general herd care. My husband rigged up a special stall to accomplish that, which the vet appreciates very much. We truss them up every which way to keep them from kicking and/or sitting on their feet. I coax them into the stall with grain and they fall for it every single time, even though the vet is calling out, "Don't!! Don't do it!! It's a trap!!" The animals do provide hours of amusement and/or food, so I do enjoy them one way or another.

I believe you mentioned that your husband passed away. If it isn't too painful, may I ask about that? Must be tough being in paradise alone.

I don't mind you asking. He was a fabulous, wonderful man and I will miss him always. But he would not be pleased for me to become a living memorial to him -- so I haven't.

He died very unexpectedly just over 6 years ago, while he was traveling on business (was down your way, incidentally). Just... died. He'd been given a completely clean bill of health just 6 weeks prior during a physical by his doc. Just goes to show how little we can count on anything. It was either a heart attack or a pulmonary embolism... I wasn't required to have an autopsy, so I didn't. In hindsight, I wish I had, but in the moment all I wanted to do was respect his privacy.

The first year was the worst, of course. Apart from the excruciating grief, there was just plain a hell of a lot I didn't know about how to take run this place. The dream of country living was far more my husband's than mine. My tasks had been to look after livestock, take care of the garden, cook and preserve -- but the day-to-day maintenance of the property I pretty much left to him. Embarrassing now to think of how little I knew! I didn't know how to re-pressurize the well pump after a power failure; my fire-building skills were rather sad; didn't know one end of a drill from the other; barely remembered how to load a gun, let alone shoot one. On top of all that, we were in the midst of a major remodeling project, and that had to be finished whether I decided to stay or to go. I managed to get through everything in large part owing to help from my wonderful friends. No way I can ever repay their kindness, but I will continue to try for a lifetime. And boy, did I learn a lot.

Obviously I decided to stay. It is a lucky spot in which to live, and I try never to take that for granted -- even when a pipe bursts and floods the hen house or an animal is badly injured and must be put down (the only real reason I relearned my shooting skills). I don't mind being alone and am seldom lonely, but I do miss sharing my life with someone. Problem is, of course, you can't just manufacture a relationship to suit the situation. It's something that either happens or it doesn't. So I try to keep a hand in meeting new people and not becoming too hermit-like here on the farm. I can't say it's tough so much as melancholy, if that makes sense.

Meanwhile, I run a business as well so there is always something waiting for me to get it done, whether on the farm or for work. It's good to keep busy!

LOL, aren't you glad you asked?

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Raeven, thanks for posting a pic of Kevin! He is adorable and, after all he went through, surprisingly fat. Or is it all fur?

PBB, LOL, it is all fur -- probably how he survived that horrible night up in the tree!! I've been trying to get a decent pic of him, but he has foiled all my attempts. He is worth every bit of anxiety and money he cost me through that ordeal. I'm still so jazzed that he survived!!

[Mystical]

YAY! Kevin lives!! how long did it take him to come back?

I'm so jealous of your redwood forest you have no idea Whateverist..

[c172]

I need to get a digital camera. I wonder how much those run these days.

[Mystical]

I have a fujifilm S3200, but my older model fujifilm S800 was almost as good. They both rock go look at what i took with them at http://www.viewbug.com/members/smilingmoon
Got the 3200 for $320 usd on Amazon and older versions go down from there
Lets just say I could zoom in on the brides earring from the back of a massive Catholic church, last summer. Or I can zoom in on the hair of a spiders legs (although Whateverists phone camera is comprable in the micro-lense dept).

[Raeven]

YAY! Kevin lives!! how long did it take him to come back?

LOL, yes, Kevin lives. He's as right as rain, amazingly! He came back one day shy of a week. He was probably around, but he kept well out of sight until he was good and ready to rejoin the family. It was so great to see him -- I'd about given up!

[Mystical]

heh, I'm just imagining Kevin strolling on in trying to pretend like nothing happened

Stupid cats. I love them, but god they're dumb.

This reminds me of the time I accidentally locked my cat in a car for two weeks. Stupid motherfucker hopped in with my back turned.. pissed all over the car and ruined it, and when I found him I felt like the worst person on the planet!
He was all right though. A little extra quirky after that, but all right. Then he just went and got hit by a car one day.

[Raeven]

heh, I'm just imagining Kevin strolling on in trying to pretend like nothing happened

Stupid cats. I love them, but god they're dumb.

This reminds me of the time I accidentally locked my cat in a car for two weeks. Stupid motherfucker hopped in with my back turned.. pissed all over the car and ruined it, and when I found him I felt like the worst person on the planet!
He was all right though. A little extra quirky after that, but all right. Then he just went and got hit by a car one day.

Oh, fuck!! Two weeks?? Poor kitty -- but yes, his own damn fault. Truer words were seldom spoke about how curiosity killed the cat. I'm amazed he did without water for all that time!!

Really, really sorry about him getting hit by a car. An ignoble end to an animal that managed to survive the car ordeal.

[Mystical]

yeah its tragic really, temps hit 115° F in that car I'm sure. Which is a testament to the hardiness of cats! That's why I was pretty sure Kevin would make it once he ran off

I've never had an outdoor cat that didn't die a horrific death so I gave upon cats altogether.
One thought it would be safe in a tree during a wind storm and broke its neck, one came home with a broken leg, a couple got run over, my faVorite indoor cat snuck outside and got eaten by coyotes, and then I had a whole litter of kittens once that made it a past time to fuck with my weiner dog in his cage, and one at a time he killed them dead.

[Raeven]

yeah its tragic really, temps hit 115° F in that car I'm sure. Which is a testament to the hardiness of cats! That's why I was pretty sure Kevin would make it once he ran off

I've never had an outdoor cat that didn't die a horrific death so I gave upon cats altogether.
One thought it would be safe in a tree during a wind storm and broke its neck, one came home with a broken leg, a couple got run over, my faVorite indoor cat snuck outside and got eaten by coyotes, and then I had a whole litter of kittens once that made it a past time to fuck with my weiner dog in his cage, and one at a time he killed them dead.

Wow. I must have a defective (mini) weiner dog. He has no prey drive whatsoever. He skips out a few times a day to go potty and accepts the adoration of all three of his cats as his due. The rub on him, play with him and generally fawn all over him, and he just eats it up like a rock star -- which I guess he sort of is! The cats all seem to think so, anyway. They are all thick as thieves.

In the summer when it's warm out and the little dog and I hang out on the patio, the cats let him get away with an astonishing amount of rude behavior.

I remember hanging out there one evening with a friend, who suddenly gasped.

"What?" I asked.

"Look at that -- your dog has killed your cat!!" my friend exclaimed.

I looked over to see the Dachshund dragging the cat in circles by one of its ears. It was common behavior... the cats didn't mind him doing it.

This particular batch of outdoor cats has been especially hardy. There are no shortages of bitter ends that can come to them here -- cougars, coyotes, fox, raccoon, cars, even bears, you name it -- but they've all survived for five years or more with no incidents. Except Kevin and his tree episode. One survived the killer German shepherd. She's (the cat) magnificent and has been here for nearly nine years. I took on the other two because I needed more cats after I got rid of the killer German shepherd, who did in three of my other cats.

Can't live here without cats... they control the rodents, which would be unendurable without them.

I'm very sorry you've had to give up on cats!!