Stress

There are days when I look at my life and wonder how the hell I get through the day.  I’m sure we all have those feelings some days, but we muddle through the best we can and tell ourselves that tomorrow is a new day.

Of course, that new day could bring complaints about horses like this in Monongalia County:

 

Or articles like this.

 

Or a new day could mean coming home to find Calvin dead in the house without any wounds or sign of struggle.  I buried him next to Woogie a couple of hours ago.

 

At least my day started out pretty well.

 

Hopefully, tomorrow really will be a new day and not just a sequel to this one.

Calvin Will Never Be the Same

Calvin is normally the BIGGEST feline wimp in the world.  When in the house he stays on a shelf in the kitchen.  He never moves.  Never.  He’s afraid to get down because there are monsters lurking on the floor, just waiting to crunch him up into little monster kibble.  Every morning I have to pick him up and throw his furry butt out the door -- just so he can climb up onto the roof and stay there all day until I come to get him and put him back in.  I’ve tried letting him stay there for days until he comes down on his own, but he just won’t budge until he sees me coming to get him.

Who says cats aren’t high maintenance??

Surprisingly, he actually came out to the garden to help me yesterday.  I was shocked, amazed, and slightly worried.  Was he sick?  Injured?  What could possibly persuade him to leave the relative safety of the roof to walk on the ground?

Then it all became clear.  Calvin had discovered catnip. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s hope this new bravado of his isn’t just a fluke and he starts acting like the mighty hunter that he was born to be.

Because you just never know where the real monsters are hiding.

Calvin and Stuff

A friend of mine recently lost her husband and needed to find homes for a few of her animals that she could no longer afford to keep.   Of course I said yes.  How could I not?

So now I have Calvin.  He’s a very sweet boy who hasn’t left my bed since he got here Sunday.  He spends all night on Glenn’s pillow, next to my head.  Each time I open my eyes I find him staring at me.  It’s just a little creepy.

 

He’s really just a big wimp who loves attention, but is too afraid of the other cats to leave the bedroom.  He used to get beaten up by the cats at his old home and he hasn’t realized yet that mine won’t hurt him.

 

He’s used to dogs and doesn’t seem afraid of them -- especially Gidget, who really just wants to lick Calvin’s ears.

 

I also took in one of her horses, Ranger, who is an absolutely adorable pony!  I haven’t even had a chance to take a picture of him yet and he’s been here for almost two weeks.  Classy has been adopted, but isn’t leaving until next Sunday.  Shane has also been adopted and is leaving either this weekend or next.   That only leaves me with two trained horses to adopt:  Flo and Molly!  What I wouldn’t give for an indoor ring or lighted outdoor ring right now so I could get some of these other horses trained!

I’ve been so incredibly busy and worn out that I can’t even get excited about the seed catalogs that are starting to come in.  This is hard to believe, but I haven’t even looked through any of them!  They’ve been sitting on my kitchen table for weeks, calling my name, tempting me with pretty cover art… and I just can’t pick them up.  I have very little interest in gardening next year because I know how busy I’m going to be.  We’re having a big event in June (I’ll fill you in on details closer to the date) and just preparing for that is going to take every ounce of energy and every free minute I have.

Most of my blogging next spring will be over on Training the Unwanted, since I have to get a bunch of horses trained before the event in June (including Maverick!!).  So please accept my apologies now for the inevitable lack of garden porn next year. :)