My Thursday Night

Because last week was horrendously busy, here’s a post from January, 2021. No doubt you don’t remember it so it’ll seem brand new to you and to me as well since I have the short-term memory of a hamster (2-3 seconds long). So here we go…

So Thursday night at about 8:30 I’m relaxing in my favorite chair, feet propped up on the ottoman, when I decided to check on one of my foster cats. A couple minutes later I return to find my dog Taffy munching something orange. I thought, what is that? That’s when I saw what was left of a pack of gum.

Scene of the crime

I’m a gum chewer from way back, which is why a friend gave me a pack of Trident Orange Swirl with my Christmas gift. It sat on the table next to my chair, which apparently was a big mistake. Sugar free Trident has xylitol in it and is extremely toxic to dogs. So I quickly called Pet Emergency because Taffy didn’t have the courtesy to poison herself during regular business hours.

Pre-Taffy

Pet Emergency had me call the ASPCA Poison Hotline to give them info so they’d know how to treat Taffy. Turns out xylitol causes hypoglycemia, seizures, liver failure and sometimes death. It’s even more toxic to dogs than chocolate.

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When it Rains, it Pours

You know that saying, when it rains, it pours? Turns out it’s true. I estimate for the last few months I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop because the hits just keep on coming. Suffice to say, the other shoe has dropped.

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The Kitty Cat Caper

This caper was originally posted in 2020. Since writing this, we’ve now relocated over 1280  ferals to new outdoor homes and some, like this one, have been quite the adventure. So here you go (again)…

It’s 11:30 p.m. and I won’t be sleeping anytime soon. My adrenaline is surging like a spewing fire hydrant. That’s because I just got home from stealing 4 cats with Loretta, my partner in crime.

woman hiding

Loretta won’t let me take her photo so this will have to do

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not normally a cat snatcher. I’m more a cat trapper…as in trapping feral cats for sterilization. Tonight, however, was different.

Marin Friends of Ferals has relocated over 500 un-adoptable cats to act as mousers that also receive daily food and water. Only 4 times we’ve had to retrieve them for inadequate care. (Read The Great Escape for another cat caper I chronicled.) Tonight’s snatch was equally exhilarating. Except last time we didn’t get caught. Continue reading

Gone Girl: A Suicidal Spider

Good news…I’m now able to access previous blog posts since I couldn’t the last two weeks. Still can’t post an original one. But I’ll take what I can get at this point until I find a human who can fix the issue. Apparently, WordPress has no humans available to assist technologically challenged idiots such as yours truly. So thanks for bearing with me until this gets straightened out.

I hate killing things. I shoo flies from the house and scoop up spiders to bring outside. When my cats bring in lizards (once I found one staring back at me from my pantry shelf), I place them in my critter container used specifically for their release.

for-critters

I’m considered to be a pescatarian, not to be confused with a Presbyterian. That means I don’t eat meat but will eat seafood. Prawns, calamari and scallops are the extent of my fish consumption. They don’t have faces, making it somewhat easier for me to swallow them.

cow
Thanks for not eating me

I suppose technically prawns and calamari have faces, so someday I probably won’t be eating them either. I don’t know how long I can handle the guilt before I go completely veggie. I’m Catholic so I harbor a fair amount of guilt.

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A Happy Birthday

Recently for my 69th birthday, I had the exciting plan to clean out my clothes closets. I know, that doesn’t sound fun, right? But I actually enjoy purging stuff I bought ages ago and have yet to wear. Marie Kondo who wrote, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, says “Discard everything that does not spark joy.” Sadly, I can’t say any of my clothes are joy sparkers.

My sister Vicki’s birthday is two days after mine so our brother Bill planned to take us to dinner that night. But originally to celebrate my birthday, I planned to play tennis and have lunch with friends Hilary, Annette, and Laura. But Hilary had Covid so we scratched that. Since most of my friends were out of town I thought, closets here I come!

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