The Owl House

It's a beautiful day--a day to get things done. First things first--breakfast on the porch. Poor Molly lost her bed to Ivan. This is one of the drawbacks of allowing the cats on the porch.

My friend Nancy is marrying soon, and the event is being held in a beautiful barn owned by a friend of hers. As we sat inside one rainy day, all talking up the upcoming day, I looked around and thought "I have a beautiful barn, too, and I've let it go to hell." That's not precisely true, as I have discarded a lot of junk that was down there. Now it's time to spiff it up so I can enjoy that beautiful space.

Here it is all junked up. Perhaps at the end of the day you'll see a nicer photo.

At this time of year, I'm sharing my barn with birds as well as the cats upstairs. I'm going to have to take breaks in my clean-up so the mother flycatcher, caretaker of this nest, can feed her babies. Unlike the starlings, she was too shy to approach while I was inside the barn breaking down cardboard boxes.

On an note unrelated to clean-up (but more pertinent to this blog),Coyote had a chance to get into the adoption program of another shelter back before kittens started pouring in everyone's doors, but when I checked her records, her rabies vaccination had expired. Of course, when I took her in to the vet for a exam, she had tooth issues. After the dental we learned her teeth were actually fine. Her gums were the issue. Coyote has stomatitis, which causes inflamed gums. The veterinarian cleaned her teeth and sent her home with antibiotics. Whomever adopts her will need to keep her teeth clean.

She was a good girl on her trip. Doesn't she have the most beautiful eyes?

On a recent trip into Owego to meet friend and adopter Gretchen, I noted these flyers in a storefront from Owego's local cat rescuers. It would be nice to meet them. Perhaps if I get the barn cleaned up, I could have a picnic like we've had previous years, where cat folk can relax and not feel odd for discussing cats.

We'll see.