Crofton Cat Alert

Before I start documenting our camping trip, I need to post this very important warning for Crofton cat owners, and an accompanying sad goodbye to a very fine cat.

Today I learned that there has been someone using what appears to be a pellet gun to shoot cats in my neighbourhood.  At least three have been shot in the past couple of weeks, two injured and one killed.  Given that others have gone 'missing', it is possible there are more deaths.  The area affected is between Robert Street and Pauline Street, from Bertha to Queen.  It may, of course, be wider than that.

Sadly, the cat who was killed was one I know well and have shown on this blog a few times - Tux, the wonderfully friendly cat belonging to my friends.  He failed to come home one evening, and was found dead the next day under a bush a few houses down, a bullet in his chest.

My deepest condolences go to Lorelei and Wilf.

The shootings have been reported to the RCMP (who told them to call the SPCA); the SPCA (who told them to call the RCMP), and Coastal Animal Services.  They have also been reported to the provincial SPCA hotline.

If you live in Crofton and see or hear anyone shooting at the animals, please call the police. Animal welfare may not be their responsibility, but the use of firearms in Crofton is.  One only needs to express concern that a child might be hurt and they have to respond.

Here's to Tux, a very fine cat. You will be missed.   Run free at the Rainbow Bridge, Tux.

Tux on pagoda

Hi Auntie Jean! Got any treats?

What's that moving in the grass?

Tux in his back yard.

There's No Place Like Home...

....and we're so glad to be here.  It was a very full week that was, for the most part, relaxing and fun - great friends, singing around the campfire, wonderful meals, lots and lots of wild flowers and birds to photograph, a great visit with Emma, and a wonderful visit from a very famous Turtle Gardens' dog and his family (canine and human) - I have a ton of photos from that one but I'll keep readers in suspense for another day or two.

On the down side, the weather was very unpredictable, from hot and humid,  to one very scary very long very noisy thunderstorm that left poor Eddie a quivering whimpering mess, to steady rain at the most inopportune times -  when I was taking down the tent and packing up the car this morning.

On the way home we stopped at Hearts on Noses piggy sanctuary to drop off some blankets and fruits and veggies, and learned that Janice has had a heart attack and is in hospital.  Help is desperately needed for the next little while, so if you are in the lower mainland or Fraser Valley and can lend a hand with pooper scooping, filling water dishes, helping feed, etc. please check out their facebook page (Hearts On Noses) and/or contact me and I'll get you in touch with someone.

Mitzi has photos to share from her stay with Gail and Sadie B, Allie was well taken care of by the teenager next door, and Eddie barked non stop for an hour after we got home - he was just sooooo excited to be here.

I took about 300 photos per day, which I am still editing of course.  Over the next few days I'll post some of them along with a few stories from the week.

Allie's World

Allie loves to watch the birds through the window

The red ones....

And yellow ones....

And stripey ones

And fluffy ones...
Oh, wait, wrong photo...

And baby ones 

Second hatch is almost ready to leave the nest -
And so are we.

Eddie:  Huh?  We're goin' somewheres?

Me:  Yes, Eddie and I are off on a week long camping trip tomorrow.

An' I'm stayin' wiv Auntie Gail and Sadie B.
Which is why Mama Jean made me hav a bath this morning!

Allie will keep looking out the window,
Watching for the neighbours to come feed her. 

We'll be camping where there is no internet or cell service, so don't expect to hear from me until late next week.
Over and out.

Life After The Sale

Crofton Lake

As one of the core team of seven pawing through donations, sorting, pricing, packing, doing stuff that led up to the hugely successful SPCA garage sale, life kinda gets put on hold, especially during April and May.  So it is almost eerie to find oneself on a less-busy schedule, a slower pace, more time for doing the things I imagined retirement would allow me to do.

Aside from catching up on housework and gardening, I've been getting back to outings with friends and dogs.  The weather has been perfect - mostly sunny and warm with a light breeze to keep the bugs away and the body comfortable.

Yesterday, we went up to Crofton Lake with our friend Chelsea Dawn (who you may remember from this post) and her mama Anne.  My dogs don't have any difficulty figuring out who carries the best treats:

Mitzi mooches on tiptoe, Eddie assists.

Poor Chelsea could hardly get close to the hand that feeds her.

Hmmm, why is my mom feeding my treats to these interlopers?

But true to her duck tolling retriever nature, she was more interested in retrieving ducks - or in this case, soggy sticks, from the lake.

Mitzi was happy to snuffle around in the mucky grass (hence the filthy face!) and found a recently vacated snake skin.

Is it sumthin' to EAT?

And Eddie, who eschews water and muck (most of the time) was happy just to run run run along the path by the lake. Such a happy boy!

I feel happy, oh so happy,
I am havin' a wonderful daaaaay...

Thanks for the great walk, Chelsea and Anne - we must do this more often!

And on Thursday, we went for our regular Thursday walk with Sadie B and Gail - this week through Osborne Bay Park and down along the beach.  Again, my guys know who carries the better treats.  What Mooches!

Just one more, Auntie Gail, Pleeeeaase?

Princess Mitzi was even willing to get her little tootsies wet and mucky to reach those bits of dried meat.

Some things are more important than dry feet!

Sadie B the border collie was more interested in herding sticks and flying over obstacles - it's hard to catch a clear photo of Speedy Sadie.

Speedy Sadie flies over the log

Another great walk and tired, albeit mucky, dogs.

Will Sit For Treats

Today is a community -wide garage sale in Crofton.  To be honest, I'm garage-saled out.  But I think I just may slip a few dollars in my pocket when I walk the dogs  because, well, you just never know what I can't live without!

Dear Mama: While you were busy.....

Dear Mama,  

While you were so busy last week wiv the SPCA garage sale, a lot haz been happenin' here at home:

The strawberries haz been ripening

And these yellow bush daisies (Euryops) bloomed

And the tomato plants are producing babies.

The hummingbirds found the new feeders, 

And the climbing New Dawn rose is dawning. 

And Spye the pigeon came back!
(Remember Spye?)
Okay, we don't know it is him for sure, but he's here by his lonesome every day again.

 

And this red flower bloomed
(Ummm.... anenome?)

And we gotta 'nuther hatch of baby birds!!!!

They is always hungry!
(Just like us!)

And the swiss chard and kale grew so
tall, it all went to seed!

But the bees don't mind!
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

They is busy as bees
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Always buzzin' here and there
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Maybe they'll make us some honey!
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

And ya know the best thing of all that happened last week?  We gotz new neighbours and they gotz a little boy! And he LIKES us!  He comed over to see us twice already!  He's got little twin siblings too, but they is too little to play wiv us. I used to have a boy of my own (I'm Eddie) in my used-to-be-home place.  I'z happy to haz another one. His name is Jacob.  Hi Jacob, come visit us any time! 

Well, mama, that's what you missed while you were out.  Good thing I can work your camera as well as the computer. 

Love, Eddie (and Mitzi but she can't use a camera yet).  

Excuse Me While I Sleep...

It was an exhausting weekend.  An exhausting week.  Heck, an exhausting month!  And this weekend we went from this:

Saturday morning

 To this:

End of Saturday

To this:

Sunday afternoon, beginning of pack up

 Until we sent the last few items to a thrift store

Good bye, leftovers!

And locked the doors

And counted the money

MORE THAN $28,000 worth of it!!!!!

I'd say it was time and energy well spent, wouldn't you?  

(Note to SPCA volunteers:  There are many more photos, and I will edit and make them available for you to view over the next couple of days.  I don't post photos of identifiable individuals on my blog without their permission - I'll get Gail to send out an email to all volunteers to tell you how/where to access them). 

We're as ready as we'll ever be!

Setting up for the sale

For six months, a small team of a half-dozen volunteers have been sorting, pricing, boxing and storing garage sale items all donated by an incredibly generous community.  On Thursday, a larger team of volunteers helped load up flat decks and trucks, move everything to the exhibition grounds, unload it all, and sort it into its respective areas.  Today, Friday, even more volunteers (including the half dozen of the past six months and most of the ones from Thursday) took everything out of the boxes and arranged everything attractively on about 160 (I think) tables and 16,000 square feet of floor space.  Now that's a garage sale!  

So, we're ready for you.  As ready as we'll ever be.  And I hope we'll see you at Mellor Hall, Cowichan Exhibition Grounds (Hwy 1 at Mays Rd, just north of Duncan on Vancouver Island), Saturday and Sunday (June 1 and 2) from 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM.  It's worth the trip from Victoria or Nanaimo or Campbell River. It's even worth a trip from the mainland!  

We have tools and sports and gardening stuff (including hanging baskets and containers of annuals!), 

One small section of the garden area -
before all of the plants had arrived!

we have electronics and clothes and linens and shoes and purses and jewellery for all budgets! We have an amazing array of kids stuff as well as puzzles and games for all ages.  

I need a kid to buy for!

We have a kitchen department that rivals the big box stores!  We have items for pets - with dozens and dozens of leashes and collars (mostly new!) and coats and dishes, beds and crates and litter pans and aquariums,  and even a saddle, some halters and horse blankets! 

Something for everyone and his or her dog -
or cat or fish or ferret or guinea pig or horse. 

We have craft supplies and seasonal decor.   There's Pricer's Picks - the quirky, exotic, outrageous, classy, and sometimes funny items that took the fancy of one or more of the pricing team.  There's furniture - desks and couches and tables and a bunk bed, rugs and bookcases, enough to outfit your whole house.  

We'll even help you find accessories to accent your
SPCA-special living room suite!

There's art - from modern  little frames to massive ancient pieces.  There's books.  Did I mention there's books?  All sorted by genre.  There's all this and more - and when you get hungry, Bob will BBQ one of his famous burgers for you.

You're not going to find another garage sale like this anywhere.  There's only clean quality goods - no broken or dirty junk here! - and everything has a price sticker on it, most so unbelievably low that you won't need to dither about whether to buy it or not.  We accept cash or credit cards. 

Setting up - and there's more!

And every penny goes to the animals at the Cowichan and District SPCA, which, in my opinion, is the best branch of the SPCA in Canada.  

I hope to see you there.  I'll be the one with the camera in front of my face.