"Where have all the PNWers gone"

Good luck to Charlie - that is a great shelter, I'm sure he'll be adopted right away.

EP - I know just how you feel - I have 12 and am way beyond my limit. But I ended up with them after trapping and neutering a feral cat colony and didn't want to put them in an overburdened system. Great that you have C.A.T. - I'll be they'll find Charlie a great home. I keep trying to steer people toward older cats for adoption rather than kittens - some of them are SUCH great companions and don't have to go through that destructive phase that kittens do. Of course, that goes for other animals too.

Got my fingers crossed that Charlie's good luck holds out and he finds a forever home soon.

Rachel got an awesome pink snowberry from Heidi at Dragonfly when we visited. I might have to look for that one.

Hi Katie & TP,

Thanks for your well-wishes for Charlie.

Katie, you have 12 huh? Nobody can say you are not doing your share!

I am all with you on the older cats. We adopted one of ours at age 16, he will turn 20 this year and he is just the greatest cat. In the past we have also adopted old and health challenged cats, that just turned out to be such a blessing in our lives. One of our cats lived to be 22, she was one of the very few I ever had since kittenhood. I got her when I was 22, so when she died, I had had her for half my life.

I am including a picture of sweet Charlie. We are going to post this on his cage at C.A.T. to let people know what a swell cat he is!

Charlie’s Story
Found on residential doorstep, 12-29-07

Charlie is a very sweet, smart, affectionate cat! He likes having his ears and cheeks lovingly ‘nubbled’, and he does not mind being picked up...once he gets to know you, he will likely be quite the cuddle-bug!

He loves to be caressed and thrives on being spoken to in loving tones; he really listens to every word of endearment! Charlie has a soft, charming voice.

The only reason Charlie at C.A.T. is that by the time he showed up as a stray, the family that he came to had 9 cats, their limit...otherwise, they would have gladly adopted him in a heartbeat! It was hard for them to say goodbye...

He is very docile towards multiple cats: even when he first arrived,
un-neutered, he did not confront other cats at all!

Charlie has excellent litter box habits, he is very tidy.

He is a treasure, definitely a Best Pet!
All he needs is a loved one who sees him for the absolute gem that he is!

Charlie is one handsome fella!

We have three house cats and they rule the roost! Here is a picture I took today of Cleo Catra, I didn't even realize she was on the bed when I dumped the load of clean laundry on it and then started folding. In mid-fold I saw her stretch her paw out from under the pile. Had to run and grab the camera, as soon as I got enough folded that you could see her I snapped this pic. We adopted her this summer from our local shelter. She is a hoot, such a personality!

Charlie is beautiful-looks like he's got a gorgeous pattern.

Oh Charlie is adorable ! Warm laundry, I wish I could lay in it instead of fold it

Here is our community garden at Hewlett-Packard (Corvallis) this morning with an unusual dusting of snow.

Beth, what does HP do with the community garden?

Good news for Charlie! He passed his FIV and Leukemia test and is now safely in the shelter, with a bright future ahead of him! The average time a cat spends in the shelter before being adopted out is 34 days, so we are keeping our fingers crossed for your sweet boy!

HP just lets anyone who works here or is retired from here have a plot to garden. It's good for employee morale and any excess food is donated to foodshare programs.

What a cool program!

Good news on Charlie! I'll keep my fingers crossed that he finds a new home soon.

Rachel, Cleo knows a good warm spot when she finds one (or it finds her)! DH was sorting the laundry the other day and left it stacked on the bed for a bit so he decided to put the down comforter over everything to keep the cats off the clean clothes. He came back later to find Fred on the laundry UNDER the comforter... didn't get a picture, though.

This message was edited Jan 7, 2008 12:44 PM

Kitties and dirty laundry - kitties and clean laundry. They have a way of finding your clothes no matter what you do. My little girl, Dolce, sleeps on my sweatshirts on a shelf in the closet. Guess I should do something about that, but she's happy so . . . Sounds like Fred and Cleo are in the same boat.

So happy about Charlie. What a break he's had, finding people who care

Beth, I drive past HP on the way to see my folks (a little farther west, just off Walnut) every time I go down to visit. So you've had frost, eh? I had some snow this morning.

Pixy - pink snowberries sound awesome. Rachel had better get started propagating . . . oops, Heidi, sorry!!!

We actually had big sloppy wet snowflakes coming down yesterday....yuk!

Wow. I'll have to call my folks and my brother (he lives in Philomath but goes bach and forth to the hospital a lot) and see if they had snow.

If they did it's all melted by now!

And they're 87 and 89, so they might have missed it.

My dad's always checking around outside, but my mom lately is "mesmerized" by the food channel. LOL. She used to check out from the library and read recipe books before the age of the Web (thought she really doesn't like to cook), so I guess I should have known that she'd get sucked into the Food Channel like the rest of us. I just love to watch other (skinny) people work. LOLOL.

I believe there are two kinds of snowberry. A shrub and a creeping. The shrubs are beautiful and easy to grow. The deer nibble them. The creeping one look thin and scraggly.

hi Katie I had the pink snowberry for sale at the nursery last year and I think I sold them all. I think they are both beautiful. Great for a more natural woodland garden.

Yep, Heidi I think I bought your last one!

Beth,
If memory serves me right (I'm hoping) did you post a picture of a arched trellis in your garden this summer on another thread? I remember the picture and I'm remembering it being of you standing under it. Does this make any sense to you? If it does I would love to find the picture again, I want to build one.

"The creeping snowberry is thin and scraggly'.

Oooh, thanks for pointing that out! Is it shorter, too? That sounds like the wild ones I found. I thought they might just be small yet, but thin and scraggly isn't quite what I had in mind. I'll go take a closer look at the ones I found before I dig them up.

Yes, the creeping stays low. I just spent the morning taking scale off a Jade plant with a swab and alcohol. You can take plants outside and spray with an indoor plant spray. It is important to spray before the little buggers get their hard shells. I think its April or May, but these looked soft now.

I remember seeing Beth's picture - she may have posted it, but I saw it in her online photo album (was looking up some morning glories that she was talking about and it came up in my search).

This trellis?
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=4356313

Yes!! That totally rocks.

How strong of hogwire did you use and what did you use to support it? How tall is it in the center?

It's the perfect height to walk under (I'm 5'8") and I think the panels come in 16 footers. They were cattle panels and I don't think I had a choice of strength, but they are much stronger than they need to be.

The hair went this afternoon - I am now the proud owner of an above shoulder bob. Have to say it was quite fun - went in, room full of heads in different points of doing - unpinned it (very 'Marian the librarian' type knot held with one pin), and said 'bob it' - the entire room went gasp. Slight regret giving it up - it always has been quite show stopper hair - but the trouble is, it stayed young and I haven't - so it was looking a tad odd. But the oddest thing is that after handling all that hair all those years, it feels like the first time in years I actually feel like I have a head of hair! I don't quite understand that.

So, liberation. The hair has been cut.

Wow, Laurie-Congratulations! I re-read your post about your hair-it sounds beautiful and I'll bet it looks fabulous with the new cut.

Nice job Laurie - I bet it looks fantastic, full of life ! Remember when you go to shampoo, you won't need nearly as much.

Laurie....Oh my, what did I start...lol ....Where is the post so we can see it.... Isn't it fun to have a new do!
Carla

I'm so excited for you, Laurie.

I did that once and everyone in the salon was so excited. Apparently most people make the change gradually and the hairstylist rarely gets this opportunity. I'll bet you were a showstopper in there. Woohoo!! I feel as though I got my hair cut today.

Be sure to get a warm scarf or two to keep your neck warm while you're adjusting.

Beth, thanks. So how did you anchor them in the ground on each side? Are they 16 feet from ground to ground or sixteen feet from one end of the tunnel to the other - can you estimate the other dimension? I'll have to ask about cattle panels at the feed store. It's such a great idea.

Woohoo! That sounds like great fun, Laurie! Congratulations! And by the way - that feeling you have now on your head, the one that makes you feel as though you have a head full of hair- that's called 'body'! LOL!!

Laurie - the reason you feel the way you do is partially due to the weight of all that hair being gone. Plus, gravity is not pulling the hair down, so it has the ability to move more freely.
I always had long hair until a couple years back. To me it is living fabric. While long hair can be low-maintenance style-wise, it does require more product to take care of it. Cutting it can be a major mental upheaval - love to hear your review in a few days, Laurie! Hope your dh was/is supportive!

Have any of you ladies dealt with kidney failure in dogs or know anything about it. My miniature poodle has been diagnosed with it and is really suffering. She is seven years old and the light of our lives. So beautiful and gentle. I am new to Dave's Garden and just started reading your conversations. You all sound like you lead great lives and have a lot of fun.

No - just in cats & my vet uses Homeopathic remedies.
What is your vet recommending for treatment?
This is difficult no matter what - hard to see the ones you love suffer.
Please consider the pet forum - there may be good info there as well.

Willowwind, I'm soo sorry about your baby. Is she in much pain? I don't know much about kidney failure in dogs, but I do have a friend who's a vet (not practicing as a vet, but is a breeder) in Benton City. I can pass on any questions that you're not getting good answers to.

Doesn't sound like it's common to miniature poodles. There are some treatments, though. Here are a

http://www.peteducation.com/category_summary.cfm?cls=2&cat=1634
http://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/dkidney.html (do a search on this page for poodle, it's in the middle of the page)

Glad you're here with us to share in some of the silliness. Please feel free to jump in.

Don't know how exciting my life really is, but I have my dogs, cats and yard and that keeps me out of trouble. Now if it just weren't for that pesk job thing . . .

Hope you can find some relief for your baby. Do you want to post a picture of her here? I'd love to see her.

Yes Beth that's the one that I had pictured in my mind! Yeah, I wasn't just imagining it! How did you make it? Thanks, Rachel

Laurie how wonderful, bet you look 20 years younger
When I got my long hair Bob as you say, the hair dresser wanted a note from my husband to make sure it was okay to cut it. I told her its my hair, and she did a bad job of it anyway.

Thanks all - I have to say, I am less enthusiastic this morning. Full of self-doubt, but I am sure that is just the newness of it, I feel a bit exposed. But I bet by tomorrow I will be a great great fan again. Tills, I think if the hairdresser asks for a note from husband, get up and walk out! How insulting! Does she know that women also have the right to vote? Sheesh.

I love the cattle fence tunnel - the idea of growing all those vines: cucumbers, minipumpkins, melons, everything up and over is wonderful!! A definate for the veg garden this year. I wonder if I can do that with all the saplings - I'll have to think about that.

Willow, so sorry to hear about your little dog - there is so much dog knowledge here (me, I'm owned by a terrier, so no advice offered!) that I am sure they can be supportive while you are going through this.

Sorry Willow, she sounds so sweet.