Catching Up

Ok--I know, I have been REALLY bad about posting. It's been a busy couple of months. Where to start. I last left off with new kitten, Brody's adoption. He's growing like a weed and still a wild child. He needs to get neutered very soon. Hopefully that will help calm him down some.

I don't even have even recent photos of him right now because they would all be have a black blur in them. He never sits still long enough for me to take a photo. My friend Cindy Frezon came a few weeks ago to take some photos for me so hopefully she had better luck getting a couple of photos of him.

June 21 was a sad day for me. I had to put my 18 year old kitty, PJ to sleep. He started rapidly declining those last couple of weeks. I knew it was coming but it didn't make it any easier, That's one reason I didn't post any blogs. I just didn't have it in me.

He had a great, long life but I miss him terribly. The day he was put to sleep, I brought all the other furred ad feathered family members in to say goodbye to him. I took some photos. The sweetest ones were of him and my parrot Reggie. They had been together for 15 almost 16 years.

PJ and Reggie

I took some photos of my sweet PJ by himself.

PJ

I cut a little bit of his fur to keep and put in a memorial necklace. I knew it was time to let him go, but I really didn't want to. I think he was ready. He had had a really bad night the night before. I didn't want him to suffer. It's still so hard.

Of course, I had him cremated. I found a pretty urn at Perfect Memorials

And a very pretty memorial pendant for his fur that I clipped. You choose the birthstone (fake I'm sure) and in PJ's case it's Aquamarine which pretty much matched his eyes.

I was very impressed with Perfect Memorials. I liked my items and they got them to me fast. They even contacted me to double check something on my order.

Fortunately, last October, photographer, Leesia The had come out to my house to take photos of my "family." She had gotten a few really nice ones of PJ. I had had one of them made into a 16x20 print that now hangs in my living room thanks to help from dad. It's one of my favorite photos of PJ.

PJ

I was very fortunate because my parents came to visit me from Ohio about a week after PJ was put to sleep. It was nice to have them here during that time. I love living in Georgia. I just wish my family lived closer.

While my folks were here, my mom and I went to my local Kroger's. As we were walking out, I saw a flyer that captured my eye...

Adoption Flyer for Charm

One of the cats up for adoption, Charm looked a little like PJ. She was a female though and I tend to be drawn more to male cats.

Charm

I decided I at least wanted to meet Charm. Needless to say, I met her and promptly took her home with me. She had never lived with dogs before so I know living with 6 has been an adjustment. She is still cautious around them but she is settling in nicely.

Charm

The other newest "family" members, Autumn and Daisy are doing wonderful. Autumn has made herself quite a home.

Autumn

And Daisy has started training and competing in "Barn Hunt." In fact, this past weekend, she had her first official competition. Saturday, I called alert too soon after she found a tube which turned out to just have bedding from the rat's cage. Sunday, I waited longer and she  gave me clear signs that she had found the tube with the pet rat in it. She actually was the only medium sized dog Sunday to Qualify so she even took first place. Not bad for her first ever competition in anything.

Daisy and her Barn Hunt Q & 1st Place ribbons

Photographer Dean Lake was at the trial so when I get the photos Dean took, I'll do a blog about Barn Hunt. It's a fun new sport--and don't worry, it's very humane.

So as you can see it's been quite busy. I plan to try and do better about blogging more often. As I get older the days seem to fly by and I would like to have a record of as many of those that I can. That's one of the reasons I love photos so much. There give me little pieces of time that I have recorded and get to keep :)

You can never take enough photos!