Mountain Madness

I hope everyones 4th weekend was as nice as ours!! Steve took the day off Friday and we totally revamped the garden. Repotted a lot of things and made more space by arranging the patio a little different, Now if the temps would just drop below 100, we could enjoy it some more. We hauled two loads of yard debris to the dump as well. It still amazes me how it can accumulate so fast. Like some twisted little gnomes keep adding to the pile of broken boards and discarded rugs. The piles get bigger and bigger and suddenly a second one will appear a little farther up the hill. However they may have gotten there.... they're gone now. The Zen quality of our back hill is returning!!

Friday was also one of those mixed emotion days. Just three weeks after her arrival here, Ping left for her new home. Her first day here she snarled and snapped at me. By the end of the week, I was her best friend, but she still didn't trust me. After retrieving her numerous times from the upstairs bedroom where she would go to poop, she realized she wasn't getting beaten for hiding her poop and decided she DID trust us and that she would go outside now to do her business. Breakthrough number one was hard fought, but the only breakthrough we needed to turn this snappy little girl into a bouncy bundle of love. In her mind, not being hit meant she could play games and run and snuggle and do all the happy things puppies like to do.

One of the sisters who adopted one of the Tres Amigos, came back to meet Ping. She was in desperate need of a dog unlike her new chihuahua, Brody, that would play with her 8 yr old son. They visited here for a few hours and I let them take her the next day for a sleepover. It became final sunday morning. Ping now lives with her new best friend Ethan in Brunswick MD. I will get to see her again, because I'm puppy sitting in DEC!!!! Have a wonderful life Little Lady.

Friday evening surprised us with a visit from Miriam. She's been MIA for many months now while posing as a working girl in Wash DC. Miriam is a LFF (Likable Female Friend) as opposed to FFB (previous post). I can't say BFF, because we'd have to eat breakfast together at least once a week to qualify for that, and since she moved to the city, well..... impossible. Anyhow, we visited and played with critters and she took lots of really awesome pics, including the ones below. Drank some wine, dished about the things and the people that annoy us and eventually said farewell. The result of a very cool outcome of her visit will be when Griz (the mama kitty) goes to live with her in the city. Yes, she adopted Grizelda, come august 1st!!!! We still have kittens to wean and vet visits to make. NO MORE KITTENS FOR GRIZ!!!! This little fella is still looking for a home. Just as sweet as the picture says!! This little fella is by far the fastest one in the litter. I've been calling him Gates, because he's off as soon as the gates open.

Saturday, our friend Jesse came to visit and have lunch with us. We don't get to see him as often as we would like to, but I understand because he has so much going on in his life right now.

He and his smokin hot GF Denise are going to REALLY get busy here in the next few months!!!! WOOHOO!!!

I didn't say anything..... :-)

Sunday we were supposed to go have dinner at another friends home, but when I went checking e-mails, I discovered we never really confirmed the date with each other. It was only mentioned and then stuck in my head. I have to admit, I was sad to discover we weren't going. I haven't seen them in ages and really miss their company. Soon though, I will drag them to our house and make them hang out!!

Monday, Jon, Step, Chris, Beau, Turk and the unborn CJ came to visit.

Yes, for those of you counting... Five adults and Eleven Dogs.

It was pure bliss. You couldn't move more than 3 ft without getting another hug.

I love doggies and I'll admit 11 in this little house is too much. We're on the downhill side though.

Home's will eventually appear and doggies will disappear and pretty soon we'll be back to our three. That's how it happens. I'm already getting sad thinking about it.

I could live without the yappy Schnauzer however!!!

With all this warmth and great visits from friends..... it just wouldn't be my life without a little bit of drama. I'll leave you today with the phone call I received Monday afternoon. Here I was totally believing I had made it through the whole weekend with any drama and then the Mountain called!

Imagine a wheezing, bitchy Harvey Fierstein with a 5th grade education, sitting on the front step of her trailer.

Ring Ring..... RING RING.....

Hello

Is this Gary Dean?

Greg Dean.

You got my cat.

I'm sorry, are you interested in adopting a kitten?

I lost my cat Angel like a month ago and she was pregnant. I saw your ad at the PO and she looks like my cat.

Ok... where do you live in Martinsburg.

I live on the mountain.

(authors note.. the "mountain" referred to is the ghetto of Jefferson County. Dogs tied to trees, trucks on blocks, confederate flags, FFB's)

Well this cat came from Martinsburg.

You said she was rescued here in Harpers Ferry.

The flyer says I live here in Harpers Ferry. the cat came from Martinsburg.

Well she looks like my cat.

How long did you say your cats been gone?

I been looking for her for at least a month... a long time.

Well..... since the kittens are now 5 wks old and I've had the Mama since the 6th of May and her ad on Craigslist was posted twice, so that adds another two weeks, your cat would have had to have gone missing around the 20th of April. Plus, the person who took her would have had to transport her to Martinsburg to the family that had her when she had her first little of kittens and then give them time to buy food and litter and a litter box, which they gave to me when they surrendered her.

Well she looks a lot like my missing Angel. Well, if you're interested in adopting a cat that looks like the cat you're missing, she'll be available in a few weeks, after she's spayed, for $25. Thank you for calling and good luck finding your cat.