Category Archives: animals

Where Have We Been?

Posted on by | 4 Comments

Where have we been?

I don’t mean travel. COVID still has us locked down but where have we been the last couple of weeks? Well kitten duty is time consuming. Even with toys Banner is a demanding little bugger! I try to play with him for at least 30 minutes before work every day. If I don’t he is so wound up I can’t get any work done. It took him only about 2 seconds with my back turned to tear into my work laptop. Yup he pulled the F2 key off. I lucked out because I snagged it back from him before he he swallowed it and I don’t use the F2 key. I didn’t even know what it did so other than a white spot I guess there was no real harm done.

We Got Our First Snowfall

It snowed here yesterday and then the temps dropped so we still have snow on the ground today. I read that the Farmer’s Almanac has predicted a snowy , cold winter. Why not?  2020 has thrown everything else at us!  I tried to get Banner interested in watching the snow come down but he had no interest at all, A kitten after my own heart. He’s more interested in the feather trim on my witch hat for Halloween.

 

You need to arch your back a little more , Banner , to get that scary Halloween witch cat look! At least he’s got the tail thing mastered.

New York Wildlife

On a more photography/travel related note I got my New York Wildlife Viewing guide. Hopefully this will help me choose some trips in 2021. I couldn’t just buy the book. The only way to get it was to subscribe to Conservationist Magazine. I’ve gotten one digital issue so far and it was really good. I hope some of my issues will be print because the color photos are gorgeous and the articles weren’t boring at all!

The first thing I checked was Adirondacks and the first place on the list was “The Wild” in Tupper Lake. If you recall my brother and I visited “The Wild” in August. 

From the description in the book it sounds like there is a lot more to it than what we saw. Of course we were there while the pandemic was still in full force so half the exhibits were closed. Once this COVID is all over I’ll have to go back. We might have missed some other things there too because my knees were  really limiting my mobility.  I’m working on possible solutions to improve that too.

Puzzle Update

The Puzzle is still laid out on the table but I picked up the loose pieces and put them in the box.  So far Banner has not tried to eat them but I don’t want to tempt him either. So there’s been no progress to report but no damage from curious kitty either. It’s just waiting for me to get some time to work on it again.

 

 

Banner’s New Toy

Posted on by | 2 Comments

Banner’s New Toy

Kittens are so much fun but keeping them amused can be a full time job. To help avoid kitty boredom I got Banner a new Toy.

It’s not like he was lacking toys . His starter arsenal included 12 mini mice, a crooked cat tree, a kick toy, catnip and a scratching ramp.  He lost the mini mice within 1 day. I found myself trekking back to the store for another package of 6.

Boxes, Boxes and more Boxes

I’ve been ordering from Chewy almost daily so the living room is filled with Chewy Boxes. I have to start throwing some out but Banner uses them all. They are another form of toy for him. Which one will I steal away from him first? One of his favorite games is “Find the Kitty” sort of a cat hide and seek. 

The Feather Wand

Rocky my cat

“Uncle Rocky”

Just like his “Uncle Rocky”, Banner loves his feather wand toy. Of course that requires my attention. He bounces and jumps like Tigger trying to catch that feather. We play with the Feather Wand every morning before I try to go to work. It’s fun but it’s also my way of trying to tire him out so I can work. He likes to sit on the computer keyboard or chew on my headset when I’m in a zoom meeting so getting him tired is a necessity.

The Wellness Checkup

Dr Ross, a mobile vet in our community came over for Banner’s wellness check that was required by the shelter I adopted him from. He passed with flying colors. Dr. Ross played with Banner and gave him treats. What a difference from my previous vet visits. No stress on Banner. No stress on me either. Switching vets was such a good idea. Yes, I know, I am spoiling my kitten. But I have to say he is one happy kitten. He’s my purr machine. The only thing I can’t get him to do is to eat wet kitten food. He only wants the dry. This is the first cat I’ve ever had that didn’t want wet cat food. 

Banner! I almost named you George

Posted on by | 2 Comments

His name is Banner, Not George

 

Looney Tunes got it right. He’s only been here since 8 pm last night and already I love him to pieces. I could kiss him and hug him and pet him and squeeze him but no, I didn’t call him George. His tail is just too much a part of his personality. It waives proudly like a banner or flag so his name is Banner.

Go Ahead, Say I told you so.

I know I said no more cats after Rocky but the house felt so empty without a furry friend. Then when covid came along and stuck us all at home it just wore me down. I have always believed that cats find me. I’ve never had to go looking for one and I didn’t really do much searching now. I told myself to be patient but the grapevine was quiet. I didn’t see any strays in the neighborhood. I didn’t even see my neighbor’s cat much.

Then out of nowhere a little kitten face popped up in my facebook feed! I see dogs for adoption all the time but this was the first kitty and I fell for that face. 

The Shelter named him Teddy

 I put in an application right away to Project Safe Pet- RI but Teddy was already spoken for. I didn’t want a different cat. I only wanted Teddy. Turns out my friend and former boss has connections there and she convinced them to give Teddy to me. The other adopters agreed to a different kitty. So here we are. I’ve renamed him Banner and we came home last night, October 10. I expected him to hide and left a lot of boxes around for him to explore but he wasn’t shy at all. He wandered all over the house. He found his food and litterbox and made himself at home.  I imagine you’ll be hearing a lot more about Banner. Kittens are crazy fun but can be trying. All that energy! But they are oh so worth it.

Adirondack Wildlife

Posted on by | 2 Comments

I’ve been telling you about the beautiful scenery and abundant food  in the Adirondacks but  what about the Adirondack Wildlife? There’s certainly plenty of that around even if we didn’t see them all. You can find black bear, bobcats, coyotes /coy-dogs, Red fox, beaver, muskrat, ground hogs, deer, maybe a moose in the north and tons of squirrels & chipmunks. And we can’t forget the traditional road kill of possums, raccoons, skunks and porcupines!Then there are the birds. Herons, blue jays, crows, ravens, woodpeckers, chick-a dees,  hummingbirds, finches, sparrows red winged black birds, loons…. Throw in a few raptors- various hawks and owls and even bald eagles.

Of course we can’t forget  the scaly creatures- snakes (including rattlesnakes), turtles from little sliders to whopping snappers, and fish. The only alligators are those some stupid people released thinking it would be fun. Those people are cruel idiots. Excuse me for being so blunt but they are signing the poor alligator’s death warrant. They are not good people.

The Eastern Cougar

The eastern cougar was declared extinct on January 22, 2018. Once this big cat roamed all of the eastern states dining on deer meat. But as the herd disappeared so did the cougar.However as white tailed deer made a comeback in places such as the Adirondacks there are sporadic sightings reported. Are they really extinct? Are the sightings of the eastern cougar or their western cousins? Who knows but like Bigfoot they don’t seem to be going away anytime soon. 

 

The Little Mammals

Mid way through my visit we descended on my sister. We met her for lunch at Cooper’s Cave then retired to her house to take in the mini wildlife in her back yard. We enjoyed the antics of her tiny menagerie for several hours while catching up on family gossip. As much as Sandy complains about the chipmunks and squirrels digging holes in her yard, she still keeps an ample supply of peanuts on hand. The squirrels and chipmunks come first and then the Blue Jays. We even saw her hummingbird! 

 

 

Puzzle Progress

I forgot to post an update on the last post . As you can see the progress isn’t fast but it is steady. 

Why aren’t we helping animals?

Posted on by | 2 Comments

Let’s Feed & Care for Shelter Animals Every Day!

Together we’ve donated more than $60 million to causes you care about!
Your clicks have funded the value of 776,693,063 bowls of food. Learn more

When you click, our sponsors fund food and supplies for shelter pets.

Sounds pretty good, right? But what I wonder is why before the pandemic the site showed 80,000-850000 clicks each day. Now when we are all handing on the internet looking for things to do click count is way down. It got as low as 49000. At least it seems to be heading back up. We funded the value of 66,085 bowls of food yesterday. 

Not into pets and animals? This site also counts clicks for hunger, breast cancer, veterans, diabetes, save the rainforest and more.  So when you’re surfing around the web, take a second to swing by and click. https://theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/clicktogive/ars/home

Will you Travel after the Pandemic?Red fox baby on Monday

I’ve been reading a lot about the state of the travel industry and projections after Covid 19. Predictions are more road trips and less flying.  Amazing incentives are expected to encourage the public to get back out there. I like the sound of the road trips. Long weekends exploring local attractions and maybe a longer road trip. A cross country drive maybe? Travel at my own pace. Stop and take pictures along the way? Its amazing what you can see from the road when you take your time.  I’ll have to turn in my leased car and buy a car. Otherwise that pesky mileage issue will come up.

Spring Baking Championship

Ok so being cooped up has had me searching for things to watch on TV. Most of my favorite shows are reruns because they can’t get out to film with the virus. They are shut down too but I happened to come across the Spring Baking Championship on Food Network. Its amazing what these bakers can do but that wasn’t why this episode stuck in my mind. One of the bakers was from Jackson Hole Wyoming. As soon as I heard that I was immediately transported back to my vacation in Jackson Hole. It was a very strange feeling. I remembered the feeling of being there, the smell of the air, the amazing mountains. The essence that I absorbed while visiting all came sweeping back to me. Maybe its time for a return trip once the pandemic is over. 

Moulton Barn with Tetons in the background