Sister Mary Winifred

Well, here we are – almost to Halloween – and so many updates! No one thinks Meg’s eggs are going to hatch now, except once in a while Meg still moves them around and sits on them for an hour or so, but she leaves them at night. I’m sorry for Meg because I’m sure she wanted goslings, but Mom said this is not a good time of year for baby geese, so maybe it’s better that the eggs just remained eggs.

Dottie, one of the dogs at Somerset County animal control, has now moved to her forever home at Rikki’s Refuge in Orange County, VA. Dottie is happy there and we are very happy for her!

Sammy and Hallie, also from Somerset County animal control, are now living at Sanctuary House – I think they’ll live here forever, but that’s not sure yet. Sammy is not so afraid any more, in fact he likes to play in the yard with the other dogs; but Hallie is afraid of everything and everybody. And Casey, the very old beagle from South Carolina, is still at Penny Angel’s Beagle Rescue in NJ, and I think she’ll live there forever. This isn’t what Joan and Mom had planned, but you know people make plans all the time and then have to change them.

Two days ago, when the morning was very cold, Mom turned on the heater switch, and . . . NO heat! So we are hoping the repairman will come tomorrow – probably the heater just needs to be cleaned (because the beagles shed so much!). The heater has only worked for one winter, so it is practically new . . . except for the beagle fur and beagle dust. We cats groom all the time, so you know the problem with the heater is NOT cat fur. I’ll let you know what the repairman says!

More tomorrow. . .
Gus
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October 10th

Guess what – we got a brand new washing machine! Mom is happy now that our laundry room is back in business.

We had a lot of rain and wind at the weekend, but were fortunate that Hurricane Matthew did not come here. Suddenly our warm, end-of-summer weather is gone, and it is much cooler – Mom said it’s almost cold, and since she doesn’t have fur or feathers like we do, she’s wearing a sweatshirt! Everyone is hungry, and this morning Jackie came to the pasture gate when the sun first made the sky light to call to Mom because he wanted his breakfast. Overnight the leaves on the big oak tree in our back yard have begun changing from green to golden brown.

Meg the goose is still on her nest and no eggs have hatched . . . the boys, Crockett and Desmond, are keeping careful watch on her and sit close to her all day. Early in the morning Meg leaves her nest to eat and drink, and all of the geese talk excitedly to each other. But when Meg goes back to her nest and everyone is very quiet, and the boys sleep with their heads under their wings, and wait.

October 18th

So much has happened in the past week that I hardly know where to begin. Maybe the biggest thing is that the two scared beagles, Sammy and Hallie, came to live with us, at least for now. . . . and the other old beagle, Casey, is living with Joan for now. And for another good dog story, Mom is helping rescue another dog named Dottie – Dottie is probably a pointer mix and she is a total escape artist! But now she will be going to live at Rikki’s Refuge in Orange, Virginia. Kerry, who runs Rikki’s Refuge with her cat helper Opie, said Dottie could live there forever and ever. They are the best, Kerry and Opie are, and we thank God for them every day. . . in fact, I learned to write this blog because Opie is a blog writer too! Opie helps Kerry a lot, just like I help Mom.

Last Saturday Mom sat down on the outside steps into our house and discovered that they were rotten on one side . . . yep, as you can imagine, she spent Sunday going to Lowe’s and rebuilding the steps! Now I think she’s imagining a new handrail too. Good thing we are having a few warm days if she wants to have outdoor projects.

And one sad thing happened at the weekend too: our sister cat Belinda died. Belinda had lived at Sanctuary House for a long time – she came with her three kittens. One of the grown up kittens still lives with us; her name is Bisou. Belinda was a dark gray kitty with white paws and a white milk moustache – Mom always said Belinda was asking “Got milk? Or other cat treats?” Belinda loved to jump and climb when she was younger, but when she got old she mostly sat on the window sill or on the climbing towers. Belinda loved other cats more than she loved people, but on the day she died she wanted Mom to hold her and then she went to sleep leaning against Merwyn, a big black cat. We miss Belinda a lot. I’m not like Belinda – I want Mom to hold me every day . . . and she does!

Until next time,
Gus
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Today is a sad day for Sanctuary House because our cat Tom died this morning. Tom got sick all of a sudden and even though Mom had medicine for him, he didn’t get better. Last night he went to sleep surrounded by his cat friends – Mom kissed him goodnight and he purred back to her, but early this morning he died. Tom was a big tuxedo cat – mostly black with white toes. I think kitties Fluffy and Belinda will miss him most of all because they were his very good friends – and of course, Mom misses him too.

Politics, politics – that’s almost all that’s on the radio! I don’t know why the humans have to elect a President . . . cats don’t have to hold elections, we have other ways of choosing leaders. Mom isn’t happy about any of the candidates who are trying to get elected – she said she would never, never vote for Donald Trump. Even before he started saying creepy things about women and Muslims and border fences and torture, Mom said “No, never!” When I asked her why she said, “Two words, Gus, Bonwit Teller.” I’m not sure what Bonwit Teller means, but I might Google it later. [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/realestate/fifth-avenue-bonwit-teller-opulence-lost.html?_r=0]

If we have to have a President and Mom takes me with her when she goes to vote we might write in Morris, the 9-Lives cat – he’s good at business; or Opie from Rikki’s Refuge [http://rikkisrefuge.org/] – if Opie can run Rikki’s Refuge, I bet he could run the world! Cats rule, you know!

It’s raining again today – the beagles aren’t too happy about that and neither is our horse, Jackie. Jackie is especially unhappy because Mom put up a web gate to keep him away from the muddiest part of the pasture – of course, that is exactly where he wants to stand. Jackie weighs 1000+ so he can certainly pull the gate down . . . right now he’s thinking about it. Mom has tried to distract him with carrots and treats, but he’s still thinking about that flimsy gate.

Did you know that our Book of Common Prayer has a prayer for rain? Here is a little of that prayer: O God, heavenly Father . . . send us we entreat you . . . moderate rain and showers, that we may receive the fruits of the earth, to our comform and to your honor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. [p. 828] . . . maybe we have been forgetting the word “moderate” – what do you think??


Until next time,
Stay safe; pray always; keep in touch.

Gus

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