Another month almost over...

I sound like a broken record, but the months are just flying by. Time. There is just no stopping it, and I find myself getting frustrated at whatever and whoever wastes my time. Junk eMails are at the top of my list. I cannot even begin to count the number of nonsense eMails that I have to delete each week. The downside of technology.

Zuzu has made herself quite at home here. She has the three older cats wrapped around her cute little  paw. She is such a tiny kitten still, and doesn’t seem to be growing as fast as the male cats did. She is a delicate little kitten, but totally fearless. We didn’t need a fourth cat, but I am glad we decided to keep her. Princess Zuzu can usually be found in the top tier of the carpeted cat tower... her private penthouse.

We had roofers here all week, replacing this many-tiered and gabled old Victorian roof, plus the breezeway and the garage. Every old shingle was torn off and precisely replaced by a small army of workers who showed up early in the morning and worked till dinner time. It was not a stellar week for Savannah, who cringes at any loud sound... and having workers pounding hammers and nails all over the house didn’t make for quiet days for our sensitive dog. And just when the hammering quit, one of the neighbors decided to have target practice on their property, and Savannah spent two hours shivering and shaking and hardly able to breathe. With certain neighbors, there is no such thing as a quiet country life. I have accepted that from them, but Savannah is inconsolable during their ruckus.

And me... my escape is reading... I just keep reading. Two books a week, at least. Reading takes one away when you have to stay where you are.

Kittens R Us....

Last July around this same time, I found two tiny kittens on the road heading towards our house.  I stopped my car and picked them up... I couldn’t very well leave them sitting there, and they came to me quite willingly. After trying, and failing, to adopt them out, we kept them... Julius and Peaches. They have grown into beautiful and well-behaved cats.

Last week, we heard the most pitiful meows coming from our barn, underneath our cottage, and near the porch of our house. More than one tiny kitten? No, thankfully... just one very frightened and very loud kitten. Judging by the sound of its poignant meows, I knew it couldn’t be more than two months old.

We tried for six or seven days to find this kitten and coax it out from its hiding places. The kitten went underneath our car and managed to get itself up into the car’s engine. Needless to say, we did not move that car... we covered it all up with tarps and put a release-trap on one side. The kitten was in that car all day long... my husband opened up the hood and miracle of miracles, the kitten was sitting right on top of the engine. My husband quickly scooped it up and ran towards the house and we got the tiny thing into a bathroom and shut the door.

I stayed up most of the night with that kitten... talking to it and holding it, and by morning it was as calm as could be, as if it had been born right in that room. My husband and I looked at one another and we knew... we have to keep this kitten. So what if we already have three cats. What’s one more?

I took the kitten to the vet this morning... it’s a girl... the first female cat we have ever had. After much discussion about names, we decided on Zuzu... for the little girl in the classic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  - ‘Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings,’ says cute little Zuzu in that movie.

The vet pronounced Zuzu to be healthy, despite her diminutive weight of under a pound and a half. She is playing with Julius and Peaches, while Sweet Pea looks on, like the Elder Cat-King he is.

We did not need another cat... but sometimes you have to accept what the universe gives you, just because it’s the right thing to do.

Welcome to the family, Zuzu Kitty.