The Tale of "Little One"

Greetings lovely friends & readers

I captured this stunning sunset last night from our deck area.

Well my dear friends ... it would seem that - without even trying ... we appear to have become a three-cat-family 😉

Let me tell you the tale of "Little One"

(Yes named by The Mr - can't you tell !!)

You can clearly see the glassy eye in this photo above - this is the one he is blind in

His pregnant Mum was dumped at the metal pit beside the farm that The Mr runs ... this is a frequent occurrence (cats being dumped) as the farm is at the end of a dead-end road, not very far from town - so they don't have to use much petrol to abandon their animals. 😠  This infuriates me but that's not why we're here today. 

 Pregnant Mum (black & white) made her way to the cowshed where The Mr feeds a motley crew of assorted previously-dumped cats.  The Mr always maintains "you either shoot them ... or you feed them but you never starve them".  I am inclined to agree with him.  Our small rural town no longer has an SPCA so there is nowhere to take these dumped cats & nobody wants them.  

Pregnant Mum gave birth to Little One & a black/white female kitten around Christmas time if my memory serves me correctly.  The Mr would sometimes send me photos of Little One & I remember saying I thought he had Siamese in him.  Always one eye was runny.  As time went on & he became very friendly The Mr decided he needed to get him neutered so off to the Vet they go.  The Vet checked him out thoroughly & informed The Mr they would not be doing the surgery as he had a nasty lung infection & an eye infection, as well as being born blind in one eye.  She also said he needed to be kept inside & given antibiotics & eye drops in order to recover properly or the lungs would never clear up.

The first I knew of this was when The Mr arrived home & plonked the cat cage on my table ... what should we do??!! What a dilema ... we both shook our heads.  So The Mr said we'll try it for one night & see how it goes. 

It's a very stressful life here at Threadbear & sometimes we get tired from playing with the toys!!!

Now let me be 100% honest here dear friends.   Do I want a 3rd cat? No I most certainly do not!! Somedays - I don't even want the two I've got !!!! (sorry Pip, sorry Blackie) But can I bear the thought of him living in the tractor shed in the cold & the damp with a lung infection?? No I cannot.  

And so we do the best that we can.

He has certainly made himself right at Home in the spare bedroom & Yours Truly (myself) even found herself in a weak moment at the Variety Store last week - purchasing cat toys (!!!!) 😖

Back again to the Vets last Thursday for another check up (we're up to $397 currently) ... & although he is much better, he's still not well enough for an anaesthetic, so another weeks antibiotics.  

Oh my goodness ... how on earth did this happen I ask myself?! 

Unfortunately along the journey of caring for him - he has well & truly crept into my heart & I just adore him.  

The Mr informed me that several people had been to the farm to look at taking him but they all either wanted a female so they could breed from her ... or the weepy eye put them off.  Our new milkers took him home & he lasted one night before he escaped through a window & back up to the hay barn to his family.  

The minute I walk into the spare bedroom he gives a tiny squeak & starts to purr 💙

And so - for now - Little One appears to be living here at Threadbear HQ - & what the future holds I am not too sure. I always said introducing another cat would upset the balance but we shall see what unfolds.  And while I am being honest here my friends ... No it is Not all cuteness & playing with toys - it is VeRy stressful & I find I feel anxious alot of the time & get very little achieved with endeavouring to keep everyone (3 cats) happy !! 

And what's a girl to do when her Mother does this despicable thing ... bringing in a strange-looking creature to the house?  Why take to her bed of course & while she's at it - sleep on one of the Good Cushions that she's usually Not allowed on 😉😖

I found some time over the weekend for a couple of creative pursuits ... my friend Sally had given me this gorgeous vintage fine lawn nightie in a toile pattern & asked me to make her some lavender bags from it.  I had enough of it to make a lavender sleep pillow too.  The sewing room smelt heavenly with the lavender fragrance  💜

I made up another batch of Laundry Liquid over the weekend. I find a batch usually lasts me about a year ... I used the recipe in Rhonda's book below, which I refer back to all the time.  The vintage decanters have been thrifted over the years & I love filling them with the liquid but I keep a plastic milk bottle under my laundry sink to use daily so I can give it a really good shake first as the liquid can tend to gel.  

Thank you so very much for staying to the end dear friends,

I am off to fill the wood basket again - a heavy frost here this morning & its taking some work to get the house warmed up.

Wishing you all a wonderful rest-of-the-week,

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones (all 3 of them !!!)