I think I'm back.

Seems like a lifetime since I've posted anything here.  Life has been busy here at Fort Krag (as my husband calls our home).  Now that we are edging closer to the 70's life mark, we are slowing down and our bodies do not always do what the mind is ordering or even requesting.

As I posted years ago now, we have feral cats living next door.  Apparently there is the cat radio that streams when any kitten gets sick, all they need to do is cross into our yard and sound and appear as pitiful as possible.  Within hours, the kitten(s) will be warm, cleaned up, medicated, and fed.  As of this time, January of 2014,  I/we have rescued six kittens, losing only one.   Even though it has been an extremely successful and satisfying endeavor,  it has also been most difficult as I care pretty much 24/7 for each kitten rescued.  Which means I've nursed each one back to health, bottle fed both kitten formula and special meds for anywhere from snuffles to pneumonia then bronchitis.  This last fall we were gifted with 3 very sick kittens within two weeks.  They have all survived, but two have been to the vet twice and vaccinations are coming up soon.    

So with these last three babies, that makes nine feline children in our home.  That is more than a generous family pack so I have decided I can no longer care for the feral cats next door.  It will be a difficult decision for me as I love cats, but I cannot continue to take them in and care for babies.

Last year was kind of rough on me physically as I injured my shoulder lifting a canopy into my vehicle for a show so I was unable to attend any craft shows all season.   I did continue to create, lots of knitting and crocheting as I healed and attended physical therapy for months. Then in September I visited an old friend in Upstate New York for just over a week and we spent that entire week visiting great places and photographing. Even got to the Montreal Botanical Gardens for the Topiary show going on!  I shot almost 2000 images those few days and loved every minute as my friend and I used to attend photo workshops in Pennsylvania together and hadn't connected for 13 long years as each of our spouses had retired and we moved to different areas of the country.

Within the last couple of months, I have resumed my working with the copper wire and creating some new pieces of jewelry.  I have completed just over a dozen new works and will be doing a small show on February 1 to see how much interest my work gets and to see if I can still handle the work and stress involved in craft shows.

This copyrighted image is one of the images I took when we visited a wildlife rehab center.  The manager was a wonderful lady who took time from her very busy schedule to remove this owl from his cage so we could photograph him.  Gorgeous Bird.