Chain Of Love- A Story For Thanksgiving

 This last week.  It really started on Tuesday.  My good friend Matt came over to my house to help me with the project of the week.  We were going to build a lean to for the Von Trapp family, group of 3 Feral Cats another friend and I have been caring for.  The time spent with Matt was super great and the lean to is amazing.  That evening my friend Ute called me in distress.  She had just returned from feeding our cats and one of the new renters unloaded on her about getting the cats off the property (we had okay from the landlords).  We had been working to re-home our family, but no luck.  Now with our feet to the fire, we had to send up S.O.S. signals.  The energy moved at lighting speed.  Within 3 hours we had locations for our family in two homes with experienced and loving women, who knew feral cats.  We had cages to house them in.  We even had 3 humane traps.  It spun my head the number of positive and generous people who stepped forward.  We had donations for food, cages, litter, litter boxes and most importantly places to take our lovely cats.
Ute and I are not new to the rescue cat and dog world.  Between the two of us we know boats loads of stuff.  I want to add that we are also smart, resourceful, strong and creative.  When the world has to move we move it.  Yet there was some nervousness as we moved forward with our plans.  Tons of  "what ifs" and plans A, B, C, D, E and Fs hung in the balance. We were emotionally attached to these very special cats.  We both wanted so much for them.  It was my lesson on trusting the process and being in the moment.  All along this journey, remarkable people, strangers and near strangers stepped up. Hugs were shared. Bonds of community, created.  New things learned.  I shed tears of joy as the weekend unfold before us.

The evening of trapping rolled round.  We worked in darkness and feeling fortunate that the mean renters were out for the evening.  Bait was set with stinky mackerel.  The poppa cat, Capt. Moe Von Trapp appeared, we walked backed to Ute's house to wait.  We returned.  He calmly sat in the trap, next to him was a domesticated  black cat (not one of ours) thrashing around.  We released him.  Capt. Moe was gently placed in my car and taken to a new friend's garage for holding over night.  We repeated this processing two more times.  All were calm and quiet. We peeked in the traps, they all looked at us with so much trust and love, it was overwhelming.
We had our baby boy, Winn Dixie and his mama, Trixie.  We didn't see that black cat again.

The next morning, we transported Capt. Moe and Trixie out to the country.  We were greeted by another new friend.  She calmly and lovingly placed them in their cages.  It was beautiful, like a smooth dance.  We all sighed relief.  Capt. Moe gave me the "I love you" blink as he relaxed in his cage.  That was my reward.
Trixie quickly fell asleep in her little bed.  They will be able to be warm and inside all Winter.  Come Spring, if they decide they want to go outside, they can.  They are on a very loving and protected property. Really an outdoor "summer" camp for cats.

As Ute and I drove back into the city, we were ready to transport Winn Dixie. We commented on how this situation for them was beyond anything we had expected.  Little did we know that there were some more miracles to come.

That same evening we took WinnDixie to his foster mom's house.  He was placed in his cage, he quickly settled in.  He blinked at us, purred and we were able to pet him.  His new foster brother cats, of which there were many, came by, one by one to greet him and say hi.  Not a hiss in the group. Just pure welcoming love for him and he returned it.  He played through the cage.  We were all surprised.  He's doing fantastic!  And will be ready to have a forever home. He will do best with another kitten. He's not a feral cat.  He's just one amazing cat.

Exhausted from the week.  Yet filled with joy, love, friendship, community and magic.  Those three wonderful and amazing cats taught me to trust.  Trust that things will work out. Trust that I know a whole lot more than I think I do.  Things do get taken care of. Love. It's a complete sentence. Work from a place of an open heart. Be calm and strong.  Be still and allow the energy to work in ways that you can't even begin to imagine, as it will be better than you can imagine.  I'm grateful for this journey and for everyone involved.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Until next week...create to feel great!

44 projects complete! 8 to go!

The lean to...it's in my basement for now.  It was build for the Von Trapp Family, but now it will get used for some other wonderful cats in need.

You Better Work

I heard several times this week, from various people, "that's going to be a lot of work.  You aren't going to want to do all that work."  These folks don't know me at all.  I'm a hard worker.  I've never mind doing work or hard work.  When did people get so shy of doing the work and making the effort?  There really is joy in hard work and putting the effort in. 
Many times when I hear "that's going to be a lot of work", I hear fear.  Fear of failure.  Maybe.  I can't say what their fears are.  I do know that one way of addressing the fears is to get in and do the work.  The real hard work.  Trust yourself enough to know you can do it.  That if there is something you don't know how to do or what to do, the teacher and the information will show up.  Instead of being steeped in fear, you'll be able to celebrate your accomplishments.  You just might even surprise  yourself.  It will feel good.  I encourage you to give it a try.  Next time hard work presents itself in your life, stare down that fear. Roll up your sleeves and do the work.

Until next week...create to feel great!

43 projects complete! 9 to go! 

This week's project...a cute little baby elf hat.  For you guessed it a cute baby elf!

Zen And The Art Of Upholstery

I'm taking a really fun upholstery class at a local community college.  I've been doing really bad upholstery on my own for years.  The furniture looked okay.  I have a chair that has been in Broadside's family for years.  We call the chair of the ancient cats, because every cat we've known for the last 40 years has slept on it.  The chair is super sturdy and if the springs were tied and the bad slipcover I did was replaced, it would be a wonderful chair to have in our house.  So, instead of just having someone do the work, I decided I wanted to learn how to do upholstery the correct way.

I had no idea that this class was being taught by the Zen Master.  He's really an unlikely Zen Master.  A hard working, rough around the edges, wise cracking, New Yorker.  Yet every week, I not only learn how to cover furniture in an expert manner, but little wisdom on life.
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This week as he was showing us placement of fabric on a fellow student's chair, announced to the class of timid women..."Never be afraid to pull out the staples.  You always have to be willing to pull out the staples.  You don't like how it looks, you have to pull the staples.  If it's not going the way you want it...pull out the damn staples and start over.  Never be afraid to pull out the staples.  It's like life.  If you stand there being afraid, you'll never get anywhere.  So, shoot the staples and if they land where you want the first time great.  If not.  Pull the staples.  Just like life.  No one ever gets anywhere being afraid.  You gotta act.  You gotta take a chance."

He's so on the mark.  Often times folks don't act, because they are afraid.  Afraid of making a mistake that can't be fixed.  So, they don't act.  They don't move forward.  We have to be willing to make a mistake, when a mistake happens or something doesn't go the way we planned, we have to willing to pull the staples or fix the mistake and keep moving forward. 

Great reminder.
Are you willing to pull the staples, as needed?

Until next week...create to feel great!

42 projects complete! 10 more to go!

This week's project is an sweet little bow tie for my kitty boy Sam.  Gus has a bowtie he likes to wear at Christmas time, and now his little brother has one as well.