Getting my Ducts in a Row

Holy Jumpin' Jiminy Gee-hoe-saphat!
Maglockland Puick!
Sheep Shit and Bulls Balls

People, clean your ducts and change your furnace filters. No wonder I was sick. And so were my visitors. Talk about, "Welcome to my nightmare." 

See this?

This is a furnace vent clogged with dust...
sure... let's call it dust.

  This is what it looks like now that Brad from Lethbridge Duct Cleaning took care of that.

He went through all the ducts and cold air returns. He explained to me that most of what came out of the works went into the large vacuum attached to the furnace.

Sheepshit

But he showed me this small ball of dust etc that landed on the plates. Don't make me explain that. Just accept that this is the tip of the iceberg removed from my duct work today. Shown here for illustration of the kinds of... of... stuff(?) hiding in the duct work.
Brad did mention that the previous owners (you mean someone in the past 100 years?) must have had a cat because he could have reconstructed one with the contents of the big vacuum.


Then he opened up the furnace to inspect, clean and repair it if necessary. I spent $17 on a thermocouple and $20 on filter cloth (I'll get to that). Here is what my motor looked like when Brad first removed the door.

 Those grey lumps at the front are dust clumps from the pipes that came out during cleaning. He shined that motor up and made sure the antique furnace won't quit on me due to lack of maintenance.
Antique you say?

In case you don't know this, all forced air furnaces have filters you're supposed to change regularly especially in winter when they are running. Modern (as in post war) (okay, I'm exaggerating) furnaces have these easy-peasy cardboard and fiberglass filters that you pull out with one hand and slide in a new one.

Not this puppy.

I didn't take a photo, but this furnace has a basket filter. Let me explain. There is a piece of wire fencing material (or something like) with made to order clasping bars that come apart.
You take the clasping bars apart, cut a piece of fiberglass cloth to size and put the whole thing back together.
The cloth we removed from that basket was twice the thickness it started out as and black. You could see where it had been white.
I changed the cloth myself and was mighty proud 'til Brad tsk, tsked me and told me I failed miserably. Such a sweetie that Brad. But, he had a point; I put the cloth on the wrong side of the fence so to speak. I'm very glad he stuck around long enough to make sure I got that right.

I can't tell you how great it feels to know that all that crap is out of my house. I suspect my indoor air quality just went up a billion fold. AND I opened a kitchen cupboard this afternoon when I got home from work and felt a warm breeze on my hand! This had not happened before and I open that cupboard 10 times a day. You would think that at some point in the past month, I would have felt that warm breeze coming from the floor vent.

not quite done, but looking good

The icing on the cake to this day is...
I also got a new front door!

Then I went into work and got a pumpkin from the garden. This was a banner day AND I got to sleep in. Sigh, it's been a great day and I give thanks to all the people who made that happen.
Thank you Brad.
Thank you Stephen & Sharol
Thank you Jamie

Thank you, Thank you,
Thank you.
My life is blessed.

Quiet House

TS Elliot

I had to let them go.

I feel like I need a do over. 

It was all too much - too soon.
New city; new house; new job; new solitude; new everything. 

Somehow it all triggered a massive inflammation reaction that began to spiral out of control and life became very challenging. 

The cats knew. It made Torts and Todd jittery. The kittens are still too young to be anything but goofy, so they carried on growing, learning to climb, jump, wrassel and scarf large quantities of food.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
Some were more cooperative
than others

We took portraits while Kristi, Kaylin and Peyton were here. Whom, by the way, saved me through this. Kaylin in particular loved up those kittens. Although, Peyton, Kristi and Marty were almost, but ever so slightly less, in love with all of them.
They went to a new foster home tonight - the whole pack of them. I believe they will be fine.
I miss them, but I also feel as though I'm coming out of a fog and there is light ahead. 

J K Rowling - Ollie

Thanks for following along those of you that did. This blog will probably turn back into my thoughts around a new life in Lethbridge and what that looks like from inside my head. 

Agatha Christie
Christifur Clawumbus

Louisa May Alcott - Callie

I write about my life. I began when I was about 10 and still have writings that go back to about 20 years old - after the fire that took everything I owned when I was 20.
So, I will write. Please come read.

T&T - BFFs

Kitten Food is Popular

Tuesday, I introduced the kittens to wet food. 

Peaking out from under
the scratching ramp

Torts and Todd LOVE it! The kittens also seem to enjoy it when they get the chance. They are learning to use a litter box. We've even had some success with that.
They are getting mighty frisky and it's endlessly amusing to watch them learn to run, jump and climb. Although...

Watch me kids! I'm outta here.

I can see the kitten barrier is good for about another 2 or 3 days and then we're done for as far as containment goes.
The kittens are about to take over the sun room. 
I'm just not comfortable with them having the run of the house. It may be a small house, but they're smaller. 

If I've learned anything from former cats it is that cats go wherever they please. Also, I don't want to risk them getting through the trap door to the basement if I have to do laundry.



One orange guy seems to love me. He comes bouncing to me
whenever I go into the kitten room and climbs my leg if I don't pick him up. 
Today, he even braved the vacuum to be near me!

Meanwhile, the two tortoise shells and the other orange guy hid behind the box and were actually shaking with fear. 
  

I thought introducing them to the sound of a vacuum might be helpful, but maybe that's what cats are really afraid of because I've never found them to be afraid of water.


The poor little black one took refuge at the top of the scratch ramp where he found himself stranded and alone.

I put all the fraidy cats in the box so I could finish vacuuming with my brave boy hanging from my pant leg.


 

my brave boy

What is that thing she keeps pointing at us?
OW! My eyes!

Torts and Todd are snuggling lots now that she takes time away from the kittens. They sit and rub heads and groom or drape themselves over each other. 




As for me, I'm struggling with a major rash outbreak for the past week or so. As much as I'm enjoying the kittens, I may not last much longer.
I don't think they are the source of my problem, but I also don't think it's helping to have 7 cats in the house. 

The boys, of course.

I'm not ready to give up on them yet, but I had to put that out there for the folks who want to follow this through. 
I moved to Lethbridge to start a new chapter in my life. I have priorities to make that work and this is making me feel like I'm allergic to Lethbridge. I'm going to have the duct work cleaned in this house and I'm in the market for some natural fibre clothing if anyone has any tips for that. I'm in a full blown reaction and it's making life less than charming.
Wish me luck because my house is about to be crawling with kittens!

The girls scheming, of course.
"I'm telling you Mable there's a way out and
I'm going to find it!"

Kittens Getting Stronger Every Day

Kristi filmed this while I cooked or something. Oh ya, making breakfast this morning.
The kittens are getting stronger and more adventurous each day and are seriously going to miss this family when they have to leave. Come Tuesday, they are going to wonder where all the loving went.

Photo Update - Kitten Room

Tonight before the weekend company arrived, I made the kitten room ready. For the past couple of days I've worried that the kittens were going to get out of the box. This would not have been good as they were on top of that trunk. Didn't seem safe.
And as I was working in there, the little black guy climbed up the blanket and peaked over the edge of the box; which was thankfully already on the floor.
Once I had it all set up, I left them alone to get everyone accustomed to this new configuration. Besides, it was still sleepy time for the kittens, so they were boring.

Here is what I saw next! Todd trying to coax Torts out of the enclosure. When she wouldn't jump, he tried to undo the ties holding the barrier in place. He can't they're wire.

Todd trying to convince Torts
to leap the fence.

 
Finally, because I can see from my office chair, the kittens started to stir.
I went to see what they would do. Here is the 1st off the box winner.

Yeah! Little grey tortoise shell. First on the floor.

And next out, is little darkie.

So, company for the weekend. The cats are already loving all the extra attention.

Let's Talk Todd

Yes, the kittens get cuter by the day. I promise tomorrow or Wednesday I'll get photos and maybe more video.
Tonight, Shirley came over and gave Todd a needle! He was not impressed. However, we managed to lull him with head scratches long enough to git 'er done.
Then we had tea and spent some time with the kittens.

As you can see, Todd is making himself quite at home now. He is definitely warming up to me too. He spent some time weaving himself in and out through my legs while Shirley and I stood talking over the kittens.

Todd is a strange combination of cat. He has some very soft long fur mixed with some very wirey black fur.
And the guesstimate is he could be under 1 year old but look at those paws! I've heard dogs grow into their paws. Is that the same for cats? Because, although this photo has some perspective going on making his paws look large, the fact is they ARE large.

He also has a narrow face that gives his eyes an unusual look. He looks pretty serious until you bring out the toys.
Anyway, here's to Todd tonight who took that poke pretty well and, according to Shirley, is now all vaccinated, fixed and good to go for years to come.
Thanks for taking it like a trooper, Todd.

60 Seconds Cuteness

I looked back and these kittens came on Sept 15; which by the way is my mother's birthday. She would have liked that. That makes them 16 days old today. They are getting stronger by the day.

Todd & The Purple Germ

Life is quiet with the kittens. Their bellies are getting bigger Their eyes are doing well, except I found a new one tonight, so not off the hook on that one.
Of course it was just after I told Vet Tech Sue that all eyes looked fine. Then I went to the kitten box to handle the only one I hadn't picked up before she called and EWWWW, another eye to doctor.
*Sigh*
I swear I'm washing my hands every 5 minutes around here.

Todd, isolated from Torts and kittens for eating her wet food, is getting more and more friendly. I'm all he's got right now. Besides, I have that big comfy bed he gets to lay around in all day while I'm at work.

Right after my last post, I went to sit in a comfy chair.

He really likes this toy

Todd was eyeballing me from another crevasse beside a living room chair (who knew I craved crevasses in my living spaces?). So, I picked up the feathers on a stick and started playing with him. We only played for a few minutes before he came over and nudged my hand.
Then he looked up at me with a distinct expression of "love me."
So, I picked him up. He lay on my lap while I pet him and scratched his head. He purred rather loudly too.
This would be when I found out Todd drools his contentment. That's soooo special! Seriously, it's like turning on a tap.

Anyway, last night we played with the purple sperm on a rope for quite a while. At one point, he got the string wound around his back paw effectively tying the purple sperm to his foot.

Well, what would you call it?

I laughed till I cried watching him trying to get that purple thing off his foot. I laughed so hard I couldn't help him because he wouldn't let me near him. I haven't laughed like that in front of him before.
So, Todd and I may be bonding.

Out in the sunroom, Torts stays well back in the box. She too likes head scratches, but she just can't get a break from those kittens! She's not fond of me picking them up and pissing them off with the eye treatments either. Last night I went in just to say good night and she started growling as soon as I opened the door! So, I said good night from the doorway and left her alone. I get why she was mad. I make the kittens cry. I would growl... actually, I do growl when people make my kids cry and the young one is 27.
But we were friends again this afternoon and the kittens didn't cry this time. Not even the little tyke I had to really doctor.
I have a sister coming to visit this week. I may not blog much while she's here. I'll try to keep up with some photos for you though.

Animal Husbandry - it's a thing

Torts & kittens get a clean box

 After all the fuss and bother last weekend, I decided to separate Todd and Torts et al. I wanted some time for Torts to be with just her kittens and I was tired of her disappearing on them. I wanted to know she was eating well and eliminating well too.

Also, it just seemed as though Todd was annoying her more often than not. I heard hisses. Maybe she just wanted some quiet time. Todd's a little more energetic and frisky than she is right now. So, I closed the door to the sunroom and gave momma and kittens some space.
This was working well until I started to feel I had her trapped and cut off from her only buddy. That must have taken... oh... 24 hours. So, Sunday night, all day Monday and most of Tuesday, Torts had peace. Then I ruined it.

Ol' icky eye

Then I really ruined it Wednesday because I noticed one of the kittens had an icky eye. Actually, you can see it starting in the post I made Sunday night. I called in our dedicated vet tech Sue. She dropped by Wednesday after work and left eye drops. We checked all the kittens and two of them need the drops. Their eyes weren't even open and they needed eye drops! But, their eyes are open now.

Kristy, see, open eyes, but holy camoly squirmy
That's why it's out of focus
Also, LOOK at that tummy! Clearly holding
its own at the milk wagon

We also noticed that Torts' box was getting messy. So when I came home Thursday evening, I spent a couple of hours tending to the needs of cats. There was the mess Todd made on my bed (let's just leave it at that). There was the mess on the kitchen floor. There was the eye tending, box changing, litter cleaning and feeding/watering.

I didn't get dinner myself until 8 pm. In a moment of honesty here, I resented that. That seems to be the way this goes. The ups and downs happen in rapid succession. One day I'm chuckling because Todd is comfortable enough to sleep on my bed and the next I'm tired and cranky and not interested in being the caretaker of seven cats. These are high maintenance cats compared to the ones I lived with in the past.

Just after the eye drops. Eye is looking much better

 Jack and Simbah were both independent cats that caused very little trouble - ever. Simbah used to puke on the window sill fairly regularly or beside her food dish. Jack had a bad habit of worrying an ear when he was under stress, but mostly the two of them were lap warmers on a cold winter night. These cats still run away when they hear me coming.  

Why did you stop playing with me?

 Anyway, Todd is definitely getting more comfortable around here. He seems to like my bed very much when I'm not in it. He played with me for about 20 minutes last night and he clearly knows the feathers are not jumping around by themselves. He went after the stick early in the play session. When the feathers stayed still too long, he looked at me for action.
Today, I noticed he caught on to the fact that Torts was getting breakfast and he wasn't. "Too easy, " says Todd as he helped himself to her wet food before I was even out the door.
So, Torts is back in isolation with her kittens and her food. And Todd is off wet food until his excrement firms up. I heard him this afternoon when I got home from work and no body wants to hear that happening in the next room. Ewwwww. Also, probably not good for Todd.
Later I went in to tend eyes and give Torts the food she missed out on this morning.
The kittens are much stronger now and all eyes are open. Awwwwwwwww. The drops worked miraculously and

This little black one has equally black eyes.
Hard to photograph, but adorable.

everybody looks good. I might have to put a drop of food dye or something on the orange guy because I can't tell the two of them apart and all the eyes look fine.

So, here I am immersed in animal husbandry. Shirley tells me I have good intuition when it comes to their care and I hope she's right. I'm also very glad I have support through this. It's a thing for sure. It's fun and frustrating and gross and glorious. Ewwww and Awwww and WTF.
Buuuuuutttttt, those kittens are getting cuter by the day!

Alls Well in Kittenville

Everyone just finished dinner. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look they form an upside down heart!

Lost One

One of the big fellas

Today is my one-month anniversary in this house, in this city and in my new life. This is me beginning anew after several years of health challenges, meaning of life challenges and questioning my relevance on this planet.

I am full of optimism for this new life… usually. Today it’s hard. 

Friday night when I got home, Torts had moved her kittens under the bathroom sink cabinet. I’m not sure I would have found them if it wasn’t for the mewling. I had to lie on my tummy and use my phone’s light to see them. I was chagrined.

I decided to worry about THAT after dinner. By then, Torts had moved three of the kittens back to the crevasse and I was hopeful. I gave her a little more time, but then fished the last three out and barricaded the slot.

Cat conference in my bedroom.

Saturday, I noticed that mom spent a lot of time MIA (missing in action). I found her snuggled up to Todd in my bedroom. I kept checking on the kittens and they seemed content, so I left well enough alone.

However, this was the first time my complete lack of cat/kitten knowledge gave me misgivings. What if I was doing exactly the opposite of what I should be doing?  

Crevasse monkey pile

I hung out at home all day Saturday. Partly because I’m still getting settled here. I find myself moving furniture or rearranging storage because a lot of stuff simply landed during the move. Now that I’ve spent some time living here, I can organize work spaces and storage.

I kept going into the bathroom and looking at the monkey pile. Torts would roll her head back and look at me, but everything looked normal. (Actually, WTF is normal? Big hole in my knowledge there).

I took time to create a big baby box for Torts out in the sunroom. I’m starting to think about the reality of having a bunch of kittens loose in the house. I hoped Torts would move the kittens while I slept.

Big baby box waiting for the family.

Torts and Todd are feral cats. They came from the rodeo barns, I think. In any case, from what I’ve heard; which I will admit isn’t much, feral cats are hard to domesticate. It’s one of the reasons I’m being very cautious not to push myself on them. They both hide during the day when I’m around and then I hear somebody playing in the middle of the night with the little ball that has a bell in it. So I know they move around at night.

Before I went to bed, I sat down beside the crevasse to pet and talk to Torts. The little black runt of the litter was not nursing. All the kittens looked poorly groomed, but that one little guy worried me.  I managed to get a little milk into

him, so felt better about that.

That's some good reading right there.

When I got up Sunday morning and saw the crevasse empty, I was cautiously optimistic. Then I walked into the living room and saw books on the floor and the monkey pile in the bookcase. For crying out loud!

I made coffee and gave myself a few minutes to wake up. Then I went and removed the kittens from the bookcase. I was surprised Torts wasn’t with them, but not too much after Saturday. Then I looked in basket and noticed only one black one. Wait a sec! So I took all the books out of the bookcase. Nope. I went back to the crevasse and carefully examined the blankets etc. Nope.

I began to think the worst. I went through the litter box. There was a lot of poop and one large clump that was very suspicious. I did what no one should ever have to do and dissected that clump of poo. It was not a normal poo, but it was poo. Kind of hairy, oddly coagulated stuff, but again, what do I know?

I spent the next few hours trying to get Torts to join her kittens in the sunroom. You have to understand this is a very small house and I have a room blocked off. I looked everywhere

for the runt of the litter, but no joy and no noise. By now, I had most of the rooms blocked off, but after chasing Torts out of my bedroom, I couldn’t find her. 

I swear cats have the ability to go invisible. I called in the cavalry because now I was at a complete loss. I had found Torts back in the bookcase (seriously! I blocked it off!) She was fine with me cuddling her, but when I tried to take her to her kittens, she got very angry with me. I locked her in the sunroom with the big box of kittens and all the cat necessities.

When Shirley came, she sat on the floor by the box and pulled the blanket out to be able to reach the kittens. Then we went to the kitchen, warmed milk and talked for a bit. When we came back, Torts was with the kittens! Hallelujah!

Lessons ensued for me and we talked. As we sat there, Shirley found a tiny black paw caught up in the blankets that had come out of the crevasse. It effectively shut us up for a couple of minutes. We both stared at that little paw. Such a strange sight.

Torts back with her kittens in the sunroom

We talked a little about the ripple effect. This blog is in response to all the people who asked me to keep them posted. But it also means a whole bunch of people are not going to want to hear what I just said. One tiny, black kitty didn’t make it.

One person asked me to keep it real and talk about lessons I might learn. Here’s one for you. It’s heart breaking to lose a little being in your care. anger consumed me because that’s what humans do when they hurt. We get angry - even when there is nowhere to direct our anger. For me, it painted this beautiful day a dull red.

And yet, there are blessings. Shirley showed me a kitten she had in her car because it’s going to a new dwelling place after surviving *panleukopenia. When I saw that little girl, I realized the difference between a kitten we are accustomed to seeing on the internet and the ones in my sunroom. Torts kittens have closed eyes, they can’t really walk yet and they sleep 99% of the time. 

The little kitten in that cage was so frisky! And she had those big kitten eyes we all fall in love with at first sight. One of Torts kittens, one of the tortoise shells, has one eye open. LOL Soon, I will be overrun with cuteness.

But, pray for us please. I don’t know why Noir didn’t make it. Maybe he wasn’t ready to be born. Maybe he just couldn’t compete with those extra large orange guys in the litter. But, God forbid, many of the cats that came out of the barns had panleukopenia. It’s not likely. The people involved took many precautions, but pray anyway.

Safe journey little one

Also, I think Todd is beginning to warm up to me. We played for a few minutes today and he didn’t lay his ears back when I picked him up last night. Progress.