Nothing!! I woke up this morning to nothing!!! Stephen and Kylie had exhausted themselves the previous day with their touring and so they stayed on the ship and recovered. Well that is just boring for my 10 readers. Oh well, the day must go on and I must provide something of interest. I don’t think cleaning kitty litter or scooping poop from the back yard would win me any literary awards.
What about introducing you formally to the animals that we take care of…
The one that we have known the longest is Lilly. Stephen got her when he was living in the Yukon. At that time, he was working for Bylaw. This little pudgy gray cat came into the animal shelter. He still had Curley, his childhood puppy and Lilly would fit in nicely to the family. She has proven to be the most gentle sweet cat that often thinks like a dog. When the door opens she likes to run outside. She is very independent but always comes running for meal times.
Beemer is the youngest of the fur family but he is the biggest. He is the prince of the family. When Stephen adopted him, he was told that he should never be off leash and would not be good around cats. To be honest, his recall can’t be trusted but he absolutely loves his cats. He has some husky in him and will howl when he hears the sound. He is a good dog most of the time.
When Kylie said yes to life with Stephen, the fur family grew by two. Kylie’s animals were a chocolate lab and a black cat.
Ace, is a cat with an attitude. She can be loving and will demand to sit on your lap to be pet. I find her look is often grumpy. She likes to lay on the heated blanket, be picked up to be placed in front of her food bowl and she hates Lilly. There are quite a few stare downs between the kitties but Lilly usually turns away and finds another way to go. She is definitely the boss.
Have you heard of Murphy’s Law?…what can go wrong, will go wrong! Well, Murphy is that kind of dog. He has had a number of rush visits to the veterinary offices over the years. There was once when Kylie was making bread and he ate the rising dough. That was a pumped stomach visit. He recently had a serious scratch on his eye. They thought he was going to lose the eye but after a few procedures, lots of eye drops and the threat of a surgery, all is good. He is probably the most loving, forgiving and cuddly dog. He considers himself more of a lap dog than a lab. He is also the reason that the food and garbage cupboards have elastics on the handles to keep them shut. The counters are left clean due to his ability to remember what you left there…remember the cinnamon buns that I am still grieving about. Side note…the Saran Wrap was passed in one of Murphy’s walks.
What is life like with 4 animals? It’s sweeping the floors daily, scooping kitty litter, shovelling the backyard, having a walking routine, not worrying about the amount of fur you are wearing, covering your ears when a dog walks by or a bird flies by or an animal appears on the tv. It’s about being stared at when you have the nerve to eat or when it is close to their mealtime…and it’s also about being unconditionally loved because you walk, pet or feed them.
Animal portraits taken by Sarah
