Uma's First Camping Trip - Day 2...

DAY 2…Fourth of July started sunny and beautiful! The sun was shining; the birds were singing; and the campground was blissfully quiet. Dad says coffee by the river at sunrise is a wonderful thing.  I don't drink coffee but sunrise by the river was pretty pissa!

After breakfast we drove to Dixville Notch to do a little hiking. We cannot do long hikes – my parents aren’t in as good shape as I am. Me, I could walk all day! We did a short, but very steep hike up to Table Rock. Table Rock is just what you think it is - a big, flat rock that sticks out the side of a mountain. You can walk out onto Table Rock but we didn’t. The last part of the trail was too steep for me. Mom was going to try it but another hiker said it was quite windy out there. Mom is not the most graceful person so she decided to take a picture from the viewing area instead!

Mom used the hike as an opportunity to practice her compass reading skills. This is really hysterical because she has the worst sense of direction! Mom says she is geographically challenged. The good thing is, if you ask her which direction to go, she is completely wrong about 99% of the time! So, if you are ever lost with my mom, ask her which way to go. Turn 180; and head in the opposite direction. You’ll be at your destination in no time!

After hiking we went back to camp. On the drive we passed this. Yup, Errol Int’l Airport is what it says. Hilarious! We had a little lunch, and took a nap in the sun. Dad can’t sit still for long so we took a walk around the campground. What a nice place! (If you are a tent camper, site 42 is the one for you!) Everyone is so friendly! We met people from all over New England. We even met 2 guys who rode motorcycles all the way from Connecticut! Lots of people who camp have dogs. I noticed that because I don’t really like other dogs. I had a very lonely childhood and don’t know how to relate. Mom and Dad try so hard to help me but it’s difficult. Too bad because I would get to go to so many more places. I’ll keep trying!

Uma's First Camping Trip - Day 1...

DAY 1…Dad brought home a little house on wheels. He said it was an RV. He said we were going to hook it up to the truck and take it on a vacation. I’m skeptical but what the heck! Dad borrowed the RV from a friend. Unfortunately, it had been sitting for about a year and needed some work. It took days for Mom to clean it and for Dad to fix all the broken parts. Seems like a lot of work just for a weekend getaway. Actually, it probably was not. Dad is always looking for something to fix and Mom is always looking for something to clean! Anyway, Dad said the hard work was our gift to the family who loaned the RV to us.

Of course, Mom and Dad decided to take this trip at the last minute, so there was lots of rushing around. Mom made list after list of things to bring; clothing, food, cooking stuff. Don’t forget my things Mom! Since this was so last-minute (typical!) AND July 4th weekend, my parents couldn’t find a campground with any openings. Finally they found a state park waaay up in NH with 1 RV site left. The reason they had an opening was because the largest RV site was for a 20 footer – good thing that’s what we had! The park is called a primitive campground. Basically a patch of grass, a firepit, and a picnic table; no hookups (that means no electricity or water but we brought our own), no showers (brought our own) and pit toilets (brought our own, thank goodness! It was a long drive but I didn’t mind. I slept most of the way. Mom did too. If it’s moving, we are sleeping. Makes a long drive for poor Dad! Good thing he likes to drive!

The campsite was great! It was right on the Androscoggin River and there was no one else in our section. It was like we had the whole place to ourselves! There were a few moments of panic when Dad realized there was no electricity in the camper (it has a battery for power). No electricity means no pump; no pump means no water; no water means no washing or flushing! In a 20’ tin can on a hot summer weekend that would have been a bad thing!! Thank goodness it was just a loose connection and disaster was averted.

After setting up we had some lunch and took a little nap. We missed the parade in Errol but went into town for fireworks at sunset. I had never been to fireworks before and did not like them at all! Between fireworks and other dogs (I don’t like dogs either) I was pretty stressed so Mom and Dad had to take me back to the truck. At least they could still see the fireworks while I sat safely inside.

Back at camp 10pm is quiet time. We all had a long day so we got ready for bed. I wanted to sleep on the bed with my Dad but that got vetoed immediately! Dad packed my favorite dog bed so it was OK. I settled down quickly. I needed my sleep so I would be ready for hiking (a.k.a. squirrel chasing) in the morning.

Two of a Kind

Hi! It’s Chad! My cast is off and I am back in my foster home for a week or so. Mom says she’s going to hate to see me go. She has been really mushy lately. I guess I stole her heart with my good looks and charming personality! Mom told me if I was in high school I would have been Prom King and Class Clown. What can I say? I like attention! I like to be stroked pretty much anywhere; I like to stretch out against your side or be cradled like a baby; and I love to put on a show. Just give me a toy I can roll around and sink my teeth into and I’m happy to entertain myself, and you, until I wear myself out!

I’m solo but all the other foster residents are pairs. Zipper and Velcro are ready for adoption too. They were originally from a litter of 3. Their sister Snap (my foster parents are so weird when it comes to the name thing) has already been adopted. Isn’t that great? Zipper and Velcro will be going back to the shelter with me this week. I hope we are as lucky as Snap was!

Button and Buckle (again with the names!) are another pair living here. Their mom was very, very mean. They had to be separated from her and came to live here. Both of them have been sick. Buckle seems to be feeling a little better but Button is still struggling. Hopefully she will be back on her feet soon.

There are also 2 babies here. Cagney and Lacey were about 4 weeks old when they were found alone on a busy street. They got off to a rough start so they are struggling too. It’s important to make sure sick kittens eat and drink enough so Mom stuffs them with food and medicine. It’s also important for them to stay warm. We all take turns snuggling with the babies to keep them warm. With all this TLC they should make a speedy recovery!

Light at the End of the Tunnel... (Kitchen Renovation Part 5)

(ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 2003)

Boy, we sure have accomplished a lot in the last month. Gabe hung all the cabinets. He did all the lower cabinets by himself (Heaven forbid he should call a friend to help), and our friend Jack helped with the upper cabinets. All the cabinet doors have been installed and the knobs are on all the doors. He still has to put the knobs on the drawers. I am allowed to put things in the cabinets that have knobs. So I started doing that right away. I know you will find this hard to believe but I have everything organized by category. All Tupperware is in the same cabinet, all cooking and baking materials are together, as are all boxed and canned goods. I even have the boxed and canned goods organized by type of food, and everything is lined up in nice, neat rows with the labels facing out so I can read them. I know this will not last but it gives me a sense of peace starting out this way. Hey! Stop laughing at me! The granite countertops have also been installed but they are currently covered in plastic so I don’t get paint on them (see painting story below) so I did not get good picture yet.

The 3 season porch is almost complete (Porch 12). Gabe has roughed in all the electrical outlets and put up paneling where the exterior clapboard used to be. For the past 2 weekends we have been laying floor tiles and grouting. What a pain in the neck (and back, and shoulders, and arms, and legs). I spend most of Saturday on my hands and knees like a washerwoman, cleaning the grout off the tiles. All that’s left to complete the porch is to connect the electrical outlets, seal the tile grout, and put up some trim molding around the French doors. Then I can put my furniture back in and decorate. It will be so exciting to have a room done! I can’t wait. We will be out there every night. Well, we will actually collapse out there each night once it gets too dark to work in the kitchen!

Now let’s talk about painting. My vacuuming nightmare has been replaced by the painting nightmare. I want to paint my kitchen red. Brick red, barn red, something nice and warm and rich. My first mistake (from what all the “professionals” tell me) was going to Home Depot to get the paint. I found a color square that I liked on their Glidden display called Victorian Red. I had them mix me a gallon and went home to paint. My second mistake was not painting a test area first. I just started painting. It was pretty bright and on the pink side but I figured it would darken when it dried and I would need to do at least 2 coats anyway. Those of you who read my last update know how clumsy I can be so I was very careful going up and down the ladder with the bucket of paint, trying to be aware of my surroundings at all times. I was even talking out loud to my self – “Move the paint can."  "Put the roller down before moving the ladder."  "Oh, oh, where are the paper towels."  "Don’t trip over the dog.” I painted the entire room in 2 ½ hours. Just as I finished Gabe walked in and said with a sharp intake of breath “Oh! Is this the color you really want to paint the room?” Since I had been staring at the paint for hours it was looking pretty good to me. I called my cousin, who lives next door, to get a second opinion. When Kerri walked in she said with a sharp intake of breath “Oh! Is this the color you really want to paint the room?” I started to think I was in a little bit of trouble so I called over to my Mom, who lives a few houses down. She could not come over but my Aunt was visiting so she came and had a look. When she walked in she said with a sharp intake of breath “Oh! Is this the color you really want to paint the room?” Now I know I am screwed! Off I go, back to Home Depot. This time I picked out a lovely Oriental Red. A darker shade than what I had on the walls. I got a gallon and headed home to paint again. When I walked into the kitchen after not looking at it for a few hours I understood why everyone was gasping. It was bright red/pink! Like a dummy I decided the new paint would be just what I wanted so I started painting the whole kitchen again. After another 2 ½ hours of painting I finally got finished…and it was too dark. Almost red/purple. Aarrgghh!!! I’m a little slow but I finally figured out that I should paint a test square before doing the whole kitchen. So I had Gabe cut me a few pieces of blue board and I painted 3 coats of each of my 2 colors on them. One was still too pink and the other was definitely too dark. Now that I was getting smarter I decided to go to a real paint store with real painting professionals to get my next color. I went to White Street Paint. I picked the 3rd color and went home to paint one of my squares of blue board. After 2 coats I realized this was the wrong color too, too orange. I was starting to despair that I would never find the color I was looking for. I went back to White Street with the blue board and paper swatch from the first color red. I showed them what I wanted (paper swatch) and what I got (blue board) and asked if they could give me the color I was looking for (yes, the 4th color). We looked through all the paint samples and I picked a color called Ruby Red. I put a couple of coats on the blue board Gabe cut for me and it looked like what I wanted so I went for it. Gabe put a coat on the kitchen Saturday and I did another coat on Sunday. It still needs one more coat to cover the previous colors completely but it looks great! Boy, by the time I finally get finished painting I will be a pro!

The Revolving Kitten Door

It’s been pretty busy around here since Mom last blogged. Let me get you caught up. Fat Albert returned to the MSPCA and was quickly adopted. Yea Fat Albert! Melon arrived because he was constipated. He is a Manx (no tail) and they can sometimes have problems with their bowels. He had to go back to the shelter for medical attention when his constipation turned to diarrhea. He’s doing OK for now but has to stay there for extra attention. He was a nice guy so I hope he gets better. Annabeth slept over for a few nights. She was supposed to get fixed but she didn’t weigh enough so she got to have a sleepover with us for a few days. She was fun!

After Albert, Melon and Annabeth went back to the MSPCA, Mom brought home 3 orphan kittens. All girls; 2 stripey ones and 1 tortie. They were very shy when the got here. I tried to tell them how great it was here but they had to figure it out for themselves. One of the stripey ones is now so affectionate she’s a bit annoying! They are about 6 weeks old so they won’t be here long.

Mom also brought home 2 more babies to add to the group. They are only 4 or 5 weeks old. They lived outside with their kitty mom, but she was mean so the kittens came to stay with us. They are really sweet and settled in quickly. How could you not love that face??

And me, I’m Chadwick, Chad for short. Mom says I’m a hot mess! I was a stray. No mom; no sibs. When I arrived at the shelter I had a very bad eye infection. It was going to have to be removed so I came here to wait until my surgery date. A few days after I got here I broke my ankle. Mom was pretty upset. I refuse to tell her how it happened and I have sworn all the other kittens to secrecy! Conveniently I was already scheduled to have my eye operated on so when they knocked me out they put a cast on my leg too. To my surprise when I woke up I found I was missing an eye, I had a splint on my leg, and my testicles were gone!!! To add to my embarrassment they tried to put this crazy cone thing on me. I figured out how to get out of that contraption pretty quickly! I may look a mess but I am a hardy boy. I have not gotten sick (other than the eye) and have lots of energy. The cast doesn’t slow me down one bit. I can run as fast as any kitten here. Jumping is a problem because the cast doesn’t bend but I can climb with the best of them! You should see me scramble to the top of the cat tower! Once my cast is gone you better watch out!

The Names Change but the Faces Remain the Same

It’s been a while since Mom posted a story. She says she’s been too busy to write because she has been dealing with poopy kittens – that’s us! In addition to the kittens that were born here – Jack Sparrow, Hector Barbosa, Tia, and me (I’m Elizabeth) - she also took in a very sick orphan kitten named Tinkerbelle and a kitten with a booboo on her butt named Mona.

Tinkerbelle was very sick when she first got here. In fact, she almost died. Tinkerbelle had bad diarrhea and really smelly poo so we all called her Stinkerbelle. Mom worked hard to make Stinkerbelle well. She gave her lots of medicine, force fed her, gave her IV fluids, and bathed her multiple times a day. Slowly but surely Stinkerbelle started getting better and has completely recovered. Since Tink is healthy now Mom says we must drop the ‘S’ from her name. Tinkerbelle is pretty happy about that and so is Mom!

Last week my siblings Jack, Hector, and Tia returned to the MSPCA and immediately found new homes. Hooray!!! Tink and I were not quite big enough so we get to stay in foster a little while longer. While she was at the MSPCA Mom met a lonely kitten named Mona. Mona was originally in a different foster home but she had a booboo on her butt so she had to stay at the shelter for a few days. The vet checked her out and she was doing OK so Mom brought Mona and her medicine home so we could keep her company. Her butt is still a little sore but she is doing well and, unlike Tink, is eating up a storm! She was eating so much we started calling her Fatty Pants! Mom recently discovered that Mona is actually a boy so we needed to come up with a new name. Mom was thinking about calling him Fatty Arbuckle but it wasn’t “sticking” so his new name is Fat Albert. Albert says you can call him anything you want as long as he gets lots of cuddling and lots of food!

Tink and I are ready to go up for adoption but we are going to hang out here until Albert is ready to return too. He has a checkup in a few days so it may be soon. We can’t wait to find our forever homes just like the rest of our siblings did!

My babies are 4 weeks old now and growing like weeds. Pretty soon they won’t want to snuggle with their old mom anymore so I take advantage any chance I get to cuddle with them! They have started to use the litter pan. They don’t quite have the hang of it yet so there is lots of crying and complaining during the “process”. Most of their teeth have come in and they have tried eating canned food but, once again, everyone is still trying to get the hang of things. They are much more active and have begun to wrestle with each other. It’s awfully cute since they don’t have fine motor skills yet!

Our foster parents have decided to name us after characters in “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Jack Sparrow is the black and white boy. He’s the adventurous one and looking to get into mischief. Jack was the first born and is still first in almost everything. He was the first out of the den, the first to try food and water, the first to run and climb. Interestingly, he was the last to figure out potty training!

Hector is the white and black boy. Hector is 2nd born but the baby of the bunch. He’s a big momma’s boy!  He is the only one with long hair. He has a big, round head with the cutest baby face!  He looks a bit like a panda bear.  Hector is the last to try everything and is a bit whiny. Hopefully he will grow out of that. To Hector’s credit he was the first to poop in the potty. He cried the whole time but he did it!

Elizabeth is the brown tiger with white. She looks a little like a calico and is the prettiest of the bunch. She comes running whenever she hears Mom or Dad’s voice and loves to cuddle. She was the first to figure out how to get over the baby gate and out of our room. I get very nervous when I have children on both sides of the gate!

Tia is the gray with white girl. She is just adorable and quite smart. She figures things out very quickly. She was the easiest to potty train and the first to “discover” food.

Everyone had a checkup recently. The babies got their first vaccinations and we all got dewormer (just a precaution) and a manicure. The shelter staff thought we looked great and we all received “2 thumbs up”.    Hooray!