First of all, we hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. And, if you hit the “Black Friday” sales, we hope you found deals on all your purchases. (We don’t do “Black Friday” ourselves.)
It is with sadness that I compose this post as our foster cat, Solette, had to be euthanized last night. She was suffering from a feline disease called FIP which is untreatable. The symptoms are similar to pneumonia in humans; lungs fill with fluid and eventually cause death. Solette was about 7 months old. Pam is very upset but there is nothing any human could have done to make the situation right.
Foster kitten Solette
Thanksgiving Day itself was pleasant. We joined in with a few neighbors to have a small community lunch. Pam baked an apple and a cherry pie for the event. Several neighbors attended and we met a few new people. The food was good and typical; turkey, bread, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and quite a few deserts were spread out for a help-yourself lunch.
As is our habit, we put up our outdoor Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. (Indoor decoration will come in a few weeks.) We decided that when we move we will replace most, if not all, our decorations as they are getting a bit old (dating from Old Vic in Whitewater). The lights do look good when lit up at night.
Today will be quiet as there is a storm coming in later. I will get out to fill a small grocery list and get gasoline for the car. After that it will be working on the computer and watching some college football.
And I mentioned in a prior post, I am converting my galleries collections into a new format. I have 16 done so far with about 30 more to go. The biggest difference is video presentation; under the old format I could put a video clip directly into the gallery. Now I have to add a separate link and have the video(s) open in a new page. It works and in some ways I like this arrangement but it does make coding the pages a bit more complicated and adds a few more files. In addition, video clips must be in at least two formats, .mp4 and .webm, so they will play on most devices. The old service did this for me; now I have to do this myself. It takes extra time to set up each gallery. This project will continue for a while.
For those who might care, I am using two programs to convert videos and create the web pages: Prism from NCH Software handles the video chores and JuiceBoxBuilder-Pro produces the gallery code. Prism is a free download (for non-commercial use) and will run on both Windows and Macintosh computers. JuiceBoxBuilder-Pro costs about $50.00 for a lifetime license and also runs on Windows and Mac platforms. Adobe Corporation’s Air (also a free download) is required for JuiceBoxBuilder.
In medical news, I went to the dentist last week and found I need a new crown on one tooth (as I had chipped a corner off it) and an existing crown has to be replaced as well. A root canal may also be needed if the tooth under the old crown has deteriorated. The dentist said the crown had been ‘leaking’ and some decay has formed under it. Oh joy. First work will be in early December, second job in January as my dental insurance is based on calendar years. Splitting the work between 2018 and 2019 will save me several hundred dollars of out-of-pocket expense, but I am not looking forward to having to go in twice.
Other minor stuff: I put the new belts in the washing machine and Pam reports the spin cycle now completely empties the drum of water. I put the new tire on the John Deere tractor; nice to have it ready to go instead of having to add air every time I wanted to use it. (So far I have not removed the mower deck and mounted the snow blade on the JD but will probably do that next weekend.)
Monday it will be back to the usual grind. Right now I need to be off the the grocery store and gas station.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents Worth:
Solette is the poster child for what rescue has become in this neighborhood. What used to be the joy of births and bittersweet goodbyes of successful adoptions has now become rides through the dark to vet services and gruesome deaths. The local cat population has certainly become inbred, which contributes to the decline in general feline health. Solette is the fourth kitten I’ve buried this year; in addition. one other adult male was euthanized at the shelter after being diagnosed with feline leukemia.
The sadness takes its toll on me, as does the impact on our household budget. I daily weigh the dilemma — do I feed the strays and keep them alive only to watch them die of diseases later? Rescue work is no longer satisfying; not likely I’ll become a hoarder.
Happy Trails.
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