Giving of your time and talents

Often in life you stumble upon things that matter to you unexpectedly. These things often come about when you make a change, and recently I have found one of these wondrous things.  I started photographing shelter cats at my city animal shelter, and this volunteer experience has been truly amazing.  

In the past few months I have seen some miraculous transformations and some very happy endings.

Take Hannah for instance, this beautiful girl and her sister were in the shelter way too long. She was part a of a bonded pair whose future was up in the air as they were extremely shy, and were near impossible to place in a home, but it happened.  They were adopted by a very patient and caring woman who is letting Hannah and her sister Lilly adjust slowly to their new environment, it is a real success story.

Hannah

It is a story of hope and a true testament to the volunteers who work with hard to place animals all over the county.  I am honored that I got to witness the end of a very long road for these two girls and all the people who worked the hours to get them to the point that some one would see them and take them into their home.

Photographing cats is so much fun, who knew? With all the varied personalities and activity levels it has been a learning experience which is ongoing. 

What toys get their attention, how do I get them to ignore the camera and not be afraid of it, what is the best way to really get their true nature to shine through?

 

Zarah

I’m having so much fun learning the answers to these questions. The rambunctious girl pictured above is Zarah.  She is still a very young kitten and moves super-fast. I had to play with her for awhile before trying to catch this shot; expending some of her supercharged kitty energy so I could keep her attention.

Being a kitten, she was only in the adoption room for one day, now she’s in a home, good luck little one. 

Apparently, April and May are big kitten months. There are so many babies right now, it’s a good time to check out the local shelter if you are looking for a baby.

These little guys are often abandoned and unwelcome, but if people would just take the time to be responsible and have their cats spayed or neutered it would save suffering and money. Check with your local SPCA or city shelter, they have programs or know of local events where the surgeries can be preformed at reduced cost.  

Also, if you have a feral cat living near you, and you care enough to feed it, having it neutered and released is something to consider.  Trust me, finding a deceased mamma cat in your attic with five sick babies is not fun and could have been avoided by a friend of mine if someone had taken the time to neuter their cats.  As it was they ended up bottle feeding the babies and lost two.  They are looking for homes for the others. It just seems like a sad waste of life.  

If you don’t have the time to spend with a new kitten for litter box training and teaching them the ropes of not climbing your curtains, consider an adult cat who craves your attention and company and comes into your home knowing these things already.

 

This is Giana, she is curious, loving and likes to curl up in her favorite person’s lap.  She even drools a little if you give her cuddles and scratches on her head the way she likes it. She has some very unusual markings and I think she is very photogenic, don’t you?  If she speaks to you, ask for her at the League City Animal Shelter, in League City Texas.

It is Thyme for Spring

It is the end of March and here on the Texas Gulf coast, that means the best weather we get all year.  Because it is so awesome outside, I thought I would share some of my back-yard shots with you.  Some of the critters with whom we share the yard, and the plants that are all promise, and new growth are looking so wonderful I had to share.

We seem to have two types of reptile in the yard, green anoles and apparently brown anoles as well. They are related but look a bit different. The green anoles are native to the United States and can turn a brown color when needed, but the brown anoles are out of Cuba and are always brown. God bless the internet, what did we ever do before search engines? I seem to remember looking at the encyclopedia often…wonder what happened to that set? Anyway…

A green anole

A brown anole

 

Since I was unable to contact our family herpetologist, I had to compare photos with those on line so, the third photo may be a green anole who is brown to match the ladder that he/she chose to sunbathe on, I will have to wait and see what the lizard expert says about that one if he calls me back. Please feel free to let me know if you are also a lizard whisperer who can identify the patio residents correctly.

 Mystery anole

Watching the antics of these three today on the back patio was very calming for some reason. The renewal of the cycle and all that, it’s nice to see the circle continuing for yet another year. To me, silly human that I am, they seem friendly, but it appears that there is a fierce battle for territory taking place for control of the lizard realm of Cowan.  It will be interesting to see who wins the battle. I will keep watch and chronicle the realm history this summer as I apparently have way too much Thyme on my hands at the moment.

Speaking of Thyme, mine is exploding with tiny flowers, I hear that this is good for the bees and butterflies, but have only seen wasps so far, but the year is young, and we only get more heat from here on out. My Mexican Heather was hit very hard by the freeze, so I may have to re-plant them, they are gold to the local bees, so I don’t want to leave them hanging.  I have hopes that the hyssop will survive to flower later in the summer and will pick up where the thyme leaves off.  Again, will keep you posted. (Please pardon the puns, I couldn’t resist.)

I also added some Marigolds and Geraniums to the container garden on the patio.  Both are supposed to help turn away unwanted herb stealing insects.  We shall see.  Right now, these beauties are guarding the green beans and sweet peas.  Even if they don’t work, they are still gorgeous. 

So, for now, this will be my start for Spring, in the coming weeks I hope to be traveling around the parks in the local area to see what else is starting to bloom.  Happy Ostara or Easter whichever you celebrate, and thanks for checking this out.