Today I Had To Shave The Butt of a Cat

I am not sure how else to put it, but I had to do just such a thing today. I am positive that you are wondering why anyone would have to do that. Well, as usual it is quite a interesting story.

You see the victim in this case is poor little Miss Kitty. She is a stray that has been hanging around here for quite some time. She has set up house on our deck and no one , and I mean no one, questions it. I guess you could say she is a little protective of that space. She weighs about 20 pounds ( good deal of which is hair) and she is missing most of her teeth. She is also the next cat to hit the vets office and officially become ours. A point she may be reconsidering right now.

Today as I was feeding her I noticed a small issue. Upon further inspection I found that , how can I put this, because of all the long hair she has some vital body functions had become blocked off. I hope you understand what I am trying to say. Now she is a half wild cat that tolerates us because we feed her. I can't comb all that hair or bathe her to keep her clean, so how was I now going to fix this?

My oldest son and I decided just to wrap her in a BIG beach towel and start shaving. As you can imagine it was a very interesting experience. One I don't hope to ever have to repeat. I am quite positive that Miss Kitty feels the same way. After the event she quickly exited the building and is not coming anywhere near us or our crazy house. It all makes me wonder if we will ever see her again. If not who could blame her.

Falling Off The Wagon

I hate to report that I have already fallen off the stuff wagon. It all started when JCPenny had their 75% off sale on their clearance merchandise. I was able to get over $350 worth of clothing for under $100. With 2 growing, active boys it seems like I am constantly replacing clothes. I just still can't help wondering how much of that we really needed, and how much was just such a great deal I did not want to pass it up. I guess I need to work a little on my new years resolution.

Stuff, Stuff, and More Stuff

This January a few things have all come together to make me realize what a culture of stuff we all live in.

First off my boys and I have been reading some of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Yes, she wrote some that appeal to little boys. Did you know when they moved the entire families belongings fit in their wagon. Yes, they could move in one trip and they moved their stove !

Could you? Even if it was just your stuff ?

Or that she was completely amazed when she went to a friends house and they had a room just for eating. I guess better known as a dinning room.

Second it is after Christmas which is my traditional haul stuff to the dump and thrift store time. The other one being in late August when the boys go back to school and I can finally clean out with out their " help". This year I have been in shock at how much just stuff we have accumulated over the year. Did we really bother to buy, haul, and put away all this useless stuff ?

Any how, this year I have hit the clean out trail a little harder than usual and with a new pair of eyes. It just amazes me how much time and money we waste on our stuff, and we are not even the average consumer family. So this year I am making a late New Years Resolution to do a better job of sorting out what I WANT as compared to what we really NEED.

Finally .......

Yes, I know it has been quite some time since I made a post,but I am finally back. Things here at Skunky Acre have been busy, fun, and a little sad.

We can start off with the fact that we had a lovely Christmas. The boys got most of what they wanted, and several opportunities to meet with Santa. We did ,however, move Christmas ahead a few days. Being a fireman my husbands schedule is quite honestly odd. He had a few days off before Christmas, but he had to work Christmas day. We decided to move everything up, but did not tell our offspring. We just simply got up one morning and announced that it was in fact Christmas at our house, if not at any other. The kids were thrilled and had a great time. It all turned out for the better, to, when a family friend died Christmas. We were all a bit sad, and will miss him.

We have also had many, many days of loads of snow falling from the sky with several days of 60 degree weather in between. It has been quite fun since the old snow does not pile up and get yucky, but you still get all the fun of watching it snow. The boys have dragged up an old snow board and been teaching themselves how to use it on the hills in the yard. We are very lucky and there have been no trips to the hospital with that ( knock on wood).

Now ,I am afraid, it is back to the old grind. The boys Christmas breaks are over and the tree is down. We are now into the good old clean out the closets and try new and better habits season.