After years of family Thanksgivings together, Wanda and I find ourselves without family to share the holidays with. Wanda's sister and family live over 12 hours away and get-to-gethers are mainly via email and phone chats. My family-well it's just me folks. Unless you count the spirit of my mother who strolls the floors of The Kitty Kottage (my childhood home now over 100 centuries old-and that's another story for another day).
Wanda and I enjoy the quiet holidays sitting under the furs and spending time and sharing toys and treats with all the feline residents at Rustic Hollow. This Thanksgiving meant a five-day break for us at home. Other years we would find ourselves back in the Nashua Reporter newspaper office working during the holidays on the next edition of the weekly newspaper that we published for nineteen years. There are no breaks, no holidays from the newspaper, but now that we are 'retired' from the newspaper publishing business, we are full speed, full time focused on C & W Rustic Hollow Shelter, a full time job in itself. More time for grant writing, catching up on correspondence, and...of course, sitting under furs.
This Thanksgiving was going to be that..time spent together at home with the furs. Well, we had more than the 'furs' to reckon with this Thanksgiving. And what a wonderful time it was....
Thanks to Henry!
Henry is a young beautiful red tabby full of love and life with the diagnosis of FIV. Please understand that FIV cats are totally adoptable and can live in multiple cat homes....but that's a blog for another day. It is still very difficult to place FIV cats in adoptive homes, so Henry was coming to Iowa.
All the way from West Virginia. Henry was to arrive Thanksgiving Eve and his chauffeurs were Daniel and Julia Snell. They were making a little 'jog in their journey' as they were moving to California and Iowa and Rustic Hollow was one stop they were making with young Henry. They got a later start than they had planned, and a call from the road from Julia to let us know that according to their GPS they would be arriving around 8:30 in the evening at C & W and asked if that would be a problem.
I told them no, it was not a problem, and since they were arriving so late, I offered them overnight accommodations in our new building, Bradley's House. The upper level is finished enough now and the bedroom is ready for guests along with the bathroom which includes a tub and shower. A breakfast nook offers fruit, nuts, a refrigerator for staff to keep their lunch in and have a break in...and a nice view out the window of staff member Becky's miniature horses, donkeys, pot bellied pig, and Magic, the Llama who guards the herd. They are wintering at Rustic Hollow and can be seen milling around and munching their hay from the lofty windows in the upper level at Bradley's. Our volunteers Bob and Lynda come over an hours drive to volunteer for several days at a time, and find the accommodations to be comfy, including their 'sleepover kitten' Scamp who nestles between their heads and spends the night watching over them.
Okay, it's a Conklin thing to get a bit 'off the subject' so let's get back on track.... I'm getting away from the real story here.
I offered Julia and Daniel a place to stay the night, and Julia said immediately: "Well, before you offer us a place to stay, you have to know.... we are traveling with two dogs, three cats, and snakes and other reptiles...." her voice trailed off. I said immediately. "Not a problem. Come on IN."
They arrived around 8:30 PM and we got Henry settled in his room in Apollo's House, our FIV building. Then, Daniel and Julia had the huge task of settling in canines Samson (BIG Samson) and Penny, cats Milo and two others whose names are as elusive at the moment as they were for their entire stay, Drago the Bearded Dragon, Rafael the red ear slider, Rupert the Jungle Carpet Python, Temperance the Ball Python, Chuck the Crested Gecko and, a whole lot more of those little fellas... and Brozaka, the most beautiful, brightest orange corn snake I've ever seen. All were as tame as a kitten and when Daniel and Julia finally got themselves settled in, I was introduced to each and every reptile traveling the long journey to California with the couple. And got to hold them as well. It was a wonderful evening. Wanda of course, was in bed by 9 and missed the entire first evening with our travelers. No matter, we promised we'd share breakfast with them in the morning.
The dogs were so thilled to have so much space to run around in outside (and inside) as well. Samson and Penny always sleep with Julia and Daniel, so they took the BIG Queen sized bed upstairs and all Samson took was the stuffed calico kitten on one of the twin beds in the bedroom. Well, he took it but he didn't get to keep it.
They took a tour of all the buildings, checked on Henry who had already decided he was ready to play and stretch HIS legs from the long journey as well. Their cats were released upstairs and two simply disappeared. Milo was the bravest, spending most of his time on the bed as well after checking out the upstairs and the downstairs that is separate from our cat rooms. Much conversation later, I departed so they could get some rest... It was already after 11PM, but It was a wonderful evening with a very interesting and charming couple.
Around 8:00 AM Thanksgiving Day, Wanda and I headed for Kwik Star to pick up eggs and bread to make some breakfast for our guests. We have toaster ovens, a griddle and a Foreman Grill so staff can make sandwiches for lunch, or for our staff breakfasts which we hold upstairs in Bradleys as well. So with help from staff member Teresa, who is a great cook herself, we had juice and toast and pancakes and eggs for our guests....and a great chance to get acquainted and enjoy their company. Staff member Becky (the one with all the miniature horses on site) came up and got to hold the snakes and pet Drago and meet chat with our guests.
Daniel is originally from England, and his accent was pure enjoyment. I loved it. The morning went very quickly, and they entertained cats in all the buildings and finally it was time for them to pack up and get on their way to California. I think they may have enjoyed their stay at C & W a bit more than at the Super 8 the night before. I KNOW for a FACT that the dogs and the cats enjoyed it more. Samson and Penny were beside themselves with all the space and freedom and outside to run in. Their only moment of panic was late the night before and they were outside running and playing when suddenly, in the darkest area of the farm, they heard noises and discovered the miniature horses in their yard. The barking was deafening as they tried to drown out their own fear with loud barks. Didn't phase the horses one bit, but Samson and Penny were ready to get back inside after that and settle in on the bed.
I will say that this Thanksgiving of 2011 was a very interesting and enjoyable time with some very special visitors...thanks to Daniel and Julia and their whole troupe.
