Swimming Pool

The tropical storm sort of knocked our socks off unexpectedly last night. Our garage has flooded and we have quite a few small leaks in our ceiling. We managed to get off easy comparatively, it seems plenty of the houseshere have real interior flooding issues. The top photo is of the park that my backyard opens up to, it has turned into a lake, thusly making my yard a miniature pond. Arthur is glad I am staying home this morning, sweeping water out of the garage, taking photos of the damage and trying to get in touch with our property manager (his whiskery, wise smile is so lovely - makes me less worred and tired, even when I've been up sweeping water since 7AM!)

Not Here, Not Now

Just a short while (few days) ago I took this;

now it rains and rains upon us for hours,

we practically boated to work this morning.

Do You Live in Jacksonville, Florida? Do You Love Kittens?

*I am reposting this because, as any person that reads any part of this blog knows, I love cats - fat cats, crippled cats, sassy cats, little cats, furry cats, grumpy cats, etc etc.. Arthur and Amelia were rescued after being abandoned in a foreclosed house and I can honestly say that I didn't particularly want pets at that point in my life, but sometimes situations just present themselves and you rise to the occasion, you know? So mayhaps this is your occasion, or a lovely occasion for someone you know in the greater Duval County area* 

200 Kittens to Die at Shelter If no homes are found, kittens will face death

JACKSONVILLE, FL - June 13, 2012 - All of the shelters in Jacksonville are overrun with kittens. If they are not adopted soon, they will be put down due to space limitations. It has been a busy kitten season and more kittens are being turned in to the shelters each day. Please adopt from the following organizations - their lives depend on it: Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective Services (JACPS) 2020 Forest Street, Jacksonville, FL 32204 Call 630-CITY (904-630-2489) Hours are Tuesday - Saturday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (adoption hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) First Coast No More Homeless Pets (FCNMHP) Adoption Center, sponsored by Best Friends Animal Society 10503 San Jose Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32257 Call 904-683-8922 Hours are Monday - Friday 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Jacksonville Humane Society (JHS) 8464 Beach Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32216 Call 904-725-8766 Hours are Monday and Tuesday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday-Closed, Thursday and Friday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday noon to 4 p.m. Adoption fees at all three locations are just $25.00. (including pet license fee) These groups have been collaborating to reduce the number of homeless pets in our area. Large adoption events and regular offsite adoptions have saved hundreds of dogs and cats. Without these heroic efforts, even more animals would be dying needlessly. Another instrumental part of becoming a no-kill community is the K-Paw nursery. This joint effort between JHS, JACPS, and FCNMHP was created to save over 500 kittens from certain death. The K-Paw kittens are sick or too young for surgery and adoption. Many of them must be bottle-fed and watched closely until they are healthy enough to move into permanent homes. Another way to save lives is to become a temporary foster parent. If you are unable to adopt, you can foster animals to help get them out of the shelter. Contact nharris@fcnmhp.org for details. A kitten at K-Paw getting some TLC Current Local Shelter Statistics: Animal Care and Protective Service 201 Kittens in shelter 200 Kittens in temporary foster homes Jacksonville Humane Society 131 Kittens in K-Paw Nursery 110 Kittens in temporary foster homes First Coast No More Homeless Pets 85 Kittens in nursery 25 Kittens in temporary foster homes The most effective way to prevent these tragic events is to spay and neuter all pets. If you see feral or stray cats, you can contact First Coast No More Homeless Pets (FCNMHP) to acquire a humane trap and bring them in to be spayed/neutered through the Trap Neuter Return program. FCNMHP offers free and low-cost spay/neuter surgeries for pets as well. Call 425-0005 or visit www.fcnmhp.org for more information. ### About First Coast No More Homeless Pets The mission of FCNMHP is to end the needless killing of cats and dogs through sterilization. There are several programs offering free or low-cost spay/neuter surgeries to First Coast residents. Since 2002, more than 100,000 dogs and cats have been sterilized and benefited from these programs. FCNMHP also mentors organizations across the country to help them start similar programs in their communities, saving even more animals nationwide.FCNMHP runs the Jacksonville Pet Food Bank to help keep pets with their families and out of shelters where they may be euthanized. Over 375,000 pounds of food have been given to pets in need since March 2010. FCNMHP is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are 100% Tax Deductible. Clinic Hotline: 904.425.0005 Website: www.fcnmhp.org Kittens waiting for homes Media Contact: Rick DuCharme, Founder/Executive Director FCNMHP Cell: 904-728-3675 rducharme@fcnmhp.org

Dream Kitten

(Sweet Amelia sleeping)

Backyardigans

Our weensy baby cottage backs up to a park. It's a glorious little park and we can hear kids playing baseball, dogs romping around and the squeak of swings when we stop and listen. Christy and Jason came to visit us once more before they moved to Syracuse. Urban foragers they are, they found creeping charlie and my personal fave, blackberries in the park :} (Arthur wants to forage for blackberries in the last photo too, do you see him forlornly glancing out the back window?)

A Quick Jaunt

So, R. and I visited Charleston, South Carolina a bit ago. It was quite pretty, but I can't say it was the best trip we've been on due to a mixed bag of factors (I wasn't feeling well, we didn't plan enough, we had terrible weather about 85% of the trip, etc..). Also, you know how sometimes you just dig the vibe a place emits? We just weren't digging it for some reason. I actually didn't take too many photos because I was an awful grump most the time (sorry R!), but here is a bit from when the rain let up:

Driving home we picked up some blueberry-lavender jam at one of those quaint-kitschy roadside stands. I am on a huge lavender kick right now ( I even recently had a lavender latte at Chamblin's Bookmine here in Jacksonville - SO GOOD). I think that (or eating blackberries we picked growing wild along the beach crossover at Folly Beach) may have been the highlight of the trip :}

Hello, friend-strangers that still follow my rare postings at this space - I am helping my friend Megan out by blogging (about fashion and other miscellany!) Fridays on The Jacksonville Bride. If you feel so inclined and have any interest in that sort of thing, take a gander (if not, don't worry, I do plan on picking my postings back up here - I recently got a new laptop that is able to deal with photographs again, whew! My trusty HP bit the dust after 6 darling years together and a rather slow and painful decline).

I hope everyone is well out there, in your respective universes.