February  2008

Dear Friends:

I hope this letter finds you in great health and spirit! We are back from sunny Florida, and are enjoying lots of snow. The above picture shows Jim with his friends, the egret, ibis and heron, always waiting for a handout when he was cleaning his freshly caught fish. The sun did wonders for Jim’s arthritis; so in no time he was functioning well again, ready to tackle anything. So instead of a relaxing vacation, he had three weeks of “fun” building a complete new bathroom in the house we rented. Imagine renting a nice little cottage and then having the living room cluttered with pipes, tools, shower parts, etc. He put me to work painting the walls, one of my least favorite jobs. In the end, it was well worth it; we got a great deal for this year’s, and next year’s stay on our favorite island, Sanibel.

Our friends, the 4-legged and 2-legged ones at the Shelter did not fare that well; unbelievable amounts of snow to deal with, the roofs leaked again. Every winter we have the problem of snow backing up under the overhang from the building’s roof and melting, which causes lots of water. Of course the dogs tracking inside water and mud, meant wet floors, and constant washing and drying of blankets. Jim has tried everything to solve that problem, but to no avail. The constant movement of the building during winter and spring hinders any solution. So we are all waiting on spring to be able to put the dogs back outside. But with the unbelievable amounts of snow and ice; Limestone had 139 inches so far, compared to 37 inches last year! It will take until the middle of summer before the outside runs dry up. And the other huge problem we are facing this winter, and I am sure the coming winters, is the price of oil. We just paid an oil/gas bill of $1500 for January, December’s was even higher. We are not using any more oil/gas then we have the previous years, but the price has tripled. We are now paying $3.35 per gallon of oil, and $4.60 per gallon for gas!

Thank God the fundraiser money helped us out, but that account is now totally used up. February and March’s invoice is on the way. I wonder how the very small shelters survive. Thankfully, we have you, our supporters, who help our animals tremendously!

One more dog found his way to us, King, a black and tan German shepherd. There are some people who have visited him several times; hopefully they will decide to take him. Our Shelter is full to the max, and I keep getting calls and emails asking to take “their” dogs, which we just can’t due to the lack of space. Which reminds me; my answering machine at home was full. If YOU tried to call, chances are you could not leave a message. Nancy, if you read this newsletter I got your message, but could not understand the phone number you left, so please call again.

Our little bird, the finch, had a great time at our friends, Ruth and Charley, who cared for him. They fed him well, and taught him how to take a bath in a saucer filled with water every day. I don’t know how they trained him, unless they took him along when they took their showers? A few days after we arrived back home at the North Pole, Charley and Ruth brought him back to us. His wing is totally healed. Since he had to stay in a cage at Charley’s due to bird-eating dogs, he does not have the strength yet to fly far or high. But here at our home he is accepted by our dogs. They just sniff him when he lands on the floor, so he has the freedom to fly as much as he wants. Hopefully in a few more weeks, after it warms up, we can release him to the wild again.  Actually, I think it’s a little female, and it seems with the longer days and more sunshine, she is ready to build a nest - she is acting a little strange. She has started throwing little sticks around which she finds in my flower pots.

A couple of days ago I had a telephone call from one of our supporters, Sylvia Fiorino. She and her friend Dottie have been setting up a table once a year at Petco, to sell things for Charley’s Strays and to raise money for us. A couple of years ago people at another table at PETCO got very upset and envious, saying “we took their business away from them”, one word followed the other, and Sylvia and Dottie never went back. Anyway, Sylvia told me that on September14th there is a huge event in Worcester, Massachusetts. It’s called the “Pet Rock Festival”. There is an adoptable pet parade, lots of vendors, and lots of tables where different pet organizations are present, and ten thousand people are expected. Sylvia said she would do the “footwork” meaning setting up a table and selling things, if I do the organizing part.

I did get in touch with the contact person, and our name should be now included in the participating organizations. If you would like to check into it, go to www.petrockfest.com . What I need now, are small items we can sell there; even things like jewelry, faux or real, to make money for next winter’s fuel. The items should have a price sticker/tag attached, and should be small enough to be mailed to me, so I can put them all together and get them to Sylvia sometime this summer. If you do have something for us, please mail them to: James Brewer, 24 Willard Way, Limestone, Maine 04750. Gift certificates would be a good idea, maybe for a dinner for two at a local restaurant. I am sure you think of something.

Thank you!

CAT REPORT  –  February 2008

After their lovely Christmas, with gifts spread out for about a week, the cats are now enjoying a Valentine’s Day box of catnip toys and loose catnip from their friend Jane in Anchorage, Alaska.  Jane’s the lady who adopted Lisa, Peter and Pooh’s funny-foot sister and flew with her to Alaska, where she’s living a life of luxury. Every February the two of them send a box of Alaskan catnip to the Maine family and their housemates. It’s the real stuff, too; the odor wafts out as soon as I open the box, and the cats go nuts, rolling in the leaves and throwing the toys.

I usually vacuum before I spread dry catnip, so it won’t get lost in the cat hair. J This time, Teresa and her son Brian came over to help get some of the rooms ready, and the three of us shared out the catnip and watched the cats get silly.

Gabriele forwarded another WalMart card, this one from Sandra Walker, with instructions to use it for something special. I know now which kinds of beds the cats prefer and which ones hold up best, so there will be more places to sleep as soon as I have time for an extended shopping trip; and maybe a few more scratching posts, too. The previous gift cards went mostly for food. I’m sure those of you with multiple pets will find it all too easy to believe that one day when WalMart’s shelves were unusually well stocked I blew $135 on cat food in a single trip.

Speaking of beds, that picture Gabriele found for the December 2007 newsletter was perfect, showing almost exactly the beds I was talking about. Now you need to visualize a small black cat curled up in half of the large bed, and a large black and white cat overflowing the small bed, both of them with their mouths curled up in contented smiles.

My thanks, as always, to all our friends and supporters, and especially to Teresa and Brian for their help, to Teresa’s Pennsylvania sister and Roberta Chaves for coupons (Roberta sends interesting articles and cat-related cartoons, too), to Karen for food and beds and bedding, and to the Charles’ cat for food. Last week Olivia sent an extra bag of high-quality dry food that she and another cat had rejected. Kennebec, the only one at my house who’s tried it, thinks it’s pretty good, so I’ll add it to some of the dry mixes and see who else likes it.

Andy & Harry Greene, Sanibel

Anne Tappan, Cambridge

Barbara Askew, Quincy

Barton Patrick, Northport

Betsy Anderson, Framingham

Bette Beebe, Vernon

Betty Sawyer, Jonesport

Beverlee Carpenter, Holderness

Beverly Maheu, China Village

Carole Parker, Stoughton

Cristine Cardello, Melrose

Cynthia Houston, Woburn

Dale Critchley, S. Weymouth

David Hingston, Chelmsford

Deb & Allen Bachrach, Petersh.

Donna Bering, Saugus

Doris Lary, Hartland

Dorothy D’Alessandro, Ossipee

Dorothy Eckstein, Medford

Dorothy Watkins, Amesbury

Enid Hayes, Halifax

Florence Mason, Lexington

Fran Munday, Sanibel

Harriet Snyder, Brockton

Iris Martinello, Tewksbury

Irma Simon, S.China

Jacky Lowney, New Bedford

Jean & Ralph Catignani, Conway

Jean Tillson, Franklin

Jo Ford, Holden

Joe Blake, New Bedford

Joe D’Alessandro, Tuftonboro

John Caswell, Newport

John Walsh, Estero

Jon & Barb Anderson, Augusta

Joseph Kogut, Upton

Josephine Smith, Woburn

Judy & Al Smith, Belmont

Judy Rohweder, Northport

Kathleen Hillman, Chelmsford

Kellee Lowney, New Bedford

Lesley Tucker, Reading

Linda Collins, N. Billerica

Linda Merriam, Dresden

Lisa D’Alessandro, Raymond

Lorena & Harry Clark, Beverly

Thank you very much!

More birds, waiting for Jim’s hand-outs.

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