Week of Oct.26 to Nov. 1

Monday, October 26, 2009
Boy am I behind. I haven’t been keeping up with my log, so I will reconstruct most of this week from other emails I sent and notes on my calendar.
The weather today was dark and overcast with the look of rain and by late afternoon the wind picked up to gusts in the 35 mph range and it started snowing before sunset.
My sister, Sharry, and I emailed back a forth and she, along with a lot of others, suggested some names for the kitten. One name she suggested sounded perfect for him, so his name is Rusty. Thanks Sharry.
For most of the day I called him by that name and he didn’t respond, so I became suspicious and decided to test his hearing. Prior to this, he had been so sick that he slept most of the time and it didn’t occur to me that along with his eye problem that his hearing may also be impaired. I started testing his hearing with sounds that I was sure would attract his attention. I waited until he was looking away from me and then made the sounds. He didn’t respond and didn’t even move his ears toward the sound. I made the noises progressively louder and noticed that if I clapped loudly, or whistled loudly, he was startled and would turn towards me.
My conclusion was that he was practically deaf, noticing only really loud noises. It didn’t bother me that he may be deaf and I just needed to adjust my approach to communicating with him. His “cold,” which is called Feline Viral Respiratory Disease (FVR), is getting better and by late afternoon, he was eating and more alert than yesterday, but still not acting like a playful kitten. All of the feline "colds" are called FVR, but there is FCV, which is Feline Calicivirus, a Feline Pneurnonitis (Chlamydia psittaci), Mycoplasmal infection, Feline infectious peritonitis and pleuritis, and FHV, Feline Herpesvirus, which can cause the same symptoms but the cat may NEVER get over. If he doesn’t get completely better, I’ll have him tested by my vet for the cause.
I spent the day cleaning and doing some wash, working on the computer, and watching television in front of a nice warm fire. Zack and I played several times and I enjoyed watching his interactions with Rusty.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The weather today is cold and blowing snow, with gusts to 20 mph and the high for the day barely getting above the freeze mark. My chipmunks have disappeared, except for one hearty soul that is taking a few peanuts back to his burrow. The birds all disappeared last week, so the animals are trying to tell me something. What do you suppose it is?
It snowed most of the day, so I played with Zack indoors, using the toys I strung up over the log-ceiling beam in the sunroom. He got plenty of exercise and I wore him out three times during the day.
Rusty is improving, as this is the third day he has been on the antibiotics. He his eating like a horse and drinking copious amounts of water. I have discovered that this kitten loves water, which is kind of unusual. I am using a regular cereal bowl for his water container and he moves it out from under Zack’s food and water platform and plays in it. He then dries off in the litter box, so he has the absorbent clay litter stuck in his front paws constantly. I started only putting small amounts of water in it so I could wash it out and replenish the water on a regular basis.
He took to the new bed that I bought especially for him, while he was so sick but now avoids it like the plague. It may have the odor of his nasal discharge and reminds him of being sick, so I will wash it and see if it helps.
Some of my observations about Rusty are; his ears look too big for his head, his cocked eye makes it look like he is looking at two different things at the same time, despite his eye damage, he seems to see out of it okay and even has depth perception as he can jump great distances with accuracy, he sneezes 7 times in a row, like I do, but he isn’t consistent, he loves water, and has one of the loudest purrs I’ve heard. He also isn’t the least bit afraid of Zack and even likes him.
I spent most of the day indoors, going for a short walk when the snow stopped momentarily, and working on the generator shed briefly. I just haven’t been overly eager to get the big generator back on line, as the little one not only works well, it uses far less gas for the same amount of running time.
A quiet evening in front of the fire, with a good dinner and some television ended my day.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009
It is overcast and cold this morning, with some brief periods of calm air and the sun trying to peek out. NWS is predicting snow and rain for the remainder of the week and into the weekend.
Rusty is starting to act more like an energized kitten and playing and exploring everything. I am trying to teach him the meaning of the word “No,” but between his hearing and stubbornness, he is a slow learner. He is, however, regaining some of his hearing and responded to more noises. I am beginning to think that the congestion from the cold may have been plugging up his Eustachian tubes, causing him to loose his hearing, and now that the antibiotics are helping, the tubes may be clearing and he is able to hear better. I hope that is the case, as it would be nice for him to respond to his name.
Zoey hasn’t exhibited any signs of coming down with the FVR and is behaving normally. She is getting braver and approaching Rusty without hissing or acting aggressive. She is slowly getting the idea that he isn’t going to go away, and therefore she wants to make sure he knows she is in charge.
I goofed around all afternoon and did some research online about the Copenhagen Treaty. By late afternoon, the winds picked up and it began to seriously snow. It was a wet snow and stuck to everything, including my satellites, so it knocked out my internet connection. I shut things down and showered, fixed and ate dinner, watched a prerecorded movie and went to bed.

Thursday, October 29, 2009
It is cold this morning, with the temperature at 10:00 being 14 degrees, with an overnight low of -1.8. The high for the day was in the late afternoon, when the sun came out briefly, and it reached 38 degrees. Most of the day stayed in the 20s.
Last nights snowstorm delivered about 8” of new snow and covered everything. The icicles on the edge of the roof look like the plastic ones we used to hang on our Christmas tree when I was a kid. I snapped a couple of photos and will include them.
I managed to clean the kitchen, including a thorough cleaning of the stove, and need to clean the refrigerator as a plastic storage dish cracked on the side and spilled sticky stuff all over the shelves. I’ll get to that later. I played with Zack, both indoors and out as the weather wasn’t too bad, but stayed cold all day.
A nice hot shower, some dinner and then television time rounded out the day.

Friday, October 30, 2009
It turned warm (34 degrees) last night and started raining, heavy at times. It is washing all of the snow away and making the ground a muddy mess. Zack tracks in mud and spreads it around faster than I can clean it. Once it dries, I can usually vacuum it up with out too much of a problem.
Mary and Guy are hosting a lunch on Sunday and invited me. Ray and Rae, maybe cowboy Harry, and myself are the guests. I accepted as Joe and Michele aren’t coming up this weekend, but will be up next weekend.
It rained most of the day and I played with Zack indoors rather than have him getting all wet and then tracking more mud into the cabin. I spent the afternoon cleaning the cabin and managed to clean the bathroom from top to bottom, and the sunroom, including a thorough dusting and vacuuming. I also washed all the pet blankets and the towels that I use for them.
Zoey is getting braver and even used Rusty’s potty box to let him know she owns this place. He is still sneezing and has discharge from both eyes and his nose. He seems to have several hours of feeling good and then he has a bout of sneezing and naps for a couple of hours. I know he feels miserable and hope he gets over this soon.

Saturday, October 31, 2009 - Happy Halloween
The wind picked up shortly before 11 O’clock and has been blowing strong all day. I have had gusts to 48.5, with it being fairly constant at around 20 mph. While working on the computer, that strong gust ripped a section of the new metal roofing off the wood shelter and blew it past the window. It also blew one of my porch light off and down into the creek, knocked over the free standing outdoor fire place, shredded the tarp on the side of the Argo garage, blew down the 16’ Little Giant ladder that I had leaning against the cabin, and knocked my weather station off the deck and into the creek, totally destroying it. I can’t, or I should say won’t, try to fix any of it while the wind is blowing as I just fight with it and the wind wins.
I did go down and collect all of the items blown into the creek and secured them so if it does snow, they won’t be lost until next summer. I tried to play with Zack outside, but even throwing the tennis ball was fruitless against the wind. We played inside until he was tired and then he napped while I finished this update.
It is 5:30 PM, and I will now build a fire as when the sun disappeared, it got cold, and then I’ll shower and have some dinner before settling down to watch some television for the evening.

Sunday, November 1, 2009
Without a weather station, all I can report is the current outside temperature, whether there is wind or not, and condition of the sky. I am looking into getting another weather station and will probably go with the same type so I don’t have to learn a whole bunch of new instructions to operate it.
The wind is still blowing, but not as strong as yesterday, at least not right now. As the day wears on, it may once again picked up to 30 or 40 mph. By 11 O’clock, the sky over me was completely clear and sunny, while it was snowing, with the wind blowing the snow horizontally from the south-southwest.
I will be getting ready and heading to Marysville for the afternoon lunch with Mary and Guy soon, so I’ll finish this upon my return.
I didn’t finish this last night as I was tending to Rusty and his cold, or whatever it is. He actually seems worse, so I’ll try to get a vet appointment for him tomorrow. Zack and I drove to Marysville, making the passage with only a little slipping and sliding on the muddy road. We arrived right on time, 1:00, as instructed. Another couple, Ray and his wife Rae, arrived a half hour later and we all visited for a while. Supper was hot pulled pork on fresh bakery rolls, with a homemade bean salad and potato salad, followed with desert of cheesecake with homemade berry syrup. It was all delicious and filling. After more visiting, I said my goodbyes and headed for home.
Zack and I got home around 5:30, and I built a fire and fed all the critters. Upon playing outside with Zack, I fooled around with the weather station and actually got it to send data to the inside display, so I can at least get the high and low temperatures, plus wind speeds. Having eaten so late, I didn’t eat again, so settled in to let Rusty cuddle in my lap while I watched television and then went to bed.