It's chilly but not freezing cold on the farmette and we still don't have snow, per se. I'm kinda pooped today. Went to Guelph for a bit of a Christmas shopping spree, visit good friends and have a scrumptious Greek dinner with the CCL, or Crazy Cat Ladies.
It's a group of women who work or volunteer at the Guelph Humane Society (GHS) either now or in the past. We are all animal lovers - not just cats, although we had to tell stories about the antics our respective felines are up to.
So proud of these girls. Gwen (second from right) is the GHS volunteer co-ordinator and she's still doing a bang-up job. She's so patient and generous with her time. Training and wrangling the dozens of well-meaning people, old and young, who want to help is not an easy task, but Gwen's up to it, ands been for a number of years. She has multiple dogs and cats in her house - notably Uni, a dog who was adopted when he had a big round wound in the middle of his forehead that looked like a horn was removed. Hence Uni(corn). Cool. Deb (far right) is currently fostering Domino, an orange male tabby that nearly met his maker by getting hit (actually nearly crushed) by a car. He was picked up by a kind-hearted pizza delivery guy, which is how he got his name. Thanks to the fur-boy's resilience, Duke's Fund - the shelter's financial back-stop for severely hurt animals - and some pretty talented veterinarians, Domino is going to make it. Deb's meticulous care, love and attention also have had a lot to do with his miraculous recovery. Moose, her permanent fur-boss, may have had something to do with it too, because the two tabbies get along famously!
Brenda (middle, sitting beside moi) has been a volunteer for 14 years, she was saying. Every Saturday at 2 p.m., rain, snow or shine, she shows up to cuddle cats, clean their litter, explain the process to prospective adopters and generally keep things running smoothly. In the spring, she succumbed herself and adopted Riley, who's now part of her fur family, which includes an earlier adoptee, Raja.
Julie (second from left) works in a research lab. She's working on projects that figure out how to best care for our furry friends. She's also a recently-married woman, loves heavy metal, and is currently fostering four kittens from the shelter. That's added to her five residents. And four finches. And two ferrets. And I think there's more, but I can't remember.
Lacey (left) lives in Cambridge and just got a new job figuring out animal feed formulations for Cargill. Lacey's a dark beauty who's the youngster in the CCL. A few years ago, she, too, adopted a male brown and white tabby from the shelter, and he promptly fell in love with her dad!
I'm an emeritus member - not actively volunteering since we moved north, but still donate and like to keep in touch. And, of course, all the Harris-Wilson cats are rescues, so I can continue to being a member of the CCL. No membership fees, no obligations except to show up to dinner once in a while. It's a rather nice, friendly, purrrfectly lovely bunch. Until next week.