Healers & Misfits 100 page publication of photos

I am also offering a gift level for anyone donating $250 or more to Apifera. It is a beautiful 8.5 x 11" photo book, soft cover of 100 pages full of beautiful photos and other Misfit musings. This will be sent after the barn addition is complete [August-September]. So no matter where you donate your $250, here, or on FB or by check, you will be on the list to receive one. {People that gave this amount or more recently will get one too.}

I put Luna on the cover. In her elder years, we don't know how long she will grace us here, but I have already grown to admire her. She is beautiful in a very wise crone way.

If you prefer to send a check make it to Apifera Farm Inc.
315 Waldoboro RD, Bremen ME 04551
You will get a receipt immediately after arrival.

Our EIN # 82-2236486

Possible Matching Donations at stake

Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday. I know you probably know that because every time you open your email or social media you are being shown all the places you can give too.

But do those places have a Love Llama? Or acrobatic goats? Grumpy pigs that fly off to heaven?

If you want to give on our Facebook fundraiser, there is a chance those monies will be matched. Facebook will be matching every dollar for registered non profits, beginning at 8AM EST on Tuesday, up to 7 Million dollars total. We have to try! There will be a lot of non profits competing for those dollars.

And no matter what, your donations are always used wisely and needed on a every day basis for feed, materials, vet care, routine medicines and more. We do not take a salary and we both have full time jobs to support our simple lifestyle and also have time and energy and love to help the animals and our non profit.

We could not do this without your support.

I have many repeat donors, and I so love them all for coming to bat over and over-that includes all you Apifera Angels that send cat food.

I often see people saying, "I wish I could give more"...but I always say that all money is helpful to us! $5 buys half a bag of feed. It all adds up. The small donations are bread and butter. When we get a bigger donation, it is absolutely Misfitingly Magnificent! But all donations help keep our account flowing in a healthy way, and keep it so we don't scrimp on animal care which is the most important.

Of course, you can give right here on the blog if you are not a Facebook person. No matter how, or when, we will appreciate you donations.

Hoof stomps, tail swishes and pig squeals!

The Misfits line up for.....scream, squeal, oh no!!!!!!

Update: Less than an hour after posting our needs online, we had our socks knocked off with support-we made it-THANK YOU and we feel so graced.

It's that time again...rabies shots!

Background: collective screaming from barnyard.

Now in Maine, we are in an area where rabies is a threat. We never did rabies shots for the barnyard Misfits out West, but we have opted to do it here. I have even asked the State Vet about it, and we decided it is worth the extra money should we have an incident.

It is costly, so I am reaching out to all Apifera Angels to see if you'd like to help offset the cost, which helps keep our fund healthy. We already did the donkeys, so now we just have the other Misfits to do.

Ollie is the only one who is excited about this. Being his first rabies shot, he thinks it is special that everyone gets to line up and get something. Opie knows what to do, cover your eyes!

I appreciate your continued love and support to help The Misfits! Anyone donating $50 or more can take home one of my books [your choice].

You can donate on the blog here, and if you prefer you can send a check to 315 Waldoboro RD, Bremen ME 04551 made out to Apifera Farm.

Old Matilda has a request

We are still raising money to defray the cost of the yearly hay that will get us through spring. We have raised about $1000 of the $3,000 needed to add back into our piggy bank.

Anyone donating through this week will get their name in Pino's bucket and one person will take home an archival print -either art or a photo-their choice. I hope to have some other incentives in the next couple weeks.

Anyone who donated initially in the last couple of weeks, your name will be added into the bucket too!

You can go to the Hay Fund page and donate, or donate on the donation page on the blog. I will add your donation onto the hay fund page so we can all keep track of what we are bringing in.

It takes a village of Misfits to keep this place running! Thank you.

Help Opie console Ollie

Today is a big day for little 3 week old Ollie. He will lose his baby makers, aka testicles. No easy way around it, no matter which procedure we do it will be uncomfortable. The vet will be doing it as I stink at it. He's had a hard enough start in life I don't want to add to his trauma. It will be over quickly though. We will also assess if it is too late to disband him humanely. If not, he will keep his horns.

Opie has begun to take a shine to Ollie. At first, he was unsure of what hewas, as far as I could tell. He seems to be more of a chicken man. But once he realized Ollie was not taking his place, and that he got just as much attention with Ollie or without, he seemed to figure out that Ollie could be sort of a fun buddy. I even saw them running together.

"Look, Ollie, just don't look, no matter what you do when the vet comes, just don't look. Think of the best thing in the entire world,, and think about really hard."

"The best thing in the entire world, what would that be, I've hardly been anywhere," Ollie said.

"What is the best thing in your day?" Opie asked.

"My bottle!" said Ollie.

"Well, just close your eyes and think of your bottle then, Ollie. And remember, it will be okay."

{It is always helpful to get donations incoming when we have a vet visit. It keeps the cash flow of the 501[c][3] healthy, which is important to all of us. Please consider a small donation in honor of little Ollie's big day. Matilda and the donkeys will also be getting an annual visit from the vet today and shots}

It's always something...Martyn fails again at making a money tree

There is never not a need financially for non profits. We always keep a teeny nest egg, but it is important to constantly raise money in a non profit. I have had Martyn trying to propagate a money tree for years, but he has had no luck. And we wonder if a money tree might lead to many non positive things...like Paco buying too many cookies or poetry books [I guess one can never have enough of either].

So the push in the coming couple of months is tor add to our nest egg to cover the annual costs coming up:

• Hay...oh, hay. Last year we did $3,000 worth which got us through a very long winter. I am aiming for that this year, to be safe.
• Next week's vet call will be about $500 to cover annual shots/checks for equines and to castrate/disbud little Ollie
• Who is little Ollie?! I will introduce him next.
• Next week is also a small event for Opie, Pino and Birdie, called Opie Day. We have invited some elders from he Greens elder residences to meet us at Inn Along the Way, so they can sit in the old barn and the animals can run and romp. We do not charge for these elder visits, and don't plan to. We do not take a salary or get reimbursed for travel or time.
• In the fall, we do annual rabies shots for ALL animals, this has to be done by a vet. Rabies is a real concern in Maine and after talking to the state vet on arrival, we felt it best to vaccinate everyone, even the pigs.

So please donate if you can. Any amount is helpful.

Yume- we have success!

Yume a couple weeks after her meds kicked in-looking good!

A quick update on Yume, the only Japanese speaking Apiferian, oh wait, I forgot about Earnest the pig.

I'm pleased that the meds we were trying from the vet seemed, knock on my head, to have done the trick. I am glad at this point we did not have to go through a lot of trials with different meds. So, I hope Yume will continue on without flareups but if she does, we can at least know there is a drug to help.

I have collected $100 as of this morning to help offset Yume's $200+ vet bill. If you can chip in, wonderful-it helps cash flow for the 501[c][3] and is much appreciated.

And to those who have sent some help, we say,

“Doumo Arigatou” 

It could be yours

You can help Apifera, and maybe adopt this archive 20" x 20" print [value $195].

All you have to do is donate $10. Every $10 gets your name in Pino's bucket, and at the end of next week, he'll pull a name out of his bucket. You can donate by check too if you wish, or go to the donate page. I will be adding all donations to the Barn GoFund site [if you donate there directly that is fine too].

The print is called "Bird Greets Young Tree".

If you do want to send a check, please email me so I know it is coming and I'll make sure your names gets put in Pino's bucket.

The Nose has a special public service announcement

When The Nose speaks, we listen. White Dog greets me everyday, wind, rain, sleet or snow. I guess he could be a mail person, although he might get distracted and do some walkabouts on his delivery route.

I always take time to commune with him, thank him for his service, and we look into each other's eyes in silence, or at least without words. I often tell him my mantra,

"Everything will be okay."

This is what I told all the animals as we prepared to leave the old farm for our long trip to Maine, and I still continue to say it to Benedetto. I think it is more for me than him, of course. I remember those days of reality sinking in, that we were in fact leaving our home for the unknown, and saying my mantra while looking in Ben's eyes soothed me and therefore him. These dogs are so telepathic, more so than any I've worked with.

So this morning The Nose was right there waiting.

I let him into the front paddocks to be with Marcella today. Everyone gets a bit bored, cooped up, in all the snow days. In the photo below, White Dog is standing in the area where the new barn will go. It will butt up against the other barn. I will be trying to come up with more fundraising fun in the coming weeks, as a down payment will be coming due soon. Remember, every dollar of the first $10,000 is being matched by The J&J Stanley Foundation [hoof stomps and pig squeals].

This barn fundraiser is a big undertaking-but will be crucial to our ongoing work. It will be so wonderful to have more stall space, and it will take pressure off the hay barn too. I already have ideas to improve and alter Her Royal Highness's suite. There might even be room for a giraffe, or elephant, who knows.

White Dog stands in the area where the new barn will go.

Sophie's warm...year end love

Old Sophie has plenty of wool, but a little help in this cold, why not?

We are having extreme cold after all the snow but it is crisp and beautiful. Crisp is a bit of an optimistic word to use. The cold does not bother me this time of year [it does make me cranky if it is April] but it does have its challenges with the animal care. I probably spend an extra hour at chores twice a day dealing with frozen water buckets. I have to chip out all the many buckets, and carry water, but not too far, only about 20 feet. We have water in both barns, frost free, but despite the many ways I've tried, there is no other way except hauling water in buckets. Hoses freeze even if you drain them, the plastic or metal splitters freeze up too even if you have a cleaned out hose; I've tried bringing in the splitters but, it only takes minutes in this kind of cold. We have electrified water heaters the worked well in Oregon when I simply had to keep one huge bucket in the hay barn for water...but there is too much danger to have one around pigs, equines, and Marcella. She ate through an electrical cord once.

The equines are rascals in the cold. If the water bucket freezes in the night, which it does, they start playing with it. I'm sure they first test it and realize it is frozen, and sometimes if it is a light freeze they break through and are content, or they dump the water and it all freezes to the ground making it an ice rink. The pigs can easily break through water but I change it twice a day for them. It is not good to have an animal without water, and they tend to drink more in the cold.

My abs and arms get a good workout.

I heard a broadcast this morning on NPR that gave me pause. I fretted a bit, but then decided to 'let it go'. I will take the Earnest approach, "what ever happens happens". The report was on the fact that many non profits are fretting about the new tax code, fearing that many people that donate in the $1000 and under, or make small donations throughout the year when they can, will no longer be doing this since they might not be filing Schedule A now that the exception is increasing. Wealthy people and those making many deductions will still be filing an A, but it made me feel angry...another way the needy people will not benefit and will most likely suffer. It took me until now to take the challenge of starting a non profit, and what dos the future hold?

But as I mulled it in my brain...I realized what is really important-to just keep up the work I've chosen, with a smile and occasional sore back, just keep looking at these faces, knowing how they rely on me for care, and appreciate it [usually]...and knowing by caring for them, eventually they will wind there into the eyesight of an elder person who will get a sense of peace, calm and enjoyment out of meeting that animal.

A perfect lead-in to a request for you to give a year end donation to Apifera - we have big plans for growing and spreading more love next year to the elders, and of course we have another barn we need to build. You can learn about ways to donate to us at this page. And thank you to all who have, are thinking of it, and also to those of you who can't but follow along in spirit.

Always in need: canned cat food

Part of keeping this place zipping along is the reality that I will always be asking for help. I try to balance that with sharing stories, art, photos and engaging you all in the beauty of the interactions here at Apifera. Running a 501[c][3] is very different than just asking for hep from time to time. I really appreciate the support from people!

Right now there are many needs, and we also have the barn fundraiser which is ongoing. This is a growing time for us here with our non profit and the barn will open up many new experiences for us...and room for more animals.

But one need that is ongoing, is canned cat food. The elders we adopt out of the shelters are all eating canned food to keep their weights up. Someone was gracious enough to donate a new baby scale so I am tracking weights.

All you have to do is visit our list on Amazon and purchase. I have a variety of priced foods listed-all are fine. They love the chicken and gravy Weruva but it is a bit pricey-so choose what works for you. We are currently using 5 cans a day. It is really helpful to have a month supply on hand so I'm not constantly barking for more, but the cats and I will try to make our pleas for food entertaining in the coming months and years.

At the end of the year, the cats will be sending out a special message they're working on, and one person will also get a print of The Magnificent Maurice Mittens.

Thank you to everyone who helps!

Conversation of old cats

Sir Tigger, was 17 when his owner went into a home and he ended up in the shelter.

"She is on her way," Sir Tigger said as he kept his nose close to the bottom of the door.

"She's late this morning!" said Anna.

"There be others she cares for besides us's, or is it we's," said Yume, in her broken English. Yuma was born in Japan and was a stray, so her English, and grammar, are still a work in progress. And learning a new language at an elderly age becomes a longer process for most.

"I got to sleep more, this was good," said the tea cup cat, Maxine.

And then there was a loud thud on the ground.

It was The Magnificant Maurice Mittens who had recently been returned to the shelter for reasons unknown. He arrived with the name Mittens but was grateful his new caretaker adjusted is name,

"as I am more magnificent than a mitten!" he announced.

Maurice Mittens sauntered over to Sir Tigger, and stood behind him. The two got along, but there was a feeling in the air that Maurice could take over if he wanted to, bt he didn't want to. And Tigger liked to stay out of trouble by backing off of any body encounter with another felines.

The door opened, the sing song woman voice said the usual,

"Good Morning! What a great day to be a cat!"

And she plopped down a big box.

"Look what came for us?" she told them all.

They all gathered, except Yume and Anna who watched from their perches.

Inside were cans and cans...and they knew exactly what was in those cans...judging by the tail swishes and humming purrs.

"I hope it's the Seafood Combo," said Maurice.

So you see, dear readers, when you send a gracious gift of canned cat food to the senior felines, a conversation does happen, and appreciation is shown via tail swishes and grrrrr's.

{Apifera Farm is a 501[c][3] and all your donations are tax deductible.}

The Magnificent Maurice Mittens had been returned to the shelter for unknown reasons

Anna was loved, but sent to the shelter in her elder years reasons unknown. Yume  was born in Japan and lost her owners due to another oversea job change and they could not take her.

Maxine is 5# and on thyroid for life. She was sent to shelter at 12.

Anna sent to shelter for reasons unknown

Please share!

I hope you will share this image! I am trying to get the word out that Apifera is here to adopt elder and special needs creatures. I have been sharing our story with shelters and animal control officers too, and as many farms as I can find.

If you know of an animal needing to be rehomed, please contact me with details. We focus on adopting elder and special needs creatures-sometimes this is due to neglect, but often an elder owner has dementia or has passed on, there is a life change and an animal has to be rehomed, or an elder or special needs animal is not able to live safely in the existing herd at a farm. Often on cheese farms, kid goats might have special needs and need hospice or daily care that the farm can not handle.

So please share!

I would also ask that if you can donate, that is wonderful too. All your donations are tax deductible.

BIG NEWS! It's official!

I am so excited to tell you that yesterday we received our letter of determination from the IRS. In explaining this to the Misfits, I simply told them people can now donate and get tax deductions.

But then they wanted to know about tax deductions...so it became a long drawn out barnyard discussion.

Anyway, I'm so happy that I can now go full steam ahead. As I left the barnyard they were having bit of a squabble about who would represent them at important meetings. This could be problematic, without The Head Troll to step in. I suspect, and can only hope, that Paco the Poet has had enough experience this last year that he might step in.

I have also had a conversation, at long last, with The Puppet, who has been sadly sitting alone on a shelf-with a good view, I'll point out. The poor chap. He is lonely and feeling undervalued, and since one of the reasons we want to work with elders is so they don't feel undervalued, and there was my dear Puppet feeling just this way.

So I told him I am putting him in charge of Porta Potties for any events as well as Puppet Ponderings...the latter I think we might all agree the world needs more of, especially now. He was very excited there might be a port potty in his future. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can catch up here.

Rabies shots for all Apiferians

There was a reporting of a rabid skunk not far from here, that attacked two dogs-who were up to date on rabies so are being watched but will be fine. In Oregon, there were not many rabies incidences and we were not required to give shots to the farm animals. When we moved to Maine, we had to make sure all the dogs and cats were up to date, which they were.

I've talked to a lot of farm people here and it is obviously a big expense to have a farm vaccinated for rabies. I was told about a sad incidence where a woman had to relinquish her entire small fiber flock. A vet has to come to the farm and give rabies shots, you can not administer it yourself. So last year, I opted to do all the dogs again, of course, but also we did the donkeys and Boone, and Birdie.

This year I think it is proper to get everyone vaccinated due to the incident just a mile or so away. It will be expensive, but if we can show that we have a history of consistently staying on top of the rabies shots, we should be safe in case anything happens.

So donations are greatly appreciated. We also just brought in 10 tons of hay and our coffers are bare! Help out of if you can, and we thank you very much.

Apifera Farm is a registered non-profit in Maine with pending 501c status.

Hay drive! Help if you can!

This year I especially need help monetarily with The Misfits! I am the sole bread winner right now as we transition here in Maine, something I am trying not to overreact to but if you can donate to the fund, I really, really appreciate it. Any donation of $50 or more gets a book. $100 or more gets a book and a Donkey Wisdom journal.

Hay is so important for the animals, and we are finding that hay prices, and availability here in Maine, is very different than the resources we had in Oregon. We have found one local hay person, but the fact is I might have to spend much more for hay than I did in my past life. This year it is especially important we have plenty of hay on hand for our first winter, especially for the elders. I will be needing much more hay than I did in Oregon for The Misfits where I went through 6-8 tons. Many assume that feeding pellet/supplemetal feed [which we do for many here and is important] keeps an animal warm in the cold, but it is actually hay and the chewing process that is as important to create heat. We also have so much to do to make the Misfit area better for drainage. I am not used to wet in the summer! And our land has a lot of marsh on it so we have our work cut out for us, and money ill need to spent for drainage, fill and rock. We are building the new barn as I speak, and have already added a couple acres of pasture, but have much more fencing to do too.

Thank you in advance to all those who help, and to all those who have supported our efforts with The Misfits in the past.

Levels

No gift $10.00 USD Book gift $50.00 USD Book/journal gift $100.00 USD

Letters from Mother Katherine

For some months or longer, I have been corresponding with Mother Katherine of Zoar Farm, located in Otego, New York. Mother Katherine works and lives in a monastic community for women of the Orthodox Church in America.

But what brought us together is our love of sheep, and shepherding them. This is her in this image, which is on a card she sends often wen she writes.

And in many other ways, she shepherds me in our now frequent correspondences. This is the part of the internet that is glorious, open hearted and can inspire and teach.

Mother Katherine and I are currently having an ongoing discussion about taking sheep cross narrow foot paths and roads, and how they might perceive darker shades of ground differently than we do, they might perceive a drop off when there is none, for example. The farm also has two guard dogs-Great Pyrs- and we have shared discussion on that and she has given me a couple ideas about my White Dogs .My post this week on boundaries sparked some interest, but it led me back to her site where I read an essay by one of the other Sisters on boundaries.

When I get an envelope from Mother Katherine, I am touched to see a couple of $5 dollar bills tucked in, sent with a simple, "Mother K". The humble offering of a shepherdess to another shepherdess. Such was the case this week. Mother Katherine is guardian to her working flock, but is also caretaker to many elderly sheep there. We have many back and forth stories with one another about the heart break, hard work-but good work- of caring or these elders.

My father was a letter writer and into his last years in his eighties, had letter writing friends all over the world. That was back when a stamp was your app. I love getting mail, infrequent as it is, but I also love corresponding in genuine ways like this with people like Mother Katherine.

How am I doing?

So I have a question for all of you- to be answered here or on Facebook [I've given up trying to get people to only comment here on the blog, it just is the way it is!]

The question is:

How do you all think I'm doing? You know, in my work with the animals, my writing, my art, my tone, my sharing of story that might inspire or bring comfort-or bring a smile?

I thought that question was a good way to start a conversation, and request, about and for donations and subscriptions. You might know I've always had a strained relationship with 'donations'. Last year, I decided to deliberately pull back from asking for donations too much. I decided I should let people feel propelled to donate on their own, but only after they saw over and over my work here, work I've been doing at Apifera for 11 years now. I would go about with my writing, painting, and sharing story through books and the blog, and let donations come as they will without my asking. I put up a GoFund page at the beginning of the year to help with our new barn project-which will help house elders and make some hospice work easier for me since it will be right by the studio. But I took that funding page down, it didn't feel right. That barn was paid for out of my work, and the second phase begins this spring.

When I did my year end books this past week, I felt pretty good. I've been a freelancer for 19 years, without the aid of a loan or trust fund [some people seem to think I am rich, perhaps because I went to a private school and live on a farm with a horse and make my own schedule-in fact, my architect father worked and sacrificed to put me through school, as did my mother who worked in retail until her 70's-I am so blessed for that gift! And I didn't get here overnight!].

But at the same time, I don't think I give myself enough credit. I perhaps might have gone the opposite direction, in that I'm not asking for enough help. I put links to support pages but I feel awkward asking for donations all the time, straight out. Someone told me about a writer who is constantly asking for money to pay for things like her truck expenses, and late mortgage payments. I cringed. It seems to be an ongoing thing for this particular freelancer. I do not, nor will I, become dependent on another's incomes to make Apifera run, or to help my Misfits. Obviously emergencies can arise-and people ask for help these days through crowd sourcing. I have no problem with that, for the record. But some people do seem to be using their social personas and bad business skills to get money.

Perhaps this is the old Minnesotan in me-asking for money outright seems rather....non Minnesotan.

So looking at the year end numbers, while my art/book income looked okay, I realized that donations were almost obsolete, because I just didn't promote them. My feed bill has gone up a lot because I've switched to a better feed for the elders and am also buying better hay. Would it seem silly to tell you that I also noted my 'entertainment' total for 2015 in my books was...wait for it...$75. I'm not complaining, working here on the farm, and my art and writing-it is my entertainment. But there were no vacations. There is no running out quickly for a lunch. And again, I'm fine with that, I have what I need to be happy. So today, I just want to give a bit of a recap of my work here.

Current Misfits: 38 [this does not include my horse, my sheep, working pigs]
Resting in Peace: 24
Annual Misfit Feed Bill: $4800-6000
Annual Hay Bill: $2400
Vet Bill this year: $4500
New barn: $12,000

These animals are not just thrown hay. I think you all know that. They are communed, with me and others. They are shared with outsiders to benefit animal and person. They are healed, hospiced and buried. I clean up there loose bowels and give them shots, trim their feet and try to put weight on them-the slow way- with care and love. I have laid with them, carried them, and sung to them. I do everything I can for them and that is just a wonderful gift I am able to give them. And I get to be with them, a gift for me-which I try to return to you through books and art.

So, the question again,

How am I doing?

And one more-are you able to give or subscribe? [a huge rush of discomfort just flew over the room].

Eating machines and something always goes wrong sometime

They eat, they sleep and their old bodies never stop needing some kind of care, be it routine or emergency. I love working with these guys, I love helping them-it's rewarding, it's purposeful, and all in all, it is fun. There are days of peace an days of chaos. But it is just the way it is on any real small working farm-and this small working farm has an added group of old Misfits.

So a day or so ago I posted a link to a fundraiser via GoFund to hopefully raise money for the spring maintenance of all the various Misfits. But I took it down. I felt in my gut it wasn't the way to go. I was feeling liked a used cars salesman.

But, at the same time I must face facts. It takes a lot of time, and money to care for these animals-many were neglected over years so there are always going to be chronic issues, often requiring me to determine if a vet call is necessary-or a 'come out now' vet call such as happened today with one of the equines who appeared to be choking. It passed, and normal behavior ensued, so we dodged a bullet. I have a vet coming out this week for pig shots, llama care and to do a herd overview of Misfits and Matilda.

I think I will gather some sketches and old art pieces and do a little art sale later this month. Stay tuned. In the meantime you can support the barnyard here, with gift levels of books, or you can choose to give without a reward at that same link. There is also a monthly subscription option. We are not a 501c, but rest assured each dollar is used on a helping a Misfit.

Help for Samuelle Noel and surprise yourself with art!

Thank you to every one who played along. Your prints are shipping the week of 7/8 so watch for them late week or first part of next week. Meow!

Five years ago he showed up at the barn, scared, tired and wounded. For a stray, he was pretty tame, but still he was a stray and hard to doctor. But with effort, I trapped him, vetted him and neutered him. I brought him back to Apifera and he never left. He is extremely close to Hazel, one of the original ferals.

I named him Samuelle Noel because it was Christmas time.

A month ago, he looked horrible, almost overnight. He always maintained a good weight. I wormed him, deliced him, but to no avail. Within a week he looked thinner, and had a horrible rasp in his throat - which the clip above documents. I had to vet him, and we put him on a 7 day med course - after testing him for Feline AIDS and leukemia [both were negative, thank goodness].

Well, that regime did not help. And he would not eat anything - or it seemed he wasn't - even tuna, salmon, fish oil did not entice him. Today I had him back at the vet and we X-rayed him, his lungs are clear which is good, so we hope it is a stubborn bacteria. We have him on different meds and he will stay in the vet's care for 2.5 days, getting sustenance since he went from 10# to 8# in 8 days - not good! He will also get a daily nebulizer to try to suck out the fluid in his nasal area.

He was so good at the vet and I really hope we get get him back in form.

Of course, this all costs money. $150 last week, and $280 minimum coming up. I did get a $50 donation - GRATEFUL! - but I decided to do a print sale to rev up some dollars. I also have an option below for a simple donation without print or gift.

Here's how it works: Scroll below for buying options...

I have piles of wonderful prints. These are all printed by me, with the color image usually in the 5-6" range, sitting on a white piece of paper. They can be framed. I will sign each one.

When you pay $15, you get 2 prints, $4 shipping [USA orders]. You will receive your prints within 2-4 weeks.

For every $15 you pay, you get 2 prints. SO you can enter as many multiples as you'd like.

NOTE: You do not get to choose your prints! Isn't that exciting? They will be a surprise. Each print you get will be different - dare to live!

Thank you to every one who played along. Your prints are shipping the week of 7/8 so watch for them late week or first part of next week. Meow!