Letters from Ascension Hermitage and Sanctuary

Greetings on this Ascension Day! Enjoy the great Gerald Finzi anthem:  God is gone up [And yes, remembering my wonderful cat, Finzi - may she be waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge!]

 Remembering my cousins: Higdon Tarver and Christopher Huestis. May they rest in peace and rise in glory, and may their memories always be a blessing - may they never be forgotten.

You just never know who's going to show up for breakfast - but that's what a stray cat did for several days at Sanctuary House! One day he jumped into the chicken yard and then for several days waited in the weeds and wildflowers along the driveway. At first, he seemed very skittish, but then he let Cindy and me pet him. We are far too close to the road for any outside animal to be safe, but the cat didn't seem ready to come in. I prayed he'd stay nearby and not cross the street. Yesterday he followed me as I took the trash out - apparently one can of cat food was not a sufficient breakfast. So, I took a carrier outside with a can of Friskies cat food - the cat rubbed against my legs and then went into the carrier for more breakfast. Now he's safely inside! He is quite content and will definitely have as much to eat as he wants! He's young, probably 7 or 8 months and very affectionate. He's had flea and worm meds, and we have an initial vet visit scheduled f...

It was with much sadness that we said good-bye to our beagle Janie yesterday afternoon. She was in death, as she had been in life, quiet and gentle. She had been staying very close to me, and so before I went upstairs to the cats, I leaned down to pet her - but she was gone, silently in her sleep. None of the other dogs had made a sound - I don't think any of us realized that her spirit had left us for the fields of the next life. Janie's message to us? Love every day, be gentle, be kind, keep your friends close. Janie's best dog friend was Thea - the two were inseparable. I know Thea misses her, really, we all do. Janie and Thea in earlier days . . .  

 It's a very, very rainy day here, and you know what that means - not only a bad hair day, but a bad feather day as well! Marigold's head feathers, which would ordinarily be quite fluffy, are rained into wet spikes! Don't worry about her at all - the coop door is open, so standing out in the rain is her choice. And I hope you are getting to do something you enjoy today - walking out in the rain or just whatever you might choose!

I thought Sava and Dolly would look at the camera, but no. Starlings were singing in the tree just outside their window, and obviously birds are a lot more interesting than the would-be photographer! Clancy was sitting on the floor, but he too heard the birds, and watched the window, hoping perhaps that the birds would somehow fly indoors. No such luck, Clancy - we have double screens on every window!  

 A few weeks ago, for no apparent reason, our washing machine started leaking - definitely nothing to do with the intake hoses or drain hose, but water was coming from the bottom of the machine. Actually, it was still doing a great job of washing clothes, but I knew washing the floor at the same time had to stop. Fortunately, the machine was only three years old, and I had paid for a five-year extended warranty. I immediately contact Lowe's. A day later they emailed back to say that there are no service people in our area, so they would replace the machine. . . which really meant they would send a Lowe's credit amount for us to purchase a new machine. The amount of the credit was based on the three-year-old machine, and yes, washing machine prices have gone up in those three years. I carefully studied the options within our price range and decided that the best machine for us would be a Samsung.  A few days later, true to their word, Lowe's delivered our new washing machine...