January 05, 2025

COLD, CURLING UP and QUIET


 Oh dear, even though there's a hint of sun, it's getting very very cold out there ...


Mommy, I know you like the windows open, but I can't sit here.
It's too cold and too windy.  Please come close my window ...


Meow.  Mebbe it's best if I just curl up in my blankie basket under my
polka dot Ellen blankie.  I'll be really warm and cozy there.

Yes June, you'll be warm there.  And I'm curling up under a blankie, too.
And we're both taking a day or two of quiet rest, away from Zoolatry. 
Kinda think we both need it, don't you?

Meow.  Mebbe.


January 04, 2025

IN MEMORY OF MARG ELMENDORF ~ "THE HAPPY MIDDLE"

There are no happy endings.  Endings are the saddest part.  
So just give me a happy middle and a very happy start.  
So wrote the poet Shel Silverstein.

     If we wanted to name a friend who gave the pet world a "happy middle" for more years than one could count, her name would be Marg.
     Let us begin with the happy start, in upstate New York, where she grew up, the love of animals embedded in her spirit and leading her to earn a degree in animal husbandry.  Then, as a young woman, she worked her way down the East Coast ~ largely on farms, and in stables ~ training and working with horses.  Teaching riding to the young and ultimately settling in Charleston, SC.  Some years later, Marg reached the dream of purchasing her own small farm to the west, in rural Anderson, SC.
     And now comes the "happy middle" when we in the pet community began to get to know and love our Marg through her blog, MARG'S ANIMALS.  For it was on this farm, in this life, that she shared with us those animals she so loved.  Two mini-donkeys, Smoke and Joe.  Her beloved Ande, always running at her side, the dog who got on so well with every critter on the farm!  And the kitties!  Her inside kitties, outside kitties, porch kitties, barn kitties.
     She wrote of each with love in every word, with humor, with whimsy, she never forgot a name. Any who fell ill made the long trip to town for vet care no matter the cost.  She photographed each with an artist's eye.  She cried at each loss, we cried with her.  We shared her joy at each new arrival ~ for no stray, no feral, no litter of newborns brought by a neighbor ~ was ever turned away from her door.  There was always room for more.  All lived in harmony.
    Time passes for all, and the time came when Smoke and Joe moved to the farm next door, but Marg could walk to the fence line to rub their noses and bid a 'hee-haw morning' to each.  Sweet Ande crossed her bridge.  As did many beloved kitties and neighbors knew not to bring new kitties now.  The long drive to town was getting more difficult.  Older hands found feeding so many harder, old bones ached walking out to the barn kitties ~ yes, much was changing now.

We believe that as her "happy middle" was coming to a close, 
and Marg moved on from her earthly life,
 she simply began another "happy start".
For on that day, there just had to be hundreds and hundreds of her animals, 
who probably brought a lot of their friends, waiting to welcome her.
To hee-haw.  To bark.  To meow.
In one voice, together ... all were saying, welcome home, Marg.
Marg Elmendorf, April 9, 1939 to December 22, 2024

~ ~ ~

Scroll down for a collection of photos of Marg.
If you would like to make a contribution in her memory,
information is at the close of this post for donations to the
PAWS Shelter of Anderson County, SC 


Above, Marg and kitties.
Below, Marg's own photographs of a few of her sweet kitties, and the donks.


Above, a montage of her kitties, a caricature by Barb Kowalik, with Smoke and Joe.
Below, a few of Marg's Animals blog headers.


Below, with long time and dear friend Dee.
With Ann and Terry.
Both photos, 2018, Anderson, SC


PAWS Shelter of Anderson County, SC
1320 Highway 29 South
Anderson, SC 29626

You may donate by PayPal, or by mailing a check to the address above.
Please note that your donation is in memory of Marg
and be sure to provide your own information so the shelter may
acknowledge and thank you for your gift.
For additional information, visit the link below, thank you.





January 03, 2025

FAMOUS WORDS on FRIDAY

Cliches? Catch words?  Uninteresting? Boring? Don't know!  
What I do know is "ask google" really didn't tell me quite
 what to call these "words or phrases", but somehow, somewhere, 
they became famous, 
or infamous and just sort of everyday language, or slang,
well used, over used.
 
Like, "if the shoe fits, wear it!"  
And well, they matched up nicely to June's photos today ~ so there you have it!

Speaking of the shoe fitting ~ bonus picture:
Angel Zoey, Florida, c. 2009





January 02, 2025

PANDA-MANIA POETRY and THANKFUL


Twelve-hundred pounds of bamboo to feed,
That many apples and carrots we'll need.
Icy-cold colorful popsicles, too.
For the big panda party at the National Zoo.
A pool to play in ~ can we have snow on the ground?
Tall trees for climbing and big balls to roll round.
Our special guests soon arrive, Qing Bao and Bao Li.
Welcome ~ Giant Pandas ~ to Washington, DC. 

What fun today to join Sam's Poetry Corner at

Photo credits: Roshan Patel, Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Make note of this day ~ Jan 24, twenty twenty-five
for two new Giant Pandas appear live

at the National Zoo in Washington DC
that's when and where you can see
Qing Bao and Bao Li

*ching-Bow "green treasure" just 3 years, plus 4 months old is she
*Bow-lee "precious treasure" only one month older he happens to be

thankful to have them back in DC, for me and for you
it's panda-mania again at the National Zoo

* * how to pronounce their names


and we're also joining 
















 

January 01, 2025

LET'S GET GOING!


 We enter a New Year ~ though mine Mommy says I must clean up this messy mess I've made,
I think it's sort of pretty!  I like all the bright colors.
And speaking of bright colors,
mebbe that's what I'll make my New Year's wish for you, and you, and you!

For times that are good, bright and happy.  
Times that are kind, where we remember that words matter, 
that each day we do one small act of kindness.
And in so doing we just might make the world, 
or our little corner of it a better place.

For if there is one thing that we all purrty much agree on I think,
it's going to take a lot of work by all of us to make the world better,
so paw to paw and hand to hand, let's get going!

~ ~ ~

Meow, I did paw together my little "year in review for 2024", and never
really had a day to share it, so if you can stay here awhile longer, and
want to scroll down and down, well, here it is.  A year with June ...


Thank you for sharing another year with us!
Ann and June