A year there were rainbows

2024 starts

Unusually last year at the cattery we had 4 vacant chalets at New Year which used to be the busy holiday-too Americanised now? So I went to Spain with daughter Jaime to enjoy some warmth, wine, Epiphany cake and festive parades leaving Caitlin in charge who coped admirably. About time I saw some festivities instead of always working them.

 

Long stays and Grooming work kept me busy in the time of colder months. The growth in long haired cat ownership seems to create a need -I never saw myself as a hairdresser but I go with the flow. We (Caitlin) spent lots of time inputting records into the new booking system I opted for. You customers can update your records yourself, we just have to approve such input. Caitlin is pretty fluent with it now and some customers have had a go already:-)

 

Bought lots of Crowdfarmer avocados and oranges to keep the health up- my cancer is held at bay with pills, thanks NHS Scotland and various supplements  to help brain repair. NHS ideas re vaccines were not so wise when my white blood cells are lessened by meds so Shingles vaccine gave me 5 days of agony with Shingles lesions and nerve damage, Covid jag gave me a rotten cough.

 

Throughout the Winter I participated in a People’s Parish project in Cumnock with Rab Wilson and Sean Gray, writing songs and poems about the towns’ inhabitants which became a presentation supposedly on Cumnock History Society’s website

My cat Madame entered her last phase of life and is on palliative care and very happy still. For a cat who didn’t know laps she now sleeps round my neck, very sweet old lady.

Easter kicked off our boarding year and an excessive amount of last minute cancellations (ubiquitous this year in our sector) meant we had to raise the non refundable deposits to cover this loss. We have to have time to rebook to be fair.

Climate shifts have brought new birds to the area such as White Egrets-there was a pair in our bit of the river Ayr. In Kilwinning there was major excitement for a myrtle warbler from USA-people came from all over the country to view it

Shala our bookkeeper’s bitch had a litter of pups and Caitlin reserved one! Another bouncy beagle’s babe to add to the pack.

April had the bay tree flowering then fruiting as a first and some slinky predators, probably stoat or weasel killed my friends 🙂 hens that were staying with us. Madame had become super cuddly, Maddy lazed about in the hot sun. A Peoples parish visit to Cumnock’s heritage museum brought pictures of pit ponies, the like of which were shod next door to us. Caitlin’s cat Goose decided he would take over the office as his den. Marlena commenced her work with TDN as Therapy dog in a hospital and care home, bringing joy and comfort.

May came in super hot again and rather than put wet blankets up again we invested in reflective shade netting, which helped a lot. Cats love Mediterranean heat not so much sub tropical. The Aurora borealis was ubiquitous unusually.  My tent got the first outing for years in Somerset at an eco-community coaching weekend. I couldn’t live in England’s bureaucracy though. I took part in Mauchline Holy Fair as poetry performer with the Bachelor’s club group, carrying a wicker model of Tam o’ Shanter’s mare Meg in the parade. Madison our junior staff member was the belle of the ball at her school prom. She’s now studying photography at college, here in the afternoons

June was a groom month and partial rebuild of one chalet to keep out damp. We get such a lot of that in Ayrshire it needs continuous proofing to repel.

Ash die back led to numerous trees being felled in the village- good for winter log fires though.

The Smallholder group had a natural dye day where we experimented with mordants and various bits of foliage to dye wool and linen.Much fun

Despite cancellation July was busy as it should be. A sad happening was the sudden loss of dear Marlena, our golden Kokoni dog who had seen over 500 people as a voluntary TDN therapy dog, bless her. She made our lives better too. She was only 6, her kidneys failed probably due to Leishmania she’d had before we acquired her. Apologies if I burst into tears on you, she was special to me. Its been odd being with only Maddy so plans were plotted to find a new pal.

for th first time in years I went to Cullerlie’s traditional song weekend in Aberdeenshire. The old crew welcomed me back like I’d never been away and we sang the weekend away amongst the Clydesdales on the farm.

August as ever was a month of chalet painting while weather is good and bookings quiet(theres a fortnight window every year when the schools go back) Teddy pup and maddy were now an item(see pic). Ayr had its first folk festival on a lovely weekend. I went to an Outdoor Woodland Learning group weekend to keep up with the Forest schooling.

Another sign of the times our village shop which became a post office was demolished for housing. Our other shop hangs by a thread.

September I had a story holiday planned but it was cancelled:-( and I hadn’t the heart to find another. Caitlin took hers and became engaged to Andrew- party time!

the Autumn continued busy enough. We acquired some new hens, one of which was a rooster, oops so now we have a pair of Scots Greys. maybe we will have chicks next year?

We had a Foster cat here for PFSS charity. We made donations to several animal and medical charities of £2258. Rosie performed poetry at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival to present on autism traits and abuse repair.

Smallholders’ Apple day was the usual fun even in torrential rain as we had a greenhouse and tents to hide in and blether while working away. We took some sterile bottles ready for the freshly crushed juice which keeps if heated and sealed.

I booked a new dog called Ponei who arrived in November from Romania. I hope to get him to answer to Caramellow rather than Bob- Caitlin’s choice, which he rather appreciates. He is a bob-tailed Carpathian shepherd dog- large but gentle, rather timid due to low life experience and gentle with cats. You’ll probably see him hiding in the bushes.

I went to buy an electric car to lower the carbon count intending to run it off solar panels but it didnt make it home before showing electric faults, was abandoned at a dealers, now negotiating for a refund, will start again with a car with more common charge connector. Being low on charge unable to find a suitable charge point was horribly stressful. If it weren’t for the animals and my love of very wild places I would stick to my bus pass.

The electrician is finally here (took a year!) to fix our ovens so we may have a tastier Christmas for cats and people this year. I have missed the Aga. Hot air fryers are good but they don’t press your jeans or dry seaweed.

We hope you have a lovely festive holiday wherever/whenever you spend it.

With all best wishes for a comfortable and abundant New Year

Rosie, Caitlin, Madison and their furry, feathered and scaled friends