Friday, January 30, 2015

My favourite day!

Yes, it's my favourite day!


Biiiiirthday!


My talented friend Joan, of Greek cats and God's Little People cat rescue, painted this for me for my birthday today! She knows that our Greek kitty Honey is now at best a part-time barn cat!  Joan also knows that coloured pencils are my preferred media for my own artwork, hence the crown! :) (I illustrated a kids' book called Katie of the Sonoran Desert using coloured pencils.)

Honey wormed her way inside and now spends most of her days in here with me (usually on my lap, walking on my keyboard, or sprawled across my desk) then goes back to the barn in the evening, when she seems to get restless for her sisters. 


Oh yeah, that's a barn cat.


Not! 


She's incredibly cuddly and just goes limp in your arms. The other cats don't take much notice of her and Emerson is her buddy!

Speaking of cats...


Joan, who entrusted me with the Greek trio back in November, has many cats in her care, including a recently-dumped quartet of kittens, now around 7 months of age. Joan just had them vaccinated and neutered, but was faced with returning them to the "wild," as she really is at full capacity for cats at her little sanctuary. 

Well, we discussed things and I offered to foster the four cats here and find them homes.  So were are working on raising the funds to get them to Canada!



I think I've already found a home for Archie.


But Annuk needs a home.



So does Amber.


And Luna too!

Yes, we have plenty of needy cats here in Canada, and I'm still helping them! But I am so inspired by the work Joan does for Greek cats, that I want to help her however I can. The situation in Greece is quite dire for humans right now, never mind cats, which are often regarded as nothing more than vermin. We so love our own Greek trio, and we're happy to help Joan find homes for these four beautiful cats.

Joan is asking for donations to cover their transport costs, and Gordon and I are going to match all donation dollar for dollar.If you would like to help out, you can donate to Joan's sanctuary via Paypal using this address: saints@mail.dk

You can learn more about Joan's work with her cats on her Facebook page and blog. Every dollar counts! :) And if you'd like to adopt one of these kitties once they are here, I am approximately 4-1/2 hours from Toronto, an hour from either Ottawa or Montreal, and 30 minutes from the border crossing at Massena, NY/Cornwall, ON. 

Please consider helping these cats and helping Joan! I'll keep you posted on our progress but am hoping to have the kitties here by early spring.

As I type this, Honey the part-time barn cat is asleep on my lap. 

22 comments:

  1. Hope you had a wonderful birthday, Natalie. Although it's not over yet. Honey is so sweet. lol, and now would you look at the adorable quartet. I'll link this up over the weekend to my blog, too. I hope they can all find the most loving home. They've been through enough for their young lives. Deb

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  2. Happy Birthday Natalie! I hope you had an wonderful day. These cats are simply adorable and I hope they find good homes to go to. You're a remarkable lady for helping these little fellas the way you do. :)

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  3. I've put it up on my blog - I'm putting all my patterns on sale for a week - and any money earned will go to help get these sweeties to Canada! I'll make the donation on Saturday, February 8th.
    Happy Birthday!

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    1. Valerie, that is so great! You'e the best!!!!!

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    2. Valerie, that is so great! You'e the best!!!!!

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  4. Happy birthday! Sadly, I have sworn no more cats to every one in the house--except Toby, who desperately wants an ear licking buddy. Spring is a bit away...

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  5. Happy birthday. I hope you had a great day!

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  6. Happy Birthday! What lovely little kitties.

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  7. Oh God, I wish I could ,but I can't.
    Jane x

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  8. Happy Birthday, Natalie...mine is tomorrow! I love your portrait.

    My view is a kitty saved anywhere is a kitty SAVED. Bless you!

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  9. Very happy birthday to you. You are a wonderful lady for taking helping these kitties. Have donated towards their move. :)

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  10. Natalie, you're wonderful... to spend your birthday writing about this plea and your remarkable offer - thank you just SO much. As I've already said, it's not just about the cats getting to new loving homes, but there are such wonderful stories involved about lovely human sentiments. I feel so privileged to be involved in this. I simply can't thank you enough for what you do. I hope the four will end up in loving homes with someone who would like to help the dire predicament of Greek cats. I know you must have many needy cats locally but luck is virtually non existent for Greek cats... Thanks for offering them his extraordinary chance in life. XO

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  11. I love that illustration of the Queen of Cats. My mother gave me two sets of high-quality color pencils. I hadn't used them much in the past and need to play around more to find my comfort zone. (Maybe you should plan a teaching trip to Spain.) Wish I could take in all those beautiful cats. But in our little space, two is plenty. Now I'm off to check out Katie of the Sonoran Desert.

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    1. I love coloured pencil and the key, in my mind, is building up many layers! For ages I have been wanting to do some cat drawings in coloured pencil. time to get on that!

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  12. Happy Birthday, Natalie!

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  13. I hope you had a marvellous day Natalie x

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  14. Happy Happy Birthday! The drawing is gorgeous! Oh we wish we could win the lottery to donate more (we have donated to Joan in the past and hope to do so again when our own situation improves) I wish I had a sprawling home with land, I would take ALL of the kitties. We are only allowed 2 pets in our condo :(

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  15. Happy Birthday! We hope it was great! And we hope all the kittens can find homes.

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  16. Happy birthday! May you receive cat cuddles in abundance.

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  17. Anonymous12:09 am

    Happy belated birthday, Natalie!

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  18. Hope you had a wonderful day!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!