Claude showed me how to say this w/o getting it lost in the comments thread. He is honored and gratified at the responses, to be remembered after so long an absence. This has been a huge boost to his spirits and he sends thanks to you all- wishing everyone well as we all march forward into uncertain futures. “Kiss the joy as it flies, brothers and sisters.” Claude 07/08/23
Hello- this is Evelette writing an update on Claude’s status. He started the Saturday Morning Home Repair diary many years ago. He’s been gone from here (Daily Kos) for over a year. He had a heart attack last May, right before his 77th birthday. Was treated with a stent and new meds, no major surgery, no significant long term damage.
What HAS caught up with him is the narrow angle glaucoma and he is now legally blind : cannot use computer, cannot drive, and therefore we have decided to sell the peacock/ kitty heaven ranchette and move back to town after 30 years on the Pecos River.
Heart-wrenching and difficult to pack up 3 decades of stuff, including all the tools, books, spare parts, ranch stuff etc. The good news is that the first buyer who came to view offered full price, all cash, and agreed to the 45+peacocks! First thought was, wow! how great is that. Second thought was, oh my god, what have we done? Going from 8 country acres to a 1 bedroom condo in Albuquerque…
My biggest concern in all this is re-homing my kitties, and am appealing to the NM Kossacks or any other interested parties to help me find solutions. I will try to add pix of each as I introduce them.
First is Fluffum and her son Ziggy. She is just a baby herself; a stray who started coming round to eat the cat biscuits I feed the peacocks for protein. We gradually became friends and then I realized she was pregnant ! One day 8 weeks ago she marched into the house and had 3 kittens on the sunroom couch.She has been a terrific teen mom. I re-homed 2 of her kittens, Ziggy and her still need a home.
My next greatest concern is MoJo who is an orange Tabby, born here, fixed, shots, about 2 years old. He is a very sensitive and loving guy, moans in his sleep, loves being told how beautiful he is- deeply loved but we can’t resign him to a 1 bedroom place in the city.
Next is Calliope. She is a 13 year old calico, very sweet nature, would like a human all to herself. She was one of a batch of “garden kitties” that were dropped off by mom and then mom left. She grew up in our herb garden with siblings, now a full house cat. She has wonderful harlequin pantaloons.
Also fixed, has shots.
Also need to sell things such as various plumbing parts, electrical parts, including many different gauges of wire, misc items from jobs: solid wood pocket doors, Pella windows, cherry wood flooring, tiles, log splitter, Isuzu Trooper ( great car)…
Truly, everything must go! Please let us know if you have any interest.
Claude personally sends his hellos and gratitude for his many years with this community- it has been very frustrating for him to lose access to the computer- he can read a book on his Ipad using a huge font which is a blessing b/c reading is his favorite sport, but misses his on-line connections. In truth I think his general well-being has improved since being cut off from the daily news swamp. I just update him on the highlights.He is looking forward to hearing any updates, suggestions.
Many thanks for listening!