Cactus Flower

When our old Blackie was a wee little pup, he was whiny and stubborn, very hard to teach.  But I kept working and working and taught him about ten different voice commands.  He would respond to certain whistles and even a few hand signals.  When we got the new dogs, I tried to start teaching them a few things right away like: sit, shake, out, go to bed, come, sic, down, stay Wishbone, the white and brown dog, learned sit and shake quickly.  She loves to get up on the couch and understands down and up even when she acts like she doesn't.   Here the cat was already in Uncle Byron's lap when Wishbone came along and wanted UP, too.   The cat doesn't look so happy, does she? All the time we have been in Brazil, I never wanted to get a cat.  I wasn't sure how to deal with a cat here.  Our doors and windows are open all the time, so would a cat go anywhere and everywhere?  How would I keep a cat in?   Here she is on top of the tri-bunk bed...

Remember that story about the cat that closed the door to the bathroom.  Today's story is about how we got that crazy, not so normal cat. Before Uncle Byron and I ever came to Brazil (which was in the late summer of 1994), we had a cat.  Her name was Abby.  When we went to Brazil we had to leave her behind.  Granddaddy and Grandma graciously accepted her in their home.  Now when some of you were little,  I think you would have met her at their house in Virginia.  In fact I seem to remember Grandma saying that Abby would hide when you all came over and only come out long after you were all gone. When we first got her, she was so little that she didn't even walk very well.  We called the vet that took care of our neighbor's cat and asked some questions about what to do for her.  He said to fed her milk with an eye dropper.  He also said to wipe her little body all over after her feeding with the corner of a damp washcloth.  Do you kno...

  Did you know we have a cat now?  Yup, an orange one.  She waltzed into the living room one day before the dogs went on to that great beyond of doggie heaven or wherever it is that dogs go for the afterlife.  Uncle Byron  probably says, "in the ground."   Anyway, the dogs were not feeling real swift and when the cat just walked right in the front door, they were a little shocked and not moving fast.  Tiny lifted up her head from the chair she was lying on and gave a little growl.  Girl did stand up and growled but didn't run after the cat.  Uncle Byron picked it up and put in on his lap.  The cat purred and purred and purred.  We weren't quite sure what to do.  We weren't really thinking about getting a cat, our dogs were on their last legs, but the cat just kept coming back.  So we gave it some dog food.  It would hang around every day for a bit, but I kicked it out the door at night since the dogs were sleeping ins...

Today's story is about a little boy and some little "untruths," otherwise known as lies.  When a certain one of our three boys was a wee little thing, I decided that I didn't want a house full of cave drawings with crayon and markers like I had seen in friend's homes where small children lived and reigned freely.  So, I was very careful to supervise all coloring book activities and kept the crayons and other marking devices like pens put away when not in use. Uncle Byron and I were living in a rented house in the neighborhood of Fortaleza where we were working with a small church congregation.  Prior to this house we had lived in a different house for every year of our first term in Brazil.  Each of the other three places had belonged to missionaries on furlough and had furniture. (One even had a dog! Remember I wrote about the dog that ate poison a while back.) This time we moved into an empty house and had to scrounge around rather quickly to get some furniture....

Well, let me tell you a little more about our only cat pet - Abby.  Her official name was A.B. Normal.  Uncle Byron is a very "punny" kind of person and thought is was a unique twist on abnormal . She was certainly a different kind of cat. Uncle Byron found her at the Missionary Aviation Institute hangar when he was studying there in 1989 or so.  Seems there were a lot of little kittens and Byron had heard some of the younger students talking about putting the cats in a cardboard box and sending them for a little boat ride on the campus lake.  So, he decided to save at least one from death by water and brought it home. Abby was so very little that I don't think she was really ready to leave her mother.  We fed her milk with a little medicine dropper and had to teach her to eat smooshed up cat food dampened with milk.  We had to help her learn all the things that a mother cat would have taught her babies.  The vet that saw her suggested dampening the co...

In Brazil, for the most part, it would seem that pets are not as loved and cherished as they are in the United States.  At least that has been my experience.  Before Uncle Byron and I left for the mission field, we had a cat named Abby.  I think you all may have met our little cat after Granddaddy Beckner graciously allowed her to live in his home.  She was a nice little cat and we loved her a lot. Cats and dogs in our little town of Sobradinho often seem to have no owner at all.  They run from here to there looking scraggly and underfed.  Last night we went to an outdoor grilled-meat snack-shop sort of place here in our town.  There was a gang of about ten dogs anxiously waiting for customers to drop a piece of meat or throw them a tidbit.  When they were bored, they chased people on bicycles up and down the road, fought among themselves and even chased a few pedestrians.  And hardly anyone even seemed to care.  Some of these "stray" do...

Do you boys remember that big orange cat at the mission house in North Carolina?  That was a special day for me.  I don't have a new story for this Friday.  I've had a long week, but my mind kept going back to that cat this week as I thought about what I would post for you boys today.  Click on the link down below to go back to my big people blog and reread the cat story if you like. Oh, by the way, this morning I made a special trip down to the other end of our town to see the guinea pigs being sold at a grocery store.  This particular store sells medicine and feed for all kinds of animals.  This month they are selling guinea pigs, baby chickens, and dachshund puppies!  Their guinea pigs looked very healthy.  They are selling them for BR$10 each or BR$15 for a pair.  Uncle Byron said that he was glad I didn't bring any home with me! One more thing - this week a mama possum came in our yard.  The dogs chased it and Girl Dog let out a squ...