Category Archives: VA

Oor (cat)Hoos is a very very very Fine Hoos

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house-aff-004Well, we’ve done it. Appalachian Feline Friends bought a house. Hoos, as my husband calls it. And now we’re fixing it up so we can start using it. We hope to be in by Valentine’s Day. It seems appropriate.

The house has some needs. Like many of the cats we serve, it’s been ignored, neglected, and left to fend for itself over a few cold days.

  • The pipes are busted; we have an AFF member who is a plumber. Life is good.
  • The heat pump needs its ducts replaced and we’re not sure what else. We may need some help with this, so if you are a heating guy and want to help the homeless kitties, please get in touch. Our guy is replacing the stuff we can see is bad, but if that doesn’t work, we’re stumped.
  • We have a cleaning crew. We have a plan. We have been loaned a bushwhacking weed eater of epic power dimensions for taking care of the garden. Life is very good indeed.
  • We will need plywood, a screen door, a front door, and some other stuff. But for now, we are just celebrating the fact that we have the best Little Cathouse of Big Stone Gap.

If you’d like to help, please get in touch. Or donate stuff: paper towels, paint, a bed, a chest of drawers, kitchen stuff, sheets, you know. Stuff. Or money, which will help us do all the repairs.

Meanwhile, we’d like to thank Sabrina, the realtor who worked so hard to help us find the place, the closing lawyer who donated their fee when we did, and the AFF volunteers who are fixing the pipes and wiring. And the donor who bought the house for us.

We have a house, y’all. Hazel House is a reality.

hazel in shelterIts name is Hazel House in honor of a senior cat who was dumped at the shelter, age 21. She was adopted by a volunteer and lived another happy year in a loving home. Inside Hazel House is the Pogo Playroom for kittens. And the Blackstone Suite, where our staff member will live. And The Laurells, a rest room for senior kitties. All named after cats who came to us needy, and got what they needed.

We have a house. Hazel House is real. And getting fixed up. And we are so very, very happy that this much-needed thing has finally come to our town.

If you feel like helping, hop over to the Appalachian Feline Friends page and donate.

We have a house, y’all. WE HAVE A HOUSE!!!!!

The Monday Book: SLOW LOVE by Dominique Browning

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I really like memoirs, so when Browning’s came in with the charming title, “How I lost my job, put in my pajamas, and learned to enjoy life” I packed it on a recent flight. (It is also smaller than the average trade paperback.)

Although following a predictable pattern – NYC insider gets the boot because of hard times – what I liked about the book was Browning’s meta-writing: slow, lyrical sentences to illustrate how her life slowed down, picked up on music and gentle living, and added some herbs.

Granted, Browning is wealthy. Even though she wrote about the fear of the plummeting stock market harming her retirement savings, well, she had savings. And another house to move into that she could afford to renovate. Etc. This is a yuppie memoir.

And beautifully written. Her lazy, gentle sentences don’t meander. They are densely packed with words you might have to look up every now and then. Her observations are pithy but not concise. I found myself following her for the way she told the story, not the story she was telling.  Browning is a writer’s writer.

Following my quest to find how other writers handle making the inaccessible (or at least the non-experienced) interesting to readers who don’t share the passion of the book, I read Browning to the end, and enjoyed it. If you like lyrical writing and peeking at others’ strange lives, this is a good one for those of us who don’t live, and don’t care to think about living, in Manhattan.

A full bouquet of home-grown roses for Dominique Browning’s SLOW LOVE.