lions and tigers and bears...oh my!

What, you say do lion and tigers have to do with Montana? Well, a couple of days ago I saw them right here in Montana. There is a house that I pass by everytime I travel to the east frm Heron. It has sculpted elk, bear,and other animals in front of the building. It looks like an old business of some type because it is very large. It also has big black bars covering all the windows. From the front it appears deserted. But it actually has a family living in it, and they are licensed to rescue wild animals. They have two tigers and I stood only five feet from one of them, with just a chain link fence between us. There was an electric fence there also but it was turned off as I was going to need to climb over it to get in the house. They have a bobcat that runs around the house freely. In talking with the owners I learned that they rescue only carnivores. They told me that they had one bear at this time and they would be keeping her because she is five yars old and very small. They called her a midget bear. They told me about the many bears that they have raised and released into the wild who continue to come back "home" to vsit nightly. Then they showed me pictures on their digital camera taken the evening before, of multiple bears in their yard (that I had just walked through to get to the house). There were about eight black bears of various sizes and one grizzly bear. This house is about 7 miles by road to my house but actually only about 3 miles if the animals crossed the river directly to my side. I had no idea that there was a grizzly so near! We talked for a long time about where they get the animals and what they do with them. They are very interesting people. I hope to talk wth them again someday about the things that they have done with animals. They have a whole wall of windows that face the yard where the bears gather each evening. They will be recieving another wild animal soon...I think they said a bear. They do not take money from the government because then they would not be allowed to release them back into the wild. While they treat them like pets, they do not keep them forever if they are able to live in the wild. The wife told me that of all the wild animals that they have had only one was unteachable...her little dog! Well that is the end of the lions, tigers and bears story [sorry no lions at this time]. Love Cathy PS please excuse typos, as I am not wearing my contacts at this time and cannot see what I am typing...

Quick Request for Family members...

I am working on our family genealogy. If you want to be included please send me the correct spelling of your full name (maiden also), your birthdate and place of birth including town, county, state. also your parents information and siblings, also include death dates and places of those you know. Please pass this request on to other family members and everyone can send their information to: cgillice@gmail.com . Thanks for your help. If you do not know the information but know how I can get ahold of the person please send me contact information also. Also include information on multiple marriage and children from each marriage. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

New job details...

Hi all, well I started orientation for my job working home health and hospice in Heron & Noxon, MT. I will be case manager for the patients in my area. So far I will have one hospice patient, on Thursday I will be admitting him/her to our services. That will keep me working about 1 hour per week or so. I am looking forward to having this low hour, and low stress job right here in my neighborhood. I will not have to drive 60 or 70 miles to work (one way) once orientation is completed. I will make a little extra money, and I will feel like I am contributing something to the community. I oriented with a nurse from Thompson Falls today. I will be working out of the local medical clinic (10 miles from my house), and probably mostly from my home. I will only need the computer, a fax and a phone most of the time. I will pick up supplies from the clinic office once a week or so. I think that I should be able to handle this caseload. :) The nurse I was with today said that the last 20 people she oriented all quit! She thinks they quit because they were young and there was not much work and the pay is really low. I think that this will be perfect for me! I am really looking forward to this job. It will not be so bad in the winter as going far away would be. The hospital that owns the HH/Hospice dept. that I am working for, is located in Plains, MT which is farther and smaller than Thompson Falls. There is a Les Schwab in Thompson Falls, which is about an hour from my home. There is also a Les Schwab in Sandpoint, ID and in Libby, MT which are about the same distance from my home. I love living out here in the boonies! No one thinks anything of driving 3+ hours to go to a hospital or doctor's office. There are no big towns closer than that. Sandpoint is probably the largest town near me and it is 45 min to an hour away (and in another state). Missoula is 3+ hours away, Libby is only 1.5 hours away. Missoula has the biggest hospital of those towns. Sandpoint has apopulation of 6000 people, while Thompson Falls is probably about 2,000 and Libby is just a few more than that. Sunday in Sacrament we had the best talk from a woman who is 90 years old. She has been a member of our branch longer than anyone else. I cried through her talk, it just really hit me powerfully. I will share it with you all the next time I blog. My grandkids are back in school, at least the two big girls (and Tre in California, of course), Rebekah and Zoe are starting back into pre-school also. Little Megan is so happy and smiley all the time now. No more fussy baby. She is so fat!! All cheeks. Owen's second birthday is coming up soon. Time sure flies!! Well it is time for me to go work on my wood pile (fire wood) before it gets dark out. I have my rabbits for sale, as winter will be hard and I may be working long hours on some days. They need to have their food and water changed at least twice a day during the freezing winter months and I do not want to have to worry about them this winter. The chickens are down to just 2 now and they will be ok. I will be trying to get the kittens placed within the next week or so, then I need to get the mommy cat fixed. My fruit trees are full of crabapples, and pears. I need to get some picked before the bears come back to feast on them. The crabapples are a bright pink and have a tart/sweet taste to them. Yumm. Pears are still a little small. I would like to plant more fruit trees sometime in the future. I have an apple tree in the side yard that I have not even looked at to see if there is any fruit this year. My tomatoe plants are full of green tomatoes which I need to pick before it freezes out. Well talking about these things has made me realize I need to get outside and work!! Talk to you later. Love Cathy

Two days ago I had a pre-employment physical, which included a Tdap shot (tetnus, diptheria, pertussis). The pertussis is a new vaccine for adults, because of outbreaks of whooping cough around the US. I read that California is having a very high rate of whooping cough right now. Anyway, last night I started having pain in my arm, then during the night I kept waking up because of the pain, and aches in all my muslces, as well as joint pain and stiffness (which I have a lot anyway) and pain in my armpit and worse nausea. I feel like I have the flu. Fortunately I did not have to work today. I start the new job on Monday. I am tired/lethargic, my temperature is 98.6 which is high for me, it usually runs about 97.0. This is just a low grade fever, which they saw happens often with this vaccine. But I feel terrible. I was going to go camping with our church family tonight but I feel bad and it is raining out, so I am not going. I am not getting anything done around the house today either. What a waste of a day. My arms hurt too much to lift things or do anything that requires movement. Ok, thanks for letting me complain. Now on to better things. I brought home three vans full of scrap wood (left from a contractor's job). I have stacked pieces that will be good for projects around here, I have removed nails from pieces that had them, and now I am cutting up big pieces so they will fit in the wood stove. I need about 10 cords of wood for the winter. The church men brought me four loads of firewood, about 1-2 cords. I have been building a cover for my wood pile. I have close to a cord of wood left from last year. I am well on my way to having enough for the winter. They say it is supposed to be a long, hard winter this year. I had a contractor come from the local electric company to evaluate my house to see why it was so cold last year. He determined that all the windows leak A LOT of cold air. They need to be replaced eventually. I have been putting plastic on the inside of my windows, and I will probably put plastic on the outside too, if I can not afford new windows installed. I will be reinbursed by the electric company but I am not sure that it will cover the whole cost...so will have to see. The front door also has big gaps around it. I can see light all the way around. I have advertised on craigslist for someone who can repair/replace the door and frame, on both the back and front doors. He did determine that I have good insulation in the wall and possibly ceiling, but I think that the floor may need insulation also. After advertising on craigslist for a repairman/contractor I got lots of calls & emails. Finally, I got one guy from Clark Fork who called me. He is coming Saturday for me to meet him and get an estimate on each project needed. I also have the name of the people he is working for right now. I need to call them still. I hope that he works out since he is so close to my home. I need to keep working at getting this house ready for winter. The one last thing that needs to be done is I need my wood stove fixed or get a new one. The catalytic converter is broken. Well, my arm can't take anymore typing so I am going to go now. Talk to you all later. Love Cathy