Outside the House

My daughter said she "didn't know we'd have a nature preserve at this house" yesterday when we were discussing how to stop upsetting a mama bird living by our front door. Now that the dog is getting older (see previous post) it seems we have multiple critters moving onto the property. Here are just some:

Baby rabbits (on side of the house)



The eggs in the nest (where we keep upsetting mama)



Why we keep upsetting her, she's is my hanging basket by the door above the mailbox! You can see her if you look closely.



Toady



Butterflies (from last year, my neighbor collects, hatches and releases back in the yard, we babysat)








We caught one of the caterpillars going into the pupa stage. Check this video out!

My pets

I wanted to be a vet. I read the James Herriot books when I was younger and fell in love with the profession. Worked at a vet's office and the zoo and volunteered with horses for years. Cornell waitlisted me and I realized I didn't need to go into that much debt for a degree. Went into medical writing/journalism and higher ed instead. Happy I made the choice.

My years of being pre-professional though, has made me a "cheap" pet owner. I only rescue SPCA animals (except for fish LOL) and I rarely do all the tests when my pets get sick. I just nurse them back to health. So here they are:

Shadow (currently 15, the oldest pet I've ever had)



Nugget (our newest member of the family, probably about 18 months)


The fish, where the red mollies just had babies!


Bandit (our first cat who died of a stroke in January, miss her)

Roswell Thoughts

Another Ride for Roswell is over. It is always my anniversary weekend and I've been involved I think in all 17 of the events. I used to work for the Alliance Foundation as a freelancer (started late 1993) and joined the Institute as a medical writer in 1998. Stayed for almost 11 years before heading over to UB. Since UB hosts the event, I still help out the event creating social media updates and telling stories. It is a major part of my life and maybe someday I'll actually get on a bike and ride!



This photo sums up a lot for me. Everyone involved has a story to tell. My story, aside from having been a member of the team, is that my Mom was a nurse at Roswell Park, my son volunteered there and my mother-in-law died of breast cancer. We are all touched by cancer and need to remember that every day is precious.