My wife @QueenBee1977 recently told me about this community, so I wanted to do an introduction post, and tell you a little bit about our pet family. I believe she has made a post about them already, and she will likely make more. Since there are other topics that I write about on #HIVE, she can do most of the pet posts for our family, but I wanted to at least say "Hi!" and give you my impressions of our pets at least once because I really am a Dad to them.
Nimue
Camelot
Before I met my wife, I was living alone and had been for about two years. I had been attending school and was often gone for long periods, but living alone gets lonely, so I went to the local Humane Society and adopted a kitten. I knew I did not have time for a dog, but a cat would be ok. I knew black cats often do not get adopted, or sometimes get adopted by bad people, just because they are black cats, so when I saw the little black kitten, I knew she was the one I wanted. I named her Nimue, which was the name of the "Lady of the Lake" in the King Arthur legends. After about four months, it became clear from her behavior that she needed a companion, so I went back to the Humane Society and adopted "Merlin," who was about three months old at the time
Merlin & Caelia
Growing Family
After my wife and I were married and bought our home, we decided that between the two of us, we would have time for a dog. Both of our children are grown and gone from home, so our three-bedroom house was getting bigger every day. One day, I was looking at ads for pit-bulls, as I am favorable to the breed for many reasons when I came across an ad for a pup for fifty dollars USD. I called and the guy said that we could have the dog for thirty if we came and got her that day. My wife scrounged together some coins and two dollar bills, and we went and got Guinevere, the next member of our family...
Poor Pregnant Guinevere, due sometime this week!
Puppies!
Gwennie is about the best dog I have ever owned, and I have owned several in my life. She is so smart! She knows the names of her toys and listens very well. She is protective of her mom, but not to the point where she is aggressive at all. She is just about the best family dog a person could hope for really. Recently, we bred her with a male pit-bull that is white with a few black spots on him. He is a pretty big boy, and also a very well-behaved family dog of a friend of mine. We offered him the pick of the litter, and we are keeping a male, who we are naming Gareth. We have at least three puppies accounted for to good families, and we will keep any puppies before we allow them to go to a home that could be less than optimal. In other words, I will not allow any of my puppies to go to a home where they might get fought, or be bait dogs, or anything other than living a great doggie life! I screen the adopter well if I do not know them, and ask for three references.
Pelleas, our other black cat
Accidental Adoption
At one point, my step-daughter was staying with us, and then had moved into her own place. She had wanted to get a kitten, and a friend of mine had several. When we went to get one for my stepdaughter, another friend asked us to get one for her as well, so we did. A few weeks later, the friend said that her landlord would not allow her to keep the kitten, so we ended up with this cool cat! He is really one of the best in our little family, he is like the big brother to all the other animals in a way. He is just an all-around cool cat, in every sense of the word!
Arthur & Caelia
I Guess So...
One day, my wife was on Facebook and saw the kitten on the left with the white on his forehead being offered for adoption. He was a "barn cat" and of course she wanted him. We drove about three hours to Grand Blanc Michigan to get him, and when we got there, we decided his sister had to come with us too! I reluctantly agreed under the condition this was the last cat, but of course, one more dog is ok, but I swear, that is it!
The Maidens
Bonus!
I am not sure what it is called when you are a bird dad, maybe it is just bird dad, but I am one of them too! We had four birds at one time, but two of them died, I think it was heatstroke. Whatever the reason was, we have these two going strong. They like to chase Gwennie up and down the fence and love to be picked up! When you go to grab them, they hunker down and fluff up their wings and let you pick them right up, they are really cool birds! We have not gone so far as to give them names from the King Arthur legend yet, but we likely will eventually. I think losing the two this summer is part of the reason. It is sad when you lose any pets, I still feel horrible I lost my bee colony this year, even though I know it is very difficult to keep a single colony alive. I still feel like I failed somehow. I really do take being a parent to pets as a very serious responsibility!
I hope you enjoyed my post. As I said, my wife will post more about the pets than I will, but I still wanted to at least introduce myself, thank you for reading!
