Monday 19 August 2013

Odds but no ends...

Missing cat, Pensby
Ivy remains at large.  We remain hopeful that she will just turn up one day, meowing for food and wondering what all the fuss is about.  In the meantime we have now leafleted about 920 houses.  If you happen to be reading this blog, Ivy Puss, please come home, your family misses you. 




Dobri Dobrev

98 year old Dobri Dobrev, a man who lost his hearing in the second world war, walks 10 kilometres from his village in his home-made clothes and leather shoes to the city of Sofia, where he spends the day begging for money. 

Noted for his prostrations as he thanks donors and a well-known fixture around several of the city’s churches , it was only recently discovered that he has donated every penny he has collected — over 40,000 Euros — towards the restoration of decaying Bulgarian monasteries and churches and the utility bills of orphanages, living instead off his monthly state pension of 80 Euros.

 Ouch!
 1870s corset.



Libraries


Chamonix


Victorian travellers on the Chamonix Glacier in the Savoy Alps by William England, 1867


Novels

High Five

14 comments:

  1. Some food for thought here, as well as reasons to smile; but Ivy still not home is not nice :-(((

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  2. At least you don't have to worry about coyotes or wolves -- but traffic is a different story. I think you had her spayed as I remember, so at least she won't be bringing forth other little lost Ivys. (Not sure what to do about the punctuation on that last word. I suspect it should have an apostrophe but it just doesn't seem right and I'm too tired to go look up my grammar book!) Stay well. :)

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    Replies
    1. I don't think it should have an apostrophe. The problem is that making a word ending with a 'y' into plural usually means you change it to 'ies'. That doesn't apply to proper names. So that's why it doesn't look right - but it is.

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  3. Thinking of you all. I've put Ivy up as missing on various websites. Keeping our fingers crossed.

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  4. The "Home Sweet Home" photo has left a big impression on my mind....home really is where the heart is.
    I'm enchanted with the Dobri Dobrev story....I love goodwill stories. He is a kind soul, and sometimes it's the little things that we do that make a BIG difference. To be able to give of oneself like that is priceless in my book.
    As always I enjoyed your post CJ, but I was hoping you were popping in with good news about Ms. Ivy....sorry to hear that's she's not back home yet.

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  5. i have a friend whose cat went missing for over a month. Just when they thought they had to give up ever seeing him again, a neighbor brought him back. He had gotten snoopy and gone in an old shed on their property that they hardly ever use. Someone went by and closed the door that was slightly open and he was trapped. Although emaciated and dehydrated, they guessed he apparently survived (this wasn't an extreme temperature season) by eating the occasional visiting mouse and drinking from the rainwater coming from a leak in the roof. The neighbor just happened to go in the shed for a gardening implement or the cat would probably still be there!

    Also, does Ivy have a microchip implant and have you checked local vets' offices and shelters to see if someone found her and brought her in? We've lost several pets and found them eventually, and have helped return a number of others to their owners after a bit of detective work. Poor things have no voice to ask for help, do they?

    Our three cats are indoor and don't seem to feel abused in any way. My vet recommended it because he said we don't live in a setting that is cat-friendly, namely one that has cars and old sheds!

    I loved the odds and ends too. That corset made me short-of-breath just looking at it! Dobri is a saint! Like Van Gogh who gave all his earnings away and then became destitute himself. The library photo looks like a cathedral to me. I come from a family of readers that loves all things bookish. My elder brother once got locked in the York County Library because he was in the stacks absorbed in reading and didn't hear the closing bell! (...kind of like my friend's cat, now that I think of it!)

    I'll be thinking of you and hoping Ivy returns soon.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, Ivy is micro-chipped and we have contacted all the vets in the area and they have all kindly added her picture to their notice boards for all their visitors as well.
      Ivy was going berserk at being kept in - we didn't let her out until she had been neutered at six months. She just sat by the window and meowed all day long. I appreciate some cats seem happy at being kept in but I think she would have been very unhappy. Having her wander is the price we have to pay for letting her out.
      Judging by the sightings she is not locked in anywhere and I casn only assume someone is feeding her somewhere.

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  6. So sorry to hear about your cat. I would be devastated if that would happen to my dog. But know that cats always tend to return. They are very capable!!

    Mersad
    http://www.mersad-photography.blogspot.com/

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  7. Dang that darn cat! Doesn't she know how worried all us bloggers are? I hope she gets back from her holiday ASAP. The corset looks painful and I'm wondering if the Victorian hikers with umbrellas have them on! I also think the "high fivers" are really saying "live long and prosper".

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  8. Dobri Dobrev is an interesting name. Romanian is a Slavic language, and dobri is a pretty general Slavic word for "good". And it almost seems like a double name like "Goodie Goodson".

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  9. Strike what I said about Romanian from the record, please. Of course it's not Slavic but historically related to Latin. Romanians are only more or less surrounded by Slavs. In light of that I have no idea what to make of the name "Dobri". I only know that in Slavic languages dobri does mean good.

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    Replies
    1. I haven't struck it - literally - because it's an interesting piece of information, Dennis. I suspect he must have taken his name from the Slavic and that it is not the name he was born with - surely that would be too much of a coincidence on view of his generous lifestyle.

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  10. Drat. Was hoping to check in and find that Ivy was home safe... will have to keep dancing, add a few feathers to my hair.

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