MasterLargo News

To Honor Master Largo for all the work he did on the newsletter we have kept our letter titled Master Largo News.  Master Largo left for Rainbow Bridge on April 26, 2004. Ziggy left for Rainbow Bridge November 4, 2005. Andy left for Rainbow Bridge October 16, 2006. Suzie Q left for the Rainbow Bridge on May 5, 2011. Possum Left for the Rainbow Bridge February 13, 2012. Ziggy Reporter of a higher order Andy and Suzie Q watching from Rainbow Bridge Sarah Senior Reporter  Daisy helper View the shelter's photo album Here

May 2012

Sarah here: Oh boy it is almost melt down time for mum, clinic day is just around the corner here is the time and information posted on our web site. http://www.ferretfarm.org/Ferrets_Only_Clinic_2012.htm keep in mind if you want a chance to win our super duper campaign prize, bring some laundry soap with you when you come. http://www.ferretfarm.org/Laundry_Soap_Campaign.html Thanks to Miss Mindy our web site has lots of great information on it; she makes that site look awesome! 

Miss Tori and Miss Shaylyn came to help treat all us fur kids with Revolution, cut nails and weigh/record weights. Big job but with 6 hands it is much easier and faster then mum trying to do it on her own. 

The Keenen kids went home that same day, they were at camp for 10 days. http://www.ferretfarm.org/Camp_Kate_Anna.htm Izzy, Chloe http://www.ferretfarm.org/Izzy_Chloe.html and Brownie http://www.ferretfarm.org/Helped_Brownie.htm were at camp too but they went home the day before. Mum loves it when shelter kids that found a new home come back to hang out for a bit. 

Miss Donna came 2 days in a row to finish our property, and our play yard, it looks awesome! She is the bestest grounds keeper ever! 

Mum got a weekend away with Miss Kathy C. in Canada, Miss Mindy stayed at the shelter to watch us, (don’t tell mum but she spoils us as much as Miss Donna does when she watches the shelter) Miss Donna came in to do yard work, Miss Marcia came to help Miss Mindy, she played with us fur kids. 

Miss Mindy came in early so mum could be on the road at 6 am Saturday after getting us moved and meds done. Mum parked her van in over night parking in Rochester; Miss Kathy met mum in front of the air port then they headed north to Niagara on the Lake. 

Mum was back by Sunday afternoon. Mum called it a mini vacation! She had a good time and Miss Kathy showed her all around NOTL, she took mum to the Shaw festival for the play Rag Time. Wow mum sure enjoyed that! If any of you get the chance you need to go see that! 

Daisy Here: The new Brooklyn kids did well their first night in their cage, they even used only the litter box so mum says they are adjusting well. Mum thought Petrie was trying to be the loner in the group however she found him and Minnie in the sleep box together in the morning. Bron was up in the big bed mum has on the upper shelf. 

When mum checked on them again after putting them to bed they were playing musical beds, Minnie with Bron on the shelf, Minnie in the hammock alone, Bron and Petrie in the sleep box, then Minnie, Bron and Petrie in the big bed. So mum says at this point she is not sure who is or is not bonded, hard to know when the business of 14 all got split up and sent in different directions. 

Mum gave the Brooklyn kids the kitchen and her space first the next day; they were up the stairs like they had been doing all their lives, and so they are getting stronger and more agile very quickly. Doing ferrety things like dooking and dancing, just plain being happy fur kids! 

Wait till you hear this! Miss Mary B our auctioneer that comes to do all our auctions for the shelter? Well she told mum she hope we have good stuff for auction this year, that was the wrong thing to tell our mum because mum told us she was going to show Miss Mary B how much she could get her for auction! 

Miss Kathy C was moving so the things she did not want to take with her to her new place she packed up in the car and brought to mum. Holy Moley talk about good stuff! Word got out that we needed things for auction so all kinds of stuff is showing up from everyone. Human things, pet things, out door tool things, indoor hanging on the wall things and shelter things that we can not use so mum let us put that in the auction pile too! 

Sarah here: Hey you! Yeah you, the white weasel with the black beady eyes! What are you doing in my news? I believe the top of the news letter states Sarah senior reporter, MAYBE Daisy can help! I do not remember asking for help this month! I do not remember mum asking you to help so what is up with you in my news? 

Daisy Here: WELL EXCUSE ME! I THOUGHT I WAS BEING NICE BY HELPING BUT OBVIOUSLY YOU’RE NOT GOING TO LET ME! 

Mum here: Ladies, Ladies, Ladies there is more than enough news to go around, I have no doubt that Daisy can tell some news without stepping on your pretty little toes Sarah. Remember we do not bully each other! So let’s get back on track, tell the news and be nice to each other! 

Sarah here: Mum got another call from her 2 legged furless grand kids asking her to come to another concert they were in at school. So she stayed up past her bed time to go. She loves that her furless kids are so close that she can spend time with them. 

So it is spring in New York; mum needs to get up to get us ready for a new day, then mum needs to get ready for work. Mum’s alarm went off at 3:30 am she hit snooze two times! Mum got up at 4 am to get the coffee started, we fur kids moved into cages and fur kids moved out, all was going great until about 4:30 am when the power went out! 

Mum was in the shelter with absolutely no light, and it was still pitch dark outside. Mum fumbled around feeling for one of the flash lights Mr Dick got us! Thank you Mr Dick we have one in each one of our play rooms, thankfully mum was able to feel around where she keeps the light when we are in the dark. It gave mum enough light to get up stairs to bring the mini generator down to set it up. Mum plugged in a light, HA! Mum was back in business! Mum now needs to figure out how to thaw and warm soup for our morning meds. 

Mum drew some very hot water into a small pot, warmed up a ceramic food bowl with the running hot water, then put 2 frozen soup cubes into the bowl set the bowl into the pot of hot water; we have melted soup for meds. By this time the lamp starts to flicker and that goes out, looks like our mini generator is not working either, mum had to finish up meds by flashlight. 

Once mum got the meds done she headed back up stairs there was not much she could do in the dark. By this time mum had gotten the call there was no school so she crawled back under the covers to stay warm. Miss Mindy called to check on us at 7:30 so the system we have set up worked no word from mum someone needs to check to find out why. Miss Mindy had electricity so she knew there was no school for Naples.

Miss Mindy thanks for checking on us and letting everyone know what was going on. We like this system, at least we fur kids will have someone to rescue us if there is no response from mum when you call. 

Daisy Here: My turn! Miss Mindy took the Brooklyn kids back to the vet to get their rabies shots; their initial check up and distemper were done 2 weeks prior, the vet was pleased they looked good, put on weight, their coats improved in just 2 weeks. Mum and Shaylyn took Miku and Kiwi to the assisted living home in Geneva for an out reach day. The old folks there just loved Shaylyn and the ferrets. This month we are taking some fur kids to Miss Shaylyn’s class so she can do a presentation on ferrets. Mum is going to supply us Miss Shaylyn will supply the information. Now, for the monthly financial report. 

Donated Stuff April $376.13
General Donations $1,039.00
Sponsors April $360.00 

Well we sure did a lot of news this month – gotta run 

So for this month I will say farewell my cyber friends 

Sarah missing Possum 
Daisy coming to the rescue 

April 2012

Daisy Here: HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOO out there it’s me, Daisy. Mum told me Sarah needed help with the news so I am here to help. I am smart, witty, energetic and so close to what Suzie Q was like; that sometimes Mum even calls me Suzie Q without thinking about who I really am. I set her straight right away. 

I am going to report stats for Mum and Sarah starting this month. The stats in this news will include Jan, Feb, and March. Miss Mindy and Miss Janette record them for us each month. Miss Mindy records all the stuffs that you humans send to us like toys and treats, blankies and laundry soap. 

Miss Janette records all the sponsor and cash donations that come in. You will get to see how much help we/mum get to take care of us. Miss Kathy C. says you hear about all the humans who come in to visit and to help but you don’t get to hear or see all the folks who do other things behind the scenes to help Mum keep us going. So we are going to start putting that in our news, as well. Sooooooooooooo here you go! 

Totals miles run by volunteers for fur kids Jan-Mar 1,108 miles, this includes the miles run for the Brooklyn rescue that happened recently. 

Thank you; Miss Susann T, Mr Pete B. and Mindy H. for getting the 3 to Naples and to the vet. And a big thank you for all those involved in getting these and the other fur kids out of a bad situation. 

Sarah here: Hey mum said you could help - that is H-E-L-P - with the news not take it over! I am the senior reporter, I have been here longer than you so you need to slow down and take a breath! 

From last report that came into mum, 274 of you looked at our picture site http://community.webshots.com/user/lakeroad2 mum is a bit behind getting new pictures on there she has been pretty busy lately. 

Last month Miss Wendy L. was looking to find a ferret girl to take home with her, so she and Miss Mary B came to the shelter to check us out. Miss Mary B is Honey Dew’s far away mom. Miss Marcia C was here that day too, she is far away mom to little “take over the news letter” Daisy’. All 3 of these humans helped mum get us weighed, our nails clipped and some hands on loving. That is a big job to get done! Thanks for helpen mum with that. 

Yeah! Miss Ili is home from Florida! Snow bird no more! We sure missed her; she is Delilah’s far away mom. Delilah missed her the most! Miss Ili came to help mum catch up our play areas and poopy papers the same week she got home! We think she knew mum needed her help bad! Now maybe mum will be able to catch up on the 245 emails she has sitting on her computer! Welcome home Miss Iliana, we missed you.

Miss Kathy C. asked me to add this to our news, "Now that LFFR/S is a recognized charitable organization, all you volunteers can keep track of your mileage when you come to help us and deduct that as a charitable contribution at $.14 a mile in your income taxes, if you itemize deductions. We're trying to make it easier for you to come help us, even when gas is soooooo expensive.

Mum got a rather late phone call one night real close to 6 pm - Mums bed time. When mum answered the phone she heard this little voice say, 

“Hi it’s me” mum could not figure out who was on the other end of the phone! 

Mum sat waiting for more, then she heard her 2 legged furless son in the back ground say to the caller, “Tell Grandma who you are” now mum knew it is one of her 2 legged furless grandkids. 

“Hi grandma it’s me” with that mum chuckled and said, hi me which one of you are you? 
“Logan” – ah ha now mum says we are cook’en 

“Grandma Will you come to my concert”? Mum goes into questioning Logan as to where, when and what time for the concert. It was established that mum was going to a concert on April 3 at 7 pm at the middle school in Bloomfield to see her 2 legged furless grandson Logan’s concert. How special that he would call to invite our mum. Mum said she guessed he was on a mission; the mission having been completed there was no need to continue the conversation. Logan hung up the phone.

As many of you may be aware there was a rescue situation, in the NYC area – mum had been contacted, so mum got involved a few weeks back. The involvement came to a positive end when all fur kids were removed from a bad situation and fur kids were dispersed into several shelters. Mum took 3 of them to fatten up and allow them to be happy and healthy. 

Daisy here: Hey! Hey! Hey are you going to save me some news, mum told me you needed help, I am not helpen much if I am not reporting too! I am going to add some news! 

One Saturday was crazy here; well most Saturday’s are but this one especially! Miss Shaylyn our new shelter helper was thrilled to be here. Miss Shaylyn kept telling mum that she works hard when she comes to help but then she gets to play with us ferrets. Shaylyn told mum her teacher said our mum had been to her class with Genevieve, and wondered if she would come again. Mum told Shaylyn that she would if the teacher wanted her too. 

Shaylyn did work very hard, Miss Patty S. brought mum a treat from Simply Crepes in Canandaigua (gluten free) that we shared with both Shaylyn and her mom. Miss Patty S. brought a lot of them, enough to give mum breakfast and dessert for Miss Donna D. and mum on Sunday. 

Miss Patty S. got to spend time with her far away boy Teddy on Saturday and Miss Donna D. got to spend time with her far away boy Dancer Sunday. 

The next Sunday morning the young man that wanted to interview mum for a school project came in about 10 am. 

Damian is 8 yrs old in 2nd grade both his mom and dad came with him, very supportive and very nice. When mum asked him how he picked our shelter he said his teacher had us on the list to choose from. Damian got interested in Miku and Kiwi so mum let them out of the cage. Oh my, the family just laughed at their antics. 

Miss Donna called about 11:30 to say she was coming to Naples; she brought dinner, cooked dinner, and then picked up our poopy papers in the play areas. It was took wet to work outside in the yard. 

Yeah Miss Jackie came to see us – she is not missing in action any more! It was a busy day because Miss Ili and Miss Pam where here too! Mum was on spring break so lots of things were going on that week, like Shaylyn went with mum to Seneca Lake Terrace to help with the ferret girls Miku and Kiwi for an out reach day. Seneca Lake Terrace is an assisted living home that Old lady Kay lives in, that is where mum visits weekly to check on OLK. There were lots of campers here too that week! 

The 3 new Brooklyn fur kids have names now. Minnie of course was named by Miss Susann T, thank you Susann that fits her well, the little albino boys name is Petrie and the little silver boy is Bron. Mum chose names from the movie Land before Time. Mum loves those little guys in that movie. 

Sarah here: The 3 Brooklyn fur kids are free! The gate is open and they are roaming around mum’s space! The Vet got them all checked out and shots done gave them a clean bill of health, so mum says now they can explore. 

They seem to be happy to explore larger horizons, they are climbing in and out of the trash can (mum emptied it before letting them loose) checking out all corners and toy boxes. They are acting like ferrets so mum says she guesses they are settling in as happy shelter kids.

Miss Peach and Mr. Tom stopped by to visit and hang out with us for a while, Miss Donna came in to make our property all pretty again, boy the grass was getting so high, mum thought she was going to have to hire some goats, turns out the only thing wrong with the tractor mower was it needed a new battery, so once mum got that put on it was good to go! Miss Donna spent 2 afternoons getting things cleaned up, and best of all, our entire play yard mowed so we can go play out there. We still need to get the canopy up before we can go out because the hawks are always out looking for lunch; mum says she does not want any of us being part of their afternoon meal. 

Reminder that we still have our laundry soap campaign going - http://www.ferretfarm.org/Laundry_Soap_Campaign.html 

Clinic day is not too far off http://www.ferretfarm.org/Ferrets_Only_Clinic_2012.htm

Mum wants me to remind you once again that you can still get IFC Arizona symposium shirts – there are a few left. There are Goody Bags too. Then there are the Globe T-shirts that are available. You can find out what they look like, and how much they cost here http://ferretcongress.org/Merchandise.html

Well we sure did a lot of news this month – gotta run 
So for this month I will say farewell my cyber friends 

Sarah missing Possum 
Daisy coming to the rescue 

March 2012

Sarah Here: Well I will be doing the news for the first time all by myself – I miss my advisor Possum. On 02-13-12 – Possum left us for Rainbow Bridge – all the messages that came in are here www.ferretfarm.org 

I am not so sure I can do this on my own. I need help! 

Mum here: Sarah the reason Possum and I chose you to do the news was because you fit very nicely into Possums paws, you have her spirit, her spunk, her tenacity, her energy. You will do Possum proud; I know we made the correct choice. The new fur kid Daisy is a lot like Suzie Q maybe we can see if she wants to help with the news. You get this months news done we will work on getting you some help for next month. 

Sarah Here: oh okay, I really do not want to do the news right now but mum says it needs to get done the month is ½ over. I got this message from Miss Alex N. her mom helped her write it – 

Sarah, mom wanted me to tell you I know where you can get that cotton candy stuff for mum if she ever needs some more. See we go to Chuck E Cheese to play and they have big bags of it there. Alex

Wow another source for cotton candy for mum, how cool is that? Miss Priscilla Scardy Cat’s far away mom sent mum some this week. 

Miss Jackie is M.I.A. again, where are you Miss Jackie we miss you! Mum says maybe she will pop up again when the weather gets warmer; Miss Jackie is just like mum she hates the cold! 

Miss Marcia, Daisy’s far away mom came to help – she and mum got every play area picked up – papers changed – food stations freshened – nails clipped if needed – Miss Marcia helped mum get some coroplast on the bottom ½ of the FN cage in the playroom – that is where little Nora was going to stay while at camp – Mum wanted to fix it so the other kids could not pester her if they had a mind too. 

Miss Marcia left about 3 that afternoon, little Nora came in shortly after – mum got us kids put away – meds done and cages cleaned after Nora’s mom Miss Victoria left – Nora’s mom was having separation anxiety; that was the first time she had left little Nora with anyone, but little Nora did great at camp and since our mum had that week off Nora was able to write daily camp letters to her mom. 

This was Nora’s was first visit to camp – boy she had fun, mum taught her how to like soup and treats, and all kinds of things. She is a hisser she would hiss at mum when she was ready for her N-bone treat. Mum just laughed and laughed at her. 

Oh yeah mum wants me to remind you that you can still get IFC Arizona symposium shirts – there are a few left. There are Goody Bags left too. Then there are the Globe T-shirts that are available. You can find out what they look like, and how much they cost here http://ferretcongress.org/Merchandise.html

Because mum was so sick over Christmas she did not get her present to Miss Loana and Miss Mindy done, dinner and a movie day – so they did it over February break, Mum makes them a scratch meal and they were gong to watch a special movie only Netflix took it off the streaming list the day before. Miss Brie made a surprise visit and joined them too. 

After dinner mum and the ladies visited for a while then Miss Mindy and Miss Brie went back to the finish the closet that mum stores our food in – Miss Brie started hoeing it out before Miss Mindy got here and the two of them finished it – well they are coming back to complete it with bins on wheels so all the unmixed food is in containers – and mum can move it around. Mum keeps our mixed food in 5 gal pails. The mice were having a party in there – it looks great – and mum can actually walk into the closet now! Way to go ladies! You got mum to do the happy dance.

IGive –sent us a check for $40.47 thanks you guys for helping mum take care of us though iGive. 

Miss Mindy came the next day to help mum work in the room mum keeps the food she cans each year in, to get it cleaned out - there is a still a ton of work to be done in there – but mum and Miss Mindy got the jelly cupboard stripped – vacuumed and washed down – jellies and jams put back in it – man did mum and Mindy come up stairs dirty when they were done. 

Miss Donna Dancer’s far away mom and Miss Cindy came in the next day – Mum was planning the last big dinner before going back to work. Mum lives off leftover’s and fast and easy to fix gluten free foods when she is working. 

Mum made chicken Alfrado – Miss Cindy had to leave before mum had dinner done, mum asked Miss Cindy to stay but she needed to be back to Bristol Mountain to pick up Mathew. 

Mum got a surprise visit from Miss Cindy two weeks in a row – Miss Shaylyn came to help for the first time, she is 10 yrs old, she loves ferrets so she begged her mom to bring her here to see us, she is now coming to help mum take care of us. 

Mum knew Shaylyn was going to come – she is a good worker – she is a bit timid around us ferrets but she will come around when she realizes we are just trying to get her to play with us. 

Shaylyn kept telling mum how organized we were – a 10 yr old impressed with organization – pretty cool, hey maybe she would help me with the news letter? 

Little Nora went home with her mom after a 2 week stay – Miss Victoria stuck around for a bit to help – Miss Donna came in shortly after that – Miss Donna got the play areas done that Miss Cindy was unable to finish – Miss Donna also made dinner for her and Mum – salmon, raw fries w/garlic, onion powder and something else on them – bakes them in the oven on a cookie sheet mum says they were awesome but she will not share with me – 

Wow 274 of you looked at our picture site http://community.webshots.com/user/lakeroad2 mum is a bit behind getting new pictures on there. 

Mum had a special run to make so Miss Mindy came to stay with us while mum was out she did not get home until 5 so Miss Mindy helped mum get us kids settled and meds done before leaving – Miss Mindy got the our porch set up so we can start using it as when the weather allows! We love playing on the porch. 

We finally heard from the IRS

The shelter is now a Charitable Non-profit Organization; mum got the letter from the IRS March 8th! Is that weasel dancing news or what? Mum and I have been dancing the happy dance since the letter was pulled from our PO Box 

Three major benefits: 

1. all future donations to the shelter are tax deductible for the donor; 
2. the shelter is eligible to apply for grants that require charitable non-profit status from granting groups; 
3. The shelter is eligible to apply for NY sales tax exemption for all its expenses. 

Thank you Miss Kathy Titch’s far away mom for putting up with our mum and the board to get this done! You all rock! 

The last thing I want to report is our clinic day is set for June 9th if you want to know more you can go here http://www.ferretfarm.org/Ferrets_Only_Clinic_2012.htm you are welcome to stop in and join the fun even if you do not need to see our favorite doc. 

So for this month I will say farewell my cyber friends, 
Sarah missing Possum 

February 2012

Sarah Here: Oh Happy Day! Oh Happy Day! It is time for love, treats and candy! Mum calls it Valentines Day, I call it > A Happy Day! It looks like I will be doing the news all by myself this month – Possum is feeling poorly again, mum has her up in the sick pen now. So I will get on with the task. First I would like to say, Miss Donna will you forgive me? mum was so sick she did not get all the important notes for last month at the bottom of the page so I did not tell about you coming in after Miss Mindy left to go home - to help mum and that you went all over town looking for cotton candy for mum – finding it way away from where you live and shop – Mum needs the cotton candy to be able to take the meds the Doctor wants her to take, so Miss Donna was on a mission for mum! It was a successful mission too! Mum got a beautiful get well card from the Fritz family, it made her smile. Thanks M/M Fritz for making our mum smile. 

Remember when we told you Miss Iliana and Mr Bob went to Florida as snow birds? Well Miss Iliana has been sending mum pictures of what they are doing and where they going in Florida, she told mum that we could share the link with you to see the beautiful pictures they have been taking. I don’t see any wings or snow on Miss Iliana or Mr Bob so why are they called snow birds? 

http://s259.photobucket.com/albums/hh311/duranza/The%20Keys/?albumview=slideshow&track=share_email_album_view_click

Miss Donna Z and Mr Scott Z. helped mum get all the papers into the house that they brought for us. Then we had Miss Patty S. and Miss Donna D. here all on the same day helpen to get things caught up around here. Miss Patty S is 

Teddy’s far away mom from Canton, Miss Donna D is Dancer’s far away mom from Rochester. Miss Mindy came the next day to help. We sure are blessed to have so many loyal friends to help take care of us. 

Miss Victoria was to come help mum and Miss Mindy get us all weighed in and nails cut but she got snowed in where she lives – then the week after that mum went to spend time with her 2 legged furless family because her oldest grandson turned 12 yrs old. Mum took pizza and brownies for dinner to be sure everything they had, mum could eat. Mum had a good time hanging out with them. 

Oh yeah mum wants me to remind you that you can still get IFC Arizona symposium shirts – there are a few left. There are some Goody Bags left too. Then there are the Glob T-shirts that are available. You can find out what they look like, and how much they cost here http://ferretcongress.org/Merchandise.html

The weather in Naples has been mild – lots of spring like days. Good thing too because Merlin got really sick so mum needed to get him up to see “Our favorite Doc”. Miss Mindy met mum at the ½ way point in Avon to pick him up from mum, then took him the rest of the way to get him to the hospital. He was so sick that Our Favorite Doc could not make him better. Miss Princess was in the sick pen for a long time, she left for Rainbow Bridge in January, then Merlin, now Possum is sick so mum has been busy with lots of sick kids. 

Mum had a chance to pick up some extra time at work – to drive the two legged furless kids to a special place and then bring them home, she was going to be gone a good part of the day so Miss Mindy came to Naples to stay with us – boy or boy did she have the shelter sparkling when mum got home. Mum did the happy dance when she saw what she got done! 

Miss Victoria got to Naples this weekend to help mum, mum let her do all the rotations, that gave Miss Victoria the opportunity to handle every fur kid in the place, well any of us that were going to bed or getting up, then Miss Victoria helped mum strip cages and put them back together - some of those cages even got coroplast put on them. Miss Peach is the one that makes sure we have lots of coroplast for the things we need it for. Miss Victoria taught mum how you can undo the zip ties if you want to take them off, mum has been cutting so they could not be used again, Miss Victoria taught mum you do not have to do it that way. Mum was so shocked that you could take them apart! 

Mum got the report from Webshots, 358 of you humans have looked at our webshots site http://community.webshots.com/user/lakeroad2

It seems I have gotten though all the notes mum left on the bottom of this news letter, I think I have all the news reported. Since I did not have Possum to help I think it is good that there was not a lot of news to tell, or things I did not know how to tell. 

Until next month 

Sarah Senior Reporter

Possum advising from the sick pen 

January 2012

Sarah Here: OUR MUM IS BACK! Boy or boy we were not sure we were ever going to get our mum back! Mum brought in the New Year in an unusual way! She spent Christmas day with her 2 legged furless family and grand kids – she was warned that they were sick, mum shrugged “so what” she hangs out with germ factories all the time on the Big Yellow Thingy so she told her family she was going to be there anyway. 

Christmas day she came home in time to do our last shift and do meds – she had a slight sore throat but nothing she was too concerned about – well she should have been!!!! She got sicker and sicker as the days went by, her entire week’s vacation she spent sick. Mum did kids and cages. That means she got us up, put us away, and cleaned our cages, refreshed food and water. Nothing else! The only one that came to visit and help was a new shelter friend Miss Victoria – mum was too sick to want anyone here but, Miss Victoria had made the appointment and plans to come that day weeks in advance, she lives far away so mum did not want to cancel her visit, she let Miss Victoria play with us and she sorta did things then rested then did a few more things then rested again. All mum wanted to do was sleep – she did a lot of sleeping that week. 

By New years Day she needed medical intervention! Mum does not like or accept medical intervention easily, she does not like or accept taking meds easily, so when she sees a doctor and takes meds you know she is really really sick! 

Mum finally had to ask for help! Mum was checked out, prescriptions called in and meds to ingest, yucky ones – we get our meds in our duck soup – mum has to take hers without – we want thank Miss Priscilla for the cotton candy mum got for Christmas – she has been instrumental in mums’ recovery. On top of the pills, mum was prescribed an inhaler to use that she found to be so yucky that she found it hard to do the treatments that she was told to do 3 times a day. – she gagged, spit and sputtered - mum promised both doctor Keenen and Miss Kathy that she would use the inhaler before she went to bed that night! Mum happened to have opened one of the bags of cotton candy Miss Priscilla sent her so after doing 2 puffs of the inhaler, mum opened the mouth wash that was picked up for her to disguise the inhaler taste – there was a toss up which taste was worse the inhaler or mouth wash – so mum popped a good amount of cotton candy in her mouth! WALA the nasty taste was gone! Mum now has a way to get over the hump so she can take the 3 treatments a day prescribed by the doctor! 

Mum needed to get her hands on more cotton candy J – Miss Deena got her a cotton candy machine several years ago but she was too sick to get it out to make some - mum took her morning inhaler treatment washing it down with a good amount of cotton candy. Not a traditional breakfast. So the song on Mary Poppins movie “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” no truer words have ever been spoken or sung! 

Thanks Miss Priscilla for helping our mum get better! Mum spent a week on her own doing just us and cages – one week and 2 days later the support staff came in to help – Miss Mindy and Miss Marcia were here the Wednesday morning after New Years day to get the shelter and the kitchen whipped back into shape. Miss Marcia got the kitchen done, errands to the PO, bank, grocery store and pharmacy. Miss Mindy got the play areas back in shape keeping up with shelter duties while mum lay under the covers sleeping trying to get better! Mum was out of work for an entire week. Grandma and Grandpa Harvey told Miss Mindy she was to stay here with us until Mum was back on her feet – Miss Mindy stayed until Friday night - 

Mum did a whole lot of sleeping – but it looks like we have her back – she was up and moving – stripping play areas and fixing things like she does around here – 20 days she was down and out! We kids want to say thanks for all the shelter friends that stepped up to help mum get better, Dr. Keenen was the bestest doctor ever – he made sure mum got the medicines she needed and the check-up required – he even called to check on her – 

Possum here: – Hey Sarah can we get on with it please? Shelter news? Not mum news! 

Sarah Here: HELLLLLLOOOOOOO! What mum is not part of the shelter news? 

Possum here: Yes but enough is enough – mum is back on her feet, she is back to doing what needs doing around here so we need to get back to doing the news as it is intended to be – like the New link Miss Mindy got up on our site http://www.ferretfarm.org/Animal_Antics.html Like – the message we got from Miss Wendy L– take a look - 

Marshall Products on Facebook was having a photo contest. So, I submitted one of my pictures that I took down at your place. I believe this might be Riley’s ferret from “Clinic Day”.

I got an email from Marshall, that my photo was selected. They will feed up to 5 ferrets for the year. Shipment quarterly or when requested. I will stash those bags away for you. Wendy

Sarah Here: Okay! Okay! When Miss Wendy asked mum if we use marshals food mum told her yes it in one of our mixes – most of us when we come to the shelter to live we have only been fed Marshals food so with it in the mix we get the food we recognize as well as other food so we learn to like the other food too - 514 people looked at our webshots site http://community.webshots.com/user/lakeroad2 and the messages I got from doing the news last month. 

Tell Sarah she did an excellent job and thanks to Possum for helping! Hope you enjoy your week. Marcia

WOW! There WAS a lot of news. Glad Sarah and Possum seem to be getting along well on this project. Bonnie 

Possum here: Yeah like that silly! 

Sarah Here: Well Possum I have all the notes that mum left me covered, the only thing we have not done it say 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY! Until next month 

Sarah Senior Reporter
Possum Advisor
 

You can still see the news from 2011 here!

Here is the news from 2010