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A Celebration of  Imagination & Freedom through the Independent Creation of Art & Life.
In Memoriam
This page is dedicated to the many animals I have owned and loved. Animals are so precious, and in NO way our inferiors. They deserve love & respect, as well as our openness to what they can teach us about life.

PanAmyPumpkin
Pan
(a.k.a. Mr. Pan Cake)
Amy
(a.k.a. "Petunia", alt. "Good Amy")
Pumpkin
Born to mother, Artemis, in my kitchen, on March 2, 1997 around 5 a.m. He had 11 siblings, but he is the one I kept because at age 2 weeks he insisted I stand with him as he ate & I knew he was the one.
He was a smart dog with a type B personality.  He understood just about every single thing I ever said to him. His only fault was that he chased cars. In the past few years he suffered with arthritis.  He had a slow growing tumor in his abdomen that probably wasn't cancer, but it had grown really large.  Sadly, we lessened his suffering on Nov 30, 2009, after a life of love and happiness.
Fauna
(a.k.a. Fonska)
Fauna
Poor little Fauna!
When she was a wee baby one of the adults in her group gored her with its horn, puncturing poor Fauna's lung. Audrey, the Fraserwood woman who raises goats, took it upon herself to sew Fauna's lung with a needle and thread, then nursed her back to health.
I got Fauna (whom I named) when she was several months old , at a discounted price,due to her smaller size. I took her home and placed her with Odin, my sweet handsome male goat, who was by that time over a year old. they got on well.
Fauna was always a little shy because of her early experience. It was a couple years before she would let  me hug her. She grew plump and was fairly happy in her life.
One year I decided to board a miniature Stallion with the goats. He had some behavioural issues and my goats were terrified of him. One day I heard Fauna screaming. When I ran outside I saw she had her horn caught in the fence wire, with the horse at her back, possibly trying to mate with her. I called the horse off easily enough, and untangled Fauna's horn.
Unfortunately, a few days later Fauna couldn't get up. In her struggle she had reinjured her spine and was paralyzed by the swelling. I had only recently nursed her back to getting her on her feet again. This  time, no such luck.
On Boxing Day that year I finally asked my neighbour, George, to shoot her, after seeing that her tears had crystalized from the icy cold--tears that looked like diamonds.
I said many prayers for her soul, asking that she be forgiven for whatever it was that caused her unhappy fate of suffering. I think today she might be happier.
I found her in a dairy barn one day in the fall of 1993. She was one among a pile of black kittens that were nursing in the hay.
Of late, I had been pondering whether I should get a black cat or a siamese cat. Seeing her was the answer to my question.
I didn't know whether
"my" cat would be male or female.  When I saw her I said, "Oh, you are a little girl." She had a long pointy tail.
We spent many a good year together.  In the early summer of 2004 she became dehydrated. I tried to keep her alive, but it only made it worse for her.  She had wanted to retreat into the trees to die peacefully, and I regret not letting her. She finally died when I was away at a venue in Saskatchewan.  I am truly sad that I wasn't there with her.
My sister  gave me this cat when he was but a kitten. Amy was indignant and never quite got over it. Pumpkin was never overly affectionate, until one day when I said, "You are sooo nice." After that, he grew very attached to me. (Go figure.) He also grew in size.  I tried talking to him about this. He would get outright upset if I rationed his food, resorting to ripping the bottoms of  dog chow bags, and throwing his dish around.  Finally I said, "Well, Pumpkin, it's up to you if you want to be extremely fat, but you will have a much shorter life." In 2008 he made some strange howling sounds.  This happened a few times over  a couple weeks.  I did put him on a diet then, but he seemed to be getting fatter.  Later I found out this was due to water retention as a result of congestive heart  failure.  I  made the hard decision to put him to sleep.  He was in pain and he would have needed to be on medications for the rest of his life.  I, unfortunately, didn't have enough money.
Pumpkin's gift was a humble personality and a forgiving nature.