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Adopted by a Cat at the Hemingway House in Key West
Adopted by a cat at the Hemmingway house in Key West. I use a bookmark my sister gave to me that says you are nobody until a cat loves you or says so, or something like that. It’s true. They also say that cats can sense who really likes them. Cat haters will tell you that cats always come to them, but that’s just so they can hate them more and irritate them, not because the cats like that person. It’s like they are saying that the cat hater repulses them as well. If a cat truly likes you, you will know it; a cat will do “feelies” on you, what some people call making bread.
Read more in my personal blog today and see photos of a A Catalude at the Hemingway House in Key West. Happy New Years everybody and a fabulous welcome to 2014. If you are thinking of buying or selling or both call Weintraub and Wallace Realtors. Elizabeth is an independent broker. JaCi Wallace is with RE/MAX Gold DRE 00773532. We can be reached at 916-216-5224.
~~JaCi Wallace
Cats, Covid19, And Selling Sacramento Real Estate
Cats, Covid19, and selling Sacramento real estate are where much of my time is spent during each waking hour. With cats, COVID19, and selling Sacramento real estate are now part of daily life for this Sacramento Realtor. It occurred to me these three things are where so much of my time is spent each day. When you have nine cats, they are part of every hour of every day.
Of course, all nine cats do not live inside. I do cat rescue and also have purebred Ragdoll cats. Whether inside or out, cats play a significant role in daily life. This picture is of Toby-Tyler on the cat tree. He is a 7-year-old male rescue, and his sister Gidget is on the lower shelf. These two orange tabby cats I rescued. They were abandoned, left inside a wall of a commercial building. As they were not quite two weeks old and I had to bottle feed them every 3 hours. They have been my cats ever since.
Covid19 is impacting people in so many different ways. Everyone is impacted by it. We are so fortunate to be in the greater Sacramento area. Our Covid19 numbers are reported to be lower than anywhere in the country for this disease. The shelter in place slowed sales and created a much more stringent loan approval process. We have an escrow right now where underwriting threw a monkey wrench in the mix, and now they have to qualify all over again. My seller is left waiting. We could have canceled the contract, but the buyers want the property.
Of course, selling real estate is what we do every day on our team. We wake up and immediately hit the computer sending back emails. Next, we start a task list for the day and look at our calendar. The last thing in the evening is checking email before turning off the computer to go to bed.
Covid19 restricts us from going to so many different places. The trips to Costco, animal feed stores, and the grocery store are the big outings. Selling real estate, it’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle, and you do because you love it. This job is not for a 9 to 5 worker as they would definitely not be happy in this role.
At Weintraub & Wallace, we love what we do. We each work independently and own business, but we support and help one another like a family. The harder you work in real estate, the more successful you can become. With self-employment, it gives you a lot of freedom to decide how you will run your business. Many Realtors work very part-time, so they don’t earn very much and have limited funds to market their listings. Always hire full-time professionals with hundreds of 5-Star Reviews
When I think of Covid19, I think about my mother. I haven’t been able to see my mother for over six weeks because she is so frightened of catching this disease. Watching the news would stress anyone out. Things are delivered or dropped off on her porch. I have a friend that’s got herself locked up in her house, and she’s terrified to go out as she has some health issues. She is worried she will get Covid19.
Of course, I don’t want anyone to catch this dreadful disease. There are so many people that are suffering on such personal levels with direct loss from this disease. Losing loved ones, friends, or co-workers is heartbreaking. I feel very blessed that our family has stayed healthy, my friends have stayed healthy, and my clients have stayed healthy. We wish good health to everyone.
The phone is ringing off the hook again for showing property and writing contracts. I’m just going to focus on one day at a time. We don’t have control over what’s happening with Shelter in place orders. No doubt, we are following all of our instructions from the federal level to the local level. We wait for the opportunity to come for businesses to start to recover their losses. The real estate market is on the rise, so don’t wait; it’s an excellent opportunity to take advantage of the lowest interest rates.
We all need to be problem solvers and do our best to help one another when difficulty arrives. My sister colored my hair today as my hairdresser is not working, so my sis volunteered. She jumped in with both feet to help. She bought some hair color and did my hair this evening. I was so grateful. We all just help each other and will get through this and anything else that comes our way. Blue skies and warm temperatures are on the way; it’s going to be a good week.
Cats, Covid19, and selling Sacramento real estate, it’s certainly never boring. There’s always more to do, more to learn. If you’d like to buy or sell real estate, please call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors with RE/MAX Gold. We can be reached at 9162336759.
JaCi Wallace
Our Elk Grove Feral Cats Both Say Goodbye In 2019
Our Elk Grove feral cats both say goodbye in 2019. This photo shows both senior ladies sleeping happily together. Anyone who knows cats appreciate when they head butt each other and sweetly groom one another. These two were besties. Angel the cream-colored girl left us a few months ago; she was 18-20 years old, per the vets. Skittles was the brindle girl estimated 16 plus years of age.
They both slept on our covered deck with heating pads and heat lamps in winter and a swamp cooler and fans in the summer. My sister lives next door in my duplex. She had taken over the daily care of the girls as I work so much and the deck is just outside her patio slider door. She worried about these senior cats. We would go out at night with a flashlight calling them even in terrible weather. Anytime they didn’t come up for dinner we were out to try and find them.
Both Angel and Skittles had become quite friendly and allowed us to pet and brush them. We could even get them into portable kennels for vet appointments. My sis washed the blankets each week and gave them fresh food and water several times per day. She combed them every day and last year in the spring we had them shaved as they had so many matted hairballs. Their hair grew back nicely and they seemed much more comfortable over the summer. Little did we know then that our Elk Grove feral cats would be leaving us so soon.
These two elderly cats were beloved. They both enjoyed laying in the sunshine each day, even when that walk became hard for them to do. Common in elderly cats is a renal failure. We gave them fluids and did all humanly possible. Angel, we had to put down a few months ago and poor Skittles has been alone much of the time since. We think she was a bit confused sometimes, probably due to the stroke. She loved her food especially the wet food.
Our other feral rescue orange tabby cat Yoda also passed away earlier this year. He had hepatitis. I rescued him from a parking lot where his feral mother dropped him. He was screaming and only 2 weeks old, so tiny. I bottle fed him and he grew up to be a large beautiful boy. He was a great hunter. He disappeared one day as he was ill but he ate and took his pills every day up until then. I was walking the property one day and found his remains after a few months. We were relieved to know what happened to him. He was under a little tree by the pond where he had laid down. He was a strong boy and he loved living free on our five acres, he had a good life and even died his way, free on his property.
Yesterday, Skittles went missing and then she came back in the evening covered in mud. My sister gave her a bath and a blow-dry. Then today again Skittles was gone. My sister was so worried about her, wondering if she was lost out in the storm. I heard her outside my office window calling for Skittles after dark. She had her flashlight, so I went outside. I heard Cathie say, oh JaCi I found Skittles she is under the deck. I asked, is she ok? Cathy, my sis cried, ” no, I don’t think so.” I looked under the deck with the flashlight and Skittles was gone. Only her little body remained she looked so peaceful as though she had walked along and just laid down and went to sleep.
My brother in law had run to get Chinese and when he arrived home Cathie told him what had happened to Skittles. He went out in the storm to retrieve her body. We live in the country and have predators so he wasn’t leaving her outside. He picked her up and Cathie wrapped her in a nice blanket. She had gotten the fabric at the store to make new blankets for the animals. Greg put Skittles in a box in the garage and he will bury her tomorrow, next to Angel’s remains. These two old ladies are to be together again, side by side in our little pet cemetery, under the white birch trees.
Skittles had a stroke some months back and her hind end didn’t move for two days and then she began to wobbly stand. We almost put her down but we were concerned about how Angel would do alone so we thought to give them a few more days together. Miraculously, Skittles recovered and we were so delighted as poor Angel would have been alone. Angel had outlived all her other feral companions as several had found their way here and then passed away over the years. Skittles stayed the longest, with our sweet Angel.
I have a picture on my wall of Angel. I pass by her every day and am so grateful for the last 6 years I had with her. When I bought this place the previous owners said she had been here for over 10 years. They warned me to not feed her or she would stay? I said but she has been here for 10 years. Of course, I started feeding her day one. She was so wild and would run at the sight of me and skittles ran too. That all was to change over time.
These old girls grew to trust us. My sister and brother in law didn’t even like cats before living here and Cathy is allergic. They moved here two years ago and both became big cat fans. They both cried about these cats passing. Loving tears for our girls. Cathie wears a mask and cleans cat boxes and feeds every day, as we have 8 other cats. Yes, call us the crazy cat ladies.
Our deck outside will seem a bit empty without our Elk Grove feral cats that said goodbye in 2019. I have no doubt that more ferals will show up here someday and we will always happily have space for cats that decide to adopt us.
Weintraub & Wallace Realtors with RE/MAX Gold. We can be reached at 916-233-6759.
— JaCi Wallace
Ziggy and the Talking Hamster
How could I have forgotten about Ziggy and the talking hamster? This is a plush toy for kids that my sister mailed to me last year, and I’ve been in Hawaii for so long I didn’t realize I had this. But there it was, in my bookcase, buried in all of my Lyon Real Estate awards.
It is the cutest thing. Of course, we don’t have any “real” children but we do have cats. And this is our youngest cat, Ziggy, who is a ragdoll, which is pretty much the perfect type of cat. Beautiful dispositions, so playful, lovable and sweet. My friend, JaCi Wallace, gave us this kitten when he was still a baby. He is still growing. He is almost two years old now, but has not reached his full size yet.
All the cats came over to see the hamster, but it was Ziggy and the talking hamster who bonded. Or, maybe it’s just that Ziggy figures every toy in the house obviously belongs to him and him alone.
When you speak out loud, the talking hamster repeats everything you say. Not only does it repeat what you say, but it shakes its body and trembles when it talks.
If you’re looking for hours of entertainment with your cat, the talking hamster is hilarious. Although, when you look closely of the photo of Ziggy and the talking hamster, it looks like Ziggy is thinking, “Hey, I didn’t see your lips move!” Smart kitty yet very suspicious of this amusement attraction on the floor.
