Thursday, March 28, 2024
catsevents

At the Pet Fair

booths at festival
To my left at the pet fair.

Despite the threat of rain and the actual rain, the Pet Care and Adoption Fair was really well-attended and I had the chance to meet a lot of wonderful people and trade stories about the animals we love.

booths at festival
To my right at the pet fair

We had heavy rain overnight, then just when we thought the rain was over for the morning it rained again as we set up, really pouring for a while, and the ground was soaked. Even after it stopped raining it was foggy and overcast. I’ve been at festivals where if it even simply looks as if it may drizzle in the early morning but never does, we vendors end up standing there talking to each other all day and eating.
But not when animals are concerned. As soon as 9:30 came people came through and did pretty steadily all day long.

booths at festival
Front row of the pet fair

At least 40 shelters, rescues, veterinarians and vendors like me were there, including the Homeless Cat Management Team.

The Homeless Cat Management Team.
The Homeless Cat Management Team.

The dogs had fun despite the rain.

dog rolling in grass
This dog is having a great time.

Just a few kitties—these kittens were with the Animal Rescue League.

kittens
Kittens!

No dogs could bark louder than this blue and yellow macaw! “I’m the boss around here!” he says.

A blue and gold macaw.
A blue and gold macaw.

These paw magnets are everywhere.

booths at festival
A collection of paw car magnets.

I finally got a new tent—a real one that pops up easily and has sides that zip closed (more on that later). Though it’s only 10′ x 10′ it seemed so large that I didn’t have to put the sides on but only pull my things further under the canopy. I usually have the greeting card rack farther out because it’s eye catching rather than blocking a portion of the opening, but the cards can’t get wet! As you can see in the lower right, The Goddess was guarding the doorway and inviting people in! A half dozen or so people laughed when they saw her and told me they had a goddess too, tortie or not. Stanley and Peaches and Sunshine in Pink also drew people since the garden flags are intended to be out in the weather.

booths at festival
My booth set up at the pet fair.

Debby Christy Nicola, foster for kittens Cookie and Jelly Bean, who was intending to come to the event had agreed to stop by early and help me set up! Setting up a display with all the things I have, and the first time with a new tent, is always time-consuming, and Debby, being an interior designer, would be fine for the task. I often have a set plan, but as long as everything is out, displayed so it won’t fall or be damaged, and it looks nice, I’m fine. She brought little Thor with her, the latest foster, a little bottle baby! I’ll be writing more about him too.

neo-natal kitten
Little bottle baby Thor.

. . . . . . .

I was also glad that I’d been in touch with Debby the day before the event. When I drove several communities over mid-afternoon, not too far but lots of traffic and hilly, twisty, windy suburban streets, to get my tent from the person I’d been in touch with on craigslist, I lost the power steering in my Ford Escape! I’d heard an odd noise for just a minute or less each time I’d started it for the previous week—and I don’t drive every day—and if it persisted I’d call my mechanic about it the following Monday. Darn that thing is hard to drive with no power steering! I did get home after a lot of time as I was driving slowly or I’d lose control of it. I let Debby know this was up and I might be later than I thought the next day. Her husband turns out to be an ASE Certified mechanic so I described the noise and symptoms and they gave me a few suggestions.

Researching the power steering fluid I decided not to drive the mile to the auto parts store to get it, asked a retired neighbor who couldn’t take me, then another whose car I could borrow. He also helped me when I came back and got the fluid in the car to determine that there was a leak and where it was. And he offered to let me borrow his minivan the next day! Hooray for good friends and neighbors! But by the time I got all my things together it was dark and raining and I don’t like to load things at night or in the rain, so I decided to wait for morning when I did get things loaded, though display racks had gotten wet and I needed to dry things off before packing them in the car. Finally arriving I got the tent set up and then Debby came along with little Thor and we finished the setup. She had to leave early with him, but Carla, the owner of Pittsburgh PetConnections, was right next to me and helped me pack up a little faster since rain was threatening again.

But after an already long week, getting the tent, losing the power steering, making arrangements for the other car, carrying bins several times and setting up and tearing down and carrying it all inside I was exhausted last night, too tired to even eat. I kind of got my posts together then worked on getting rid of the headache, then just soaked in the tub, to the joy of Kennedy who tried to join me because he really wanted to be on my lap, then went to bed, to the joy of the Five who found they had nothing better to do than tuck themselves all around me and purr. We’ve been having an easy Sunday. There’s another long week ahead, but at least we had some fun!


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Petties 2014
Petties 2014

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© 2014 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!

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Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

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