We did it!!! After two days of hard work and lots of preparation .... it's official .... Connor's Eagle Scout project is done. It turned out great!! The first day, with the help of a few very hard working scouts (and mom) .... he churned out two wooden shelters that we painted scout green. Also eight portable shelters made out of Rubbermaid containers and insulation. Today we delivered the shelters, cleaned up the area (pulling weeds and picking up debris) and planting hostas and blue bells. The boys and I went to lunch at "Dogs on Clark" while enjoying the air and water show and fighting traffic from the Cubs Game ..... oh by the way ... any of you Cub's fans may remember Ivy the cat who came out on the field .... she is a resident feral who now has been relocated to the TreeHouse ... we were on the look out for her.... but alas no celebrity sightings ...... :-(. Connor now has to write a summary of the project, a paper on life goals and what it means to him to be an Eagle, lots of signatures and a Board of Review. Then it will be official!!!

I wanted to thank a few people (I learned it does take a village!!!) for their help in our journey. Uncle Don for help in getting all the materials and cutting the wood for the permanent shelters, Mr. Amir for showing us how they went together (Connor and I didnt have a clue until he came over and made it look so easy ..... he is also who made my kitchen so beautiful) and giving us tools and nails to use, Mr Teetak (our neighbor) for coming over, helping and loaning us lots of stuff we didnt have and giving us some great advice, JC Lichts (Jason) for donating the paint and sandpaper, and the scouts who came over and worked so hard. A special shout out to Keven Vicks who worked both days and made the whole experience seem effortless with his easy going demeanor and casual conversation.

Although the Eagle Project is done ...... I still have lots of work helping the neighborhood kitties. My goals is to TNR most of them this fall......

Well .... I finally made my way over to Barb's and the situation is as dire as ever. I was hoping to find socialized and friendly kittens to find homes for ..... but sadly the kitties born under her couch now live inside her home and are as feral as the rest of her group. She still has alot of kittens outside that must have been too small for Ian and I to find when we did our sweep .... but after about ten weeks (the point of no return for ferals) .... there is little hope of socializing them. I tried to catch a few of them (scratching the heck out of my legs) ... but those little stinkers are fast. I now realize I must invest in some traps .... and when my schedule permits ..... catch as many as possible .... and TNR!!! Connor and I are making a few extra shelters and I plan on taking Barb to a workshop this fall on winterizing your feral cat colony.

Connor's Eagle project is scheduled for this Friday and Saturday. Friday we will be making two permanent shelters and ten portable shelters. Saturday we will make the journey to the north side of Chicago to the Tree House Humane Society (Tree House Humane Society - Chicago No-kill Cat Adoption Shelter). We will then clean up their parking lot .... plant Hosta's for the kitties ... and leave the shelters for their many colonies.