Posted on 01/11/2013 9:35:24 AM PST by Slings and Arrows
PITTSBORO, N.C. - LIKE her name, Siglinda Scarpa seems to be from another world. And not just Italy, where she was born. But one in which you can hear the animals speak, and everyone gets along.
Ms. Scarpa, 72, lives in a wooden house painted robin’s egg blue, in the middle of an open woodland, with old oaks and pines rising over sandy soil. With its second-story porches covered with the canes of Lady Banks’ roses, Carolina jasmine and wisteria, the house could be something out of a children’s book.
Some people come here to adopt a cat from the Goathouse Refuge, the animal sanctuary she runs, tucked back in the woods. Others come to buy her pottery or ceramic art, which is displayed in the sunny showroom on the first floor of this whimsical house: abstract pieces that evoke storms brewing in the sky; clay roasting pots shaped like squashes, with frogs or artichokes on their lids; or teacups molded like the face of a cat, the lines of cheek and jaw, nose and mouth drawn by a knowing hand.
For there are real cats everywhere.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
All the bird houses would help feed the cats...
When (please, God) I get this stone and steel mausoleum of a house sold, I plan to burrow further into the deep woods up the hill 1/4 mile or so, build a nest/cabin for myself and the pets integrated into the landscape, as off-the-grid as possible, get a few chickens and maybe a goat or two like all my neighbors, grow more organic veggies and herbs and sell those, my ceramics, homemade soap, incense, and religious articles like prayer cards, rosaries, and such on the main road. My ethnicity is showing...
I’ve not met a man who wants the country life I live, and likely never will-so, I can do as I please.
“If you raise chickens from babies, they make surprisingly personable pets.”
Well, hell-you can’t eat them if you do that.
I’d rather have chiclens for just the fresh eggs, anyway, though. And duck eggs are nice-there are ducks all over out here, because the river is just right there.
Sounds more like an irrational outburst from a crazy Catholic Canadian imo.
Everything is going here and the “munchkin” is now a freshman in high school...............grrrrrrrrrrrr!
You can qualify yourself as a crazy cat lady if you want - I still tag myself that way!
Since she finally learned the hard way about the truth of our warnings about rabid raccoons and coyotes, the crazy cat lady across the road has no problem with the firearms usage on this side of the road or if it winds up on her side.
Good for you and I know you will do just fine!!!!
That’s just plain funny!!!!!
I thought it was a documentary. ;^)
I think God has a special place in his heart for people like her.........
Amen.
That is funny!
Even on a winter day, there is a pine-scented breeze. The wood-burning stove keeps everything so cozy that the windows and doors are open, so the cats (42 at last count) and dogs (seven) can come and go as they please.
She's obvioulsy a very caring human being and there's nothing CRAZY about her at all.
You know the New York Times’s motto: “All the news that fits, we print.”
She’s looking after 42 cats that run free and the headline says 300, and there are comments calling her a crazy old woman. Sometimes freepers just don’t look at the trees, they are totally overwhelmed by the size of the (headline) forest.
You DID suggest - read the article. I’m glad I did, it’s a truly beautful story with some wonderful photographs. Thanks for posting.
I don’t have phobias about constrictors- pending the fact I’m 5 feet no inches so they would have to be 3 feet or less.
But wouldn’t they scare the kittehs?
Um, we have a problem, then.
Three are 7’+ and three are about 3’-4’, give or take.
The Ball Pythons are fairly smallish, though....kinda.
[I’m 5’ 3” and nobody’s swallowed me yet] :)
We had a cat, once.
Bob would sit in his climbing tree and just...watch...it...intently.
[I think he was trying to decide if it would fit in his tummy]
So we got the cat a new home.
Maybe they can all get along. I don’t know.
Still, they sound really neat. Wouldn’t mind meeting one some day, but I’d prefer to snuggle with a kitty or two.
I’m adding holding/meeting one of the types of critters you have to my bucket list.
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