Sick kitty, co-workers vacations, more storms

When I got home from Kentucky (sat.) one of the smaller kittens was under my car, tucked back behind the tire. I needed to move it so hubby could mow but it wouldn't move. I went and got the broom out of the garage but still it didn't move. Warning signals were going off in my head...'this isn't normal'. I finally get it out and the reason it wasn't moving is because it's eyes are matted completely shut! I spend the next hour or 2 soaking and cleaning and I finally get them open only to have lots of puss come out of it's eyes! I'm about in tears due to my soft heart and being tired and it's so tiny and weak. I look all around for something to feed it because it was still nursing and not sure if it knew how to eat yet. I finally grabbed some shaved ham out the frig. and tore it into tiny pieces and literally put it in it's mouth. It got the hint and began eating the ham on it's own. I had a syringe from some other cats trip to the vet and fed it some water. It seemed to be doing better so I took it back to the wood shed to find it's momma but she wasn't around. One of it's litter mates was there and they took off together to nap in the wood. Sunday, same thing only it's on the back porch. I think it follows momma up but when it fall s asleep it's eyes dry shut and when it wakes up it can't see so it just stays put and cries. So, this time I take some chicken noodle soup and mash it up. Man, did she (at this point I checked) scarf it down :) after a little milk, which she drank from a bowl, I put her back in the wood shed and she headed to the back to sleep. Well, Monday after work it became apparent that the momma was leaving it to survive or not soooo back in the house we go and she had a dinner of chicken noodle soup, chicken in gravy cat food, milk and water. By now I have a box lined with towels ready for her. If her momma isn't going take care of her I guess it's up to me, poor little thing. I took 1 picture of her last night and will edit post later to add it. It ended up she slept in the box in our bedroom for the night. This morning she opened her eyes on her own. Not all the way but the corners were open enough to see out of so I'm hoping that's a good sign. Sure hope she's alright. I'm babysitting at my daughters after work tonight so hubby gets the chore to feed her.
For the past 3 weeks I've been covering for someone at work and between that and Linda's moving...I'm pooped! Next week is same story, covering different person. Will try to get picture posted whenever I get home, it's on my laptop. More storms to move in later tonight but will try to do that before they hit.

Today in History: This first story is close to my heart. I did a lot of research into Tecumseh and his life for a book I wanted to write around this time period. There is a lot this article doesn't say but from what I gathered Chief Tecumseh's failure to unite the Indian tribes and the loss of the Battle of Tippecanoe was due more to the antics of his brother, The Prophet, than anything else.

July 2, 1809

Chief Tecumseh urges Indians to unite against whites

Alarmed by the growing encroachment of whites squatting on Native American lands, the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh calls on all Indians to unite and resist.

Born around 1768 near Springfield, Ohio, Tecumseh early won notice as a brave warrior. He fought in battles between the Shawnee and the white Kentuckians, who were invading the Ohio River Valley territory. After the Americans won several important battles in the mid-1790s, Tecumseh reluctantly relocated westward but remained an implacable foe of the white men and their ways.

By the early 19th century, many Shawnee and other Ohio Valley Indians were becoming increasingly dependent on trading with the Americans for guns, cloth, and metal goods. Tecumseh spoke out against such dependence and called for a return to traditional Indian ways. He was even more alarmed by the continuing encroachment of white settlers illegally settling on the already diminished government-recognized land holdings of the Shawnee and other tribes. The American government, however, was reluctant to take action against its own citizens to protect the rights of the Ohio Valley Indians.

On this day in 1809, Tecumseh began a concerted campaign to persuade the Indians of the Old Northwest and Deep South to unite and resist. Together, Tecumseh argued, the various tribes had enough strength to stop the whites from taking further land. Heartened by this message of hope, Indians from as far away as Florida and Minnesota heeded Tecumseh's call. By 1810, he had organized the Ohio Valley Confederacy, which united Indians from the Shawnee, Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Winnebago, Menominee, Ottawa, and Wyandot nations.

For several years, Tecumseh's Indian Confederacy successfully delayed further white settlement in the region. In 1811, however, the future president William Henry Harrison led an attack on the confederacy's base on the Tippecanoe River. At the time, Tecumseh was in the South attempting to convince more tribes to join his movement. Although the battle of Tippecanoe was close, Harrison finally won out and destroyed much of Tecumseh's army.

When the War of 1812 began the following year, Tecumseh immediately marshaled what remained of his army to aid the British. Commissioned a brigadier general, he proved an effective ally and played a key role in the British capture of Detroit and other battles. When the tide of war turned in the American favor, Tecumseh's fortunes went down with those of the British. On October 5, 1813, he was killed during Battle of the Thames. His Ohio Valley Confederacy and vision of Indian unity died with him.

July 2, 1881

President Garfield shot

Only four months into his administration, President James A. Garfield is shot as he walks through a railroad waiting room in Washington, D.C. His assailant, Charles J. Guiteau, was a disgruntled and perhaps insane office seeker who had unsuccessfully sought an appointment to the U.S. consul in Paris. The president was shot in the back and the arm, and Guiteau was arrested.

Garfield, mortally ill, was treated in Washington and then taken to the seashore at Elberon, New Jersey, where he attempted to recuperate with his family. During this time, Vice President Chester A. Arthur served as acting president. On September 19, 1881, after 80 days, President Garfield died of blood poisoning. The following day, Arthur was inaugurated as the 21st president of the United States.

July 2, 1934

Fox signs Shirley Temple

On this day in 1934, Fox Film Corp. strikes a new contract with child star Shirley Temple. Temple was six years old at the time. Starting at age four, Temple starred in a series of shorts spoofing current movies, called Baby Burlesks, and appeared in bit parts. Her song and dance number "Baby Take a Bow" in the 1934 movie Stand Up and Cheer brought her wide acclaim. Her new contract with Fox raised her salary from $150 a week to $1,000 a week, plus a $35,000 bonus for each film she made. The contract also paid her mother $250 a week.

Under the new contract, Temple quickly became one of the most popular actresses of the day. From 1935 to 1938, she was Hollywood's top box office draw. By 1936, she was earning $50,000 per film. Her films included Little Miss Marker (1934), The Little Colonel (1935), and Heidi (1937).

Temple made more than 40 films by the time she reached her teens. However, her box office magic wore off as she aged, and by her late teens her career was petering out. She married actor John Agar in 1946, at age 17. The marriage ended by 1949, the same year she made her last film, A Kiss for Corliss.

She remarried in 1950, to TV executive Charles Black, and changed her name to Shirley Temple Black. Two attempts in the 1950s to launch her own TV shows failed. In the late 1960s, the former actress entered politics, running unsuccessfully for Congress. In 1968, President Nixon appointed her U.S. representative to the United Nations. She served as ambassador to Ghana from 1974 to 1976 and later as chief of protocol for President Ford. She became ambassador to Czechoslovakia in 1989 and served until 1992.

July 2, 1937

Amelia Earhart disappears

On July 2, 1937, the Lockheed aircraft carrying American aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Frederick Noonan is reported missing near Howland Island in the Pacific. The pair were attempting to fly around the world when they lost their bearings during the most challenging leg of the global journey: Lae, New Guinea, to Howland Island, a tiny island 2,227 nautical miles away, in the center of the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca was in sporadic radio contact with Earhart as she approached Howland Island and received messages that she was lost and running low on fuel. Soon after, she probably tried to ditch the Lockheed in the ocean. No trace of Earhart or Noonan was ever found.

Ok, I gotta go for now but will be back to add kitty picture....stay safe....until next post...