Elvis is in the paddock

What a week!

Every cat in the cattery has cat flu, we have no foster homes left and we even have a poorly cat in our office because we've nowhere else for him to go. We've got kitten-lickens everywhere and we've run out of donated kitten food and our new dog Charlie has been diagnosed with a problem knee cap that keeps popping out of place and we are likely looking at an op costing in the region of £500 to rectify - money which we simply do not have. And, to make things just that bit more cheery, we haven't rehomed an animal in nearly 10 days!

I could go on but you get the gist - a bit of a murky, miserable week (like the weather) with plenty to do, as usual.

As obvious as it sounds, we need homes, food and money - such a metaphor for life, hey.

On the plus side we've received some wonderful updates on rehomed animals, including Zak the dog, Dexter the bunny and Bailey the dog. And it has been really heartening to have so many supporters rallying around to help us get donations for our new shop.

On that front, work began yesterday to fit the shop out for 'retail use' and you can already see just how great it is going to be. When I return from hols in a week or so time the pressure is really going to be on to get it set up in 3 weeks, as well as organising the summer fair! But, I'm chuffed to bits that we have enough volunteers for the fair this year and chuffed to bits that I've had the offer of help from a local firm offering staff on 'volunteering work days' to help us set up the shop. I can't tell you how much of a relief this all is and I actually feel I can go away and relax for the week.

If I stop and think about it, we really do have a very busy summer ahead of us with lots of fundraising and welfare events - which can only be a good thing for the animals. And what's even better is knowing that there is such a fabulous team of staff and volunteers behind us.

I'll leave you for a week or so with what is undoubtedly my favourite image of the week - it is Sam the dog, who has just gone up for adoption. The comical look on his face just makes me smile every time I see it because he is such a sweetheart and it is such an in-congruent image to his personality. It makes me think he is doing an Elvis impersonation - "I'm all shook up. Uh-huh-huh." Sorry, I know, cheesey.