Hi ya fertfolks! ;o) Well I am finally back home, and Ferris is thrilled! He dooked me a real deep contemplative greeting, first turning his little face away, as my own begged a tender kiss, but then, with a passionate forgiveness, did turn again and offer me his devoted love. I am thrilled as he is! This wonderous sweet moment would however, as is the norm for Ferris, be only brief, as he's soon overwhelmed by joyous excitement and desperate need to dance and run, and celebrate and confirm my return. It's good to be back home! ;o) As some of you know, my grandfather passed away on Feb 28th, and I was called away to attend to estate matters and memorial services with my mother. Indeed, just yesterday we celebrated and honored his life of 89 years, at a gathering of his loved ones and friends in a small heritage chapel located in a park in Richmond BC, where he had often gone walking the last few years of his life because it happened to be situated on the same plot of land as the Seniors Extended Care Facility, which was sadly home for my grandmother, his beloved wife of 63 years, during the final few years of her life due to severe alziemers. He visited her daily for 3 years, and even when she no longer knew him through her final year, he continued to visit, venturing in to a truly torturous and heartbreaking hell 3-4 times each week until her death. My grandfather, Reg Baker, was a remarkable soul, he lived a remarkable life, and I'll surely miss him till I see him again. And sometimes, troubles seem to come as waves lapping at the shores of our lives, one after another. Three days after arriving at my mom's she suffered a horrific attack from a badly infected gal bladder and so had to undergo emergency radical surgery to save her life. Then within in a couple days of being in the hospital, she fell victim to the deplorable and dangerous 'health care system' <HA!Health?Care? My A..!!>, when she contracted an extremely viralant and deadly viral infection termed the "Sydney Flu" which is plaguing our province's hospital wards. Thankfully my mother seems to have won her battle with this powerful pestilence, I am grateful to the Lord for His Mercy and Grace. This terrible virus has claimed over 30 lives already, and I can not help but mourn with all the familes of those who succumbed to it's fury, and weep with them whilst I prayerfully offer my own earnest thanks to God for my mother. So now is begun the time of healing for us all, in body, mind, and soul, as we turn from the pain of yesterday, and keeping close with us today all our joyous memories, we focus our gaze upon our hope for tomorrow, a day in which we ourselves have been granted by God's Grace the blessing of living. And of course, as you well know, ferrets are a very big part of my daily living, a part I am gladdened to resume and continue in. Though I am not going to try to back track the time gone by in fertville, after spending a few minutes downloading all my stored email and giving it a quick once over, I've decided for now to just save the month's digests for purusal later! BUT one thing did stand out, the "ferret shelter update" posted by Judith, which inspired a question for me. In several of the listings shelters indicated a desire to obtain 'prednisone' and 'epinepherine' in their wish list section, now I wonder ... do/don't these medications lose their potency and effectiveness over time, and if so, how long does the medicine retain a safe level of potency? Also, as regards an allergy treatment with the epinepherine, would 'human' bee sting kits, which all contain a pre measured/ syringe of medication, and contain a total of 2 doses (human) which are administered seperately and at different times simply by turning the plunger mechanisim, be of any value whatever with regards to treating ferrets? I don't know?? Like maybe injecting the med into a small vile/bottle and then drawing it up into the regular syringe to the appropriate required dosage for ferts. If anyone knows, on either I'd love to hear from ya on it ... just so happens that I'm alergic to yellow jacket wasps myself, and so I get a couple of kits every year for protection in the spring/summer. Well, we'll be talking to ya again soon all, meanwhile, we hope for you all truly dooky days, and we pray God's Grace for fuzzies and families. Ferris "Mom! Is it really you??! I'm deeply hurt you left me! Kisssss!" and his mom Deba Brezden [Posted in FML issue 2256]