August at Dumbrava

August was one of those months that, looking back, didn't seem all that busy. Then we started counting what actually happened and changed our minds. 😅

We made the most of the summer holiday with the kids and went on a two-day trip to Bistrița, one of the activities we try to organise whenever time and budget allow. We also continued the weekly tennis sessions with Dorel Pop, who gives his time to the kids while we take care of transport and all the logistics around it. The other activities, trips and therapy continued too, because summer holiday means a break from school, but not necessarily a break from Dumbrava.

We also had our monthly meeting between the children and the elderly, and this time there were a lot of us. We really enjoy the busier meetings, especially because this is exactly what we are trying to build: a place and a moment where generations that don't usually have many opportunities to meet can sit at the same table, talk, play and simply spend some time together. Some months are quieter; others, like August, bring many more of us together.

And since we're talking about travelling, transport continued to be one of our headaches. Our Opel Combo, the car we use to transport children, animals and things that probably shouldn't even fit inside an Opel Combo, started making it increasingly clear that its plans for the future might be different from ours. It even gave us some excitement during the trip with the kids, losing power and turning journeys that should have been simple into little adventures.

During this period, we also tried to find solutions for safer transport, including applying for funding and continuing our project on GlobalGiving. For now, a replacement car remains firmly on the list of "we absolutely need it, but we still don't know where the money will come from."

On the animal side, we also had some very good news: Deni and Matei went home. Two adoptions mean two spaces freed, a little less work for us and, most importantly, two animals for whom Dumbrava was only a stop along the way, rather than their final destination. Exactly as it should be.

The animals already living with us continued eating, needing treatments, going to the vet and generally making sure we didn't get bored. With around 80 animals at Dumbrava, the concept of a summer holiday doesn't really exist. Feeding, cleaning, treatments and all the small and not-so-small things that appear during an ordinary day continue regardless of what the calendar says.

In August, we also continued looking for ways to make everything we do a little more sustainable. We talked about Benevity and the possibility for people working for companies registered on the platform to support us through their employers' giving programmes, while our projects on GlobalGiving remained active.

Overall, August was a month of trips with the kids, tennis, a busy and lovely meeting between generations, lots of driving, around 80 animals to care for, two adoptions, and a car constantly reminding us that we really need to find another solution for transport.

And then came 31 August. The last day of the month was, in fact, the beginning of the storm that September was about to bring. From there, problems, trips, treatments, repairs and bills started piling up at such a pace that, at some point, even we weren't entirely sure what we were supposed to deal with first.

But that's already September's story, and we told that one separately here.

Looking back from where we are now, August really does seem like a quiet month.

It just happened to end on the 30th. 😅