Various Updates.....

Keri is a stinker.  She was all set up in the barn nice and comfy with her babies.  She keeps moving them around.  I went to check on them and could not find them anywhere. One kitty is having a problem with her foot and I need to get her checked out.  I had a small panic attack, imagining Keri moving the babies to the woods and getting eaten  by coyotes.  Or, abandoning them and slowly starving to death.  Aren't I just a bowl of sunshine and optimism?  

Then, I saw her but not her babies.  She seemed unconcerned that she was not with them.  I stuck around for a long time, trying to see if she would lead me to them but she just sat down and sneered at me.  

Finally, this morning while I was feeding the goats and chickens, I found them.  She had moved them under a pallet of hay.  Well covered and protected.  Good Mommy kitty.  She is not a failure after all. 

The divas are growing big and healthy.  I  have 5 roosters.  There is too much testosterone in the barn.  This little guy is going to be the first one in the roasting pan.  He is just plain mean.  He pecks at my hands when I am feeding him or at my feet when I walk in the coop.  I *know* he is protecting his hens, but he is making my blood boil.  Mean little ingrate...

Second batch of...... Rhode Island Reds?

My baby chicks are about a week old now.  I can not shake the feeling that the feed store messed up my order.  These do not look like Rhode Island Reds to me.  They look like Golden Comets or something else.  These are so much lighter in color at the same age as my other ones.  What do you think??

First batch of RIR..

What is left of my Americana chicks are doing really well.  They are getting big and growing their true feathers.  Soon, I can put them in the barn with the rest of the flock.  I will have to put up a protective  "door" in the corner of the coop so they can escape from the bigger ones if they need to.  The pecking order will be re-established a few times, so I need to make the transition as smooth as I can.  

Don't even think about it Kujo.

I stacked 3 billion pieces of wood and found 1 slug, 2 walking sticks, 50 spiders, several beetles and some unknown flying insect that attacked my lips.  I felt violated.  I can still feel its legs on my lips.  

   Shudder.......

My flower garden is pretty sparse this year, as I have focused mainly on my vegetable garden and fruit orchard.  I did plant some of my favorites just to make us feel more at home. There have been certain flowers I plant year after year.  They give me the warm fuzzies.

 Above is Delphinium.  This reminds me of my home in Alaska.  I had a 6 ft delphinium.  It was beautiful.  I do not think this will grow as tall here, as they like the cold.  I am happy to have it anyway. This is my 6ft beauty in Alaska.  I hope the new people are enjoying my hard work and pretty flowers.  

Hibiscus is something I have never grown before.  I really like this plant.  You can train it into a tree or a topiary or just let it get bushy.  They are so pretty and put new blooms out every day.

I love these Wave Petunias.  They cascade down my front porch stairs.

This is another new one for me, Confederate Jasmine.  It is really pretty but is not as fragrant as the yellow jasmine.  I don't know the name of this one.  The commissary sells flowers and plants and sometimes does not put the name of the plant on the pot.  Kind of annoying, but they sell them at a fraction of the price of the box stores or nurseries.  So, I'm okay with that.  I'll figure it out.

Lee is just the most thoughtful and talented person.  He made me this planter out of a stump for me.  With his chain saw.  He even cut a diamond shape in the middle.  He is the next Ghiberti.

Zinnias.

The veggie garden looks pretty full from here.  All it needs is a scarecrow.

 

Make her stop.

Growing that is.  

My "baby" had her 12 th Birthday yesterday.  12.  

Do you know what that means?  I have 1 more year until she is a teenager.  ONE.

Help me.

Just kidding.  Kind of.  

I have treasured watching her grow from a 4 pound 5 oz. little monkey to a 85 pound pre-teen who steals my clothes.  

She has been a blessing from the day she was born.  She has the most caring and gentle spirit. She is smart, funny, empathetic and has the most beautiful soul.  She touches my heart and makes me so proud.  I am a better person because of her.

That does  not stop me from teasing her relentlessly.  I bought her this T-shirt and told her it was all we could get her for her birthday.  I wrapped it in newspaper and made a cheesy home-made card to go with it.  

Hee, hee, hee.  It has a picture of a little girl hitting a little boy over the head with a club.  Then it says; "Caution, Prone to mood swings."  Hilarious.  I really had her going for a minute. 

Her big present is going to see Miley Cyrus in concert in October.  I made her go on a hunt to gather post-it notes spread out all over the house.  Each note had one word on it and she had to piece all the words back together to find out what her present was.  This tortured her immensely but entertained us greatly.

Her favorite present had to be the photo above.  We made it into a large poster for her to put in her room.  This is her very good friend M.  They are soul mates.  They should be sisters.  I am still trying to convince M's mom to move on our land with us and start a commune.  We just love them.

Happy Birthday, Pumpkin.

Dear Sam,

I will never forgive you or your accomplice.

I should have known you were planning something.  You are always trying to find trouble.

There were signs of trouble.  I was in denial.  I should have known by the way you were salivating. 

The little attempts I did not take seriously enough, the time outs, all troubling signs.  It was all there.  I just wanted to believe in you.

You killed and ate several of my baby chicks.  They were only 3 weeks old.

How could you?  My special pink, blue, and green egg laying babies. 

Don't give me that look.  You are not a sweet dog.  You are a murderer.  

Seriously, you were never that cute.

I never adored you.

Okay, I forgive you.

Fur Babies

Warning...This post contains graphic pictures of our cat giving birth.  So, if you get squeamish or are easily grossed out, you should stop reading.  There are four pictures of my sweet kiddos watching the birth until you get to the graphic pictures. 

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My sweet Keri (aka, little hussie) had her litter last night.  We were all worried about her because she was so young and little.  She came through just fine and all the babies are thriving. 

I fully expected her to have the babies in a dark closet or hidden away somewhere.  She actually came up to me and started meowing.  I thought maybe she was hungry, so I gave her some food and water but she refused it.  She came to me again and started meowing and I noticed her tummy was contracting.

Poor thing.  The first baby was the most difficult.  She did cry out a few times.

  I sent one child to get a box and another to get an old towel.  We put Keri in and pet her and loved on her and talked to her.  She had the first baby about 20 minutes after the first contractions.  4 more kittens followed.

 Keri did such a good job.  She broke open each sac and severed the umbilical cords.  She licked them all clean and started nursing right away. 

All the kittens except for one have the same coloring as Keri.  The oddball is black/gray/white. 

They are all just precious.

She will not leave the kittens.  Not even to eat, so we have been bringing her food and water and trying to take care of her.  

We are going to help Keri by bottle feeding the babies several times a day.  Since she is so young and nursing takes so much calcium and nutrients from her, she really could use some help.  Otherwise, she could loose a rib and become very nutrient-deprived.  

I'll post bottle-feeding pictures later on.

Brandon kept saying he could not believe he got to witness the miracle of life.  All the kiddos were just enthralled in the whole process, on the verge of tears. 

Yes, we are going to keep them.  Yes, all of them.  Yes, we are nuts but we have the land and resources to take care of them.  They will help control pests and have a happy home. 

 They are all going to get fixed.  I am going to put the date on my ical calendar with e-mail reminders and sound effects so I won't drop the ball again.  I'm already on the verge of being called that crazy cat lady.  All together that makes 7 cats.  Hopefully, they will eradicate our pest problem.  That is a whole other post.  I'm still not ready to talk about it. 

I wanted to post about two things that made me very mad but I won't.  I wanted to post about the seething anger I have toward my daughter's dog.  The normally very well behaved, protector of the house and garden sweet dog lost his mind.  He still can not look me in the eye.

Yes, my daughter put him in a girly shirt.  Don't let his sweet face fool you.  He is a sneaky, conniving dog.

But I won't post about that.   I wanted to post about a little pest problem I am having, about the evil little pests that are making my skin crawl and my eye twitch.  But I won't.  No, it's still too fresh, too infuriating.  

Instead, I will post about these two sweet angels. 

These two kiddos are just the sweetest, most caring, and empathetic little monkeys.

When Cody and I got home from the emergency room, they had a few surprises for him.

Lexie made a cast on one of Cody's favorite teddy bears so it would match him.  She cleaned his room and set up pillows, blankets and books on the couch for him so he could be comfortable.  Then, she did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen so I would not have to deal with a messy house.  She is just beautiful inside and out.  I am so thankful for her.

This little monkey put together a Pokemon play set for Cody, gave him one of his own Pokemon characters and helped his sister set up a comfy area for Cody to rest.  He also sat and colored with him and kept him company. He helped clean the house and was the first one out the door when we got home to see if Cody was okay. So sweet.

I feel pretty blessed with these kiddos.  They have pure, sweet, loving hearts.

They get along well, share, and comfort each other.

They try to make each other feel better and are so helpful.

Please remind me of this the next time I want to pull my hair out because they are driving me crazy. 

Maybe I'll tell you the dog and pest stories soon.  When my temporal artery stops pulsating and I stop grinding my teeth.