Tickled Pink

Feeding Time

My sister-in-law was here over the weekend and was nice enough to take some photos of me doing my chores. You know how it is...if you have a camera, you're never in any of the photos unless you take some of yourself!

If you were wondering what it looks like to feed a calf and entertain another one at the same time, here you go.  Oliver had finished his bucket of milk and was looking for more.  Stuart was on his second bottle and I was trying to keep Oliver from butting in so Stuart could finish.  Poor little guy was hungry!  He didn't need Mr. Bottomless Pit trying to take over.

Normally, I can feed Stuart without having to straddle him but sometimes they pull back as they're drinking and lose contact with the bottle. Straddling helps to keep them steady.  It was all I could do to keep Oliver entertained and make sure Stuart stayed focused.

Luckily, Charlie came along and helped to distract Oliver so we could finish!  (And there's Romeo lounging around in the background.)

After being covered with milk and calf slobber, it was off to the chicken house to collect eggs and check their food and water.  The barn could use some paint and a little restoration but I really like it this way.

My chickens are getting old so I only get a few eggs a day.  It's not a chicken house anymore, it's a chicken old folks home!

After the calves and chickens, I feed and water the kitties. My little Willie always comes running when he sees me.  Look at this little doll. Awwww!  He's very snuggly!

So there you go!  Anyone want to come help?  Those calves would love to suck on your fingers, too.

Disappointment at the Fair

Well, you just never know!  We took Leroy to the fair and he was standing in his stall looking so regal. I mean, the dude was looking HOT.  Sleek, shiny, and oozing attitude.  (Of course I didn't take a picture of him in his stall.)  Charlie and I walked through the building to check out all the competition and thought Leroy was destined to win the whole thing.  The officials weighed him and he is a whopping 1425 pounds!  He was the heaviest calf there.  One other calf was 1420 but most were between 1200 and 1300.

Wednesday evening was the show and judging.  The sun was in the wrong place, the lighting was bad but here are some photos of Charlie and Leroy.  They look so nice.


Then the judge came by, looked at the calves from every angle and asked a few questions.  We heard him ask Charlie "What's his weight?"  Then the judge called out the top three and Leroy was not one of the three!!! We were shocked.

This is where you start singing "I like big butts and I cannot lie..." because that must have been what was going through the judge's head.  Every calf he picked was short and fat and had a big fat butt!  Apparently, that is how Angus cattle used to look many years ago. And apparently they are going back to that...
breeding the short fatness back into these guys.  Leroy is not short and fat.  He should be a man because the women would be all over him.  He's tall, has broad shoulders and slightly narrower hips.  And he's WAY better looking than the ones that won.  Can you tell I'm ticked OFF!?  The judge spoke about each calf's strengths and weaknesses.  He had the nerve to say that Leroy had frail bone structure!!!  The guy weighs 1425 pounds. I wouldn't consider him frail. But what it came down to is which one would provide the most meat and the best meat and a lot of that meat is in the hindquarters. So, if Leroy had had a big fat ass, he'd have done well. Even though I don't want to think about it, I'm sure Leroy has good meat on his bones no matter what that judge says.

Most of the photos I took were of Charlie's back.  He was busy watching the judge who was in the center of the arena, so this was our view.  Do you like Charlie's new jeans?  We thought they looked nice.

Maybe next year will turn out better.  Or maybe Charlie won't even show next year.  Who knows!?

Our Family is Growing Again

Yesterday, Charlie and I went shopping for some new jeans and while we were out Jeff called to ask how I felt about bottle feeding another baby calf.  I told him that would be fine.  He said "Well that's good because Oliver has a new brother.  He's only two days old."  It makes me so mad that dairy farmers pull those babies away from their moms that early.  It's just wrong!  Jeff has named him Stuart as in "Stuart Little." (That was my grandfather's name too so I like it for that reason.)

When Charlie and I got home I made up four bottles of milk.  Three for Oliver and one for Stuart.  Charlie took care of Oliver and I helped the baby.  He's still learning what he's supposed to be doing but it all went pretty smoothly.  This morning I headed out to do it all over again but this time by myself.  DIFFERENT STORY all together!  That dang Oliver...well it's all about HIM.  He wanted his breakfast and the fact that Stuart was hungry too didn't matter to him.  So, I had to listen to poor Stuart's little cries while Oliver was sucking that milk down as fast as he could.  Finally, he finished and I thought I could focus on Stuart but NO WAY, Oliver kept shoving his way in trying to suck on my fingers, my forearms, my elbows, my shirt. On and on.  It took awhile but Stuart and I finally succeeded...in spite of Oliver McPushy.

Here they are side by side. You can see how it would be easy for Oliver to get his way just because of his size.

They are enjoying having each other as playmates and are becoming fast friends.

Then we have those dang kitties!  Two in particular have attached themselves to me....one literally. I can't think of a name for this little guy.  He's so affectionate and playful and when he sees me he comes running so fast that his backside gains momentum and he almost flips himself.  And he's always at my feet.  I have to be careful where I walk.  He's been punted a couple of times by accident.

And then there's Twiggy.  She's still recovering from her bout with round worms which explains her heroin chic, model thin, physique.  She's very vocal. A lover AND a fighter.  She is the only one (out of seven) who threw a fit when we headed home from the vet's office.  It's a good thing she was locked in the cat carrier, because she had those teeny little legs braced and was working with all her might to get that door open, howling the whole way home.

Buster is another one giving me fits right now.  I thought I’d be a nice bunny mom and get some grid wire to make into a playpen for him in my office.  He’s been loving it, running around getting lots of exercise, jumping over cardboard tubes and making up his own obstacle course.  That all ended yesterday when he discovered that if he rammed his head just right into the grid wire squares he could pop them apart and then be free to go wherever he wanted.  And where he wanted to be was lying around on the dog beds.  He scared Pepper and Frances off to the upstairs and then he had the whole place to himself.  What a brat.

For now, he’s back in his condo until I think of a Plan B.  As long as I can keep his curious mouth (and teeth) away from my computer cords, I don’t mind him roaming around.

So after my stressful day of uncooperative animals, and before the dinner feeding time, I took a little trip to the local farm supply store and purchased this pretty blue bucket, equipped with a nipple. It worked like a charm!  I  put Oliver’s dinner in the bucket and just hung it on the fence.  As soon as he knew what to do, I was able to leave him unattended and focus on Stuart and they ate at the same time. Whew!  I don’t know how mothers of young children do it.  I can barely handle this.

The Latest News from the Farm

The county fair is next week.  We have our fingers crossed that Charlie will win another trophy and Leroy will be recognized as an outstanding calf.
Aren't they handsome?

A couple evenings ago, I walked into the dining room and Jeff was laughing so hard that no real sound was coming out.  He was trying to explain what he was laughing about but was having trouble forming words without laughing even more.  Apparently, while Charlie was walking with Leroy, they passed Oliver's pen and Oliver, deciding to get a little frisky, started jumping around.  That friskiness gave Leroy the brilliant idea to do a little jumping around of his own.  Poor Charlie suddenly found himself in a stuntman scenario straight out of a Western movie.  Before he realized that a 150 pound boy can't stop a happy 1200 pound steer from running, he was being dragged around on the gravel road through our farm.  Jeff caught the last 15 seconds of the action.  He was trying not to laugh at first...just in case Charlie was really hurt.  But as soon as he could see that Charlie was okay, he couldn't stop laughing.  Charlie said later that he wished we'd been able to video tape it because he'd like to see what it looked like from a different angle!

He looks worse on the other side.  His hip has some deeper wounds, poor guy.  The next morning he was walking more stiffly than usual.

On another note, while I was cooking dinner one night, I had Jeff read my 101 Things.  He did a lot of laughing.  He likes the way I think. His comments on a few of them: #20 He was glad to know I didn't want to brutally kill him. #25 He thinks I have NICE skin. He's thinking nice to touch though.  Apparently all the bug bites don't bother him. #52 and #53 the secret dream to own a cookie shop...he thought it was funny, I guess, that I referred to it as a secret dream!  #64 He told me that if my eyes were farther apart, he would never have asked me out on a date because he thinks people with wide-set eyes can't be trusted!  I have no idea where he gets that theory. #93 He's a tightwad so there is no way he'd buy all the dog treats that I do. #98 The fast driving thing.  He thinks I'm a maniac on the highway.  #101 I think the comment was "Oh bull$h!t!  You've impacted my life in a HUGE way.  That's nice to know!  Even if it was expressed in a farmer kind of a way.

And now, a quiet little drum roll please...FRESH KITTIES!!! Anne had her litter, in the chicken house of all places.  It was so hot in there and she was panting like crazy so I put all the babies in a towel and moved them to the barn.  Then she moved them again to this cubbyhole, also in the barn.  Pepper has been mesmerized by them.  I think Anne got fed up with Pepper standing over her looking like she wanted to taste one so they've moved again to a place that's a little more private. 

I took all the older kittens to the vet today for distemper shots and wormer.  Speaking of all the money I spend on pets....this visit was another $123.00 out of my savings.  Oh well.  At least now I can feel better about their health.

And in the bedroom! Hubba hubba.  Just kidding. I don't have a nightstand and since we got married I have been looking for something different and old.  AND a good buy.  Well, I stopped at a flea market the other day and found this little vanity.  The middle mirror has the same arch as the window in our living room.  I've been stripping the paint off so I can decide if I'm going to refinish or repaint.  It appears to be oak under all that nasty green paint, but the paint is so thick that it's taking awhile to get it all off.  Hopefully, I'll be posting the "after" photo soon. We'll see how the stripping goes. Wink.

And last of all, Pammie the Pink Princess tagged me on her blog.
The Rules: Answer the questions using only one word. Then tag four others. (I won't tag anyone else though.)

1. Where is your cell phone? Desk
2. Your significant other? sleeping
3. Your hair? clean
4. Your mother? nice
5. Your father? confused
6. Your favorite thing? Jeff
7. Your dream last night? Kardashians (I have to say I have no idea why on earth I would dream about them! Weird.)
8 Your favorite drink? Pop
9. Your dream/goal? contentment
10. The room you’re in? office
11. Your hobby? pets
12. Your fear? gunshot
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
14. What you’re not? smoker
15. Muffins? healthy
16. One of your wish list items? shoes
17. Where you grew up? Montana
18. The last thing you did? ate
19. What are you wearing? jammies
20. Favorite gadget? computer
21. Your pets? many
22. Your computer? career
23. Your mood? happy
24. Missing someone? naaaa
25. Your car? Camry
26. Something you’re not wearing? undies
27. Favorite store? Target
28. Like someone? yes
29. Your favorite color? pink
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? unknown

101 Things

My friend Debbie did this on her blog so I thought I'd do it, too.

1. I wish I were better at saving money.
2. I'd like to be completely debt free.
3. Kathy Griffin cracks me up.  I know she's crude and obnoxious but I don't care.  I still think she's funny.
4. I am enjoying being a vegan more than I ever thought I would.
5. I'm a night owl and I like it but I wish I weren't because Jeff isn't, so quite often he goes to bed before I do or we both go to bed and then when I know he's asleep I sneak back out and come down to my office to work or play on the internet.
6. I love to be praised.
7. Most of the time, conversations that groups of women have bore the crap out of me.
8. I quit jogging when I was about 43 because I heard someone say it makes your face sag.  I wish it didn't because I enjoyed jogging.
9. I love movies at the movie theatre. When I watch a movie at home, I'm too distracted and can't sit still very well.
10. I wish I could shake my addiction to Diet Coke.  I try and sometimes I can go a week without, but end up going back to it.  It's like Diet Crack.
11. Poor grammar bothers me.
12. Racist remarks bother me.
13. Ignorant idiots who think they are authorities on everything REALLY bother me.
14. I like artificial floral arrangements.  Not the cheapy kind.  The classy kind.
15. I don't really like new furniture.  I like finding things at an antique store or flea market.
16. I wish I were more motivated to paint furniture in funky ways.
17. I think there is a novel in me but right now I have no idea what it is or how to go about writing a novel.
18. Watching my little kittens play is something I could do for hours.
19. People who believe in God but hate animals are psycho.  I don't feel like it's an option.  If you do the first one, you have to like or love the second one.
20. I like to watch "Snapped" about women who have brutally killed their husbands.  This makes Jeff a little nervous.  (Just a note: I don't want to brutally kill my husband.  I think I am just so baffled by the phenomenon and the psychology of it that I want to learn more about what makes those women tick.)
21. When I fold laundry, it's very precise.
22. I have no desire to ever travel to Europe or really anywhere across an ocean except to Australia.
23. I've been to some Caribbean countries but they didn't thrill me. I prefer to just vacation in Montana or Las Vegas.
24. If I had a lot of money, no debt and no job, I'd get a part-time job at a grocery store stocking shelves.  I would excel at the precision but would probably drive the shoppers crazy if they messed up my work!
25. I wish I had nicer skin.
26. Things that are lime flavored are very yummy to me.
27. I don't like wind.
28. I wish my office were more organized.
29. I like s'mores.
30. I give "feelings" to inanimate objects. If a lone grape is hanging on the stem, I feel sorry for it.  If a single Cheerio is floating in a bowl of milk, it makes me feel bad. I want them to be with their friends.
31. I wish I were more creative than I am.
32. Holidays bore me.  The only one I really like is Halloween because I used to get hundreds of trick-or-treaters at my house.  Now I don't get any because we live in the country.
33. People who have dogs and then never pay attention to them tick me off.
34. I like old people.  They're interesting and I hate that our society seems to overlook rather than revere them.
35. I have bug bites all over my arms and legs. I am jealous of beautiful skin and especially beautiful legs.
36. The Ace of Cakes is one of my favorite TV shows.
37. Sappy romantic movies make my skin crawl but I do like a cute and fun romantic comedy.
38. I wish I could completely erase any memory of my second husband from my mind.
39. My big kitchen makes me very happy.
40. I have always rooted for the underdog.  When I was a little girl, my mom remembers me being bothered by the way a teacher treated a little boy who wasn't very smart.  Sticking up for those kids was something I did all through school.
41. I'm easily annoyed by the sound of people's voices.  Especially on commercials.
42. I wish that DJs on the radio would always say the name of the song and who the artist is.
43. Cartoons annoy me.  Except for the classic Warner Bros. but I don't ever see those anymore.
44. I like hydrangeas.
45. I think I look a lot younger than I really am.  I hope other people think the same thing!
46. If someone's zipper is down or a button is undone, I will tell them. One time I told a guy that he had a piece of candy stuck on his lip and a girl who was his friend said "God Donna, you're so honest!" Apparently that was a bad thing in her mind. Seems to me she had a .8 grade point average in college.  One of those ditzy sorority arm candy girls who weighed about 90 pounds and had fabulous hair.
47. My third grade teacher traumatized me for life.  Seriously.
48. When I was a meat eater, I never ate meat that was still on the bone.
49. I don't like cooked vegetables. I prefer them raw, chilled and crunchy.
50. I'm almost halfway there and I don't know if I can make it to the end!
51. If I could get our garage organized and could sweep the dirt out of it, I would be quite thrilled.
52. I secretly dream that I own a popular shop where I sell home-baked cookies and little gifts.
53. I really have no desire to own a cookie shop in real life.
54. I don't feel obligated to like children just because they're children.  Some children are very annoying.  Others are really cute and fun.
55. I'm glad I never had any kids of my own.
56. I do wish I could see a miniature "me" running around.  That interests me, but not enough to produce one.
57. I think I'm a good friend.
58. Certain food textures bother me.
59. I hate to clean with water.  Vacuuming and dusting, I don't mind.  Washing a floor, I hate.
60. I think there's a big difference between compromising and lowering your standards.
61. I'm a Democrat.
62. Tom Cruise gives me the creeps.
63. I wish my parents lived here in this town so that I could help them more often.
64. I wish my eyes were farther apart.
65. I'd love to have a new Mac.  A really high dollar top-of-the-line Mac.
66. I never want to be the chairperson of a committee.
67. I wish I volunteered more.
68. Lying on the beach bores me.
69. I have a really good memory.
70. I like my body type. I'm glad I don't have broad shoulders and narrow hips.
71. Psychology and why people do what they do interests me a lot but I've never taken a psychology class.
72. I'm a home body.
73. I would like to know what it feels like to win big at a slot machine.
74. I'd like to take a cooking class.
75. I wish I had fresh vegetables and fruits from a garden, but I don't want to be the one growing the garden.
76. I wish I knew my cousins better....on my mom's side.  I like them all but never see any of them.
77. Buying fabric is something I could be addicted to.  I love fabric!
78. Camping or "going to the lake" doesn't interest me at all.  I have a girlfriend who LIVES for camping and hiking. I don't understand that.  But, she has eight children so I think she enjoys the solitude.
79. I miss Polly a lot.
80. Sometimes I wish I were famous but if I were, I'd hate it.  I don't mean movie star famous. Some other kind of famous.
81. One on one activities are more fun to me than group activities.  Jeff enjoys large groups of people. I'm looking at my watch the entire time.
82. It pleases me that I am still friends with girls I've known since I was a toddler.  And when I see them after twenty years or so it's quite comfortable hanging out together.
83. Traveling or shopping with my sister is my most favorite activity.
84. If I hadn't had breast cancer, I wouldn't have nice boobs so I'm glad I had cancer.  I like my boobs.
85. I'm glad I'm not the same person I was twenty years ago. She was more uptight and insecure.
86. It makes me kind of uncomfortable when someone wants to hug me just because they haven't seen me in a long time.  I'm not a big hugger...except with Jeff, Charlie, my parents and my sister.
87. I'm not a germaphobe.
88. I have a bit of claustrophobia.
89. I'm good at thinking through a project before I start.
90. I'm surprised that I have been able to stay away from candy since changing my eating habits over a month ago.
91. I'd like to paint my office walls. Right now they're gray because I felt like I needed that neutral gray for my graphic design business...technical reasons. Now I think I need to change them to a nice warm tan or cream.
92. I want to know where my economic stimulus check is! Dammit.
93. If I knew how much money I spend on pet food, I'd probably have a heart attack.
94. My favorite books are illustrated children's books.
95. I wish I were a better housekeeper.  I am good at keeping things neat, but I could improve on my actual cleaning skills.
96. I like candles.
97. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a spy.
98. I like to drive fast. (And I have the speeding tickets to prove it.)  After I got a warning from the state, I slowed down and started using my cruise control feature.
99. I can't picture myself as an old person.  I hope that's not a bad omen.
100. I'm too shy to ever be in a theatrical performance.
101. I hope I have positively impacted someone's life.  So far, it's been pretty insignificant.

Well...I made it. I hope I didn't bore you too much. :-)

I SWEAR!!!

People are mean.  Look who was hanging around our farm for the past couple weeks...until we decided that she may as well become a member of the family. She wasn't going anywhere anyway!  Whoever dumped her here might be mean but they aren't dumb.  There is no better place for her than this farm and this family.

We've named her Coco and she is one smart cookie.  It's only been a couple of days since we made it official but she already knows her name, she knows to "sit" when she's told. AND I bought her one of those little rope toys on Sunday (yesterday as I'm typing this) and she is ALREADY getting the hang of fetching and retrieving.  All signs indicate that this little pooch has great potential.  I'm not sure for what exactly, but the girl's got skillz.

She's rather polite and has not chased the kitties or chickens.  She does try to play with them and also with Frances and Pepper who are confused and think she's trying to attack. They haven't quite warmed up to her yet.  Attempting "play" with Tylene has been a success, however.  Today I caught them in a cute wrestling match.  Tylene was lying on the patio and Coco was climbing all over her.  They were both fake biting each other and smiling.  Great fun!  I'm glad Tylene has a playmate.....a girlfriend to hang with.

Here is Coco getting to know Grace with Romeo looking on.
We also have some new feline additions.  Anne, the promiscuous teenage girl whose first litter died, decided to go carousing again and of course got pregnant before I could get her fixed!  (Grace and Velvet are fixed now, thank heavens!) 

I went to get eggs the other day and there was a brand new nest of little rat looking kittens.  It was so hot in there and Anne was panting like crazy so I put the babies on a towel in a bowl and Anne and I relocated them to the nest where I put Velvet's kitties.  Velvet's are all in the main barn now, playing and wrestling happily with Grace's kitties.  We have about TWENTY cats now! HELP.  Does anyone want a kitten?

And for grins, what does a calf do when you don't have a bottle with you?  He just sucks on your fingers instead!  We are feeding him or I should say I am feeding him three bottles in the morning and three in the evening.  Two more a day than is recommended, but he's SO hungry!  And he's still looking for more!

There you have it.  The update from the farm.

I'm Heartbroken

My poor little Polly died today.  She was doing well and then took a turn for the worse.  A couple days ago I had taken her back to the vet and he x-rayed her lungs. He said she has severe scar tissue.  It was really affecting her breathing.  She hadn't been like that before so I'm not sure what went wrong.  Barbie tells me that if an animal is lying around like that they can get pneumonia and she was lying in her little house here in my office but before that, since she couldn't walk well before her amputation operation, she'd been lying around in the barn a lot.  I feel awful because I should have taken her to the vet weeks before I finally did.  But you know, we always think "if only". And also, the vet never said she had pneumonia.  I'm just so sad.

The thing that upsets me is that I had called him yesterday to say "I think I need to have her put to sleep.  She just looks like she's suffering."  He said "Bring her in, leave her here for a couple days and I'll try giving her some shots to see if she gets better."  Against my instincts I let him persuade me to do that when I knew in my heart that she really needed to be allowed to die.  It upsets me so much because my plan was that I could be holding her and petting her so that she wouldn't die alone.  It just makes me so mad that I wasn't there for her and I wanted to be.  And on top of that, when I left her there I TOLD the girl at the vet's office how something similar had happened to me with another wonderful kitty named Wendy and I didn't want the same thing to happen to Polly.  Then it's like deja vu!

I guess I should be glad that she is running around in the sunshine now.  No hurt leg, no bad lungs.  Maybe she's playing with Wendy.  That would be nice because both Polly and Wendy were exceptional kitties. They would enjoy each other's company.

Mortifying Memory

For some reason one of my most mortifying memories popped into my head the other day.  That's the curse of having a good memory...you remember the bad along with the good.  It's not at all selective.

Between my seventh and eighth grade years we moved to a new town and that summer before starting eighth grade, I went to church camp for a week.  There I met a boy named Randy and it turned out that he lived in the town that I had just moved to and went to the Methodist church where we would be attending!  He was nice and fun and we spent most of our time at church camp hanging out together.

This is the only photo I have of myself at church camp.  I'm the one on the right in the quilted Holly Hobbie jacket. (Something I'm sure I designed and my mother sewed for me....per my instructions!)   I can't believe I was starting eighth grade.  I look about 10 years old!

Fast forward a few weeks after church camp when Randy asked me out to a movie. (I think it was my official first date.)  He was a year older but still not old enough to drive so his mother drove us to the theatre in her little Volkswagon Beetle.  He and I sat in the back and she was our chauffeur.  We saw "Return of the Pink Panther" which I thought was one of the stupidest movies I'd ever seen in my life and he spent the whole time paying too much attention to me which was really annoying.

The mortifying part was that on the way home, in the back seat of his mother's Beetle WITH HIS MOTHER DRIVING, he kept trying to kiss me!!!  I was so embarrassed.  His mother was in the front seat!!!  She could look in her rear view mirror and see us. Duh!  What was the matter with him?  And this was not a short trip because it took half an hour to get from the movie theatre to the town we lived in but then another 14 miles to get to our house beyond the town! Sheer torture.

I kept turning my head toward the window and as far away from his lips as I could possibly get and he just kept trying to kiss me.  It's a little claustrophobic when you're trapped in the tiny back seat of a Volkswagon Beetle with a horny 15 year old boy invading your interpersonal space.

When we finally got to my home, he insisted on walking me to the front door where he just had to try to kiss me again.  His mother still in full view, waiting patiently in her Beetle for him to wrap it up. I couldn't get away from him and inside my house fast enough.  That was the end of Randy and me.  Just thinking about it now is making me "throw up in my mouth a little bit!"  Poor guy....I hope he has a nice life, wherever he is!

So what about you?  Do you have a mortifying memory?

SOMEBODY'S Feeling Better

I took Polly back to the vet yesterday because she just seemed to be wasting away and still had a little cold.  He gave her a shot of something and whatever it was, it's a miracle drug.  I came downstairs this morning and she had climbed out of her little pen and was lying on the floor drinking from the dog's water dish.  Then this afternoon, I came in from feeding Oliver and there she was lounging around on Frances' bed!!!  Frances was a little confused about that. As I type this she's lying on Pepper's bed.  Pepper had been there with her and I had planned to snap a quick photo but that stinker Pepper heard my camera turn on and she was outta there! She hates to have her picture taken.

And here she is lying outside in the fresh air.  I guess it felt safer behind Tylene's water dish.
All the dogs and Winky have been very nice to her as she recuperates.

I tried to get some more kitty photos this afternoon but they weren't very cooperative.  But here are the black kitties.  There were five to begin with but we only have three left.  These three seem to be doing well though.  They're a little strange looking, dontcha think? I'm not sure if it's their age or the fact that their parents are brother and sister!!!  (That stuff that looks like baby poop is a pile of kitten chow, just in case you were wondering.)

This little guy was peeking out from inside the barn.  I liked the textures of the rusting fence and the weathered barn wood.

That's my life right now!  Animals, animals, animals!  Oliver the calf is doing well.  We have a feeding schedule now...two bottles in the morning and two in the evening.  When he sees me coming, he puts his head through the fence and sticks his tongue out swirling it around looking for the bottle.  He knows what he wants and he knows how to take care of business.  As soon as one bottle is almost sucked dry, I have the other one ready to stick in his mouth.  Two quarts gone in about 3 1/2 minutes.  Then more tongue swirling, hoping for more!  Have a great weekend.

We Have a New Addition

Meet Oliver!
He arrived this morning and boy was he hungry.  Jeff was working so I got a bottle ready and stepped into the pen with him.  He knew exactly what I was holding in my hands.  No convincing him!  He had that thing sucked dry and almost turned  inside out in about 14 seconds flat. Then started bawling for more and nudging around between my legs for something with which I'm not equipped!  I had to scrambled out of there fast.  I called Jeff and he said to go ahead and give him another bottle so I did.  That one was gone just as fast. 

I'm sad to say that Oliver will eventually end up in the great freezer in the basement unless I can kidnap him and hide him away somewhere. This is the part of living on a farm that I DON'T like!

Kitten Update
Operation Kitten Relocation, moving Velvet's kittens from the chicken house to a nest in the straw, has been a success.  At first I was worried because one of them was missing, but he reappeared so all is well.  They are even having some play dates next door with Grace's kittens!  They go to each other's houses! CUTE.

Here are four of Grace's kittens being typical siblings.

In The Kitchen
I am still following my Skinny B plan except for the occasional Diet Coke.  That stuff is like heroin or something!  Anyway, I have this recipe for what I have dubbed "Healthy Muffins".  They have all kinds of good stuff in them.  Grated apple, grated carrot, mashed banana, raisins, pecans and lots of healthy whole grains.
Once when Jeff and I were dating I brought some muffins with me to the farm for the weekend and left one for him to eat for breakfast the next day.  About a week later I realized that he'd never told me what he though of the muffin so I asked him.  He said "It was awful...I gave it to the chickens!"  I couldn't believe it because they are really yummy. Then I realized I'd left out a vital detail: You have to warm them in the microwave for a few seconds and put some butter on them.  Otherwise they do taste kind of nasty. 

When he had given it to the chickens he had secretly hoped I'd never ask his opinion but when I did, he was honest.  I convinced him to give the Healthy Muffin another try...the right way.  He reluctantly agreed but when he took a bite of a warm buttery muffin, he had to change his opinion!

Happy Father's Day

I hope every father, brother, son and grandpa had a nice day and everyone showered them with love and and attention.  Last weekend, when Matt was here, I asked him if he'd be here for Father's Day and he said no.  I said "Then you'd better go get a Father's Day card for your Dad now."  He, being the contradicting, stubborn "child" that he is said "I'll get one this week and mail it to him."  I was thinking to myself "We'll see if THAT happens." Well of course no card arrived and I was irritated at him because he refuses to listen to me.  He's at that stage where ALL adults are stupid and he knows everything.  Today, he showed up with card in hand. (A three+ hour drive.)  He knew he had messed up and his only option was to deliver it in person or send it late. I'm glad he opted for choice number one!

Jeff went fishing in one of the ponds on the farm and was so excited to catch the biggest bass he'd ever caught.  He had it in a big tub of water and relocated it to another pond.  I'm glad he practices "catch and release"!  I hate to see animals die.  Here he is with his prize catch and another big one before they were released back into the pond.
I wanted to also show you my attempt at dressing up the front door.  I've said this before...this is NOT the door or even remotely close to the type of front entrance I envisioned for our house, but "Mr. Make Decisions without Consulting his Wife" took it upon himself to change the plans without my knowledge.  He'll never live it down, that stinker! So anyway, here is our front door with his grandmother's concrete urns.  We're still in the middle of pouring concrete for sidewalks and patios and still fixing the yard so it looks a bit rough.  Oh and we still need to install the light outside the door.  It's just a hole with wires sticking out right now. It's all a work in progress! 

And last of all, here's another photo of Polly.  She is STILL recuperating.  I know that having a limb removed is pretty traumatic but my concern is the little cold she has.  The vet gave me some medicine to give her twice a day but she hasn't seemed to improve so I'm not sure what's up with that.  Poor little thing.  She eats and drinks though so that's good.  And she loves to lie on my lap while I'm working which is heaven for me.

Oh, one other thing.  I was in the "Kitten Relocation Business" this morning.  Velvet still had her kittens in the chicken house, which is not the best place to grow up.  Chicken poop is nasty.  This morning I'd had enough, so I moved them to the nest in the straw where I originally discovered Grace's kittens.  I put some water there and some kitten chow. They seemed to like it. Then I took Velvet there about five times.  Once she stayed long enough for them to climb all over her.  Hopefully she'll remember where they are!!!  If she forgets I think they'll be fine.  They're old enough to be weaned and as long as I make sure they have food and water I think they have a chance.

What's on My Mind Right Now...

1.  I've been pretty good about following my "Skinny B!+ç# semi-vegetarian lifestyle....except for today!  Today I was frustrated and a little stressed out with my graphic design work.  I drank two Diet Cokes and ate about six cookies.  They WERE Kashi TLC Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chip so they weren't totally sinful, but I don't feel so great right now!  AND I'm craving some Tostitos with shredded colby cheese melted on top with a little chili seasoning for kick.  I can see how a drug addict can fall hard and fast off the wagon.  Good thing I'm not a drug addict!

2.  Now that I live in a brand new beautiful house, I have noticed that my desire to straighten and organize is leaning a little more toward OCD.  All the cans in my cupboards look like they're sitting on the grocery store shelves, every label displayed neatly forward.  I may have even alphabetized things but I don't think so.  I also like to have the shampoo and conditioner bottles in our shower placed a certain way with the labels facing forward.  For some reason, Jeff isn't coming down with the OCD bug because every time I get in the shower, the bottles are askew!  He should have caught on by now, right? Ha

3.  I spent the weekend surrounded by testosterone.  Jeff and Charlie, of course, but also Matt came up for the weekend and brought a friend with him.  NICE YOUNG MAN...he made his bed both days!  What is up with that?  I made sure he knew I was mucho impressed.  BUT, all that testosterone can wear on a chick.  They think in very weird ways. 

Today, Charlie and Jeff came in to eat lunch. They were digging around in the great freezer in the basement and came out with some Hot Pockets.  Charlie asked "How do you cook these?"  I said, "I don't know...read the directions."  I was thinking "Why would I know that right off the top of my head!?"  He said he couldn't FIND the directions.  I told him to look a little bit longer and he'd find them.  Two nanoseconds later "Oh, there they are."  So helpless sometimes!

The other thing that makes me crazy is when they put clothes in the dirty clothes hamper turned inside out or socks that are all balled up.  I have spent so much time getting all that straightened out before each load that one day I made an announcement that I would no longer be turning things right side out.  I said I expected them to do it from now on.  Charlie has done a good job.  He's a good boy!  Jeff is an old dog, apparently, because the week after I told them that, there were FIVE t-shirts all inside out!  His worst record ever!  I could have sworn he did it on purpose.  He claims he didn't.  The jury is still out on that one.

4.  They do good things, too.  Jeff was kind enough to dig the manure out of the barn for me.  We've had so much rain and it was so mucky in there I was afraid my boots would get stuck and my feet would pull right out of my boots.  Or I'd get stuck like being in quicksand.  He and Charlie also put two concrete urns up on our new front steps so I can put some plants in them and dress up the front entrance.  The urns were his grandmother's and we saved them from being destroyed in the demolition last year.  They're old and really cool looking.

5.  I really, really like the movie "You've Got Mail."  I didn't know I liked it that much but it's been on a few times lately and I have determined that I like it even more than "Sleepless in Seattle."

6.  Polly is doing well. Recovering slowly.  It didn't really dawn on me that she would need a long time to recover.  I was picturing bringing her home from the vet and just plopping her back out in the barn.  Silly me.  I enjoy having her around so I'm glad it's taking awhile to recover.  Her worst problem right now is a cold.  The doctor gave me some antibiotic liquid and gave her another distemper shot.  She has a good appetite so I think things will be okay.

There you have it. That's what's going on in my head.  Sorry no photos.  I'll try to find something interesting to photograph in the next few days.

A Day of Firsts

Today, Charlie gave Leroy his first shampoo.  Then he brought him down to the front yard in front of my office for a photo. During our photo shoot, Charlie discovered that Leroy had pooped and undid some of his hard work! One swish of the tail and Leroy was no longer clean from one end to the other.  Oh well, he still looks good from this view!

This was also the first day that the kittens ate kitten chow.  According to this guy it was lip-smackin' good!

Here they are chowing down with their mom, minus one little orange one who was off to the side watching me cautiously.

This is one of the shy kittens, peeking up from a nest in the hay.

And an update on Polly...she is still recuperating.  I make her walk a little bit every day.  It's still tough for her and I'm sure she's still in pain from having her leg chopped off!  Poor thing.  She loves her little cage and she loves to sit on my lap.  In fact, she's curled up in my lap right now.  So cute!  I really think I need to keep her as my office kitty!

Swamped with Work and KITTIES!!!!

Hi everyone!  I'm sorry I've not posted more frequently. I'm working on quite a few projects for my scrapbook clients.  We're getting ready for CHA-Summer.  There are going to be some pretty neat things coming out this summer.  Wish I could share, but as always it's top secret.

As you know, when I'm not chained to my computer, I'm feeding chickens and barn cats.  Today when I went to the barn there were Grace's kittens frolicking in the hay and venturing out beyond that.  Each of the five kittens let me pet them.  Of course I didn't have my camera so I went back to the house to get it. By then, one of the little gray kittens had disappeared back into their nest but the others were a little more brave and came to visit.  One little orange one in particular was following me everywhere and I almost stepped on him because I didn't realize he was right at my feet.

Look at this precious face and those little whiskers!  What a little doll.

Oh my gosh....look at that little belly and those little feet.  The gray one in the back got relaxed and rolled backwards and almost rolled right out the hole in the barn wall.  There is nothing cuter than babies of any kind!  They are just so precious.

Awwwwwww!!!  I have no idea if this is a girl or a boy but I am saying girl.  She was getting sleepy but the flash made her eyes pop back open.

Here are four of the five kittens posing for a family photo.  Isn't that cute that they posed for me?

I don't think I can officially be called the crazy cat lady if the cats don't live in my house....right?????

And speaking of cats in the house, Polly is still recuperating from her leg amputation.  She LOVES her little cage.  She had her stitches out on Saturday but still needs to continue healing in a clean environment.  I may have to just keep her as an office kitty!  I wonder how that will go over with Mr. I Don't Like Pets In The House? (This from a man who gives the dogs treats constantly.)

Guess how much the vet charged me for this operation?  Hundreds?  Thousands?  No, $75.00!!!  Is he out of his mind?  He has a new vet clinic in town and I think he needs to raise his rates a bit or he won't make a living!

And last of all, in an unrelated topic, I have recently read the best selling book "Skinny Bitch."  I hate that title but anyway, it rocked my little nutritious world.  This is a book about nutrition along with other things food related, like government corruption.  But anyway, I have followed their tips for the past week, but not fanatically, so put the word "almost" in front of these: no dairy, no meat, no soda, no sugar, no fried stuff.  I don't want to be one of those crazy vegetarian people but seriously, cutting these things out of my dietary world has been wonderful in many ways.  

I have decided that I need to break the rules once in awhile for some fun cheating but for the most part I want to see if I can stick to this.  So this past week my cheating was: 

1. An order of crab rangoon at our local Chinese restaurant.  Jeff and I went out to lunch and I didn't want to put a damper on the mood.  

2. Today we went to Joe's Crab Shack so I had crab cakes with french fries and cole slaw.  We also each had a margarita and then I had a slice of key lime pie that I couldn't finish because it was so rich. (So unlike me.)

3.  One Diet Coke in the past seven days.  I poured part of it out.  It didn't taste that good to me.

I hope I can keep it up!  Jeff says he hopes it's a phase and I'll get over it. Ha  That's why I've decided to do a little cheating.  I don't want to make eating out together a drag for him.  If there's something on the menu that fits into this new plan that will be great, but if not I'll go ahead and break the rules.

What's Going On...

I found the litter of black kittens!!!  One day, while I was watering the chickens, Velvet comes strolling out the door of the chicken coop.  I was standing there wondering what on earth she’d be doing in there when I realized “Ah ha!  That’s where she put her kittens.”  I went inside, looked around. Nothing.  Then I picked up one end of a feeder and there before me were the kittens, all lined up side-by-side.  It was so cute.  I ran and got my camera but by the time I got back, they were a pile of black fuzz again.

Here is Velvet, lounging on the grass for me.  She is so affectionate and when she sees me coming, she starts flipping around on her back in a frenzy of love.  The characteristic that most likely helped her to become a pregnant teen!

Next big news...Polly is home recuperating from her surgery.  She is eating well and seems to feel relaxed.  I built her a cage out of the same grid wire that Buster's condo is made of.  She had never let me come close or pet her before her accident, but I've been petting her every day since I brought her home and even though her instincts tell her to hiss at me when I first reach into the cage, as soon as I start scratching her neck, petting her coat and giving her tail a little pull, she's purring and leaning into my hand for more.

Beyond the farm pet news, I have painted and crackled my screen and hung it on my office wall.  I don't have much displayed there yet, but it's up so I'm making progress. 

Also, do you remember when I bought those two frames and painted the one that had the mirror in it?  Well here's what I did with the other frame.  I made my own chalkboard!  And I found a matchbox holder at a flea market to store my eraser and chalk.  Is that cute or what!?  This is the ONE TIME that I'm glad my father hoards everything under the sun because Barbie found the eraser amongst his piles of "stuff you might need someday."

Here is a view of the wall.

And my most unusual news....I have kissed the future ex-husband of the woman who is the voice of Lisa Simpson from The Simpson, Yeardley Smith!!!  I'm practically famous!  It turns out that a guy from my high school class married her a few years ago and she's divorcing him now.  One of my girlfriends from high school emailed yesterday and said she just HAPPENED to catch this little tidbit in an entertainment news clip. WILD!  He was a popular jock.  He liked me for a short while, but I wasn't in the right crowd so dating me wasn't an option.  But kissing me at a New Year's Eve party apparently was! Ha He was more into the arm candy type of girl so I was really shocked to see this.  Weird. Totally weird.

Farm Cats are Easy

There's been some X-rated activity going on in the barn and three of my four teenage barn kitties have gotten pregnant and had babies! Each one had gotten very fat and then suddenly one day were half their width. Anne was the first one. I assumed that her kittens all died, which happens quite often with a first litter. Grace was the next one and I never saw any kittens so I assumed hers had died as well. Next was Velvet. I went to the barn one day and there before me on the hay was a pile of five black kitties. I never got a photo dang it, but they were so cute. Velvet is also all black and I'm assuming she was messing around with her all black brother, Midnight. (Hence, the litter of all black babies.) I haven't seen those kittens since but I have a feeling they're still around and Velvet has just moved them to a safe place. Well, imagine my surprise as I was snooping around in the hay searching for the five black kittens when there before me were three orange tabbies and two gray tabbies! WHAT? Where did these guys come from? I'm pretty sure they're Grace's kitties...but they could be Anne's. Now I'm wondering if there are three separate litters or just two? It's out of control! 

Here are the secret babies.  Look at the yellow one in the back.  He's sleeping on his back! Ha

This is Grace. I THINK she's the mom. Look how tiny she is! She has no business being a mother! What was she thinking?

This is Hunter. He is Grace's brother and I'm assuming he's the father of these kittens since there are three that look just like him! He is a total lover, just like his father, Romeo. (Are you staying with me here?)

And here is Hunter showing off how limber he is to Grace. 

The fourth girl (and apparently the only one who's not "easy") is Polly. Her leg was injured about a month ago and I kept watching her to see if she was recovering but lately she has been less mobile. She's very timid and has never let me touch her but two days ago, I put on some gloves, took my cat carrier out to the barn and before she knew what was happening, I grabbed her and stuffed her in the carrier. I took her to the vet and he said the best thing to do would be to amputate that leg. Her knee was shattered! Who knows what happened. Maybe a cow stepped on her. The manure is so deep in there that it could have padded her a bit and saved her from a worse injury, if that is indeed what happened. Anyway, he also spayed her while she was in surgery and she is still there recovering. I hope she does well with three legs and has a good life here on the farm!

Making Progress

I have waited a year and I'm finally getting steps outside my front and back doors! Wheeeee (We did have wooden steps out the back but there has been nothing out the front.) Jeff wanted to wait to build these until the ground around the house settled. He knows all about that stuff. Two days ago he dug dirt and measured and planned. Built forms. Ordered gravel and concrete. His friend Jerry came over to help and now they've completed Stage One. I haven't been able to use the front door but today I did. YAY!

Here are Jeff and Jerry working on the section that goes into the mud room. There will be another step and a patio around this first section.

This is the stoop at the front door. We made it a nice big curve. There will be another step here also.

Here they are measuring the forms for the sidewalk.

And here are Jeff and Jerry working together, leveling and fastening the forms in place. I thought it was cute how they both had their heads down. These two have known each other since they were tiny tots. Their moms were best friends.

I don't know when Stage Two will take place, but I think fairly soon. I'm so excited! Can you tell?

LOOK! (Updated for Janette)

Wheeeeee....new boots arrived today from Zappos! Back flip double splits.

My black polka dot boots were starting to crack in spots and I was having to put plastic WalMart sacks over my feet before I put my boots on or I'd end up with manure-y socks! Ewwww. Definitely time for new boots.

This time I decided to spend a little more money in hopes that they would last longer. These have the "Royal Horticultural Society" logo on the label and a 12 month guarantee. AND they're CUTE, which is important in farm wear!

Here I am wearing my new wellies, trying to get Rocky and Tylene to pose with me. They're still learning!

The Latest

I'm still in the bird saving business! What is the deal with these little guys? My sliding glass door is FAR from clean and I've purposely not cleaned it because I don't want them thinking it's clear blue sky. Saturday morning this little hummingbird had a minor accident.

He was so cute and teeny that I had to shoot a photo of him getting snuggled. I set him up on the rock wall like the others but he kept falling over to the side. Then I saw a tiny little depression in some dirt next to the wall, just the size of a hummingbird belly, so I set him in there and he sat for a few minutes. The next time I reached out to pet his little head, he flew away so he's good to go and has hopefully learned his lesson!

Last night was our little dinner party. One of the couples had to bow out at the last minute so it was just four of us. We had a great time though. This is Dwight and Cindi. Aren't they cute? We love them. They are so much fun to spend time with. Dwight's 51st birthday is coming up soon so I made him a chocolate cake. I put a secret layer of fudgy frosting under the white frosting. Sugar overload, which Dwight loves.

Here he is blowing out his candles with Jeff looking on.

And here's a photo that Jeff and I took of ourselves since we didn't get a photo during the birthday party.

We had intended to go to the local wine cellar for a wine tasting but when we got there it was closed, so we went back home and had a pretend wine tasting at our house. We know nothing about wine, but we pretended we knew what we were doing!

To Do List

Have you ever had a list of tasks to complete that is so big (not long but big) that you feel overwhelmed and you wonder how you're going to get it all done....but you keep plugging forward just pretending that everything will be fine and you hope that you're right!? That's where I am right now.

These are the biggies:
1. The biggest.....to complete a huge project for a client by Monday. (I feel like my little computing arms are going to fall off! AND I could use some positive vibes sent out into the universe that everything is completed with time to spare.)

2. Prepare for and host a casual dinner with friends on Saturday night. Something I am looking forward to, because I need a break, but wondering how I'm going to get everything prepared in time! Must enlist help from Jeff and Charlie to add a leaf to the table and dust off the extra chairs that are being stored in the garage. Do they really know how to dust??? We'll see.

3. Vacuum! It makes me crazy when the carpet gets mashed down and I can see little bits of things that have been tracked in from outside. I work better if the vacuuming is done and I am not distracted by that.

4. Cut Charlie's hair.

5. Wish my mom a Happy Mother's Day and ask if her card arrived in the mail and tell her how much I wanted to be there with her in church on Sunday morning but my schedule will not allow it. I will be seeing her Monday, however, because of number 6 on the list.

6. Pick my sister up at the airport in Kansas City, then meet my parents half way between here and Oklahoma. Pass Barbie off to them so she can visit with them at their house.

And of course there are the usual tasks of collecting eggs, checking on my barn kitties, getting the mail, and giving my pets little hugs, kisses and treats.

So, I hope to be a little less overwhelmed next week....but now that I think about it, I really won't be because I have ANOTHER client with a huge list of projects to complete. I think I'll just keep pretending that it will all be okay! Then it WILL be!

More Farm Happenings

Meet Leroy! Isn't he handsome? He is the calf that Charlie is raising for his FFA project and will be showing him at the county fair this summer. Jeff says he has "good lines." See how nice and straight his back is? That's good.

Charlie has been teaching him to walk on a lead rope and these photos were taken on Leroy's first day out of the pen. He was enjoying grazing on the rye. (See Hunter sneaking around behind? He had to check things out.)

This is Leroy head-butting Charlie! Haaaa

And I'm still in the bird rescue business. This little finch slammed into my office door the other day. Poor guy. I hugged him for awhile and got all his little parts back in place, then set him up on the rock wall to rest and shake it off. What a pretty little bird. It took him awhile but he finally flew away.

Prince Charles Has Arrived at the Farm!

We have our very own Prince Charles living here on the farm! Charlie was crowned Prince at the Junior-Senior Prom on Saturday night. Juniors are the Prince and Princess, Seniors are the King and Queen. Charlie was nominated along with two other boys, the students voted and Charlie received the most votes. I didn't even know he was nominated and asked him why he never said anything. His answer, "I didn't think I would win so I didn't see any point in telling you that I got nominated!" What a goof ball.

Before the prom, they have a promenade in the gym. The superintendent announces the names of each couple and they walk around the perimeter of the gym so everyone can take photos and ooo and ahhh over their tuxedos and dresses. This year, the girls were very tasteful and there were some beautiful choices. A couple years ago, it was a little on the sleazy side, so I was glad to see some class this time!!!

Here are a couple photos of Charlie and his girlfriend Jenna. Aren't they cute?

After the prom there was an all night party in the gym to keep the kids entertained so that they don't go out drinking and you-know-what-ing. I was on the committee for Project Prom and designed all the posters for the fundraisers. The theme for the lobby, where they could get food and drinks, was scary movies. The whole lobby was lined with black plastic. There were movie posters hanging around the room and I designed this poster for the entryway.

In the gym, there was an inflated obstacle course and the kids spent most of the night playing their version of King of the Mountain.

They had Human Bowling! I think the photos can explain it better than I could.

There were also competitions throughout the night. The senior boys vs. the junior boys, wearing grass skirts, were in a cheerleading and dance competition. Since Charlie was involved in that, I shot a video instead of photos. Those junior boys have skillz. And I think Charlie's friend Sam has a future as a male stripper. I'll have to watch the video again to make sure! Wink Wink

We had a fashion show for the girls. They were given a box of really tacky clothes and had to come up with a funky outfit and then model it for everyone. Here are a couple of the girls strutting their stuff.

This is Charlie in the Relay Race. For one leg of the race they had to open a suitcase and put on the stuff that was inside. Those items were: giant men's white underwear, flippers, a hat and sunglasses. Then they had to run across to their teammates, take all the stuff off, the next one had to put it all on and they had to keep doing that back and forth until everyone had participated. I laughed so hard I about wet my pants. Those giant men's underwear kept getting bigger and more stretched out with each race!

And for all the cougars out there, I'll leave you with a little eye candy. This boy graduated last year, I think, but his girlfriend is still in high school so he was back to take her to the prom. The front view was just as sweet as the back. They were a really cute couple...very into each other and seemed to genuinely enjoy each other's company.

Albert's Back, Albert's Back!!!!!!!

This is Albert Einstein. He's one smart rooster. Both he and Goldie used to roam free around the chicken house and roost on some cages just outside the pen. They were very content. Then one day Goldie disappeared which was sad, but he was no Einstein so I guess I could understand his fate. Then a few weeks later, Albert disappeared and we were so forlorn because he'd been very tricky about surviving for a couple years...hiding in the tall grass next to the milk barn or tucking himself into the bales of hay in the old barn. We were just shocked and sad that he was gone.

Well, once a month a group of teachers and friends (including yours truly) meet at the local wine cellar after school to visit and have a glass of wine. My neighbor, Dave, is a substitute teacher and he was there, sat down across from me and started making small talk. He said "I saw the funniest thing today. There was a rooster just walking down the road. At first I thought it was a rabid skunk or something, but as I got closer, I could see it was a rooster. He wasn't very big and he had those fluffy feet."

I said "WHERE DID YOU SEE HIM?" He told me and it was a neighbor right across from our property about three hundred yards from the chicken house. So when I got home, I was standing at the window and called Jeff to tell him. As I was talking to him I said, "Dave said he saw a rooster that might be Einstein walking down the road by the Foster's place....well there he is....I can SEE him."

Jeff says "Go get him!" So, Pepper, Tylene and I walked out the driveway and down the road and there he was EINSTEIN!!! ALBERT!!! He was just wandering around, making little chicken noises but he sounded like his throat was really dry. He was covered with dust and his tail was missing!

I called Jeff to come help me so he drove over from where he was, caught Albert with a net, I held him on my lap and we took him back and put him in the pen with the others. He immediately started eating the corn on the ground.

I think he was mentally traumatized by whatever tried to get him though because he's been staying inside the chicken house ever since, just pacing up and down the roost. I hope he will eventually recover and be the perky, cocky little rooster that he was before his ordeal. I suppose it will take some time.

We found a couple of his tail feathers in the grass not far from his former stomping grounds. Good ol' Einstein. He IS one smart rooster!!!

Accident

Any ideas what happened here? It was horrific, let me tell you! Devastating.

Barbie has, like any caring big sister, convinced Jeff and me that we need to drink Mona Vie every day, for our health. Well, we had a new bottle in the refrigerator and I noticed a little wet ring of juice where it was sitting. I just thought that Jeff was being messy. I cleaned it up but the little ring of juice appeared again. I thought maybe there was a tiny crack somewhere in the bottle so I put a paper towel under it to catch the drips but didn't think much more about it.

Yesterday, I took the bottle out, shook it and took a big swig....for my health, right? (We don't even bother pouring it into a glass anymore, just drink right out of the bottle.) It still looked like it was leaking somewhere, I went over by the window over the sink and tilted the bottle a little to examine it in the light when "POP", the bottom just fell off and juice went E*V*E*R*Y*W*H*E*R*E!!!!!!!! I stood there in shock, with an empty bottomless bottle in my hand and my mouth hanging open!

Things I'm thankful for:
1. The bottle was only about half full.
2. When the bottom popped off, I was standing as far away as possible from the carpet.
3. It didn't break open while sitting in the refrigerator. Can you imagine trying to clean it out of those little crevices?
4. This happened to me and not Jeff. I hate to think how he would have handled the clean up.
5. The dogs steered clear and didn't track their little paws through the mess.
6. And NO ONE GOT HURT!

The floor needs to be cleaned again....maybe three times!!! I'm sure I'll still find some splatters I missed because some bits of juice made it all the way across the kitchen and about a half inch from the carpet.

I'm home!

Last week, Jeff and I took a little whirlwind trip to North Georgia to visit my sister and her husband. Of course I packed my camera and then didn't even take it out of the case!!! As it should be, the guys went fishing and the girls went shopping. It was low key and relaxing with no wild marathon trips to the city or anything. We found some good deals on clothes, ate some yummy lunches and of course cookies and other sweets. Barbie and I should never live near each other because we would both weigh about 500 pounds!

We were glad to get home to Charlie and all our babies. Speaking of Charlie, he did a great job taking care of all the animals. His mom came to stay with him, but she said he did all the chores and was very diligent about wanting to keep the house clean so that it would be nice for our return. That included doing laundry and vacuuming! How many 17 year old boys DO that!? He is so wonderful. The doggies and Winky think so too because they slept in his room with him while we were gone. CUTE!

I came home to a TON of work. I think I'll be up late tonight. I can say there are some cute, fun and interesting scrapbook products in your futures.

Today we finally had a real spring day. It was sunny and beautiful and it feels like it's really here and this isn't just teasing anymore. Jeff borrowed our neighbor's boom truck, put the screens on all the windows and also washed a little muddy bird print off the main living room window. (The bird was fine, but he'd left a print there about a year ago and the rain wouldn't wash it off and I couldn't reach it without compromising my safety so there it stayed until today.) I hope it's not so clean that another bird tries a shortcut through the living room!

So now, back to work. Much to do!!!

F.Y.I. 1-10

Nothing much going on here...other than being swamped with work. That's a good thing, but then I don't have lots of extra time for housewifey things and for finishing my various projects. My Mary Engelbreit calendar quote today says "If you don't start, you won't arrive!" Well...I'm pretty good at starting but I