flock

whilst looking through photos the other day, 

i realized i didn't have any really recent pix of the girls.

especially not since they all got red combs & wattles.

well, the easter eggers don't have wattles, they have beards!

top row is henry...maggie...ruby

the middle pic is the first semi decent picture

where i managed to actually catch all of them in frame.

bottom row is ethel...etta...fred.

fred still has a tiny comb which isn't very red...

but she lays awesome eggs.

my EEs have been faithful layers since they started.

(one pale-ish blue green...one pale minty to sage green & one dark olive)

i'd always heard that they were rather unpredictable.

& our EEs started laying early (i'd heard they tend to be procrastinators)

our 2 reds & our barred rock (ruby, henry & maggie) however...

haven't laid one egg between 'em.

& they're generally the early layers...

(according to my chicken knowledgeable friends & backyardchickens.com forums)

so, who knows.

if all of that is true...it just fits right in with the rest of our animals 

that have weird traits and behaviors.

there's a surprise. (smell that sarcasm?)

have a lovely weekend...

xox.

4th grader

munki was extremely excited to start school today.

it makes my heart so happy.

the house was quiet today...

i was kind of lonely...

& it was just weird without her around.

when i picked her up from school, she was giddy.

(she still runs to me and hugs me & i'm hanging onto that for as long as i can)

she loves her teacher and made a couple of new friends today.

none of her 3rd grade girl friends are in her new class...

there are 4 boys from her 3rd grade class though.

and she likes 3 of them, so that's not too bad.

the girl to boy ratio in her class is 7 to 14.

there are just more boys in that school than girls...

all of the classes are that way.

anywho...

she had a FABULOUS first day 

and is looking forward to school tomorrow, which is always a bonus.

hope y'all are doing well.

xox.

fynche, frank & fergus

off to the fair again this afternoon...

i think this is our last trip...whew!

just wanted to post a few pix i took this week.

i know that some of you don't understand my blythe doll obsession...

but i love them...so very much.

especially my 2 girls.

fynche and frank are just awesome.

& i've included another f word in this post (harhar)

& that would be wee fuzzy fergus.

he really is doing well & growing like a weed.

don't all baby animals do that?

i love his random little orange spots...they're everywhere.

while my head still can't wrap around the fact that we have 5 cats...

i wouldn't change it for anything.

we have a busy weekend planned...

the last weekend before munki starts 4th grade (on august 28th)

4th grade!

so, in case i don't post anything else this weekend, 

have a nice one.

xox.

 

fair fair fair

my favorite part of the fair is always the animals...always...

that and the elephant ears or funnel cakes and the cotton candy...

the rides mostly terrify me...

(just fair rides not always amusement park rides)

mainly because they get moved around and around and around...

which means taken apart and put back together...

a lot.

hell, we lose a nut or a bolt or a screw 

every time we take something apart to move...

go ahead and tell me that carnivals don't do the same thing.

well, don't bother telling me...it will do no good...

i'll never believe you.

you have as much chance of convincing me of that 

as you have of convincing me 

that some serial killer isn't hiding underneath

the make up of damn near every clown.

(and if it's not a serial killer...it's some demented individual)

speaking of which...yes, there is a clown at the fair...

no, i didn't see him...

matt & munki steered me all around him...bless them.

munki & i will be back at the fair tomorrow and friday for more 4H stuff...

munki starts school next week (the 28th)...

and fergus is almost big enough to be let out of his bedroom 

on a full time basis...

i won't know what to do.

hope everything is loverly in your part of the world...

xox.

p.s. we did let munki take one ride on the ferris wheel...

it was relatively small...

and yes, matt & i both thought...

we can rescue her easily enough if something goes wrong...

see, i was serious.

menagerie...

the butterflies are awesome.
it's actually been just as awesome for me to watch this as it has been for munki.

it was her idea to do the 4 square collage of stages...

soooooo pretty.

and then there's fergus.
he's doing so much better.
the above 2 pictures are the day he arrived 

and then yesterday, which was exactly 2 weeks later.

he's really quite sweet. 

i wish i had the ability to nurse him back to health and then rehome him.

but i can't do that.

i know we can take care of him and he's already settling in.

i can control what happens to him here...

and if i send him off with someone else, i can't.

yes, i have control issues.

nothing new there.

this is why we can't have any more kittens.

but...all that said...if we happen upon any more kittens

or abandoned animals...

i may have to find a way to let go.

i know i can help, so i like to do that...

but our animals now are staying with us...

future animals may be nursed back to health and then rehomed.

i may just have to find a way.

anywho.

today we are off to the fairgrounds to set up the huge 4H booth.

fair starts on friday.

maybe some kind of order will happen after that.

hope you all are well & having a great week.

xox.

 

crazy cat people

...and it's matt's fault.

matt was working and had to stop at the hardware store.

he came back to his van, and saw a kitten underneath the car parked next to him.

he reached down and tried to get him, 

but someone drove by and scared him, he then ran under matt's van.

matt was then able to get him...he scooped him up and called me....

(he did look around the parking lot...drove around the parking lot 

& of course found no one that was looking for this kitten)

...all he says on the phone is, "i'm almost home, could you come out in the driveway?"

suspiciously, i meet him in the driveway.

he hands me a kitten, i'm at a loss for words.

we already have 4 cats.

this little thing is SO skinny, dirty, scabby, has puncture wounds in several places

and is missing the tip of his tail. (this is just a quick initial inspection)

we already have 4 cats.

matt says, "work your magic, i have to get back to work."

we already have 4 cats.
 

i take the kitten to the basement to check him out more thoroughly.

he has fleas, ear mites and so many wounds that i lose count.

he has two horribly infected toes... 

so infected that it looks like he has no toenail.

we already have 4 cats.
he is purring the entire time that i am poking, prodding, picking & etc.

it melts my heart a little.

he's so darn skinny that his face is actually sunken in...

and you can see and feel almost every tiny little bone in his body.

i decide to run out to get flea stuff, mite stuff, and some more canned kitten food.

thankfully, we had a can left from when mabelle (you know our 4th cat!) was a kitten.

which, by the way, that poor little kitten ate so fast it tore my heart apart.

we already have 4 cats.

after returning home with all the necessary 'clean up a filthy kitten' stuff...

i went back to work on this kitten...

killed all of the fleas...

cleaned so much stuff out of his ears...

(i won't share beyond that, suffice it to say...it was n.a.s.t.y.)

he's still purring

we already have 4 cats.

then i went to work on his toes...poor baby.

something really got a hold of him good.

his toes have actually been bitten through.

so, next on my list, drain kitten toes. yay.

he's still purring by the way.

we already have 4 cats

even through soaking his now drained oversized & purple kitten toes

in peroxide and all that fun stuff.

to me, just another day in the world of loving little defenseless creatures.

he looks up at me and purrs and my heart melts a little more.

we already have 4 cats.

i open up another can of kitten food, scoop a tiny bit into his a bowl.

i sit on the floor of the office (where we have him sequestered) to watch him.

he eats it up a little less greedily this time.

his little kitten belly looks huge after he finishes.

who knows when he last ate anything.

we already have 4 cats.

he crawls in my lap then stands on his hind feet, 

putting his front paws on my chest, i hear him purring.

he stretches up and he licks the tip of my nose...

then promptly curls up in my lap and goes to sleep.

we have 5 cats.

meet fergus.

~*~

i haven't even hardly had time to turn the computer on...
let alone catch up here or other places.
munki got some caterpillars for her butterfly pavillion
& we've been watching them, moving the chrysalides into their new home
& we're now waiting for them to turn into butterflies sometime this week.
lots of egg collecting going on...lots of animals period.
we need more land.
oddly enough, matt & i had just said that we were not going to add
any more animals to our menagerie until we decided where we want to be.
and then he has to go and rescue that sweet little kitten.
(who is doing amazing by the way.)

ah, such is the life of people who have huge hearts where animals are concerned.


hope y'all are doing well & having a lovely week...

xox.