check this out!

Yesterday I went outside to check for eggs and Claire followed me. As we walked up to the coop, I could hear the familiar shuddering noise that is Plumpy, our Rhode Island Red trying to lay an egg. We heard the same noise for two days when her sister died on New Year's Eve. She seems to occasionally have a hard time laying her eggs but I thought we'd worked out all the kinks. Not so much. Josh said she had been in there for over two hours but he didn't want me to worry. (I caught the Catalina Cold that two of the girls in my dorm came down with) Claire and I both had our cameras and I opened the back of the coop to see what was going on. Sometimes Plumpy just likes to hang out on her egg for a while after she's laid it. Claire turned on her camera and all its beeps and boops, not to mention the giant keychain charm on the camera strap, started Plumpy and she got up and took off, out the coop and up the hill. Grrrreat, I'm thinking. Then I saw it: the egg was starting to crown while she was walking! Claire and I hurried through the mud and I fired off three quick shots before I heard a little "dink!". The egg rolled down the hill and landed next to a little rock and some nasturtiums. It was CRAAAAZY!

See, didn't I tell you chickens are fun? Next we want a rooster for a week or two. His name will be "Hot Wings".

new year, new starts

We lost one of our Rhode Island Red hens at the end of the year. You can read all about it here, if you'd like. It was sad, especially because we had to put her down. But we went into this chicken project knowing that the life span of a chicken is not long, so we were able to move ahead. We have plans for a new coop this spring and hopefully a few new chicks when they start hatching next month. I want colored eggs: green, blue and dark brown.

On Monday the kids go back to school and Josh goes back to work. Oh yeah, and Claire turns SEVEN. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I get a call back for a job I applied for before the holidays.

broody: a chicken story

Our bantam hen Scratch didn't come home to roost the other night. We were so scared for her but the next morning there she was, scratching around in the yard. The next thing we knew she was gone again and stayed away overnight again.

This morning Josh saw her come running across the concrete as if she had come from the front yard. She ate, scratched around, took a huge crap and then sat in the sun with the other two like it was any other day. Then the two started off one way and Scratch went the other. I watched her saunter over toward the front yard and nonchalantly jump the two foot wall and go underneath the recycling bins. I called Josh to help me and we were on either side of the bins so she didn't have a way out, but she wasn't moving anyway. I grabbed her with one hand (she's so skinny!) and what do you know, I grab an egg with her. I looked down and there were the other 11, all cozy in the dirt. Makes sense...she stopped laying about two weeks ago but thought it was just due to the cold. Nope...she was collecting herself some kids. Poor girl.

My vote was to go to the feed store and get her a couple of fertile eggs to sit on, but Josh was having none of it. So she's in the coop with food and water and no eggs. Not happy with us at all.

And yes, we looked for her all over the neighborhood! She made nary a cluck.

look what I found!

We were driving home Sunday night, turning off of Halliburton and we saw two little black shadows running and darting off the sidewalk. Damn it, loose dogs! Everyone knows how I feel about small toy dogs running loose, especially on that street. My own little poodle was killed there in the 80's and I swear I've never recovered.

Once we got the kids home and inside, I ran back outside with some dog food to see if I could lure the dogs to my house, get them in a crate and call their owner. (I could hear their tags jingling) Amazingly enough I found them up the street. I put some food on the ground and they came over: a cute little miniature pincher and a black chihuahua with freakishly large ears. The chihuahua wanted nothing to do with me. Just as well since I hate those dogs. The min pin scarfed down the food and let me pet him, then pick him up. I figured the chihuahua would follow and I could throw them inside Buddy's big crate together. I took off the min pin's collar and pocketed his tags in case he jumped out of my arms, I could still call his owner. There was even an AVID microchip tag - sweet! This was gonna be easy! Except it was anything but.

I called AVID and gave them the dog's chip number that was listed on the tag. Unfortunately, the brain surgeon who adopted the dog didn't bother to register the microchip number with the company - no luck there. I called the number on the LA Co dog license and got the phone number of the dog's owner. Great! Except again, it wasn't. I was connected to Mr. Lloyd Frederickson, age 90, who got the dog to keep him company after his wife died but ultimately had to give him up. The dog, who Lloyd named Reggie, is a jumper and chewed up three of his hearing aides, and those aren't cheap, so it was off to the pound with Reggie. Sometime within the past 3 months, Reggie was adopted out from the pound. Poor Mr. Frederickson said he hated to give the dog up because he really is such a good little dog, but way too much energy for a 90-year old. He sits, understands "no", poops and pees outside, doesn't bark and cutest of all, jumps in your lap when he wants to be held. He also knows "get down". Mr. Lloyd asked if he could get my phone number and contact me in the future to find out how Reggie is doing. I promised him I'd find a good home for Reggie.

As it turns out, my brother and his girlfriend saw the same two dogs loose in the same area last weekend. They live somewhere off of Halliburton, near Skunk Alley where skunks are run over all the time, not to mention the owls and hawks that feed off the rodents who live in the nursery with the skunks. I HATE PEOPLE WHO DON'T TAKE CARE OF THEIR ANIMALS!! Do these people even want their dog back? More importantly, do they deserve their dog back? Did I run around the streets in the dark of night just to reunite dog with owner so it will get out again? Cause if there's anything that bugs me, it's PEOPLE WHO DON'T TAKE CARE OF THEIR ANIMALS AND LET THEM BE EATEN BY LOCAL WILDLIFE. Your chihuahua, yorkie, min pin or teacup whatever are all perfect size for predators and car tires.

So no, I don't want to reunite Reggie with his new owner. And you know what? I'm fine with it. Fuck them. There haven't even been any signs posted for a lost min pin. I posted two ads on craigslist and only got responses from people who want a free min pin. I'm smitten with this dog and I'd keep it if it weren't for The Landlord(s). That's why my brother is going to take it and keep it. He can live with Joy's min pin Archie (Archie and Reggie...Bosco should be re-named Jughead!) and Bosco and Paul. He looks just like Archie except his eyes are a little bulgier and he has a white star on his chest. Tonight, Paul and Joy are coming over to meet Reggie and hopefully take him home, along with his crate. He even sleeps and stays in his crate and doesn't mess in it. Good boy. He should be pretty easy to take care of and I told Paul I'd help out in any way that I can. I'm going to give Reggie a bath so he looks and smells pretty when he meets Joy. (Paul met him last night)

So that's the story of Reggie, or "How I Met and Fell In Love With A Small Dog I Didn't Like". The end.

on a roll...

joy's new dog Archie

the prettiest kitty ever

nope

The kitty at the pound wasn't her.
I'm absolutely beside myself and can't stop crying.
It's raining and storming and she's still not back.
What the hell could have happened?
Josh is out printing flyers so we can take them door-to-door and then to the pet stores, grocery stores, vets offices, and pretty much plaster the city with them.
I really can't deal with this.

sucker punch

My cat has been missing for 3 days now.
I think I may have found her on the animal shelter website under Lost & Found.
http://animalcontrol.co.la.ca.us/LostFoundDetails.asp?AnimalID=A3614824
At least I hope it's her. As much as it would suck, it's the best possible outcome
at this point. Josh is going to check tomorrow.
I can't believe how lonely it is without her. No kitty to rub up on my legs and feet.
No guard kitty sitting out in front of the house.
No kitty teasing the dog or bringing home stray friends.
I miss her and I can't stop wondering what happened to her.
She has a collar and ID tag, but it is a safety collar and would break away if she was trapped.
I'll update tomorrow, of course. Please keep your fingers crossed.

Christmas was awesome all the way around, btw. I am now the proud owner if an iPod and a
cell phone. Welcome to the new millenium, Mrs. Carmer! Love them both. Thanks, babe. :)

you'll never guess

Ah, how much wonderful news has begun with a knock on the door? We were all cozily still in our pajamas at *ahem* 1:30-ish this afternoon and there was a knock at the door. I thought it was Josh so I told Kaylie to let him in. It wasn't. It was our neighbor Max who came to tell Kaylie that HE'D FOUND BINKY!! They could hardly contain themselves enough to tell me what was going on. I heard "found", "Binky", "Max" and "at his house". I tossed off my dish gloves, threw on my house coat, grabbed some millet and Binky's best friend (his little wooden toy with a bell on the end), told the girls to wait for me and ran across the street. Sure enough, there was Binky perched on my neighbor's shoulder. He came right to me and started chowing down on the millet, making a mess on his rescuer's beautiful pickled birch Pergo floors. Ingrate.


I guess the neighbor had seen Binky in her tree on Thursday afternoon while working from home. She even told her husband that she'd seen a big, gray bird in the backyard and he thought she was maybe a teeny bit crazy. But when they came home from running errands this afternoon, there was my birdie, trying to warm up in a patch of sunlight on their patio. He was very cold, tired, hungry and thirsty but we fixed all that right away. He ate, drank, pooped and settled in for a nap, safe in his cage in the sunlight from the window. After the sun went down we moved a little space heater near the cage to keep him warm. He gradually got less puffy and more active and seems fine. He's at least all in one piece and doesn't look damaged on the outside.


Did I mention that it rained last night? Poor birdie! How did he ever survive? The temperatures were in the low 40's the past few nights. I really thought (and Josh did, too) that if a predator hadn't gotten him, the weather certainly would have.

We're so glad to have him back. The girls swore that they wouldn't complain when it was their turn to change Binky's food and water any more. Josh is just stunned and so grateful that someone found the stupid bird. Yes, I'm taking Binky to get his wings clipped tomorrow and might even get him a bunch of cilantro to celebrate.

It's a Hanukkah miracle, I tell you.

bye-bye birdie

I am devastated to report that Binky is no longer. While coming into the house today after an afternoon shopping trip, two members of the family (who shall remain nameless but it was NOT ME) left the front door open and in the confusion - whoosh! A quick flutter of wings and Binky was out the door. I put his cage outside in front in hopes that he'll want to find his way back home, but the reality of it is that he won't survive the night for any number of reasons.

The kids were inconsolable for a while and felt really guilty, even though only one of them was directly responsible. The other felt bad for opening the cage door this morning, but I told her to. And I could say it's all my fault for not clipping the bird's wings. Josh keeps trying to sell me on this whole "moment of glory, free flight" thing, but I'm not buying it. I just can't get over the big empty space in the living room where the cage was.

Oh well. :(

here's Hercules...for Gretchen

Lizard Count

I think we're up to 2 dead, 4 survivors after this gargantuan guy today. He thought he was allll fancy, prancing around in front of the kitty with his full, long tail. Hah!

Lizards

I've gotta come up with some kind of counter or symbol to keep count of how many lizards my kitty gets this year. With winter's cold weather not too many lizards are around - I think they hibernate? - so no lizard deaths. But when the weather warms up the lizards like to bask in the sun and kitty just can't resist the temptation. And if the stupid lizards would give up that "defense" mechanism of playing dead, they might have a chance. But usually they don't, despite my efforts at keeping kitty otherwise occupied, locked up or constantly checked on.

It was warm last week. The lizard count is up to 2 dead, 3 rescued. All weekend I just knew that there was a lizard under the washer and dryer just by the way kitty was staring at it. And stalking it. Not leaving it. And sure enough, I find the poor, dark, cold, tailless lizard under my chair. Today she's stalking a gorgeous lizard with a full tail by the bricks at my parents house. We'll see how this one plays out...meanwhile, I have to think of a way to keep track of the count here.

We get mostly fence lizards but some alligator lizards - which bite!