do you have some sunflower seeds???

That is one crazy looking chicken. She really looks totally insane. It's been raining a lot the past few days, which is quite unfortunate for them since they hate being out in the rain. They've been cooped up and might be going a bit stir crazy. They're happy for the breaks in the rain when they can dash out into the yard for a quick dirt bath and scratching in the tomato bed. The tomatoes are really ripening now and we'll soon have more than we know what to do with. We had some pickling cucumbers, but we haven't tasted them yet. Hopefully they're not bitter, because they sure are cute. I remember we made pickles at Sarah Lawrence in a big jug and they turned out surprisingly well. I do love pickles. The zucchini plant isn't so productive this summer. Last summer we had some 5 lb zucchinis!

Abigail is back at the vet today :( She's much worse than she was before. She's spent the day at the vet, having some pain meds and antibiotics. I'm actually really irritated with the vet for not catching the problem on Thursday when she was there for the entire day and they ran all kinds of ridiculously expensive tests.... Anyway, it's been incredibly stressful and I feel just terrible for the little fluffy goose. She's just been having such a rough time. Poor Abigail!

big cat, tiny box...

need I even comment on this picture? eden really loves a good box.

against all odds....

Maizy gets crazy in the backyard. She runs around wildly and chases the chickens sometimes and digs holes and rolls in the dirt. We have this half-barrel that we're using to grow a water lily and one of her favorite things to do is jump in the barrel and run round and round splashing water everywhere, getting muddy and tearing up the leaves. Sometimes I think she's a tazmanian devil in disguise. Anyway, despite her romping around in the waterlily, we managed to get a flower! Here it is!

our first dozen...

This happened a while ago, but with the long vacation from blogging, I haven't posted it. This was our official first dozen eggs from the chickens. They've been laying one each per day now. They're pretty much the most perfect eggs I've seen. Such pretty shades of brown. Sometimes they're still warm when we get them. They've worked out a laying schedule. Charlotte lays first in the morning and then Emily lays at around noon or one in the afternoon. They're quite delicious and it's fun to be able to give eggs to the neighbors. Hopefully it helps them cope with the noise the chickens make at 5am!

A MISSING SPARKY!

I suppose this is the week for stressful cat situations. My dad has lost one of his beloved kittens. She's been gone since Saturday night. Her name is Sparky and she's missing in Pittsburgh. However, we have no way of knowing how far she might get. And, if she's been catnapped, she may have been transported across state lines. Keep an eye out for her. (I know I am!) She's a very small grey and white cat. Wiry and spunky. My dad is fairly devastated and Blue (his other kitten) is even more blue than usual. Keep your eyes peeled!

a sick kitten!

Abigail has had quite the week. I noticed early last week that she was peeing a lot, like 12 or 15 times in an hour and she was yowling when she was trying to pee. The vet had warned us about behaviour like this, so I called them immediately. They told us to bring right in, so I dashed over to vet (Abigail crying the whole way--poor kitten!). They said she wasn't blocked, which was a good thing, but they needed a urine sample, so I dropped her off the next morning and she hung out for the better part of the day at the vet. Turns out she had a very bad urinary tract infection. Lots of blood in her urine and she was in a lot of pain, so she's been on antibiotics and pain meds all week and she seems to be feeling better. It was very scary, though. Plus, she got out in the middle of the night the other night and Eric got quite scratched up by blackberry bushes trying to find her. After an exceptionally stressful time looking for her, Eric found her on top of someone's garage a few blocks away. It's been quite a week for Abigail. Poor little goose.