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May. 18, 2008
Rabbits, Chickens, and Dogs, Oh My!
First, the rabbits---my mom gave my girls two of her beautiful rabbits about two weeks ago. One is a chocolate one named Nestle. The other is a red named Scarlett. Nestle is a good little rabbit. He stays in his hutch, eats, drinks, and lets the girls pet him gently. Scarlett is a trouble-maker! She has already gotten out of her hutch. We haven't been able to catch her yet. Oh, she's still in the yard (which is amazing as we have cats and a very hyper little puppy outside). She comes and steals food; she will even get into her hutch! We just haven't been able to get the hutch closed fast enough to keep her there. We've tried setting a live trap for her, but she's too smart for that. At least Lindsay is being tenacious and refusing to give up!
Next, chickens--we managed to successfully hatch five of the eggs my father-in-law gave Lindsay. Unfortunately, only two of the chicks survived beyond the first week. My father-in-law came over last week and fulfilled his promise to build a coop for the chickens. YEAH! They are finally out of my laundry room. They were fine the first couple of days. Then, to our surprise, something found a way into their coop. When we found them they were both injured--one was missing an entire wing, and the other had a partial wing missing. We (read Lindsay) immediately started working with the birds trying to save them. Unfortunately, she lost one of them--the one missing its entire wing--her favorite, Fluffy. The other one, Squirmy, is still managing to hold on after almost a week, so we hope he'll make it. (The girls named the chicks based on how they looked/behaved when hatched.)
Finally, dogs--we all love dogs. We had two beautiful little Pomeranians, Max and Penny, as well as a large mix-breed named Bubba and a bouncy, hyper puppy named Sally. Max and Penny have lived their entire lives indoors and are as much a part of the family as any of the humans who live in the house. Bubba is an indoor/outdoor dog, and Shan and I affectionately call him "our son". Sally is an outdoor puppy, and the girls love to play tag and fetch with her. We just could not ask for better dogs. When we got home from my mom's house last Sunday night, we found our beloved 2-year-old Pom, Penny, weak and listless. I immediately called my mom (we got the Poms from her) and asked for advice on how to help Penny. We immediately started working with Penny trying to make her better. We had used a new flea spray, and we think that she may have been allergic to it--we will never know. Penny had a seizure and died about 10:15 that night. We all, including Max and Bubba, miss her terribly. Poor Max is extraordinarily lonely seeming, so we are trying our best to give him lots of extra love and attention because we certainly don't want anything to happen to him! Bubba seems to sense the sadness of the girls because even he is being extra loving and cuddly right now. Sally knows something is different; she just doesn't know what (that's the impression we get, anyway). It's amazing how the dogs and the girls seem to be bonding even more than they already had.
The girls, of course, had a funeral for both the chicken and our Penny this week. That was something that both my husband and I remembered doing as children when we lost our pets, so we both thought it was an important step in saying goodbye--it seems like we've done a lot of saying goodbye lately.
Anyway, it's been an interesting, enigmatic, emotional couple of weeks. Hopefully, next week will be a little more normal--if there is such a thing as normal! |
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May. 18, 2008 - Untitled Comment
And the lawn mower blades! I know how you feel--we manage to bend a set every year when a tree root pops up in a new place. It is very frustrating.
Hope your week improves!
My mother's day turned out with a trip to the doctor for my daughter--she had gotten a throat infection and was having asthma attacks. I got to spend the day being motherly! : )
Pam