Thursday, August 5, 2010

Da Birds

Fred Mertz


The General, looking his best!

Gotta Start Somewhere


Too much time has passed since I have written. My youngest has almost completed her Junior year. My oldest has moved to PA. My husband is happy, working , and we are actually doing projects together! Our family has many new additions. We have two adult turkeys, Fred and Ethel. Two young poults, Lucy and Ricky. Three Belgium D'Anver bantam chickens, The General, Betty and Wilma. Our Bantam East Indies ducks hatched three ducklings. I believe ducklings to be the cutest creatures yet. When first hatched, they remind me of penguins. Awkward, unbalanced, penguins. Their bodies grow much faster than their wings, so when they flap their tiny wings they appear odd. The new chickens are a delight to observe. Skittish and darting among the garden plants, it can be quite amusing to watch. The General is an entity of his own. Brightly marked, rose comb, and squeeky door hinge of a crow! The other day he got caught in the netting protecting the blueberry shrubs. He was not a happy camper. Once released, I was able to soothe him and hold for a bit.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

January '10 a new beginning!

Christmas is over, 2009 over. 2010 is a new start! Brother in law has moved into a new home, oldest daughter looking for her own place. Birdie girls headstone has been placed and the garden planted in her honor. My husband has been working since October.
Last year was a bit rough, this year will be better. As I write these thoughts, I am cuddling a new member of our animal kingdom. Bogie MacIntosh. She is a four pound yorkie rescue. When Birdie passed, the stress of the year and her loss just poured out of me. I wanted to help another little girl, I had love to give and my younger male needed a playmate as well. His older brothers just don't play the way he needs!

Bogie was a mill dog, she was used to breed. Even though she had a herniated spleen, the mill owners decided to breed her anyway. This caused her whole spleen to sit outside her abdominal wall. Bogie didn't seem to be a caged animal, she actually is well socialized, but her medical needs were sorely neglected. Along with her double hernia, she had baby teeth fused to adult by the tarter in her mouth. I drove to PA and got her out of the trailer, which was permeated with urine.
My vet, successfully operated on her. Yorkies can only stay under a short period of time and he managed to : spay, replace her spleen, correct her double hernia, extract six teeth, and complete a full mouth prophy in the set amount of time! She too, has a new lease on life. She now looks brand new, feels no pain and we both are over a challenging past year!
Here's to a new year.