Feline evidence

On September 13, 2020September 12, 2020 By CarynIn dog

The DNA panel on Missy, our 11-month-old pup, showed an eighth basically unknown. The listed possibilities included terrier, sporting, companion, herding (isn’t that just about all of them?). I am building evidence to support my theory that the last eighth is feline. (To recap, she is half cattle dog, quarter mini poodle, eighth bichon frise.)

She likes to sleep on the arm of the couch.

Now I’m not sure any self respecting cat would put up with canine romantic attentions, even three generations back, so maybe in her last life she was feline. Or maybe she just identifies as feline in this life. Cats are pretty cool. Everybody wants to be a cat.

And then there were 9

On September 12, 2020September 11, 2020 By CarynIn chickens

We lost Sunrise the hen. I went out after lunch and she was wheezing and trying to catch her breath. I couldn’t see anything down her throat, she was fine yesterday, no weepy eyes or stuffy nose. Just in case, I put her in isolation with food and water. She passed about three hours later. I had to know what killed her, so I managed to do a necropsy. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I imagined, and nothing like trying to clean out an impacted crop (which is utterly disgusting). My eldest and I were able to identify most of the internal organs, and darn it all, before she died, she was still producing eggs despite the molting that has all the other hens at an egg laying standstill. Turns out there was a kernel of grain lodged in her trachea. That would certainly explain the signs and the quick passing. No pictures, because ew, but here is a drawing I did last year when Navi had an impacted crop.

I might have to buy eggs.

Wet hen

On September 11, 2020 By CarynIn chickens

What do you do when the chicken struts up to you soaking wet but happy and you don’t have your phone to take a picture? Hold her up to the video camera in the runs. Twilight looked more like a cactus than a chicken! It boggles the mind that she doesn’t mind the rain.

Destuff dog toy

On September 10, 2020 By CarynIn dog

My sister told me about turning one of our existing dog toys into a toy that satisfies the destuff desire in dogs. The bucky ball looking rubber toy is easy to stuff with strips of fleece or terry cloth fabric.

Rubber dog ball stuffed with knotted strips of fleece fabric

I started with strips of fleece, and knotted two together to give a little resistance to the pull. My older dog thought this was great and liked pulling the strips out of the ball. The young one liked running around with the freed strips.

Griffin pulling out strips, Missy running around with the fleece knots

Then, it turned out, I needed all the fleece for the snuffle mat, so I cut up an old towel into strips and stuffed those into the ball. The terry cloth is a little harder to pull out, but they try!

This is another toy that we monitor closely for loose threads and chewed off bits.

Surprise Lilies

On September 9, 2020 By CarynIn Garden

I really truly thought the heat of the summer killed these lilies. Last year they kept their long thin green leaves all summer, then bloomed in September. This year the area around my rosemary was just leaf litter. Surprise! Not dead! I read another blogger that called these surprise lilies, which I like much better than the oxblood or school house names, although all of the common names are appropriate.