Monday, February 21, 2011

A source of heat


You may recall the above photo. This was taken in the hotel room we stayed at briefly when we first moved to Oregon (we were waiting on our furniture). For some unknown reason, Kitty felt inclined to share a crate/bed with Chalie - all of his own accord.



Fast-forward 3 years (almost exactly!) and our new cat, Cooper decides that Kitty must have been onto something. I look up from my Kindle and see that Cooper has made himself comfortable on Charlie's dog bed - while Charlie is on it! Charlie awoke when I grabbed my camera, but they were both sleeping peacefully when I first looked up.


Neither Kitty or Cooper ever joined Maggie on her dog bed. Personally, I think it's a heat thing. Charlie radiates heat. He's often cold and shivering in the winter and can function quite well in the high summer temps. And his head is always hot to the touch. I think the cats like this feature!


Maggie is usually cool to the touch. She is naturally well insultated and is always energized and happy on a cold brisk morning. She will almost melt before our eyes in the summer heat.


Funny, but Maggie is just like me. Charlie is just like my husband. Both Kitty and Cooper will chose to cuddle up to my H long before they'll do the same with me. Apparently, it's not that they don't like me, it's that he is a better heat source in the winter! Phew, I feel like less of a pariah now. ;-)

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Goat babies are here again!


Pepper had her babies on Feb 7, 2011!! She had two tiny babies - both black - one boy and one girl. They both have blue eyes (like their sire). The boy has a little white spot on his forehead that looks like a star, so we've named him Polaris. The little girl is still nameless at this point.

Pepper is turning out to be a good mom. She's still skittish of us, but she's attentive but not overly protective of her babies.

Since our herd is currently at 7 (for now), I thought I'd mention everyone:

Pepper (left) and Skylark (right)

Here is the proud momma, post birth. She and Skylark (the goat with white on her face) are butting heads a bit, but Skylark is definitely cutting the new mom some slack.


Dollar - who is HUGE for a Nigerian Dwarf wether. Dollar loves to be pet and will actualy choose to be scratched over food!

Daisy - our sweet little girl. She's very curious and loves attention. Her favorite past time is following humans around as we do our chores!


Buddy - our first wether and the only Pygora of the bunch. Buddy is kind of a bully to the other goats, but he is definitely entertaining!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Spring in January?


Apparently, our chickens think so...

The 'easter egg' birds lay green eggs. We haven't seen a green egg since October. When the days get shorter, most chickens molt and stop laying for awhile. Our 'easter egg' birds (aruacana/americana crosses) follow this pattern.

A few days ago, we got our first green egg of 2011. I guess it's spring. Someone needs to tell mother nature.