New Zoo Members

We'd like to introduce you to the four newest members of our zoo:
Our friend Teagen is in first grade and they hatched their chickens recently. He needed a place for his to stay, so we gladly offered for them to come live at our zoo. Right now we can't tell if they are cocks or pullets (boys or girls). One already has a comb starting, so I'm pretty sure he is a cock.


For those of you who have lost count of our zoo, here's the latest tally: 1 donkey, 2 (year-old)bottle calves, 3 cats (remember when we bottle fed those), 1 dog who is now walking a bit sideways, 2 bantam roosters (free to good home), 6 Leghorn hens, 5 Rhode Island Red hens, 2 Polish bantam chicks, 1 bantam chick of unknown breed, 4 leghorn chicks, 1 rat, 1 gerbil and one cabbage named Freddy.

Blizzard Pictures

Against my better judgement, I finally relented and let the kids go outside (windchills in the upper teens). They had a ball. As you can see, the snow isn't particularly deep, except where it drifted. The wind has blown pretty much all day. We've had several bands of snow blow through and are expecting a bit more tonight. Petunia has been out in it all day, she seems to like it. Right now she is asleep beside her house.

Dog-gone COLD

As I am writing this it is a crisp 11 degrees outside. Petunia decided to venture out of her house. You can see by the ice crystals on her back that she decided to stay outside most of yesterday despite the cold. I was glad to see she did go in her house last night and that she was still with us this morning.

We have a little bit of snow/ice. It is really dry snow, but at this point we will take whatever we can get. The trees are pretty. If I can manage it, I'll try to take more pictures when I brave the cold to water the zoo animals. One other thing--the TV station changed our high today from 26 to 23--gotta love it!

Petunia

We've mentioned Petunia a few times so I thought I'd show everyone a picture. She is a really good dog that is growing older and has lately had a little arthritis and seems to be a little hard of hearing. The kids call her Tunia or Tuna. She isn't well trained but we love her. Here are a few things for which we have come to depend on her:

• snake killer
  
• kid protector--she's always gone in front of the kids and checked out bushes, etc.
  
• guard dog--she usually doesn't let strangers in the yard
  
• hunter--we've found everything from pheasants, rabbits, rats and chickens in the yard--she loves to make sure you see what she killed

I decided that I needed to get a few pictures of her before it is too late. Every time I think she's about done she surprises me by running and playing with us. Hopefully she'll be around for a long time to come. She wasn't very fond of the camera. The one of her laying down is beside the air conditioner--one of her favorite spots. She loves to lay there and survey what's happening around her and bark at the occasional rabbit or nothing at all.