R.I.P. LADY

Lady was alive this morning when I checked on Henry crowing at the neighbors. Lady always met you with a charge like she was gonna kick yer butt but that is because her abuse was so bad she couldn't trust anyone. She trusted me some what but I couldn't hold her unless I had a heavy duty glove on or she would bite me.

I went to feed the birds and she was on the bottom of the cage barely breathing. I gave her a bit of water with a dropper and wrapped her warm but she opened her beak wide and then her chest caved in and that was it. She taught me a lot about love, abuse and death.

The boys sobbed over their eggs and sausage and we talked about how wonderful life is and how death is just a part of it. It's good my boys experience death at all levels.

Lady plucked her front and back feathers due to stress of being abused. She was severely abused. It breaks my heart.

All non human are moving out!

Today, thus far, has been busy. Henry woke up at 4:29 a.m.  crowing on the shed facing the neighbors who were still having a party. He was must unpleased. I finally got out of bed at 8:30ish to get the house awake and going.

These 2 troublemakers were watching Doug dry off after taking a bath in his new pool he got last night. I love their little tippy toes

Doug! Happy as a bird can be. Standing on his tote fluffing his feathers after a bath in the new pool.

Carol, my awesome friend who is a true hippie, barterer, recycling, living off the land woman, who I just love called and asked me if I would like to barter. And of course... these are magic words to me and I said YES!!! "What ya got"

So, every lawn mower I see for "free" on the side of the road I pick up. I am proud to say I have fixed two, as they were easy fixes and one needs to be fixed and Carole has the part.

So, Carole gave me 3 AWESOME, huge Jersey Giant Hens, a swimming pool, and 2 meat rabbits with a nice cage in exchange for a lawn mower that is full of gas that I had already put in.

I think I got the better deal.

Are they big or what? They are 6 months old and will start laying soon. I am hoping they don't wait till Spring to lay. My flock and ducks didn't take kindly to them this morning. I'm so disappointed in their behavior!!  :)  Not really.. it's not easy having someone new in the hood.

So, I have found 3 total lawn mowers. One for me, one that is for the neighborhood, and now Carole scores big!  Start a neighborhood share with the neighbors and it's amazing what you can barter, borrow, and help each other out with. It's takes a village.

All the animals will be moving outside with the exception of the kitties and the birds. Rain is expected tonight and then cooler temps of around 80 will be with us all next week. This is a perfect time for everyone to get used to the weather in time for Winter.

Our Home

Before I forget... make sure you scroll down to see the other entries of our happenings.

I have received several e-mails about my posting pictures of where I live, how big is your lot, etc... so  here ya go. We live in a very small 2 bedroom, 1 bath house. I really love living in a small space because it allows for one not to bring in so much "junk" and "stuff" as you simply don't have the room. You learn to build up the walls for space and it's a cozy little Loveshack.

This is our little LoveShack! All 672 Sq Ft. of it. It's just big enough for us and there is a lot of LOVE and whackiness here.

Behind the fence is where the chickens and everyone is going to be living soon. And there is my Van! I

love her! The big tree you see never loses it's leave so it's nice and shady year round and the chickens sleep up in the tree and hang out there a lot in the day time. Especially, when hot.

This is the other side of the yard. The toys are not arranged as I was getting ready to cut the grass. But my kids and the day care kids have a great time with the toys. The chickens also enjoy climbing on the climber. If only they would go down the slide. Wouldn't that be awesome?

The best part of all the toys and the tent is over the year I have gotten all these for free off of Craigslist or bartering.

Isn't this gorgeous? haha! This is where my garden used to be. I sure miss it.

So that's it, folks. I have a whopping .18 of acreage but it's more then enough to be have a self sufficent little farm. I still think I have just enough room for an Elephant. Oh! a dream!

I want to put a small greenhouse here and then a garden big enough to feed us here as well.

Boat Motor Von Izzy and Fussy Fred Finnegan

Almost two months ago I was at the gas station and I heard this meowing. I told myself "Don't look over!" but the tiny cries kept coming. Sure enough two tiny kittens about 5 weeks old were at the dumpster and just crying. I left them there in case the Mom came back but a week later they were still there and John, the store manager, said no Mother was in site and they were starving.  Sooooo.....

BoatMotor Von Izzy

Fussy Fred Finnegan



 We love these kitties. They have been so much fun to have. BoatMotor has a LOUD purr and he sounds just like a boat motor revving back and forth. He is a big baby. He wants to be held constantly and loves to crawl in my shirt and snuggles. Fussy Fred is exactly that. He definetly has Siamese in him as he will wail and fuss and fuss and fuss. He is very vocal and particular about his food being in his dish and other things.  Boatmotor is very laid back and very easy to please.

Yes! This is BoatMotor in my shirt. When I first got them they were so young they just wanted "ME". Since I couldn't hold them forever I put them both in my shirt and carried them around. Now BM still wants to be carried around. Fred doesn't want to be carried any more but he still suckles the corner of his blanket when he is feeling sleepy, gooshy or full of loves. Hard to leave a Mama so young.

BM laying on my laptop. BM follows me every where and he loves when I am on the computer cuz he can be with me and lay all over the computer. All the typos you will read.... I can blame on BM.

Several people have asked me how I can afford my animals. I am lucky as I have a big mouth and I network and BATERING is a fantastic thing that i am really into.  One of the lady's I used to babysit for works for a vet. So, we barter basic vet services for babysitting or she drops her dog off and I watch it while she is out of town.

For food, they get basic cat food and eat what we eat.

Casa de Caca

It's been over a year since I have posted and thought I would start again. As most of you know I have been busy working on Casa de Caca. My four hens and two ducks are thriving and doing just wonderful. I adore them and they destress me and sometimes I swear they save my sanity.

I also have a little farm here at my house. We have lots of fun animals and I will be showing you each member of the zoo and the going's on.

My camera has died so I am using my cell phone camera at the moment and it pretty much stinks in picture quality so bare with me.

This past weekend and this whole week I have been busy getting Casa de Caca ready for Winter. It's a tad bit early to do so but I guess I am needing some excuses to spend more time with the birds.

So my hens are 5 months old now and I am too excited for the first egg. I have placed golf balls in one  of their nesting boxes to remind them it's almost time.

This is Daphne going over to check out the new nester and to see what I put in there.

Here is the shed they stay in. I put a tarp down with tons of straw for easier clean up. I just started to put more straw in after cleaning it out. You can see a nesting box in there with fresh straw.
 Delores loves to snuggle in one.. but where's the egg?

I had a kiddie swimming pool for the ducks to swim in but it was so well used and it got cracks in it. For now I have filled up this big tote with water and the ducks take several swims a day. This picture was taken from my screen window from the kitchen. I love being able to open up my door and seeing the birds.  As you can see Henry is eating a bit of food on the first tote. He's a beautiful Rooster.

I wish all of you would or could have chickens or ducks. It's such a fun experience and to see all of them together and their different personalities is such a riot.

We are expecting rain this afternoon and tonight so I look forward to my rain buckets getting fuller which fills the ducks swimming tote and waters my plants.

Keeping chickens is so easy, cheap, and fun and you get great eggs and you know where you're eggs are coming from.