I'm Back

Hello!  As you all are perfectly aware, I have taken a loooong break from blogging, well about two weeks, but it feels like a really long time.  I needed some time off (-:  I had just gotten back from Iowa and started my new job which left me with a lot on my plate.  I am finally feeling like the routine is back on so that is good.  I do like my routines.  The animals are all doing great, Petunia is still separated unfortunately.  The big girls just will not take to her so I don't know what to do.  Our number of rabbits is down to seven now.......... why yes, yes we did.  We killed the rabbit(s)!  Two male rabbits are now in the refrigerator as Hasanpfeffer.  I will do a more detailed post with pictures when I get home and am able to post them.  I promise it won't be anything graphic. 

Miniature Chicken Oh My!

Meet Petunia, I know I am having you all meet a lot of animals lately, but sometimes things just happen.  Petunia is a Malaysian Serama chicken which is basically a very very very tiny chicken, much smaller than a silkie.  We got Petunia and are keeping five more rabbits for a friend who couldn't keep them at his place.  Nine rabbits and five chickens, two goats, two dogs.... oh dear, I am becoming a crazy animal hoarder.  I think I should be worried but I am not quite there yet.  I am back in Iowa for a few more days now and leave on Saturday to get back to my wonderful Hawaii.  The nursing conference I attended in D.C. was very educational. The hotel was super fancy, and I learned some fun new things about taking care of wounds.  I am really happy to be able to spend more time with family, but I really miss Jesse, I guess that is a good thing I miss him so much.  Poor husband has to take care of the critters for only a little while longer.  I am so thankful that he is doing all that for me and taking care of them better than I do. 

The other chickens are mean to Petunia which makes me so sad, she is so small and defenseless.  Jesse tried putting her in with them at night when they were already sleepy and that worked fine.... until morning.  When morning came they started to peck and bully her so he divided them up again.  I don't really know what we are going to do.  If she was a full sized chicken I wouldn't be so worried, but she is just so small!  I have always had a soft spot for protecting the small, wounded and helpless. I hope they settle their beef quickly and get that all important pecking order established without any harm to Petunia.  Chickens are so mean to each other, they are like junior high girls, anybody weak or different is attacked without mercy.  Poor persecuted Petunia.

Iowa weather is pretty brisk today.  The fall chill is in the air which is neat, I miss fall the most out of all the seasons.  It is apple cider weather.  I can't even begin to tell you how much I love apple cider.



Petunia chicken extraordinaire



We are not in Kansas anymore?

Wild weather on Oahu! This happened this last week here. I did not take this pic myself but it was one of my friends who did the snapping b

These Feet Were Made For Flying

Well I am sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to D.C. I was home in Iowa for a sad reason, my grandfather passed away last week and they had the memorial service on Monday. I have a lot of fond memories of my grandpa and it was a wonderful service. We got to remember the wonderful father, husband, brother, friend, and grandfather he was. It was a good trip and was it nice to see family again. We crammed a lot into a few days, and I will be going back soon for my brother's wedding.

I am hoping that the wound care conference I am going to is fun and educational. I have never really been on the east coast so this should be fun. I do hate flying though, so, so much. This is something I wrote on the way to Chicago from Honolulu:


So here I am quite possibly in the worst spot on the plane: economy, but close enough to see first class. They (first class) have already made it through heir first round of drinks and their flight attendant is bubbling with smiles and goodwill. There is nothing quite as sad as seeing what you could have gotten if you hadn't been such a cheapskates. The safety brief is going on and in true morbid fashion I am thinking, "why does it matter? If the plane goes down, especially in open ocean we are doomed". These are the things I think about when I fly, and it gets worse every time. I think it is because subconsciously I realize that with each flight my odds of being in a plane crash marginally increase. Thanks subconscious brain. There are good things about flying however, one of them is the skymall catalog. I love their overpriced ridiculously un useful items. Every time I fly I get closer to an actual purchase. Perhaps it is a slow subtle brainwash or it could be the altitude and recycled air in the plane, but I am a couple flights away from owning a novelty lampstand. I also love the crappy food you can buy, it is like buying terrible overpriced food at a sporting event. It tastes awful but you can only get it at that event so it makes it special.

Blech

Well I am in Chicago, it is 0538, 0138 Hawaii time. The coffee from their Starbucks tastes like poo. Or maybe I am just cranky because I got off an eight hour flight. My plan is to go to my gate and sleep for the next couple hours.

The Great Reveal!

Hello

Who am I?

I am miniature Marzipan!

Well I went out and did it!  I succumbed to my desire to have another goat, and I went against all common sense and or intelligence I may have at one time possessed.  Our new goat looks exactly like Marzipan except she is smaller, and she is so sweet.  The new doe makes Marzipan look kind of butch when she is standing next to her.  Mini Marzipan is like Marzipan's non-evil nice twin. We got her out in Waimanalo at this couple's house, they had all kind of animals, (llama, pig, horse, etc... and were trying to get us to buy a pig as well, we politely declined.  We did name the new doe Mocha, but I kind of still call her Mini Marzipan.  She is so nice and sweet, although very skittish, whenever I want to milk her I have to lasso her in order to catch her.  I always wanted to be a cowgirl, but now am more of a goat girl.  She stands perfectly to be milked and has never once tried to lay down, kick, or bite me.  This makes me realize in retrospect that Marzipan really is truly evil.   So there you have it!  I am so sorry that it took me forever to get this posted and I am sure that some of you were waiting on the proverbial edge of your seats.  I can't even tell you how many people asked me if I was pregnant and that was the suprise.  Apparently people think I need to have children.   

Well everything else is totally calm on the home front.  Yesterday though had some drama, I was in the middle of watering the chickens when the neighbor lady asked if I wanted to see her turtle.  I said heck yes, I mean really how could I resist?  Well she showed me the turtle which was huge and cute and we chatted for awhile.  I forgot to relatch the chicken coop so I didn't notice that one of the chickens got out. I then made the mistake of letting Khan off his leash, and chaos ensued.  I thought Agnes was a gonner, I am pretty sure she thought so too, because she fought for her life.  She ended up going through the fence to the relative safety of the front sidewalk.  Agnes was 100% fine less a few feathers, but I am sure my neighbor now thinks I am even more nuts than she did before.  All she heard was squawking, and me yelling KHAN!!! as I tackled him.  I have an enormous bruise on my knee to prove it.  Khan actually got the raw end of that deal, Agnes scratched his face up pretty good.   I was pretty shocked to see he was the one bleeding. I bet Rosey razzed him for getting whupped by a chicken, I can only imagine his embarassment.  I learned a very important lesson:  Do not ever get distracted when doing chores and always shut things even if you think you are going to only be a second.   And to those of you who know my insatiable paranoia/compulsive behavior with locking and checking gates, doors, keys etc,  please know that this incident has now made me even more paranoid and compulsive.

The Title Match

Khan:  110 lbs of solid bullmastiff
                 
                         V.
  

Agnes:  2 lbs of soft feathery chicken

The outcome by unanimous decision:  Khan-zero, Agnes-one