Sights from around Crooked Acres.
We had thunderstorms last week, and I did my level best to get a good picture of the lightning. If you look in the middle of the picture, behind the tree, you can just barely see it.
After the storm, the light was kind of odd.
And then we got a rainbow!
Daffodils are my favorite flower.
Also blooming is the Wisteria, which smells fantastic.
These little flowers, which I don’t know the name of (though Fred insists that “weeds” works well enough) are all over the place.
Blueberry bushes are coming back (maybe this year we’ll get more than a few blueberries!)
I cut the catnip way back in December, expecting it to die off, and it never got cold enough. No complaints from me!
The cabbage, which I planted last Fall, are still meandering along. Maybe by NEXT Fall they’ll be big enough to eat?
This rooster was slated to go off to freezer camp last weekend, but he escaped Fred’s clutches, and so he lives on. He and that little hen escape the back forty every day and wander the property, clean up the bird seed under the feeders, and just go wherever they want. I have to admit, I like seeing them wander around.
Happy little grapevine.
We’re getting well over two dozen eggs a day right now.
Duck egg on the left, chicken egg on the right.
Duck egg on the left, chicken egg on the right!
The girl ducks, having pushed their way into the maternity yard to lay their eggs, now have no idea how to get out. We have to let them out every single day because the fence they’re pushing their way under is pretty impossible for us to reach.
The wanderers, wandering along on the wrong side of the fence.
“Pssst! George!”
“Close your mouth! You look like an idiot!”
“Good lord, I hope I don’t look half as dorky as you when I’m waiting to get my treat.”
“Go ‘way, lady.”
“You put goopy stuff in my eye and I don’t like you.”
::thlurrrp::
“Well, THIS is fancy. Where’d the pink thing go??”
Oy, the stripes.
“OMG, you guys, help! HELP! This claw is attacking me! HALP!”
“OMG, one claw is going up my nostril and it hurts O LAWD SAVE ME, Y’ALL!”
“What are you bellowing about over here?”
“Did you see that claw? It was GETTING me!”
“What claw?”
“I don’t know, I guess it ran away!”
“Maybe it’s over there by Logie.”
“I think there was no claw. I think you made it up so you could be loud and obnoxious and bellowy.”
“I don’t see it. But I bet it’s over there!”
“You look in that corner, I’ll look in this corner.”
“There it is! I’m going to bite it and make it go away!”
“I don’t even want to know what’s going on over there.”
That’s the smooth-fabric pad I put in the box for them to lay on. They’re not impressed with it and keep pushing it out. I think I may have to accept that they prefer to lay on hard wood because they’re little bitty weirdos.
Wee kitty movie. The other three were busy nursing or snoozing, but Newbery was loaded for bear and wanted to PLAY. He finally gave up, but not before annoying his mother as much as possible. (I don’t know why it’s doing that weird pixelating in some places, but it doesn’t really ruin the movie, so I’m leaving it up.)
Is Joe Bob not the happiest boy you’ve ever seen? SO happy.
Last month, Andrea posted a comment saying Ever hear the song Jolene by Dolly Parton?? When I see Jo Bob, I hear “Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Boooob,” But I dont know what the next line should be.. MOL love me some Jo Bob!
And before I knew it, GD had written an entire theme song for Joe Bob, which I’ve been meaning to post, but am just now getting around to it, a month later. I think you’ll agree it’s hilarious!
Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Boooob
Im begging of you please don’t take my tin (of catnip)
Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Boooob
Please don’t take it just because you can
Your fuzzy face is beyond compare
With smokey locks of super soft hair
With two toned fur and eyes of emerald green
Your purr is like a breath of spring
Your meow is soft like summer rain
And I cannot compete with you, Jo Bob.
I dream of catnip in my sleep
There’s nothing I can do to keep
From crying when I think it may be gone, Jo Bob
And I can easily understand
How you could easily take my tin
But you don’t know what it means to me, Jo Bob
Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Boooob
Im begging of you please don’t take my tin (of catnip)
Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Boooob
Please don’t take it just because you can
You could have your choice of treats
But I could never subsitute it with meat
It’s the only thing for me, Jo Bob
I had to have this talk with you
My happiness depends on you
And whatever you decide to do, Jo Bob
Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Boooob
Im begging of you please don’t take my tin (of catnip)
Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Bob, Jo Boooob
Please don’t take it even though you can
Jo Bob, Jo Bob
(Thanks, GD, I laughed again when I read through it!)
Previously
2011: EXCUSE ME, WEB HOST, THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO NEED TO KNOW IF MY FOSTER CAT HAS BIRTHED SOME KITTENS YET!
2010: “YOU DIDN’T USE THE COOOOOOOOOOOUPONS?!”
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: “What’d you do, come up with some new exercise plan?” he asked.
2006: Why do I feel like an ass all of a sudden?
2005: Damn. He saw through my wily scheme!
2004: She stood and let it sink in, then turned and flounced off.
2003: No entry.
2002: Cat pee, by the way, is the vilest-smelling stuff on this planet.
2001: Don’t you hate it when someone tries to be reasonable in the midst of your tightly choreographed hissy fit?
2000: “Of course they do, they like soft toilet paper. It’s the mafia, babe!”
Crooked Acres Thursday is the best, especially in beautiful Spring! That lightning photo is quite frightening! Did it scare you when you took it? Did you run right back inside? Lightning scares me worse than spiders! The odd light after the storm photo is compelling too. You do the most amazing job of photographing your world and sharing it, Robyn.
That Joe Bob Song is the bomb!
Love the Jo Bob song. The only thing better than when people write songs for pets is when they also put them on the internet to share.
Your eggs have such beautiful yolks! I usually by eggs at a farmer’s market and I am always shocked by the puny yellow yolks when I end up getting some from the grocery store.
Way to go to catch that lightning on camera. (started to say “on film” which shows my age)
And … I love my George and Gracie!
I knew duck eggs were richer than chicken eggs, but the difference in the yolk color is amazing.
And George! And Gracie! And sweet striped kitteh bellehs!!! SQUEE!!!!!!
The entries for 2007 down to 2001 sound like they could be the start of an odd story. Here it is, with a few minor edits:
“What’d you do, come up with some new exercise plan?” he asked. “Why do I feel like an ass all of a sudden?”
Damn (she thought,) he saw through my wily scheme!
Out loud, however, she said, “Cat pee, by the way, is the vilest-smelling stuff on the planet.”
She stood and let it sink in, then turned and flounced off. Don’t you hate it when someone tries to be reasonable in the midst of your tightly choreographed hissy fit?
I’m not sure how to phrase this question without it sounding weirdly accusatory in one way or another, which is not my intent at all, but: Are you going to let the ducks reproduce? If so, or even if not, how will you know (without cracking them open) which eggs were fertilized and which ones weren’t? Part of the reason I ask is that if you wind up with ducklings, I might have to remove you from my bookmarks lest my head explode from the cute and I lose my mind and drive to Alabama to live in one of your sheds. (c;
I love thunderstorms better than just about anything, and the light afterwards (if they happen during the day) is always so surreal and beautiful that I feel like I’m in a dream. It’s the only time I enjoy being outside.
If I did got it right Google says those “weeds” are Spring Beauty ( Claytonia virginica ) pretty white flowers with pink stripes or veins – easy to identify and very common right now.
http://www2.mcdaniel.edu/Biology/botf99/hashawaspflws/hashawaflowers5_2.html
Also, you can eat the tubers (chestnut type taste) – http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/plant-finder/plant-details/kc/j800/claytonia-virginica.aspx
and because I am all up in your business. Have you thought of using some velcro to keep the pads in the kitty box? They make some with adhesive on the backs and you could (here I am bossing again) stick one in each corner of the box and sew the other part to the pads? They might still push it out if they work very hard but it would take a while.
Is Emmy’s bottom lip swollen? In the video it kind of looks like it is. The babies are painfully adorable. I can’t wait until the housing market improves so we can sell this tiny house and get one with room to foster!
Cannot stand the cute!
At the risk of having the scary “finger of skimmer” aimed at me, where did you get the cute cat dishes the duck/chicken egg comparisons are in? I probably need some because we certainly need more cra, er stuff for our furball.
Sorry if this has already been asked, but do the duck eggs taste much different than chicken eggs?
I’ve not previously seen duck egg yolks…darker yolks vs chicken eggs.
Great lightening, post-apocalypse sky, and rainbow photos.
Will Fred again attempt to grab that “on the lam” rooster for freezer camp? Its days seem numbered!
The Noms are so freakin’ adorable.
This is a story I related to a class of 10th graders yesterday who were learning about genetics: with the litter of kittens I had, mom & dad were both tiger striped, & we got 1 tiger striped girl & 3 black boys. You cannot tell 10th graders that you once had 3 black boys. They will go wild.
I’ve been hearing a buzzing sound in your videos; 4 times in this 53 second one today. Is it just me?
No, it’s not just you – that’s the camera focusing.
I LOVE the Joe Bob song… I paused our show we’re watching and sang it to my husband… One of our furry kitties has pretty much decided that I’m NUTS, thanks to the song, oh, and probably how I always act crazy. lol