Hello's and Goodbye's

As fall has fully set in, and winter quickly approaches here at the big blue house, we have had some sad goodbye's.

And one big happy hello.



Hello, to our new cat Sparkles. She's cute, huh? (Don't panic! She is an OUTDOOR ONLY cat! Heaven forbid I have an animal in the house. Well, other than the four I gave birth to.) We recently discovered some unwanted guests that I'd like to say goodbye to, called MICE! When you have chickens, you have mice. So I set out to find a cat that could help control this problem. BUT, I needed a very specific cat.



*free (or under five dollars)



*outdoor, TOTALLY



*litter box trained



*good with kids



*used to chickens


*a mouser



Just so happens, one Saturday, I found the cat in a local paper. She's six months old and comes from a family of LOTS of kids, so she's very used to being man handled. She lived with four chickens, and her mom taught her to hunt. The kids love her, and I love that she lives outside and they can play with her whenever they want. She makes me SNEEZE! Ah-choo! So far - no mice. (well, not from her anyway - I've caught quite a few in traps) But I'm pretty sure I saw them shaking in their boots. She's letting 'em know who's boss. (yeah right)

We said goodbye to our fantastic homemade Halloween decorations. And HELLO to a clean window!

Goodbye to A LOT of leaves and apples, and hello to lots of fun in their piles.

Now, here's the really sad news. In the end, we said good bye to our girls. Oh, they've been wonderful and we have LOVED them!

About the same time we found the mice, we learned that we are not zoned for chickens here in "the city." So before we were over run with short furry rodents or our neighbors called the police. We decided to let them go with dignity. But we all felt very sad.

Our friends' brother has two coops, and said he'd be happy to take them. So we loaded the girls up in Huggies diaper boxes, each got their own. Made some air holes, got them all comfy, and drove an hour to their new home. They arrived in style - in their own personal carriers. Everyone had to give them one last hug and a 'cluck' for love.

Here they are. Merryweather, Fauna, and Flora. Aren't they lovely? Chickens really are the greatest.

Too bad they poop so much.