Sights from around Crooked Acres.
Two days’ worth of eggs. Including four ducks eggs (up at the top, over there by the sink).
The honeysuckle is blooming, and it smells amaaaaaaaazing. I know that it’s invasive and we’re supposed to loathe it, but I can’t get enough of this stuff. Go ahead, honeysuckle! Cover the entire property, no one’s gonna stop you! Between that and the privet (I need to get a picture of the privet), the back forty smells better than it should, considering all the chicken and pig poop out there.
I think George and Gracie are mocking us.
Or maybe they’re just feeling playful.
Gracie loves to flail around on her back while Fred rubs her belleh and George looks on, concerned at the spectacle she’s making of herself.
“Cookies, cookies, it’s the cookie lady!!!”
“Cooooooookies!”
I just love the way their ears flop up and down when they run.
Toasty the rooster is all “Work it, girrrrrrrrl!”
Chickens love their scratch.
The Wanderer returns home to the back forty briefly.
“I wonder if I can use my telepathic power to make her give me a treat.”
“Youuuuuuu waaaaaant to give me treeeeeeats. Treats. Treeeeeeeeeeats.”
“Youuu waaaaaaaaant to put treeeeeeeats right heeeeeeeere in my moooooooouf.”
“Hmmmm.”
“Ear rubs ain’t treats, dummy. But I accept your counteroffer.”
Every morning when I go out to the back forty to feed the catfish, the girl ducks are in the maternity yard and the boy ducks are outside the fence to the maternity yard, waiting for them. I think I’ve mentioned that the girl ducks can get into the maternity yard but SUPPOSEDLY cannot get out. I still think they’re just taking a break from the amorous advances of the boy ducks.
They follow me out to the pond.
And they hang out in the pond while I walk around it with Gracie to check things out.
Shadow Robyn and Shadow Gracie.
~~WARNING~~~WARNING~~FROG PICTURE AHEAD~~~ELAYNE YOU BETTER SKIP THIS ONE, YOU FROG HATER~~~~
I love it so very much when I see a frog in the water just hanging out and looking around. I need to take the camera out in the evening (with the longer lens) because we almost always see one frog hanging out in the middle of the pond and another near the shore, eyeballing us. They are seriously cute.
~~FROG PICTURE IS PAST; THERE WILL BE NO MORE FROG PICTURES IN THIS ENTRY~~~~
So, you know about the camera I put on the front porch from time to time, right? And how I found out that the reason the food container was being turned over is because I wasn’t being diligent about filling the food bowl, and the raccoons were emptying the food bowl and then turning over the food storage container and getting more food from there? You remember? (Just pretend you do!)
Well, one day (when I hadn’t been using the front porch cam for a while), I walked out to see a half-filled food bowl… and the food storage container turned over. I was all “What is THIS about? They HAD food!”, and set up the camera to see what was what.
Apparently one of the raccoons is a bit of a bullying, non-sharing jackass. Note how he was circling the bowl to keep the other one away. JERK. BULLY.
So I was all, well okay. I’ll just put a SECOND food bowl out there, and they’ll each get their own bowl, right? Yeah, well. Check out the traffic we got in just one night (Papa Peppers – the big black feral tomcat – also made a visit, but I accidentally deleted that clip, and I have 7,000+ things in my recycle bin, so guess who’s not going to go look for it? You’ll just have to imagine him in there.)
This does not, by the way, include every animal who came to the porch – Maxi and Newt were in there, for one, and I think there were several different possum visits. Maybe one day I’ll find the patience to go through all the clips and stitch them together.
Okay, I’d like to know which of you is secretly communicating with the Noms. Last week I said that I’d only seen Razzie eating kibble, and the VERY NEXT DAY Newbery bellied up to the kibble bowl. This week, I said that Darwin was the only Nom I hadn’t seen eat anything other than litter or EmmyMilk, and later that same day she marched right over to the bowl of kibble and ate a ton of it. They’re making a liar out of me!
(But I was glad to FINALLY see Darwin eating real food and not LITTER. Hopefully she’s past the litter-eating nonsense.)
Honestly, Emmy cannot get a break. She’s trying to eat some yummy canned food, and Darwin and Newbery climb under her and latch on. They’re such brats.
There’s food right behind your head, silly boy!
The milk bar is still getting plenty of action, clearly.
“Seriously. Calgon – take me away!”
Whiskers in the sun.
Gettin’ high off the sunshine.
Newbery was on top of the cat tree, and instead of jumping down onto the platform (that would be CRAZY), he slipped down into the covered part. I thought he was going to fall, but nope – he made it just fine!
Newbery taking a rest from torturing poor Logie. She sure puts up with a lot from him.
Happy, happy Joe.
Honestly, he is just the happiest boy.
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Previously
2011: Fergus Simon and the belly rub.
2010: Rhyme and Reacher discover that the best toy on earth is always juuuuust out of reach.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: I think everyone has the occasional Strange Odor issue.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
Morning, Robyn! I saw this video the other day and thought immediately of you!
I’m glad the kittens are growing and Emmy continues to take such good care of them… as you take care of the pigs, George, Gracie, chickens, ducks, frogs and other assorted beings down there on Crooked Acres.
And yes, honeysuckle smells as good as maple syrup tastes!!
🙂
I almost forgot! Joe Bob my love my love!!
The picture of the little ones latched on whilst Emmy was eating cracked me up! Love George and Gracie! Thank you for the morning smiles!
As always I am ever so grateful that you are taking care of all creatures great and small, popular and dreaded. Thank you for making sure that the limping possum with a messed up tail doesn’t have to fight so hard for survival. Thank you for taking care of Papa Peppers and the whitish cat we’ve never seen before, and even for feeding the raccoons. Thank you for making me spit coffee through my nose with “HEY LADY, WE NEEDS ANOTHER BOWL!!”
I totally cracked up at the “WE NEEDS ANOTHER BOWL” scene, too!
I love possums!
I had to come back and watch it again. Why is the raccoon at 9:43 throwing kibble at the old limping possum with the messed up tail??? You know my weakness for the old folks. I’m going to be asking to adopt him next!
Oh yeah, and I love the look on the whitish kitty that we’ve never seen before’s face when she sniffs the food. “What is this? Raccoon spit? Gross!”
How long will Emmy tolerate nursing the kittens? Will she eventually shut down the milk bar, or will the kittens just get tired of it?
I love frogs!Unfortunately my cats also love them,and as soon as it rains even the slightest bit (and the frogs come after the water),my cats lie in wait and catch them.Luckily,I succeed in saving about 75% of the poor frogs that are caught.
The possums however,freak me the F out.I have an irrational fear of all rodent-type animals (pretty strange since I have 4 cats,and they obviously adore catching things like mice and moles) and the possums look soooo creepy!
What do you do with all those eggs? And the duck eggs? Do you sell at a local market or something? Nothing beats a fresh egg. Nothing. We have no idea what an egg really is supposed to be like.
The noms are getting SO BIG. Will they go to new homes soon or will you keep them??
That is some traffic on your porch at night… it would kinda freak me out! I like looking at frogs, but I WILL NOT touch one!
My husband rescues toads when he mows the lawn. He will stop what he’s doing to go put them in the flower beds so they don’t get run over. 🙂
That is seriously awesome 🙂
Great webcam videos! When late husband & I lived on our farm, I would put out my food scraps in a big ceramic bowl near the edge of the yard. Every night, raccoons would raid it. One night I heard their squeaky/squealing…went out, and used my flashlight to see a mama coon had brought her babies to feed. The little ones were fighting over the grub; finally one crawled into the bowl, so the others couldn’t get anything! Watching those coons on your porch made me think of that…and wonder if those could all be growing baby coons?
Before husband died, we had 4 Quarter horses; 2 miniature horses; 9 cats and I was on the verge of getting a dog! Lord knows how many critters we’d have had by now (6 years later) if I’d stayed there. As it is, though I live in the city, I feed at least 3 regular outside cats (and who knows how many more); have 3 indoor cats; 2 dogs (but relative’s dog is here more than not)… It’s a job at times, but as you can tell, I LOVE critters/pets!
Those noms are getting HUGE! Love the pix.
Today your post was exceptionaly lovely, all the critters and kittys and flowers..sigh care for a life swap???
but I could never eat any animals so the piggies would be there for ever. 🙂
You are truly blessed and a blessing to all creatures great and small!
Adorable pics and wonderful captions as well! Maybe Gracie is the go-between getting the Noms to eat real food since she’s physic and all.
“Psst, Newbery I heard that Robyn thinks you don’t eat real food yet”
“Whaaat? I’m a big boy. I’ll show her!”
“Psst Darwin, Razzie and Newbery are all into eating the food. Robyn says you just eat litter.”
“I do not! I am not a baby!”
I ♥ honeysuckle! When I was a kid, I had a mimosa tree just outside my bedroom window, and honeysuckle growing up the brick wall of the house. Wonderful smells!
I just love George and Gracie’s snackin’ time faces. And Joe Bob’s yoga stretches. And kittens, kittens everywhere.
that’s a lot of racoons? but i don’t like frogs.. urgh
LOVE the night videos! You are quite the beautiful soul, Robyn.
Fantastic as usual. I feel lost when I can’t get to your blog everyday.
Have you ever cut some honeysuckle branches for the cats? I get cut pieces from a cat store for my cats. They LOVE it ! They will even pass up catnip over honeysuckle. The last time I was at the cat store they had honeysuckle shavings and I filled up a few toys with it. The cats went crazy.
Chin scritches and hugs to all the kitties !!!
How come you didn’t guess that I was the one secretly communicating with the Noms? My psychic powers know no bounds! Looking forward to seeing which pics you choose of me tomorrow. My favorite among today’s bunch is the one featuring concerned, mortified George. Signed, Your Great Big Narcissus, Corbie
I love when the honeysuckle blooms. And the Jasmine. But around my house…Sweet Shrub. Smells like strawberry candy. LOVE it.
I love all pictures: the dogs (“Youuu waaaaaaaaant to put treeeeeeeats right heeeeeeeere in my moooooooouf.”), the frog, the pigs, the ducks, the cats and the kittehs!!!! But I´m in love about Joe!!!
Those two little feet in the air sticking up from under eating Emmy just kill me.
And to think I almost missed today’s entry. (c: Thanks for the frog-alert! (You know, it’s so bad, I don’t even like saying or typing the WORD. How ridiculous is that? Nevertheless.)
Our dog tries to hypnotize my husband when we eat in front of the TV. Staring into his eyes: “You WILL give me what you’re eating. Just slooowly put down your fork and slide that plate onto the floor.”
I love when the possum goes up to the door. Like “I know she’s in there!”
There’s nothing that can look more genuinely concerned than a very large dog who’s eyeing your food. Our Great Pyrenees/blue heeler mix is particularly good at this. He wears an expression of honest care and worry, as if to say, “Are you SURE you need all of that sandwich?”
Hey Robyn, have you heard about Toto the tornado kitten? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/19/toto-the-tornado-kitten-g_n_1435823.html
He reminded me of Dorothy, who I still love reading about on her own blog.
I second this comment! Toto’s proud papa wrote a book about Toto and is selling it so all the proceeds go the the Animal Rescue League of Boston!
Wow, that baby only weighed 6 oz and was found at the top of a tree??? What a sweet baby.
Wow Robyn! That is a LOT of eggs… what do you do with all of them? Also, the picture of Emmy eating with two babies latched on and upside down is hysterical! It made my whole day. Thanks.
I loved everything about your post today Robyn, but the ““Seriously. Calgon – take me away!” was one of the best! 😀