Another addition to the family…

Meet Lucy! You can click on the photos to see more adorable shots of her so far.

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She is a sweet little rescue dog (meaning from the side of the road where she was abandoned with her 5 brothers and sisters – we had to bring them to the pound, and sadly, did not get adopted). We adopted her about mid-November, right around the time when Joseph was firing up his kiln for our first holiday kiln opening.

This cuddly little bundle of joy has grown up and grown out of her adorable little pink jacket we purchased for her. That only lasted about a month. She as almost outgrown her pink collar, too (my good friend, Tracy, would appreciate all the pink attire. I think it's the only color crayon, marker, pen, pencil, computer, paint, etc. that she owns!)
She has been a great addition to the homestead, digging up moles out of the yard, chasing cats and birds, and enjoy the company of the neighborhood dogs that randomly stop by. Plus, she is keeping Joseph company during his long days in the pottery. Our lucky Lucy Loo!

New to the Family

Ignoring the frustration and anger of our current cat, Smudge, Joseph and I decided to get two new kitties. They were rescues from the side of the road. Someone had abandoned them, along with the mother cat, only to be saved by a kind woman out of Burlington. We drove all the way up there to pick out two. However, they were incredibly young and skittish. Lena, our little tiger, was hissing at as the whole way home. Maya was just a scared little thing. But, they have turned out to be the cutest kittens, wrestling with each other, playing ball and mouse across the floor, and cuddling non-stop.

They both have responded to me really well. When I come in the door, they come running and talking, I'm sure telling me about the dust bunny they ate and how many naps they took and who won the last wrestling match. On the other hand, they could care less about Joseph. Oh well!

Here they are:

New Additions!

Hey everyone....we want to introduce you to the newest additions to the Sand Family....Maya and Galena (Lena for short). The are only about 6 weeks old right now, too precious!



Smudge, on the otherhand, is not so excited right now. She hisses and spits, growling at them. But, she's just exhibiting her status in the house. These poor girls were found at the side of a road with their 6 brothers and sisters and mother, saved by a kind soul. We thought it would be a good time to get some baby kitties. Joseph did not grow up with pets, especially adorable baby ones! He is having a great time with these ladies, creating a scratching/climbing wall for them. This is 3 feet of sheer vertical fun! They love their toys and love to wrestle each other. Glad we got two of them!

Chickens!

We recently added more to our family....two sets of chickens.  We started with an assortment of Crested Polish and Barred Rock chickens, only getting four. The three crested polish are the ones in the foreground and the barred rock is the black one in the corner. They were about $3 each at the local feed store, so to us, it was a bargain, especially considering how many eggs we eat.  The only unknown was that we were not sure if they were male or female:  these chicks were in a mixed box, probably so the store could move inventory.  Most people don't buy roosters.  They wake you up at 3am to let you know it's dark out and they've already started their day.  They fight with other chickens, they're not subtle towards the hens, and they might be the kind that like to sever limbs from humans with their huge talons.

So, who knows, maybe we have four roosters, which would be a sad day.  We've had these chickens for a month now and they're doing really well.  All of them have made it through the baby phase, and now they've progressed into adolescence, showing their feathers and growing their fancy plumage on their heads.  I will write another post with updated photos (it's dark out now so I can't capture them in their full glory).

About two weeks ago we got another set of four chickens, this time all hens of the Rhode Island Red variety.  They are cutie pies, indeed!  They have a little black mark on the outside edge of their eyelids so it looks as though they have eyeliner on.  They are timid and beautiful, almost doubling in size in a week.  You have to hold them so they get used to you and aren't scared of you.  The first set of chickens we held a lot and fed lots of bugs and moths to so they come out and greet us when we walk by their chicken tractor that we made for them (Joseph did 95% of the work on it, I was moral support).

Let's hope all the chickens make it through the difficult adolescence and become the beautiful animals they are bred to be....and also hope that we only have one rooster.....