I got an email from the shelter saying they had a kitten who needed a foster mom.  A whole litter got caught in the flooding these past few days and they had washed up in a man’s back yard.  Only one was alive.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had a foster kitten, and I was thrilled to be able to accept the job.  The little guy spent the night at the shelter sleeping and nursing from a “borrowed” mommy.  On the drive over this morning I was thinking of naming him “Noah” but when I got there to pick him up they had already named him.

Meet “Stormy”

🙂

 This is what operates out my kitchen window…

My backyard celeb Mr. Robert Redbird

My side porch window…

Our apple orchard. (We have two trees-that qualifies right?)

My bedroom window…

I cannot tell a lie, this was three weeks ago. All the pink is gone now. 😦

And my office window…

Baby Geeslets!

I hope Spring has sprung where you live, and that your windows are operating to your satisfaction.  These days make me giddy with happiness after one of the longest, wettest and messiest winters in my memory.

HAPPY SPRING!

Rowdy had a visitor to her private lair the other night.

Ahhhhhh…I think I’ll settle down for a long nap on my beloved ottoman.

Hey Wowdy, what’s so special about dis ottoman?

Hey, you can weely see a lot more stuff from here!

Get off my ottoman! No bunnies allowed!

Mom! Make him go away!

FINE! Dumb bunny!

Never fear, The B-Man hasn’t made a return visit to the fortress of leisure.  Her Empire is safe for now.

🙂

Alas, Buster is too old to endure the long night of delivering baskets of eggs to little children.  For many years he was one of The Easter Bunny’s best helpers, but now that he is past middle age he has a new job.  He is our neighborhood’s official Easter Greeter and he spends the day “posing” for pictures with kids.  Here are a few cute ones from yesterday and I’m sure I’ll have more to post tomorrow.

The old guy seems to really like little girls.

Especially ones who bring snacks.

No Bruce, I’m NOT calling you a little girl.

Little boys…not so much.

Even Sammy, our normally aloof kitty, got into the action.

Where’s MY snack?

I got nostalgic for my bunnies who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge so here is a retrospective of Easters of yore.

Buster and Boo Boo

She loved Buster to pieces. We miss her sweet nature. 😦

Dave!

He liked little girls too.

Dave was Buster’s trusty sidekick and BFF.

Dave & Buster (and Nephew Nate Dawg)

Dave was also very good friends with his pal Mulder.

Am I supposed to hide these Mr. Mulder?

Here are some pictures of Buster’s first Easter with us.

Still Life with Bunny

Do I eat this part?

And what Easter portfolio would be complete without a little yellow chick?

The most tolerant bunny in the world.

This is Scarlett my foster chicken as a baby.

And “Hop On Buster” was her favorite game.

And finally, you knew you weren’t going to be spared another picture of my beanie babies.  Deal with it!

HOPPY EASTER EVERYBUNNY! 🙂

I paid a visit to two of my favorite blondes last week.  It had been a while since I’d taken a trip to Debbie’s farm, and she told me that Daisy was looking exceptionally lovely this spring!  I was packin’ (grapes) so when I arrived and started speaking to my girl she fired her memory cells and prepared to jump for a snack.

Ready mom!

Debbie’s other chickens have seen this routine, but they weren’t raised from young chicks to learn to jump for grapes, so at first they were oblivious.

Hey gang, look what Daisy’s doing?

Soon the little flock caught on and I was able to get a few of them to jump for a few grapes, but none had the professional skills of my champion chicken.

Air DAISY!

I wanted to hold her for a bit, but she was not in the mood.  Debbie had an idea that if she fed them a special treat, she might be still enough for me to sneak up behind her and snag a short hug.

Mmmmmmm. Kefir and rice! Goor-met chicken food.

While Daisy filled her gullet, I snuck up and grabbed her.

See the grain of rice stuck to her beak? 🙂

She made the “mad chicken” sound.  (You know it when  you hear it) so I put her back down to enjoy her meal with her friends.

That’s more like it!

Debbie’s little flock is greatly diminished since the dog attack last year.  Her remaining chickens all look healthy and beautiful and they really do have a fabulous chicken life.  Her prettiest and sweetest bird is certainly my fat yellow girl and former backyard pet.

Keep it real, girlfriend!
🙂

Where did I leave off?  Oh yes, I came home from my visit to Mississippi…I ascended the stairs…opened the door to the “kid’s” room…and my jaw dropped to the floor.  At that moment, I stood as witness to the MOST EPIC BEANIE BABY PROJECT KNOWN TO MANKIND!

Meet Jorge, the benevolent overlord of BEANIEOPOLIS.

He rules his kingdom with an iron claw. (Sloths have claws right?)  He orchestrates the building and maintenance of his vast empire from atop Raggedy Ann’s noggin.  He is master of all he surveys and his commands are obeyed by a population of over 250 loyal subjects.

These are conscripted laborers in the Public Works Department.

It is their duty to build roads, bridges and railways for Jorges’ various enterprises.  These workers are paid well, but their days are long and tedious.

Flutter, do you think we should unionize?

Other subjects in Beanieopolis are more fortunate.  As an avid fan of Confederate history, Jorge employs actors under his rule to reenact classic battles between the Blue and the Gray.

Do you spot the spy among the troops

Yes, it’s Rainbow the chameleon.

I had to think about that one for a while.

Jorges’ devotion to classic film is legendary.  He employs even more Beanie thespians to perform scenes from some of the greatest movies ever to grace the silver screen.

Here are a few of his favorites…

THE OPENING SCENE FROM THE GODFATHER

Someday, and that day may never come, I’ll call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day – accept this justice as a gift on my daughter’s wedding day.

FINDING NEMO

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming…

THE HUNGER GAMES

May the odds be ever in your favor.

Katniss

And what film library would be complete without an iconic scene from TITANIC?

I’m flying!

 JAWS

We’re gonna need a bigger boat!

Poor Quint!

Of course not all citizens of Beanieopolis are productive members of society.  These poor creatures have been incarcerated.  Jorge caught them fishing without their amenity passes and put them in jail.

A pox upon you Deputy Talley!

Stretch is ’bout to shank somebody!

But life on Beanieopolis isn’t all work and rehearsals.  A wedding was recently held on the island and it was a thing of beauty.

Jorges’ lovely daughter Pinky ties the knot with her beloved Smooch.

The wedding was well attended by all Beanies not otherwise employed in Jorges’ bidding.

Reverend Grace Bunny officiated. Not a dry eye in the crowd!

Catering was provided by the trusty slaves volunteers from Jorges’ vast pool of culinary specialists.

Are we getting overtime for this?

Did you get the chicken or the fish?

(I guess I should have checked Miss Sock Monkey’s pose before I took this picture!  Note Hannah’s beloved old doll “Chair” next to her.  That kid was a wiz at naming her toys.)

Of course, as in any kingdom, there are subjects who manage to stay under the radar and avoid the scrutiny of Jorges’ constant gaze.

Chickie retreats to the stacks in the Beanieopolis Public Library.

And there are always a few poor souls who just never fit in and retreat to the farthest corners of the kingdom to take comfort in anonymity.

This is poor Swoop the “existential angst” pterodactyl.

I couldn’t be more invisible if I was EXTINCT!

Well, that’s all.  I know you will join me in marveling at the strange and wonderful brain of Tama.  She’s a great friend and one of the biggest weirdos I know.  It took me several hours to put my beanies back in their proper places and pack away all the toys and decorations she dragged out of my closets. Never underestimate people who appear normal from the outside.

You just never know what lurks in the recesses of their dark and goofy minds.

Last week Jim had to go overseas for work so I decided to take some time to go visit Peg & Bill, the people responsible for my awesomeness!  As always, I asked my excellent pet sitter, Tama to take care of the critters and she agreed because she gets to choose TWO toys from my “re-gift” closet. (Everyone has one, don’t kid yourself) PLUS she gets to hide my small basket of beanie babies all over the house.  Like most folks I’ve long had a tiny stockpile of the toys that I had picked up when they were everywhere in the 1990s.  She started this goofy tradition several years ago when I came home from a trip to find that my measly 8 little beanies were missing from the basket and hidden in weird places all over my house.  It took me weeks to find them and I’m not sure I ever found them all.  Well, I was pretty irritated, but Tama thought it was HILARIOUS so this has become her little joke on me whenever I go away. (Be very careful who you give a house key to!)  Little did she know when I left for THIS trip that I had recently amassed an army of beanies, and they were all lying in wait for her.

So, I fixed up a playhouse for Buster on the porch…

Castle “Lagomorph” –Google it.

…and then drove to Mississippi to see the family on Talowah Road.  I had a nice five-day visit with Mama & Daddy but I’m very concerned that Mama’s two beagles Lucy & Snoopy might be eating up my inheritance.

Don’t get up girls, it’s just me.

And you’re gonna think this is very weird, but you must know my family to understand that this picture is perfectly normal.

I call this the “before” picture.

THE HEADSTONES!  The Pegster was pretty proud of them, and I thought they were very dignified without being “showy”.  Trust me, if Daddy had been there, he would have laid down and crossed his arms for the shot.  Now maybe you can understand how I got this way.  It’s NOT MY FAULT!

As I drove back to Montgomery, the one thought on my mind was Tama’s reaction upon seeing the 250+ beanie babies waiting for her to hide.  I admit, I was not looking forward to hunting them all down when I got home, but good pet sitters are hard to find, so I decided it was a small price to pay for great service.  I just wished I could have seen her face as she opened the door to the bedroom.  What awaited me when I got home was unbelievable.  Stay tuned if you want to witness the greatest Beanie Baby epic in the history of playthings.  The girl is an evil genius.  OK, mostly just evil.

 APRIL FOOL!!!

🙂 🙂 🙂