Life Through My Lens

These are random photos that I've taken recently.  No one photo merited an entire post, but taken together they show snippets of my life through my lens.  And they make me smile!  I hope they make you smile, too!

"I believe in unicorns!"

Jet-Lea, martial arts expert.

"I never repeat gossip, so listen carefully."

"Did, too!"  "Did not!"  "Did, too!"  "Did not!"

"Run, run as fast as you can; you can't catch me, I'm the Rocket Man!"

Détente.

"Here's lookin' at you, kid."  Jet does his Humphrey Bogart impersonation.

Creepy-crawlies on my back porch.  This is good.

Creepy-crawlies inside my house.  This is not good.

Jet:  "Will you be my friend?"
Macree:  "Munch, munch."

Jet:  "Will you be my friend?"
Olivia:  'Howooooooooo!"

Puppy-Cat disguised as a ferret.

Sweet Dreams, Peekaboo

In Memoriam:


Peekaboo

Dec. 18, 2006 to June 23, 2011

Darling ferret-boy, today you were reunited with your Precious on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.  We miss your sweet little face already, more than we can say.  We love you, and you will be with Precious in our hearts forever.  Until we meet again, sleep tight, little Peek-a-face.

Catching Up, Part II

Saturday, January 16

Jenny, Jean-Marc and I went to the mall, took in a movie, and got home about 8 p.m. to find Precious sitting under a comforter on my ottoman, apparently waiting for me.  She was very cold and limp and looked almost dead.  I wrapped her in a towel and put a heating pad on her all evening, then took her to bed like that.  Needless to say, I wasn't taking any pictures.

Sunday, January 17

Jenny took this picture of me and Precious, actually early Sunday morning before we went to bed.  After a night's sleep on the heating pad, with my hand holding her inside her towel all night long, she actually seemed a bit more alive this morning.  We stayed home from church while I nursed Precious and held her all day until the afternoon when she wanted to get in her cage.  Since she seemed to want to be in her hammock with Peekaboo, I figured he could be her heating pad!  She spent the rest of the afternoon and evening sleeping in there with him, only drinking if I gave her water, and not eating at all.

Monday, January 18

At one point yesterday afternoon when I let Precious down in the study with me, she climbed into the arm of the couch where the ferrets love to sleep.  I wanted her out so I could keep an eye on her, so I reached in to fish her out--but first I had to pull out Peekaboo's treasure trove (at left).  There was: one huarache, 3 foam paint brushes, one stuffed roadrunner, 40 promotional cards that were once wrapped in plastic until Peekaboo ate it, one unmentionable item, miscellaneous foam stuffing and plastic, and a 6-page promotional booklet about colon cleansing!  So now you know what stuff ferrets like!

Precious, by the way, is at the Mountain Hospital for Animals under the excellent care of Dr. Keller and team.  She's spending the night getting fluids and antibiotic treatment, trying to treat her acute ulcerative colitis.

Counting My Blessings

Count them--one, two--our delightful ferrets, Peekaboo and Precious.  I'm counting my blessings that there are still two of them!  Saturday night Peekaboo had an intestinal crisis like the last one that landed him overnight in the emergency animal hospital to the tune of--well, let's say a frightful amount of money!  As usual, it happened on a weekend when our regular vet (and ferret wizard) Dr. Keller wasn't available.  We never did know last time what caused it or why he got better; he just got over it.  This time I decided that we had to tough it out at home for financial reasons.  Poor little Peeky's abdomen was blown up like a balloon and hard to the touch.  I fed him his hairball laxative, tried a gas-relieving technique learned years ago in nursing, and held him against my chest on a heating pad.  He periodically had spasms of trying to vomit, which he finally did, but at times he was in so much pain he was grinding his teeth.  He just laid very still against me, which he never does; the only time he moved was when he tried to vomit.  Herb came and sat with us for awhile, and we prayed for Peeky.  Herb finally went to bed, thinking he'd never see Peekaboo alive again.  But finally after several hours, about 1 a.m., he seemed to be free from pain.  When I put him in his cage, he drank some water and climbed into a sleepsack.  The next morning he seemed much better, but was content to lay around in his cage for another 24 hours.  Today he was finally ready to get out, run around, and play with Precious and Zephyr.  What a blessing to see him so lively, doing his war dance, and playing peekaboo with Zephyr from under the furniture.  Thank you, Lord, for not only watching over the little sparrows, but the little ferrets, too!

We Are Thankful

It's Thanksgiving at Zephyr Hill Farm, and a whole bunch of us are celebrating together.  Here's what we're thankful for:

Herb- Fifty-six full years; four careers, each more fulfilling than the last; countless friends who have showed me unconditional love; four wise, wonderful godly children; three loving children in law; a wife who has selflessly given her life and love to me for thirty-two years; and above all, my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

Susan-I am thankful for my lovely family, for this beautiful place to live, to have Jane here for a visit, and to have Charis here for her very first Thanksgiving.

Jane-We are thankful to have Jane with us.  Zephyr is thankful that Aunt Jane is such a good sport about throwing her ball.

Kara-Is thankful she's almost done with college!

Jean-Marc- I am thankful for Jenny, for family and for friends, but most of all, I am thankful for God beeing by my side everyday of my life.  Day after day, He demonstates His grace in every blessing He gives me. Spending Thanksgiving with family is just one of them.
On a less serious note, I am soooo thankful that my day of work is over!!!

Jenny-I'm thankful for a good year of marriage and law school.

Jim-Jim said he didn't used to like having to share what he was thankful for on Thanksgiving because he wasn't thankful to God for anything and felt he had to make something good up, but now he is so thankful for all God is teaching him and doing in his family's life.
Monique-Is thankful for what a wonderful father Jim is to Charis, truly modeling God's father-love to her.

Charis-Seemed very thankful for all the good food which she devoured as fast as she could, for the fun wagon to play in, for all the animals, especially Zephyr, the chickens & the ferrets, whom she gave kisses to.

Hero-I'm thankful for Kara who was a hero and took a chance on a big black dog at the animal shelter.  And I'm thankful for lots of long grass to bounce over.

Zephyr-I'm thankful to live here at Zephyr Hill Farm with my family and all these animals for me to be the boss of.

Sterling-I'm thankful I got adopted with my sister Rascal.  And I'm thankful for the horse trailer to hide under because Hero is too big to fit under here.

Rascal-I'm thankful that I got adopted with my brother Sterling.  And I'm thankful for lots of tall trees to climb when Hero chases me.

Angel and Brandy-We're thankful that we got to come home again after we were stolen.  Twice!  And we're thankful to be out in the field eating grass for Thanksgiving dinner.

Gypsy, Esmerelda, Pepita and Victoria-We are thankful that we're not turkeys!  We're also thankful that Carmen is gone.  And we're very thankful that all those eggs we've laid will NOT be turning into babies!

Peekaboo-I'm thankful for my sister Precious and that Charis isn't afraid of us and she doesn't shriek like some babies!  And I'm thankful for suitcases to play in when we have company.

Precious-I'm thankful for my brother Peekaboo.  I'm thankful for Charis' sweet kisses (see the picture of me gettting a Charis kiss!) and that Charis' mommy lets her kiss me! 





Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Cast of Characters

Can you tell I was just on an Agatha Christie kick ? I loved that when you got confused about characters, you could check the list at the front of the book. So here we go with the list of my most “usual suspects”:

Herb—my dear, forbearing husband of 32 years. He had no idea that our marriage’s motto would be “Never a Dull Moment!”

Jim—our son, married to
Monique—mother of
Charis—our one and (for the moment, only) grandchild.

Katie—our daughter, married to
Cameron.

Jenny—our daughter, married to
Jean-Marc.

Kara—our daughter, adoptive mother of
Hero—big, black, part-Akita (?) former shelter resident.

Zephyr—my sweet little Sheltie, named before we ever heard of Zephyr Hill Farm.

Precious—big sister ferret to
Peekaboo—little brother ferret.

Angel—my 10 year-old black Tennessee Walking Horse mare, mother of
Brandy—3 year-old buckskin TWH.

Sterling & Rascal—sibling barn cats.

Carmen, the rooster, lord of the harem:
Esmerelda, Pepita, Victoria & Gypsy Rose Lea—my Ameraucana chickens, often referred to as “The Wicked Chickens” for reasons that will shortly be evident!

In Memoriam:
Tiger—our long-time French cat
Kizzy—the littlest chicken, chased off by Carmen.