Saturday Blog Hop: The Happy Box!



Do not pay attention to my terrible hair in this picture.  I know I look like Kramer off of Friends....

Part of my quest to be an "urban farmer" has made me look at the food that I eat.  I have determined that I eat terrible because it is easy, so I recently joined a CSA program in our community.  It is called "The Happy Box".  You decide what vegetables and fruits that you want to receive, and they pick and deliver your produce once a week.  It is all organic, and it tastes amazing!  I swear I eat more produce this way strictly because I get so excited to eat it.  Opening that box on Friday is always so exciting because you never know what you are going to get, and I eat things I would never have eaten before because they are delivered to me.  Pictured below is the photographic evidence that I am not the only one who is excited about "The Happy Box".  It turns out Stewart likes organic produce too!

Stewie and his organic carrot!

Urban Farming: Chickens

Dixie!

Okay, so confession time: I love chickens!  There is nothing like sitting on your deck, sipping a glass of wine, while watching your chickens frolic in the yard.  The problem?  I live in the middle of the city....  This has not deterred me from my dream of becoming an urban farmer though.  (I really want fresh eggs!)  All winter I have been researching chickens, and finally I purchased these 6 little girls from the local feed store just a few weeks ago.  I built an indoor chicken coop over the weekend, and an outdoor coop will soon follow.  I love listening to them chirp and cheep, and they are everything I imagined they would be!  Katzya and I named them: Dixie, Dorothy, Demi, Daisy, Dolly, and Diane (after my mom!).  It will be a few months before my fresh eggs start rolling in, however I am in love with these fuzzy little critters already! 

Watching our new arrivals!

Saturday Blog Hop: Goodbye Fenway

This week has been particularly hard on our family due to the death of one of our "pack" members. I have a variety of animals that bless my life, and each of them are treasured members of my family. That is why I have not blogged for the last 2 weeks. We noticed that our kitty, Fenway, was unstable on his feet last Friday and we immediately took him to the veterinarian. She did a number of tests on Fenway and his blood work showed that he had elevated ammonia levels and he had a fever of 105 degrees. We were looking at the possibilities of a liver shunt, toxoplasmosis, or FIP for a diagnosis. Fenway continued to get worse over the course of a few days, and his blood work came back negative for toxoplasmosis. A liver shunt was ruled out since he had a fever, so we are thinking that he had FIP. (He had the majority of the symptoms for this disease...) He was making no improvements in his ability to walk, and was having a hard time eating so we made the painful decision to euthanize him.


Fenway was a rescue kitty from the humane society. He is featured along with his brother in one of my December blog posts. I was supposed to only foster both of these boys, but after it became obvious that Abner would never be a candidate for adoption, we decided to keep them. Fenway was only a 5 pound kitty, but the hole that he has left in my house and heart is big enough for an lion. Fenway was always purring and snuggling with us, and even with his last breath he continued to purr. My house seems empty. He was a constant fixture on the couch or in bed, and I miss him greatly.


There are times I wonder: "Why does this one need me?" I wondered that with Fenway. He was such a perfect kitty, and I often thought that I would place him without Abner because I just didn't need 2 more kitties. I guess the answer is that God knew Fenway needed me, even though I didn't know that myself. I was able to give Fenway a home where he was safe, fed, and above all: loved. I have no regrets with this rescue. My only regret is that I couldn't have loved him a little longer....