Libby and her Pillow!

As you all know this is Libby.  I took this picture of her because she was laying funny on the pillow.  Usually before she lays down on the couch or chair she picks up the pillows with her mouth and puts them on the floor.  This time she was pouting about something and just jumped up and laid on this pillow without moving it.  After we made fun of her she got up and went to sleep on the back porch.  I was just lucky enough to get this picture.

Chickens

If everyone was wondering, yes we do own seven chickens.  This is a video of one of our brown chickens pecking at a pumpkin that was on our front porch.  It is commical because one wouldn't think that chickens would eat pumpkin.  Really they eat just about anything that you give them!

Reindeer Bean

I decided to put up this picture of Butterbean for the holidays.  I call this reindeer Bean!  Now I know that it looks like she enjoyed these antlers being on her hear, but she didn't.  It took me so long to get her to wear these.  I would put them on her head and she would take her paw and slide them off.  Finally, after I did it enough she just surrendered and let me do it.  She is too cute!

Boxes

After discovering there would be boxes everywhere in the house, Chleo decided she was going to like the holiday season.  She has made little houses out of about four or five different boxes now.  Shortly after this picture was taken, she decided to try to roll in this box.  She fell off the chair and could not get out of the box.  It was rather comical. 

Lucky

The last cat and pet I would like to introduce is Lucky.  She is the oldest of all our animals.  I would say she is about 13 or 14 years old.  '

We also found her and saved her.  There is a bar called the Wayne Hotel.  My parents were there eating one night.  When they went to leave this cat would not let them alone; she was very persistent.  Mom felt bad for her and put her in the car and brought her home. 

She was very shy at first and would hide a lot.  She soon warmed up to the people in our family and the other animals we had.  She is still very shy and when there is a lot of people in the house she still hides or goes outside. 

She sleeps with me every night.  You would not think a small cat could take up a whole bed, but she sure does.  She lays everywhere that I want to put my feet.  I love her but it is very annoying. 

She absolutely despises Libby and Cleo!  She runs from Libby and her and Cleo are constantly fighting.  She currently has a scratch down her nose from fighting with Cleo.

She hates to be picked up and carried around.  She makes her body all stiff when you try to hold her.  She does love to be pet and fussed over though.  She really likes when you rub her belly.

She mostly sticks around the house ever since her incident this summer.  When we got home from the beach we could not find her anywhere for about a week.  We thought something might have got her; we were very worried.  She did turn up one day though.  It was a relief when she did.  We think she got locked in the neighbors garage and they didn't know it. 

We are very happy to have this cat in our family.  She is wonderful and always so loving!

Booger

Then there's Booger.  We got booger when I was probably in third or fourth grade. 

Mom found her at our local business under the coal scales.  She was just a little kitten and was desperate for a family.  She was cold and hungry.  Mom knew she couldn't just leave her there, so she came home. 

At first we did not know what we were going to name her.  We called her different names for probably a week.  We finally settled on Booger.  Dad named her.  She is called Boog most of the time. 

In the summer she loves to be outside but in the winter you will probably find her curled up on a bed somewhere.  She absolutely hates the snow.

She hates the dogs with a passion and always hides from them.  Mostly Libby though-- she chases her.  She gets along with the other cats, but sometimes I see them in a little cat fight now and then.  

She is very loving. Although she does not really like to be held, she loves the attention.  Her favorite thing is having her belly rubbed.  She will stretch out and just lie there.  

Her favorite person is probably my boyfriend.  She always knows when he is at the house.  She will curl up on the couch behind his head or sleep on his lap.  He gives her attention all the time.

We love Boog very much, and we are lucky to have her at our house.  We wouldn't trade her for anything! 

Chleo

Now onto the cats.  The first cat is Chleo; the newest addition to our family.  I came across her at my work this summer. 

I work at a local public pool, and she had gotten in under the fence and started rubbing up along the patrons' legs.  I went over to get her to make sure she was not dangerous, and she turned out to be very lovable. 

Our manager was trying to find somewhere to take her. No one did.  In the meantime, she was sleeping on my towel in our guard shack, and we all knew that was it.  She has been mine ever since. 

My mom told me not to bring her home, that she didn't want another cat.  I took her home anyway.  It turned out that both Mom and Dad.

At first, we had no idea what to name her .  We thought of a ton of different names, but none of them seemed to fit her.  Finally, my dad thought of Chleo after Queen Cleopatra.  

When I found her, I noticed she was blind in one eye.  We took her to the vet to get her shots and to make sure she was healthy. We learned the cause of her blindness was an upper respiratory infection when she was a younger kitten.  Other than that she was completely healthy. 

Her good eye is a bright orange color that is really pretty.  Her other eye is still intact, but it is just glazed over.  But it doesn't look unhealthy.

We have found that unlike our other cats, she actually likes our dogs.  When they walk by, she bats their tails or bodies. 

However, the other cats absolutely despise her.  She stalks them through the house and then attacks them when they are not paying attention.  They try to hide from her; it doesn't work.

We found that she loves to be outside, especially when the sun is shining.  She likes to sit under the bird feeder and watch the squirrels and birds.  She also likes to stalk our pack of chickens around the yard.  They run away.

We do not let her outside at night though because of her blindness.  We are afraid that if she would get into some trouble she would not be able to get away.

One last thing: she is extremely fat!  She is about eight months old, and her stomach drags on the ground!  She eats at free will all the time and we loves human food. 

Overall, she is just a very lovable animal, and I am very happy to have found her.  She has brought a lot of joy into our house!

Butterbean

Meet Butterbean.  She is an 11-year-old mixed breed.  We think she is part chow, lab, and some kind of hound dog.  We know she is part chow because she has a black tongue. 

She has many different nicknames; her most popular names are either Butter or Beaner.   She got her name because she was just a little yellow ball that my dad said looked like a "butterbean".  The name stuck.

She has always loved to lie outside on the porch furniture or in the sun.  However, when she was little we would have to tie her to the front porch when we were not home because she had a habit of running off.  She still likes to run into the woods and bark every now and then, but she always comes back. 

Even though she is 11 years old, she still acts like she is about six.  She is in great health, and I think we will still have her for at least four years, if not longer.

The chow in her gives her some unique character traits.  One is that she absolutely hates water.  She gets a bath just every other month because giving her one is a great challenge. 

The hound in her gives her the instinct to hunt and kill.  She has a habit of getting tied up with animals like a groundhog or a porcupine.  She wins the battle most of the time, but sometimes she makes silly mistakes; like biting the porcupine.  That was the last time she got tied up with one of those.

The lab in her gives her a loving quality.  She loves attention from anyone who will give it to her.  Unlike Liberty, she gives attention to everyone, not just to my dad. 

Butterbean is a wonderful dog, and we are so thankful to have her.  People say that mutts are the most loving, and that is definitely true of our little Beaner!

Liberty Bell

I would like to introduce the blogging world to our Liberty Bell.  She is a three-year-old chocolate lab and weighs about 103 pounds.  

Libby has lots of allergies and is always on medicine.  This makes her skin itchy, so she also gets medicated baths. 

My father is her favorite person, and she follows him everywhere.  She hangs out with everyone else only  if he is not home or if we have food she wants. 

Our family nicknamed her "The Growler" because if she is sleeping and you touch her, she will growl at you.  However, she will never bite you. 

We got her the summer before my freshman year of high school from a Mennonite family in Port Royal.  She was the only chocolate lab in the litter; the rest were yellow or black labs.

 We wanted a chocolate lab because our previous dog, Jazzy, was also a chocolate lab.  Libby was the cutest little puppy and was not big by any means.  She never slept through the night, and my mom would get up and keep her company.  I would sometimes do that, too. 

While she was growing up we found that she loves toys, and still does, along with any kind of food.  She is spoiled like a child and still sleeps in bed with my parents.  My mother is not fond of this at all! 

Throughout the day, she either sleeps on the couch or chair. Or, if she goes to work with my mom and dad, sleeps in the cab of his truck. 

She chases the cats all over the house because she thinks they want to play; they don't.  She likes to play with our other dog, but she is much older and plays only when she feels like it.

Liberty Bell is a wonderful dog, and we love her very much.  We have never had a dog with personality like she has. She is just a joy to have around.