Less Poo, More Eggs!

Thus was my disgruntled complaint as I reached into the chicken coop in which five chickens roost and only one lays an always poo covered brown mottled egg.

Earlier this morning I did manage to collect an underdeveloped egg from one of the other chickens. It was at least whole which is a vast improvement over the cracked shells and yokes my dad has found prior. It was half the size of Butterscotch's eggs which makes it about three fourths the size of a white store bought egg, and it was kind of pink looking because, although it is that pretty orangey brown of Butterscotch's, it was also covered in little white spots so it looks very nice, (once I washed the poo off).

Life on our ten acre "Farm" seems to be full of poo. I walk through cow poo to check on my dying climbing rose and chuck poo around the base in an effort to keep it alive. Apparently, not only did I plant it in clay laced soil that won't drain, but what I thought was a fairly sunny spot against our ugly pole barn, is shaded for a lot of the day by both the barn and a nearby tree. I am stupid, and as much as I pray for and check on my poor little rose, I'm afraid that I will never see our ugly metal barn covered in roses as in Robin Mckinley's Beauty. Alas, if only I had a Beast who loved me enough to send magic rose seed and hurry them along!

In other news, I may have saved my dear cat Starr's life by finding a book called Crazy Kitty. My mother read through it and realized that Starr's use of the living room carpet to pee and other various ways of incorrectly using the litter box may stem from recurring tenderness of the paws. She had a very rough time with her declawing years ago and after tearing out the glue, had to be stitched and has never allowed anyone to touch her front paws. She was nicknamed Miss Prissy Paws because of the way she sits up with one paw held up, limp wristed. To fix this problem, we've moved a spread of newspaper and the cats food dish to her favorite corner to pee in the living room and found a finer, softer kitty litter. After being placed in the box, she went and after I made her try, she actually covered where she had gone! A miracle! if only it will last!