Man, it’s been a stormy last few days. Yesterday evening while on the way to pick N up from work it freaking dumped on us big time! I threw a blanket over Everly’s head and we made a mad dash from the front door to the car. I jumped in the drivers seat with a diaper/ dance bag slung over my shoulder and baby E in my arms. I was soaked and I’d only been outdoors for a few seconds.

Today the storms are knocking out my satellite signal and the rain is dumping again… It’s all good though. I’d rather have some rain than the muggy, warm Indiana summer temps!

Tomorrow my students perform for the first time and today is my day off from teaching.

I’ve got all sorts of things to take care of… Cat piss on the tile floor outside the litter box (Mr. Guy’s way of protesting semi-dirty litter), extra wet cat vomit on the white carpets (probably a result of cats eating things they shouldn’t), cloth diapers to wash and hang to dry, the bathroom totally needs to be cleaned, there is clean, unfolded laundry hanging out in the laundry basket (it’s been there for several days getting all super wrinkled), gotta pay the bills, figure out a plan for dinner and care for Everly while I try to take care of everything. Fun!

Speaking of damn cats… Why is Gabby obsessed with chewing every single cable in this house? First it was the iPod/ iPhone cord, then the video camera charging cable, the Wii nunchuk cord and the balance board charging cable. Next she got the iPod dock speaker cable, almost got E’s swing power cord and she just started in on the router power cable.

If she destroys the router or modem cables and I am without internet I will not be a happy camper!

I am wondering if she is lacking some mineral or something that makes her chew the various cords and cables around here or if she’s just dead set on being an ass because she’s not getting enough attention from us these days.

Anyone want to take care of our zoo for us? It sure would help out lots! Taking care of the house is one of the things we are slacking on… Slacking sucks when you’ve got 4 indoor cats who vomit, piss in the sink or on the floor and who are basically jerks when things aren’t kept up with. It’s not pretty around here.

Gotta go clean vomit and piss now, happy day off to me.

The post Cat piss has fried my brain and I can't come up with a title for this crappy post. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I’ve got a prenatal appointment with the OBGYN next week and I am sure she’ll make a comment about the lack of weight gain this month but N and I aren’t worried. According to all our reading Tater is just starting another growth spurt so I’ll probably pack on several more pounds shortly.

It seems my weight gain is not really a gradual thing, I pack on a good amount one month which puts me over what is deemed normal then the next month I stall out and don’t gain much… It is hit or miss really. Good news is I am still eating like a mad woman and I’ve put on 20 pounds since becoming pregnant, I think gaining another 20-30 pounds in 3 months is not going to be a problem.

This morning I was happy to see it was again a warmer day and we were able to open up all the windows and enjoy the fresh breeze. We are fresh air and sunlight people. We love our windows to be open so winter is sometimes a downer for us, especially when we don’t get enough pretty snow.

The morning email checking was nice with the cool breeze blowing through the house. Andrew one of our cats climbed in to my lap and took a nap as soon as I got up. These days all the pets have been less interested in hanging out with me, probably because they sense Tater is coming. So it was nice that Andrew came to see me today.

N snapped a photo of the love fest on my lap so everyone could see how the belly is looking…

It is kind of funny how Tater responds to the cats purring. She can totally hear them and she will kick when ever they are purring near my belly.

I told N she is either going to be super soothed by the purring when she’s born or she’ll go crazy wanting to play with them when they purr. What do you think?

The post Purring Cats on Pregnant Bellies… 24 week pregnancy thoughts appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Yeah, so we’ve got some horny animals in the house these days. It could be that valentines day is next week and love is in the air… or perhaps it is just because they are both unfixed still and are feeling “urges”…

Either way it is bad news! Gabby walks around with her butt in the air and she is meowing and talking like crazy while rubbing herself against anything she can.

Boner is just humping anything that is warm so we keep him in a cage most of the time. Problem is bunnies can’t be confined to tiny cages all day, everyday. They need to run and hop so we let him out to exercise but we also need to keep him from Gabby’s lady parts.

I am inventive you know so I put a cloth diaper on Gabby just to make sure we didn’t have any strange crossbreeding action. Then we set Boner free to exercise for a bit. It was not a g rated morning!

Weird thing is they are both okay with the humping, it is disturbing to us but they both seems to be having a good time… Oddly. I wish we had the money to fix them both right now. Unfortunately, we don’t so we’ll just make due by keeping them separate most of the time.

Good news is the new rabbit hutch N is building should be finished this weekend thanks to the warmer temperatures, yay! Soon Boner and Maybelle will both have room to exercise inside enclosed cages as opposed to being crammed in to one cage together.

The post Whoa, that lovin' feeling!!! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

For starters this fish fillet wasn’t super pink like a salmon fillet is normally, it was more white than pink. Then there was the texture of it, way to fluffy and light for salmon! It sort of tasted like salmon but not really.

Now I am positive a salmon freakishly mated with a halibut and the result was the mutant fish fillets we consumed. So I did what any blogger would do, I opened a new tab and referred to google. Here is what I found:

Another Irish study is now investigating the impact of farmed salmon escapees on wild salmon. “Ulster scientists are finalising a key research project on the threat posed to wild salmon by escaped farmed salmon,” reported The Belfast Telegraph (5th December). “Details of the north Antrim study emerged after the Government admitted a link between fish farm break-outs and significant genetic changes in wild salmon. Angling and environmental organisations have long feared that inter-breeding between the two types of salmon will eventually lead to the extinction of the natural population. The north Antrim project, based on the River Bush, ties in with research work in other parts of the British Isles and Scandinavia”. In a reply to a parliamentary question NIO Minister Angela Smith told MPs: “The surveys showed that the genetic status of the wild population was significantly changed, indicating that cross breeding with farmed salmon had taken place. Further scientific studies have commenced on the River Bush catchment on the potential consequences of genetic change in the wild population caused by interbreeding with farmed salmon in terms of long-term productivity”. UUP MP David Burnside said: “We are going to lose the wild salmon and they will never come back. We have the most polluted rivers in my experience. On top of this, we have the escapes of farmed salmon which are bred to put cheap food on supermarket shelves”. Quote source: http://www.salmonfarmmonitor.org/intlnewsjanuary2004.shtml

I still think I ate a mutant crossbreed fish! Oh and the above quote just gives me more reason to only eat wild (not farm raised salmon). Dang those farmers who raised food and also choose to genetically modify it!

Speaking of crossbreeding, remember my new bunny named Boner? Well the name was given for a reason, he is one horny fellow! He is trying to crossbreed with my kitten Gabby right now. They are both unfixed at this time and while he was chasing her around the house and trying to mount her I thought “oh crap they are both unfixed, they can’t crossbreed can they?”.

So now I am on hump patrol and am making sure he is not humping her backside. Not that she is confused enough to let him but I would rather be safe than sorry, you know? Good freaking times at the Talina & N zoo!

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This is the first attempt at Weekly Winners that I have made on this blog. All photos were captured using my new Kodak CD1013 that refuses to turn on when I need it. These Weekly Winners aren’t stunning examples of mad photography skills like the shots Lotus takes. Mine are just stunning glimpses of day to day life in my house. Enjoy (but pay no attention to the mess okay?)!

Don’t you just hate not being able to pinch off that last piece of poo?

Dragging your butt from side to side across the bathrom floor is not the optimum way to finish your business but hey, some just have to make due right?

Do you see the long, dark hair in the factory sealed package of salmon?

Jack, out kitty has a real bad habit of turning and running before he surveys the area. This results in him running in to the corners of walls and hurting this same spot time and time again. How many times does a cat have to face plant in to a wall before loosing one of it’s 9 lives?

… And then there are the Wii photos. How about a little Wii Fit Yoga that the dog gets in to?

She was really in quite a trance.

Then there is the spilled coffee thanks to N bashing the Wii controller in to the table following Christmas gif opening. Nice!

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