Poetry

We are learning different styles of peotry this summer- Here are a few so far...
Haiku by Hannah

SHELLDAN
He is short and fat
He oinks, squeaks, roots, and slurps fast
He is white and black

A Haiku poem follows a 5, 7, 5 syllable rule

Next is a List Poem by Hannah
DOGS
Puppy breath
Cuddling
Wet noses
Many breeds

Personification Poem by Hannah

THE DOOR
This is what I do, I open and close
I feel sad when someone slams me closed!
I feel happier when someone closes me gently
I would like to change my color!
Don't slam me and can you please paint me!!!

Two-words-on-a-line Poem by Hannah

THE BEE STING

Crunchy field
Scorching day
Lazy walk
Flying Bees
Runs away
Going nuts
Painful sting
Ruined day!

GOING TO THE ZOO
by Joshua

Pay fee
Checking map
Looking around
Finding bats
Food court
Eat corndog
Walk away
Find birds
Feeding ducks
Screeching monkey
Leaving zoo
Had fun!

an action poem by Hannah

My Potbelly Pig Shelldan
His jiggling belly when he runs
He likes to pounce on our kittens as they wrestle in a box
He enjoys nibbling on my fingers as I lay on the floor
He likes to run, and when he's done he pants ever so hard!
After he's rested he slurps a big plate of milk!
He makes me giggle-

Raccoon Deterrant

So, I have found the sure fire way to keep raccoons out of the hen house!!!
Have dear hubby build special coon proof night time houses, borrow traps from a friend, buy several cans of Sardines, bait the traps after locking up all the animals who shouldn't get caught, set the traps, wait 8 hours, and viola! No Coons!!! 4 nights now, and no coons in the traps! I shouldn't complain, at least there have been no more dead birds!!!

Dogs and kittens and pigs Oh My!!!

So, now the kittens and the piglet are 5 weeks old! They are all so cute! Sheldon the pig, loves to run and play and jump just like the kittens do. Sugar Bear joins in and they have the best time! They hide and jump out at each other, they chase each other round' and round' the living room. Sheldon doesn't have much traction on hooves, so he always slides into the furniture or the walls! They snuggle in the pet beds just like they were littermates! I'm sure this won't last much longer considering the size difference in a month or two-so we are enjoying them all right now.

CHAOS in the Farmyard!

We've lived here for 7 years, and had never had this problem! Until now-Raccoons! I used to think they were so cute, animated, silly... I now know the truth! They are ruthless killers! Over about a weeks time, one or more have killed 25 birds! It took a few dead chickens to figure it out. We thought, maybe they're too crowded, or picking on each other due to the heat? Then I really started looking around, and it all added up: broken bones, entrails pulled out, missing heads, feet etc. I also found bits and pieces on the other side of the pen.
The night before last was the worst. At first, it was just a chicken here or there, one a night or so, then we started finding several each morning, the the last straw was my oldest coming in and asking if I had seen the little gosling. I asked him to "dispose" of it before anyone else saw it and got hysterical. That happens a lot! Then he said, " I thought their were 2 goslings (we hatched them ourselves!) in that pen" So I run out to check-not only were those two murdered, but the last of my Silkies and all but 2 of the button quail! I was so sad! We hatched all the quail too! We rescued 2 scared little buttons and brought them inside still in shock.
Now, I was on a mission! I asked friends to borrow traps; we only had one! So they loaned them to me, and I set them last night. Baited them with sardines too! Someone said raccoons can't resist them! My sweet hubby built me a nice night time hutch for the Courtnix Quail. I locked them up, put the cats inside, and waited. I could hardly sleep! I went out after breakfast, and guess what? Those mean critters can resist sardines!!! I'm sure they are still full from the night befores raid. Not a critter one in the traps! But- no dead birds either! I was happy about that! So, we'll try again tonight. I'm determined to catch them! I'll let you know the outcome...Stay tuned!

Pot Belly Piglet!

Who knew they were Sooooo....cute! I really wish they could come up with one that stays tiny and cute! Maybe I'll work on that! Ha!
Hannah got him with some of her money from 4-H. We found a breeder, and after a few missed chances of making the drive, her hubby accidentally sold Hanna's piggy! Never fear, the breeder said, I have a new litter and she can have her choice! So we make the hour and a half drive, with her best friend by her side. We arrived and got to see the mama and tiny babies running around! They were remarkably fast to be so small! But the guy caught the one she wanted. Talk about a pair of lungs! It was almost deafening! Luckily, he stopped before we got in the van to drive home. He was pretty much in shock from then on. We felt so sorry for the little guy! Ripped away from his mother and litter-mates, and as we found out, never handled before that day!
It took awhile (like 2 days) to get use to us, and really didn't want to eat or be picked up! This was very frustrating for Hannah too, and she just wanted to snuggle with him! He kept her up MOST of the night, and they were both worn out by morning! I took over for Hannah when she finally fell asleep-
Next was the challenge to feed the poor thing. He wanted nothing to do with a baby bottle that was for sure. For the next full day, he really only sipped a bit of water! By the 3rd day, he would eat a tiny amount off a shallow plate. That evening he got diarrhea, like everything I had read said he would. We've added the Gerber baby rice cereal to his formula and a tiny amount of Pepto too. I've not seen a lot of improvement yet, but I'm hoping he will start getting better soon!
On the bright side, he is warming up to us nicely! He will come sometimes when he hears us calling him. He also runs from one dog bed to the other to find the one he want for that nap!
The other night we were looking and calling for him, but he didn't come out, so we just figured he was sleeping soundly and would come out when he woke up. I was in my bedroom, and checked in on the kittens at the end of our bed. They were so cute! One was laying on his back curled up next to the other one. I snapped a couple of pictures, and when I checked them out on the camera, I noticed something I didn't recognize in the pic too. I looked back down at the kittens, and saw the piglet snuggled up next to the white kitten! Just then, the kitten woke up, and looked at me and then the pig, and yawned! I snapped the picture, and checked it out, and the kitten seemed to be yelling that there was a pig in his bed!!! I thought it was so cute!
We are injoying him so far, and Hannah picked a cool name for him...Sheldon!