8 - 1 1/2 - 1 +2 = 7 1/2 OR Cluff Complications!

Remember when we told you about our sweet, baby chicks? Well, life seemed so pure and simple then. UNTIL .....

This bad cat showed up. Don't worry, no animals were harmed in the posting of this blog, this is just a file photo, but the Cluff family is not a fan of cats. Especially, orange, chicken stalking, tabby cats that are getting plenty of food from their owners and have no need to eat defenseless, adorable, baby chicks. Technically, animals were hurt in the posting of this blog because we are missing 2 1/2 chickens.

After the cat came into our yard and used his claws to pull back the chicken wire on our coop and devour two of our chicks and seriously injure another one this is what was left of our little flock. UNTIL .....

Good, Allie, saved the day by going to a feed store by her work and purchasing two more adorable, yet different, chicks. I know, a good blogger would have thought to insert a picture here of Allie, our heroine, but what can I say, I'm not the greatest blogger and I didn't do it and now I don't know if a picture can be inserted where I want it in the telling of this story, so please forgive me. But, Allie is a heroine, nonetheless, and we thank her for her kindness and generosity in healing our broken hearts at the loss of our "babies." We are now the proud owners of 7 1/2 chickens and sadder, yet wiser, for our experience.

This is a picture of Kaylee holding Esther II, not to be confused with the previous picture shown of Kaylee holding Ellie II. Don't tell me that you can't tell these two chicks apart. Any chicken lover like us can tell the difference.

These 2 new baby chicks are Black Stars and they will lay brown eggs when they grow up, just like their friends the Red Stars that we already own. They look like little, fat penguins when they are waddling around and we think they are so cute.

This proud specimen is what they will look like when they are fully grown.

O.K., so we don't like to complain, but besides the chicken and cat problem we have one other small problem taking place in our backyard. This is our cute, little, vegetable garden. Darling isn't it? Well, we thought so UNTIL......

This stinker started causing problems. This is our backyard squirrel and he has been with us for a number of years. He chose us, we didn't choose him, but he is really cute and we haven't really had any problems with him UNTIL..... he started using our little garden for his personal daily salad buffet.

I thought I was so clever by laying chicken wire over the top of the garden because I thought squirrel would be afraid to climb under the chicken wire and eat the plants, but I was wrong. Apparently, squirrel considers the chicken wire no more of an inconvenience than the sneeze guard at your local salad buffet restaurant and it has not deterred him in the least. He is especially fond of young, tender broccoli plants. I ask you, what good is chicken wire if it can't keep baby chicks in and squirrels out?