The extended Kingdom has suffered a loss.

So, as you may imagine, growing up I was quite fond of animals, and I was always bringing them home.  After I left for college most of them found new homes, or died of old age, but my parents still had 2 house-cats that were spoiled rotten.

This Wednesday my parents house caught on fire.  The house really wasn't in that great of shape, but my dad was in the process of cleaning it out to start some remodels, so this really was a kick in the face.  The damage is extensive, and I'm pretty sure it's not worth trying to save the house at this point.  All things considered though, things turned out alright.  My parents weren't home when the fire started, they have a place to stay, we're pretty sure the family photos haven't been damaged (haven't gotten to the china hutch to see, too much debris in the way), and they are handling things pretty well.  They have the attitude that there is no use getting upset because that won't solve anything.  We all just want to get things cleaned up so we can move on.

Here are some photos I took of the damage:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/54676497@N00/sets/72157626552632808/

The one thing that really hurts us all though, is that the two kitties didn't make it.  They died from smoke inhalation.  The fire department found Spike (a big fat tabby boy with white socks) the night of the fire, but no one could find Sugar (the smaller black and white cat that was slightly evil, but still very loved).  Sean & I drove out first thing Thursday morning and helped my dad clear a path through the house and do some general cleanup while my mom was at work (those fire hoses are wicked powerful, there was a foot of random debris throughout the most damaged areas, just things knocked down, or damaged pieces of the house).

When my mom got off work and came over to the house she started a mission to find Sugar.  I really didn't want her to find the cat, because I knew it would upset her.  So I set about to locate the poor girl and spare my mother.  I found her in one of her favorite hiding spots, in the back corner between the window and the couch.  Both of the kitties will be greatly missed.  I don't even have a picture of Spike, and the 1 picture I have of Sugar is from an old cell phone, but here it is.  Goodbye dear friends, you will be missed.

Isley

My boyfriend Sean & I brought Isley into our lives in February.  To our best guess, she is Amelanistic (Amel) which is one type of albinism.  Amel corns are sometimes called red albinos because they have no black pigment.  Corns with Anerythrism are called black albinos because the lack red pigments.

We got Isley from a local Aviary that had taken her in.  As with a lot of my animals, she's a special girl.  We have no clue how old she is, but due to scaring on her belly we think she is older, probably between 5-10 years.  At some point in her life, probably when she was a juvenile, she was stepped on.  Judging by the damage, she probably got out and someone stomped on her to keep her from getting away.  She functions perfectly fine, but there is a section of her body towards her tail that sort of bubbles out.  She's been ex-rayed and fluoroscoped, and the vets can't find anything wrong with her, she just looks a little different.

 

Around here we feed on Sundays, it just works out to be the best time.  We also have made the decision to feed previously killed, frozen/thawed mice to our snakes (there are many reasons, but mainly it's safer for the snake).  So we fed her the Sunday after we brought her home with no difficulty.  Then the following week she refused.  This isn't unusual, so we waited a few days and tried again.  After a week of refusal we slowed down (dead mice ain't cheap, and I didn't have many adults stocked up).  

Time drug on, and she kept refusing.  Adult snakes can go for quite some time without feeding in the wild, but we were still a bit concerned.  She kept drinking water, and was staying active though, so we decided just to keep an eye on her and take her to the vet if she started dropping weight.  Eventually I bought some extra adult breeder mice, and we would throw one in her tank every week or so just to see how she reacted (we don't usually feed in the tank, but we were just hoping for anything at this point).  Most of the time she just ignored it, or went to the other side of the tank and avoided it.  Until last night.

After Quinn was fed (she eats like a champ, man) I was getting ready for bed when Sean said he wanted to try feeding Isley again.  I went about my routine, and Sean patiently stood by Isley's tank to watch and wait.  At first it looked like she wasn't interested, but then all of the sudden she got this look and body posture like she was on the prowl.  According to Sean, she started stalking the tank like she had never forgotten how, and that was all she wrote.  Finally, she ate!  I was so relieved.  When Sean came to tell me it was all I could do not to squeal and jump up and down (don't want to disturb a feeding snake, they will regurgitate their meal).  She went for 2 months without eating, and I really hope she doesn't make this a habit.  We will see how next Sunday goes, but for now, I'm happy as a clam :-)

Ah Sunday...

Such a busy day.  But the kitchen is clean, the laundry is finishing up right now, all of the reptile tanks have been cleaned, the cat boxes scooped, the house vacuumed, and the dog bathed.  But boy am I tired.  Downright exhausted is more like it.  I couldn't seem to sleep last night, and I woke up bright and early this morning.  Such is life, though.  At least everything around here is taken care of and we are ready for the week.

Gidgit all fluffy & wound up after her bath

I think I deserve some quality knitting time in the recliner after all of that :-)  I need to work on Sean's socks anyway, as they are my April socks of the month, and I'm not quite half way through them.  What did I expect though, Sean does wear a size 15 shoe.

I have decided to follow in the Harlot's footsteps and do a sock of the month club of my own.  My reasons are much the same as hers, so many patterns and yarns I've been meaning to knit, but something new and shiny always comes along and distracts me.  Since I'm always super busy at year end/beginning, I've decided to run mine with a different fiscal year, April through March.  I have everything all set aside in baggies with the patterns and I'm all ready to go.  I even threw in 2 pairs of socks that had previously been frogged because of sizing/gauge issues.  I'm really looking forward to knitting 12 pairs of socks on a schedule.  I tend to have a habit of letting things languish in my knitting cupboard for far too long, so this will help me stay on task (I hope).

I'm off to watch some Battlestar Galactica and knit, have a wonderful evening!

Start a blog? Sure, why not.

So it occurs to me that I have a lot to say, so why not write it down in a blog?  The title of this blog comes from a friend.  We were discussing moving the other day and the fact that finding another rental that would allow "Lacey's Animal Kingdom" would be difficult.  I've always loved animals, and it seems I've been collecting them over the last few years.  I started out small, just one cat.  She's a special girl, and she needed a good home, so I adopted her.  That's how I acquire all of my animals, I either adopt, rescue, or take them in.  I guess I'm a bit of a bleeding heart, because it just snow-balled from there.

Currently I have a dog, 2 cats, a bearded dragon, and 3 snakes (all pictured on the sidebar).  I also have breeder mice because it is much more efficient for me to produce my own snake food (PETA come get me!  Even snakes have to eat).  Keeping up with all of my animals on top of my already busy life can be a challenge, but to me they are worth it.

So this busy life, what does it entail you might ask?  Well, first off, I'm an Accountant.  I'm pretty busy with work, and it absolutely drains my brain power by the end of the day, but I love my job.  I also help to care for my 84 year old aunt (yes, aunt, not grandmother) on the weekends.  If I'm not at Aunt B's on the weekend then I'm usually spending time with the rest of my family.  This doesn't leave a whole lot of time for me, but somehow I manage to squeeze in caring for all of my animals, knitting, playing WoW, maintaining a fairly decent household, and recently I've gotten back in the habit of going to the gym.  So when I say my life is hectic, I'm really not lying.

So that's about it for now, welcome to my world, stick around if you dare.