"children"...

one of the many housewarming gifts that i received when the hubs & i purchased our first home was a cute little sign from my sister that read "this place is a zoo."  it was quite the double entrende as hubs' job at the time was primary penguin keeper at the local zoo & also, that our love for animals, far exceeded that of the criminally insane.
but the meaning was appropriate, nonetheless, & still hangs in our house.


to have met someone, who fancied a multitude of beasts, & of all blood temps, was beyond my wildest dreams (yes, i said fancied). & at one time, the then not hubs yet & i had plenty of the food budget split accordingly. there was us (naturally), about 12 reptiles (i think 2-3 were not venomous...eep), a very scary australian trap door spider, 5 bengal kitties we were housing (we ended up with the only female, rita), a domestic shorthair found in a dumpster (or, miss sybil...my faithful tv companion & trip artist to this day). we babysat a tiger once & holy, nightmare...that thing would stalk me when people left the room, but hey, he was cute...ha! & oh my goodness, the two pygmy marmosets that we fostered until our friend set up habitat for them; let's just say, child rearing crash course for the future!


during our courtship/living in sin/i do's, the hubs & i have lovingly housed a ferret, turtles, salt water fishes, a chocolate & white (i know, right) skunk, poison arrow frogs, various reptiles, & have made shelter for numerous, i mean nu-mer-ous, parrots until their forever homes were found.


at the time of said housewarming, our new abode only consisted of a few family members; delia the border collie, sybil & rita, & paco, the quaker parrot. only sybil remains of the original lineup. the monkey loved & lost the other three along with hubs & me. it sucks to lose a pet...always. but, then to experience it with your child? heart wrenching!


sooo...we got the sybil girl & little beagle brother, scout. (who drive each other crazy) & we've added tarantula #1 (spiderus, r.i.p) & tarantula #2 (blue), 6 chickens (or, the girls), a corn snake, 2 red eyed tree frogs, & a fiesty bearded dragon (lula) to our little "zoo." i speak of goats & rabbits often, but get denied (they act like i'm not the one who'll take care of these new additions).


in the meantime, i break for squirrels (even though they steal my tomatoes & peppers in the garden), am in awe of all creatures big & small, love watching birds; even tolerate crazy bugs for the sake of monkey...except for our state (sc) bird, the mosquito...viscous little bloodsuckers...ouch!

i love my animals (yes, even monkey's tarantula), like...love them. maybe it's the momma in me; i've always had an affinity for critters & the need to not only yield to, but nurture them. we share that, the hubs & i...i own that…it's “our” thing.