Barney II

We had a challenging weekend in the animal department. First up, “Blackie” the confirmed rooster went overnight from half-baked crowing to full blown king of the yard status. He now tries his best to wake us up before six and drive Babs and Ginger to the brink of insanity. So far they are not tolerating his shenanigans, but the peace in the yard is tipping more toward chaos.

In other news, Barney the hermit crab died after just three short weeks in our care. Cause unknown. But we’re telling ourselves it was because he was old and tired, not because we failed him. Saturday night he was discovered in the corner of the “crabitat”, unmoving. After a good cry and my best “pets don’t live as long as people” speech we scooped the crab out only to realize he wasn’t quite dead yet, which was actually worse. Try explaining to a 7-year-old why you can’t take his beloved hermit crab to the vet.

The kicker is that Jackson is an amazingly responsible pet owner and is meticulous with the care of his crabs, so Caleb and I were heartbroken that he lost one so early on. We wracked our brains and Google trying to figure out what might have caused it. Google was only able to help us confirm that Barney was dead on Sunday morning. He may have only been a hermit crab, but we honored him with a proper backyard burial.

The day was redeemed with a quick trip to the pet store where we walked out ten minutes later with Barney II. May he live a longer life!

Also this weekend, boiled peanuts on the picnic table and smack downs on the trampoline over the coveted black football.

Happy Tuesday.