Burping, farting, sleeping. Max and Maggie are enjoying spring and chasing suburban critters. Maggie turned 7 on Friday and they got a case of Fancy Feast. They are city cats, but do love the garden.

Wonder where they are now? Probably working on their hosta tunnels.

Speckles, the Wonder Chicken, turned 5 in March. She is laying nice brown eggs every other day and loves eating up grubs, June bugs, crickets, grasshoppers, etc. She also likes Sugar Snap peas, but prefers that they be shelled for her. Very spoiled chicken who is most amusing to watch.

Oh, how sweet! I know for a fact, chickens make wonderful pets! My mom used to tell us stories about "Bitty", her pet chicken, and how she fought her father to save her from well... the dinner table! Mom loved that chicken! Actually, the whole family did. They just aren't as willing as my mom to admit it.

Well, she seems to have outgrown the habit now, but my Gracie used to dive-bomb me from the top of the 6 ft. bookshelves. Imagine napping peacefully on the couch and all of a sudden - THUMP! - something hits you in the chest! I was sure that I was being house-invaded and my life was in danger; but there was nothing there, except this 6 lb. cat looking at me. Only reason I knew it was her was that she climbed back up there and did it again - only that time I was awake! A game for her, but it scared the crap out of me.

Glad that game is over.

PV

Gracie sounds a bit like our old cat Jake. Jake was a pretty cool cat, leash trained, but not quite "house" trained.

One night Michael and I were sleeping soundly in our bed, it must have been about 3 am. We heard the loudest crash, it woke us in a panic... you know that sick feeling something is horribly wrong?

We had this 6 foot tall wall unit in our living room. It was built in two pieces, a stand with drawers and then shelves sitting on top. Michael had it for years and it was never secured together, the shelves just sat on top.

Jake jumped up on top of the shelves and knocked that over, it fell on top of the glass coffee table with a CRASH. Everything on those shelves ended up crashing to the floor, the broken coffee table and the couch!

Amazingly... that wasn't what killed him. Amazingly... we didn't kill him either!!

I had a mutt named Suzie, a sorta shepherd/terrier cross. She would have sold her mother for chocolate! I know that chocolate is bad for dogs, but this canine proved everyone wrong.

She got into Oma's (grandma's) Easter stash, for all the grandkids, and ate everything. All that was left were little balls of foil (little egg wrappers) left scattered on the carpet. (Though I didn't see the destruction, I can imagine her scarfing the eggs,rolling them around, melting the chocolate, and spitting out the foil with a little 'ptui')

Another night..we had a beef fondue..yes fondue..still a great hit in our house. She watched with much interest as we fished lovely bits of filet mignon out of the hot oil. After supper, we went downstairs to the rec room. I left the pot in the middle of the table to cool and deal with it later.

Good ole Suze thought there must be something good in that pot. She lapped up about a cup of oil, looking for the beef she was convinced on the bottom. I discovered this when she came downstairs with a very oily snout.

Called the vet..he said give her Pepto Bismol. Have you ever tried to give a dog Pepto Bismol? Knowing that the result of her excess wouldn't be pretty, and we all had work and school to go to, she spent the next day in the laundry room, with plenty of water and lots of newspapers on the floor.

She's long gone now, put to sleep when she was 14 with crippling arthritis. I've had purebred rescue goldies, since old Suze, pretty, but not too smart. Gotta love the mutts.

I have three cats. the youngest one is named Jackie. I got her from work. She was living in a garage across the street from my building.

I swear, she is the smartest cat I ever met. One day, I was washing something in the bathroom sink. I heard a tinkling sound, and went I looked over she was squatting over the bowl, using the toilet! The cat had actually figured out how to pee in a toilet. she did that for awhile, but doesn't anymore.

No, she didn't flush.

Amy