The Pig That Stole My Heart

I have been going back through pictures this weekend and have had a chance to do some reminiscing. Those that know us well are aware that various animals have come into our lives at different points over the years, but none so special as one particular little girl named Chloe. Even though I know that Chloe has been thrilled with her new home in the country away from pesky dogs, I had a deep yearning to once again scratch her belly as we lay on the futon together, hear her soft grunting, and feel her warm nuzzle against my hand. She was and is the pig who truly stole my heart.

Orangutan Says Hi

Kieran and his cousin Salma get up close and personal with a female Orangutan at the DC Zoo

Baby Goat - 3 Days old

The baby goat is three days old and doing great! She has taken to the bottle feeding quite well and is already growing. She is adorable and is just experimenting with running and half jumps. Check out an adorable video of her following Kieran around, she really likes to play with him (but is a little critical of his speed).



The one interesting development is some jealousy from Kieran when mommy or daddy are feeding or taking care of the baby goat. Good preparation for baby Tristan in another 8 weeks!

Baby Goat Surprise!

In the strangest of outcomes, we are now owners of a baby goat. It is a story with mixed emotions, as the nanny goat that has been in our care all summer passed away shortly after delivering this adorable little creature. We are not sure yet what happened, possibly complications trying to deliver a second baby (twins are quite common).

We are not aware that our nanny was pregnant, as we assumed she had given birth this spring based on the milk in her udder. This morning Maranda discovered the baby and quickly tracked down some baby goat formula as well as some goat collostrum. So far we have had pretty good success with the bottle, although as any anxious parent of a newborn we are fretting that she isn't eating enough.

Check out an adorable clip of Kieran snuggling the goat this evening.

Awesome Shot of Kieran Holding a Toad

Goat Visitor

So our neighbor down the street had a goat wander into their garage this afternoon. A short while latter they stopped by to see if by chance, it was OUR goat. Apparently we have a bit of a reputation on the street... After informing them that we were not the owners, Maranda volunteered to house the goat overnight if they could not find the owners.

Well, they couldn't. So now a goat is visiting the Tennysonian Ranch. She was pretty sweet, but while I was carrying her in my arms down the street (I suddenly felt transported back to my ancestral sheperding days), she did try and give me a couple nips to let me know she wasn't thrilled with an overweight man squeezing her in his arms while stumbling down a perfectly black street! We put her in one of our dog kennels and brought the dogs in for the night. She is quite friendly and Kieran is really excited to spend some more time with our NEW GOAT tomorrow!

Christian the Lion

For those who haven't already heard this story, it will absolutely blow you away! See the video of a lion raised as a pet released back into the wild in the early 70s.

The Real You

Do you sometimes feel like the real you is in hiding, just waiting to be revealed!

Luna Moth on our House

An amazing Luna moth on our house, spotted by Maranda. They only live for 1 week, so a rare find!!!

PWR Beekeepers CBS Spotlight

The regional beekeepers club that I have joined were recently spotlighted on national TV. It was a really good clip, with interviews of a number of club members. I am "one" of the individuals in the white bee suits standing next to the hives. It was a great day and very educational.

African Elephant Charging

Those in the Tennyson family have seen this before, in real life!!! Granted, it was 25 years ago for me, but it left "quite" an impression! :)

Jedi Bear

Another amazing animal video that Kieran and I loved!

New Animal Discovered

A new animal has been discovered in Tanzania, Africa. This is a "cat sized" shrewlike animal, that is actually related to elephants and sea cows! Way cool!!!

Injured Barred Owl

We had an amazing visitor to our house last night. Driving home from a party Kieran and Daddy spotted a large bird lying on the edge of the road. When we turned around and came back we realized it was a large owl, and it was alive (though barely)! It was lying face down on the edge of the road and had clearly been hit by a car. As it was going to fall below 20 degrees last night, we rescued the owl and took it home to our warm, darkened basement.

Within an hour the owl was standing up, and by morning she was moving around freely. This is a barred owl, and is truly a magnificent creature! She is very large, standing about eighteen inches tall, and has the darkest brown eyes we have ever seen, we were ally mesmerized. She didn't like us too close to the front of the plastic dog kennel where we had her housed, but other than that, she seemed to quickly accept our presence.

We tracked down the Virginia Raptor Conservancy and arranged to drop her off today. Kent is a licensed Raptor rehabilitator and allowed us to stay and watch while he did a full inspection of the owl, even asking Ken to hold her for a while (see picture, it is a special grip that controls their feet and tail feathers, so you can't get bit). He did not find any broken bones and the wings appeared functional. In fact, she was quite frisky (a good sign). I don't know about you, but throw me against the windshield of a car moving at 35 miles an hour and you would cause plenty of damage. He did say that she would have died from exposure last night, but now that she has recovered some, he will try and release her back into the wild if her eyesight tests okay (that is on of the biggest concerns with owls, as their large eyes are very vulnerable). All in all, it made for an exciting Saturday, with Kieran pretending to be an owl and imagining with Daddy that our Subaru was an Owl ambulance as we sped to the owl hospital. :)

Here she is in our dog kennel in the basement, look at those eyes!



Here we are at the home of a licensed raptor rehabilitator in Falls Church, VA. He has just removed the owl from our vehicle.



While the inspection of the owls skeleton was not terribly pleasant for the owl, it did not show any fractures.



Here is Ken tickled to death after being asked to hold her while she is hydrated (he placed a tube down her throat to give her water).

Vic's Offspring

Over a month has passed now since our male German Shorthaired Pointer was killed by a car after escaping our back yard. It is still very difficult when I think of his life cut so terribly short, but it does offer me some consolation to know that Vic's has some beautiful offspring, some of which we plan to meet now that they are no longer puppies.

Vic's son, Chocolate Chip is owned by a friend in Virginia (Culpeper), and has turned into a stunningly gorgeous dog. We are excited to meet him a week from tomorrow. Based on his owner's feedback, he has Vic's amazing personality, so it will be a very special reunion.



I have shown this picture before, but it bears repeating as Sadie is a beautiful girl and shows influence from both Vic and Alexa.

Puppy Coming in 4 Weeks

Maranda, Kieran, and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a male puppy in four weeks! We don't know which puppy for sure, but it will be either the puppy on the left or the puppy on the right in this picture. Aren't they cute!!

Eggs a Plenty

Last night we collected our first eggs from our 12 hens, a total of 8! The cooler temperatures have triggered them to start laying, woohoo! Now if only we can figure out how to keep the county from finding out we still have them! I am thinking an underground cellar like what the Marijuana growers use, our illicit hens!

Rooster Dinner

Our temporally challenged Rooster (he crowed all day long) became a lovely crockpot dinner this past weekend. After 24 hours of simmering on low, it was a sumptuous feast! Ah, the evenings are peaceful now, only the shrill scream of a neglected cockatiel to disturb the quiet solitude (can you say shish kabob?)

The Best Dog I Have Ever Owned

We buried Vic this morning. He escaped our yard over the weekend and was killed by a car on Sunday. We only found out for certain last night and rescued his body. Vic was a very intelligent and sensitive dog, he will be missed for a very long time.


In Vic's Memory

Turtle visits the Tennysonian

An Eastern Box turtle that looks a lot like the picture to the left has visited the Tennysonian this morning. Daddy was leaving for work and saw a terrapin crossing the road. Out of concern for its safety (we have seen the unfortunate results of similar crossings in the past), Daddy rescued the pretty little girl and brought her back to the Tennysonian as a morning wake-up surprise for Mommy and Baby.

As Eastern Box Turtles make excellent pets, we are considering keeping her for a while to get to know this amazing creature. We are converting to a single fish aquarium and will use the larger aquarium as a terrarium (it has a leak). With a nice basking light and all the lettuce one could desire, this will be a luxury hangout for our new friend.

We are currently looking for name suggestions. So far the one Daddy has suggested (Soup) has been rejected. Please submit your name suggestions to this post.