Memorial Day Weekend

I hope you are having a good Memorial Day weekend so far!  I took a vacation day yesterday so I ended up with 4 days off in a row.  I needed a nice relaxing weekend after a stressful week though.  

This morning, Charlie and I went to the farmer's market together and had a nice time.  I bought a few plants to add to the garden (eggplant, sweet potato, lovage, chives and mint).  Charlie bought a few Rada knives from the 4-H group and some cookies from a local bakery.  I treated him to a cup of coffee   at the Harvest Coffee House and we watched a little bit of a bicycle race that was running through town.  It was a very pleasant morning.  

This week was stressful for me because I lost two chickens from our flock.  The two in the front row on the right in the photo above are dead now.  Prudence, my Speckled Sussex, had a prolapsed vent.  I didn't realize it right away -- I thought she was just being broody -- until I noticed some blood.  I researched what to do, but after bathing her and examining the situation, it didn't look like she was going to get better.  We put her down with quite a bit of sadness.  Poor sweetie.  :(

Then two days later, I came home and found Gertrude, the Buff Orpington, dead in the coop.  There had been no signs of sickness/weakness at all.  I'm not sure what happened, but I'm assuming it was a heart attack.  I am, however, keeping a close eye on the rest of the ladies.

The other sad news is that my gorgeous outdoor cat that we had grown to love has not been around for a couple of weeks.  At first, I was hoping he was just out trying to find a female friend.  Now, I'm afraid he is gone forever.  Perhaps he was injured in a fight, or ran into a coyote.  I didn't see him along the road, but being hit by a car is also a possibility.  Regardless, I miss his friendly greetings and his funny antics.
So, it has been a sad week.  I try not to get too attached to my animals, but it is nearly impossible for me.  I get upset over road killed raccoons and possums and I only kill insects when absolutely necessary.
This four day weekend is just what the doctor ordered.  I intend to relax as much as possible.  I'm also looking forward to a week long vacation in late June.  We've booked an overnight trip to Detroit and left the rest of the week wide open so far.  Hooray for time off of work!