Percy, on Spike, Visa and Frontline

Hey, Percy here. We Funny Farmers have been very busy trying to learn to juggle and, like Jan, we're not very good at it, so if our posts are short, erratic or invisible, please forgive us.

We will be reopening jansfunnyfarm fair soon. Meanwhile, we hope you will visit our new blog, jff designs. Yesterday we posted the story of Rescue Pets Rock design.  It's a place to showcase our designs from our store, but not a sales blog. Our designs are unique and we're trying to spread the word inside and outside the entire blogosphere. We appreciate any and all help to do this.

I was a tiny kitten when Merci found and rescued me, so I asked if I could introduce today's video of two-year old Spike the pit bull and 2-month old Visa the kitten. Merci and I used to play like this, but we don't remember breaking any plates and cups, which evidently they did during filming. (Not seen in the video.)

I love the last line of their description, "And remember, pit bulls are not dangerous; people with video cameras are.  It made me smile.  They must be referring to Jan about the video camera. (Remember the goose convention?)


If the video doesn't play, click here.

On Tuesday, we posted a warning on counterfeit Frontline. It was updated today and the update is enough to tick off those who use Frontline. There is now a controversy over whether the counterfeit frontline refers to repackaged frontline product or if it was all a scam to send consumers rushing to their vet to buy from them so the sales reps can get their commission. You can read the details here.

Sammy, Merci and Shopping

Lisa McKibbon started Sammy's Big Heart, a blog to warn others of the possible unknown, unseen dangers beneath their feet..  Her dog Sammy, a German Shorthair Pointer, died Thanksgiving day in a "freak and unexpected accident" while he and his owner  were taking their daily walk.  The dog stepped on a metal power plate and was electrocuted.

We suggest you read the posts on Lisa's blog.  At the bottom are photos of the lamppost and plate where Sammy died.  The area looks harmless.  Who would suspect?   There are copies of several newspaper articles and, of course, posts about the pain and grief Lisa is going through.  Lisa does not want anyone else to lose a pet in this way. We hope you will visit Sammy's Big Heart blog.

Yesterday's post on Merci's Wags and Tags tag mentioned a matching pendant for a dog's human. We joked about needing one for Jan but didn't think it could be inscribed so she doesn't get lost when we dogs walk her. But Sandy, the owner of Wags & Tags, contacted us to let us know the back of the pendant can be inscribed at no extra charge. So if your worry about your human getting lost and forgetting her name or where she lives, check out the pendant at Wags and Tags.  A tag for your canine and/or the owner tag would make a nice Christmas present. 

We do have one question, though.  Where are the feline tags?  Cotton would look stunning wearing a sterling silver catnip leaf.

Jan mentioned washing Georgia red clay off Merci's tag yesterday and Sandy sent us this information, which we are sure she would not mind us sharing with you.

My dog swims and rolls around in mud too. We have clay earth but not the red clay you mention. The clay in Pennsylvania gives the tag a pretty patina. We use dawn detergent and a toothbrush to clean mud and dirt from the tag. I do have some ways to remove tarnish from the dog tag that you may be interested in. We have used it on Jessie's dog tag with great results over the past 3 years.

Removing silver tarnish with the transfer method

Find a cooking pot large enough to contain the silver item you wish to polish. Place heavy duty aluminum foil inside the pot so that it fits like a second skin over the inside of the pot. Mix a gallon of lukewarm water with a third cup of baking soda and a third cup of liquid dish soap.

Place the pot on the stove and put the silver item into the aluminum foil padded pot, gently pour in the liquid and turn on the heat. Simmer - do not boil! - the mix for a third of an hour (20 minutes, but using 1/3 makes it easier to remember all the figures involved). At the end of that time remove the silver item and wash it. The aluminum foil will have taken on the tarnish and may now be discarded.


And since this is Christmas shopping season, we'd like to remind you of our Zazzle store. We have Christmas cards and misc. designs.  And we also have some vintage and collectables at Jan's Funny Farm Fair.  Jan hasn't had a chance to catch up with prices on the items that aren't marked, but just ask.

Thank You, Auntie Deb

We would like to thank Auntie Deb of The Taylor CatSSSSS for her sweet post and for this beautiful graphic for our online yard sale. 

We have some of the nicest friends both online and off and we're grateful for each one of them. We won't embarrass anyone other than Auntie Deb, since we already mentioned her, but you all know who you are.

This graphic is on the Cat Blogosphere too. Thanks for posting it there, KC.We hope you will come by and browse.  We have some antiques, collectables (we like this spelling better because it reminds us of furniture - which we woofies don't chew on any more), etc.  We have not purchased anything to sell on Jan's Funny Farm Fair.  All items are Jan's - some belonged to her mother or her great aunt, perhaps some even older. As Auntie Deb said on her graphic, all money raised will go to helping fill our tummies.  And a couple of us have a really big tummy to fill. 

We didn't know Gail of Queen Bailee's Views as well as some of you did, but we were saddened to learn she recently passed away.  One problem with blogging is that so many blogs end suddenly and no one knows why.  So we are grateful to Gail's friend for letting everyone know of Gail's passing.  If you haven't already done so, please go by and leave a comment on the blog for Gail's daughter Tina. 

Buddy on Butterflies

I'm Buddy. I know you porbably don't think of hounds as being sensitive -- just noisy -- but I'd like to introduce our video for today. The metamorphosis of a Monarch Butterfly. 

Cyndi, Cotton and Merci -- the female furries -- want to know what it would take for me to metamorphosis into a shy, quiet guy who only eats out of his own bowl and doesn't have to announce to the world every time someone walks down the sidewalk, closes a car door, the phone rings, or we leave the house.  Well, tell me, if I don't make the announcements, how will the neighbors hear the news? 

Enjoy the time lapse photography video.  It's absolutely amazing. (If the video or link gets lost trying to find its way home, give it a few seconds and try again.)


Lifecycle of the Monarch Butterfly from Duncan Scott on Vimeo.

If the video doesn't play, click here. 

We've been snoozing on our new area carpet (Jan's birthday present to herself for us) while Jan sits in our new blogging chair (we furries just did a review on it) and posts her collectables for sale so we Funny Farmers can lounge by the pool and munch on salmon patties and sip niptinis or tuna sunrises. (In our dreams!) These items have been stored for a number of years, most of them never used.  She's not finished but we hope you will take a few minutes to stop by and browse. And invite your friends. Jan's Funny Farm Fair

Have a purring and tail wagging day.

Miss Peach's Plate

Hi, I'm Merci. I'm hosting today's post.

Jan worked on an important secret project yesterday so we didn't get to write a post for today. But since she's busy swinging a weed whacker through the yard, we're going to do a quick post.

Many of you know Deb and ML (of the CB). The two are old friends and they love to plot and scheme to surprise others. So we were excited when Deb contacted us about sending one of Jan's collector plates (Jan's Funny Farm Fair) to the lovely Miss Peach's mom Karla.

We responded, No problem. Ha! We should have expected that since we had to send Jan to the post office to mail the plate there would be a problem.

First, after saving cardboard boxes for months just for such an occasion, Jan tried to find a box the original packing would fit in. No luck. She checked online at the USPS website. There didn't seem to be anything the right size. She checked Wal-mart and the dollar stores for a padded envelope. No luck there either.

Finally, she went to the post office carrying a bag with everything she expected to need -- plate, tape, scissors, bubblewrap for extra protection, a paper with Miss Peach's information to address the package..  She checked boxes.  The only box it might fit in was huge and way too expensive to use for a relatively small and lightweight item. She checked envelopes. With the assistance of a very nice clerk, she checked all the packaging set out for customers but none would hold a 9 1/2" x 9 1/2" x 2" box.  Everything was rectangular.  The plate package was square. Two more female clerks searched behind the counter.  They finally found a very large non-padded envelope in a cupboard. The plate just barely squeezed through the opening  -- without the bubblewrap for extra protection! -- and the extra length  folded over.

We were so relieved to see the plate in one piece on Miss Peach's blog this morning. We were all worried she would have to glue it together when it arrived. 

But the funny part of the story is the envelope.  Jan brought home a couple more envelopes for (hopefully) future plate mailings. A couple of days later we noticed they read "Mili-Pac."  We wondered what a Mili-Pac is so we visited USPS website and did a search.  Evidently, it's short for Military Package and is to be used for APO and FPO mailings only.  Oops. We don't suppose you're at least retired military, Miss Peach?

Miss Peach and mom Karla's post today is Flowers Sent With Love. We Funny Farmers left our scent on the plate so Miss Peach would know we helped mail it. And we notice she checked it out very thoroughly.

Deb and ML, thanks for allowing us to play a small part in one of your acts of kindness.  If any of you know how we might mail/protect future plates without sending them by military mail, please enlighten us.

Einstein, Pinto Foal

Jan is hogging the computer again. But she's doing it to help us so we can't complain. But so you don't forget us, we thought we'd quickly post a cute video.

This is Einstein, world's smallest pinto stallion foal. Just 14" high and 6 pounds when he was born. However, Einstein appears to be healthy and shows no signs of dwarfism.



If the video doesn't play, click here.

We opened a new blog today to collect and display the project Jan is working on. You can view the first few items on Jan's Funny Farm Fair. We'll be posting some more soon. It's kind of slow going.

Have a purring and tail wagging day.