Our beloved Bobbi BarnCat...

This is her smiling. Our beloved Bobbi BarnCat... the grumpiest of them all....

Doesn't her smile warm your heart?

We have loved her for her entire life and this is how she looks at me. Resting Bob face we call it. Bobbi and Shine are our barncats and while Shine, King of Barncats, is the most loving, interactive, hard working, rat killing, bunny destroying barncat of them all.... we honestly don't know what Bobbi does all day. No clue.

I'd love to put a cat-cam on her to find out but we can't even handle her. If she needs vet care we have to trap her - which results in a lot of crying and not only by Bobbi.

 Our Shine, the light our of farm.

The other day she and Shine walked very deliberately up into the Upper Garden and convened a very important meeting. When I went up there to find out what they were doing.....they both sauntered away, dubious of my reasons to be there. Bobbi gave me the above loving look. And I was grateful that I even got that much from her.

Peep, giving serious attitude for ten years.

I should point out that Bobbi and Shine are from the same litter as our Peeper.  Peep knows how to throw massive shade... and who's tortitude is legendary. Mrs. FluffyPants, their mother, came back for Bobbi and Shine... but Peep was abandoned for sure. That is how we got our Peep. We saved her from certain death. Weeks later Shine and Bob came back as healthy, spunky kittens and became barncats.

Shine loves agribon.

The first time I saw Shine he hissed at me but then he warmed up to us and became our best buddy. Bobbi, tho, has no hoots for us at all. Of course she will come when my husband calls her but mostly she gives me mean looks.

Happy Sunday everyone! Do you have barncats? Are they worth their weight in gold? Do they give you mean looks?

Resting Bob Face

Our Bobbi Barncat is rarely still enough to get a good picture of her.... but here she is....

Master of the Angry Face

Our Bobbi perpetually looks angry but she really isn't. Much of the time she is being funny but she has that resting angry face.

Bobbi is Shine and Peep's sibling from the same litter. Peep, of course, lives in the house and is our calico terror. Shine is our King of Barncats and a hero among men. We don't talk about Bobbi much because she is so elusive but she has never missed a meal and always comes home.

She will come when The Big Man calls her but we've only ever been able to give a slight brush when she isn't paying attention. We've never been able to snuggle her. The running joke is that she is aloof around us but probably has another home and family where she stays  during the day and is the most lovable cat ever. In truth she just hangs out in the tall grass until my husband comes home.

Shine, Bobbi, and Peep will be ten years old this spring. That is a good long run for outside cats and about the halfway point for Peep as an indoor cat. None of them show any signs of slowing down.

Happy Saturday everyone! Do you snuggle your barncats? Or do they give you angry looks?

Chicken Fat Saturday

Normal people have Chicken Fat Saturday, right? You know - everyone gathers 'round the big ol' bubbling pot of rendering chicken fat and gives a big 'huzzah!' for the world's best cooking fat. That's a thing right? #ChickenFatSaturday? I know I've seen it....

Look at it! Schmaltz -yeah!

Need to get a few things in my notes today. First we butchered a bunch of the meats. Thank heavens our garage is now (mostly) chicken free! And that last meat roo who's been out there screaming his head off? Yeah well... guess who's head is actually off? Not so funny anymore is it?

There has been much rejoicing in the soon-to-be quiet land.

As we were working I got a pretty good laugh watching my lovely laying ladies out there trying to kill each other over some miscellaneous meat pieces-or-part.... thinking how some folks think "vegetarian chickens" should be a thing.

Those normally softly clucking hens are just really tiny cannibals waiting for an odd part of former comrade to be flung their way. Chickens are gross. If they ever actually got me on the ground I'd be done for.

To find out more about weird stuff we find on butcher day - or better yet how to render chicken fat you can read this link. Just don't walk away from the stove because you might burn down your house. Or the cats might try and get up on the counter and eat your livers while you are yucking it up on 'the facebook' with your pals. Ask me how I know this....

Also, it's sunny and 50* today. Go home, winter, you're seriously drunk.

Bitty in the box.

And.... looks like we have another box that we cannot possible throw away. Bitty thinks it's her spaceship and so we are now stuck with another cat trap that will remain in the living room until the end of time. Cats. *sigh*

Looks like the chicken fat has all rendered and now the only thing to do is chase the cats off counters, fry up the chicken livers, make the bourbon-soaked pate, and then shovel out the garage.

A good farm day if I don't say so myself.

Happy Chicken Fat Saturday everyone!

Editors note: Affiliate links on a post about chicken fat and box-crazy cats? Yep. Schmaltz by Ruhlman is the best reference I know. And someone always asks. So don't be offended - it's just a book reference. However, if you need something from Amazon you can use that link! I'm supposed to tell you that I get a tiny portion of the sale when you click on one of the links, go to the Amazon page, and purchase something. It can be anything - one of these books, movies, or something you need from Amazon anyway.  Do you need anything Amazon? You can support this blog by just clicking one of these links. Or using the black Amazon search box on the right side of this page. It doesn't cost you once cent more but helps me with the "cost" of this blog. If you like this blog, or if I've helped you at all in your farming efforts, just make a purchase from Amazon from one of the links, my store, or the black Amazon search box on the right side of this page. Thanks!

This was happening in the kitchen....

This is what was happening in the kitchen yesterday......

Cats. On the hunt. 

Apparently it's not just me who deals with mice living in the drawer of the stove. We all keep lids in there and wash the mouse footie prints off them all the time. Ew!

But Bitty, Nicholas, and Little Mo heard a mouse so they all set out on the hunt. It went on for a long time.

There was a lot of shrieking. All of it by me.

My husband finally had to come and take the lid-free drawer outside and we thought we were safe.

No.

A little while later I heard weird noise and ran out to see.........Little Mo the victor!!

Our most tender cat.

I couldn't believe it. Our most tender cat, the most mild, gentle, and sensitive little one.... Little Mo who was The World's Worst Barncat was the one who caught the mouse!

It must have been all that coaching from Nicholas.

Whatever spurred Little Mo to bloodlust - it worked. He is now asking us to call him by his gangster name, The Notorious Mo-zee.

We'll see about that.

I wasn't entirely surprised about the mouse invasion. The weather turned yesterday and so now we finally will get winter. No one is happy ... except for the cats. The Season of the Hunt is on!

Happy Monday everyone! Do you have a mouse in your house? Did your most gentle cat get it and then go all gangster on you?

These two...... I got you, Little Brother

This happened yesterday - our biggest cat, Nicholas, snuggled up and put a protective paw around his favorite buddy, Little Mo. Little Mo had a hard day on Sunday so he needed some extra lovin's.

I got you, Little Brother.

Technically they are not really brothers - they are not litter mates. But we are all one big happy family here.  Nicholas and Little Mo are best pals and basically inseparable. They couldn't be more different. Nicholas is our best inside hunter and our most expressive cat... and Little Mo was The World's Worst Barncat who always looks a little sad and a little surprised.

You can see that Nicholas's huge mousestomper paws are bigger than Little Mo's back feet entirely. Mo's tiny little Mickey Mouse paws are no threat to anyone - instead of Daggers of Doom they are pretty much Doom Spoons. Nicholas charges into adventure while Little Mo slinks into the shadows. Nicholas slays the dangers in life while Little Mo has virtually no tools to handle life's adversities. Mo's only superpower is the suck all the adorableness out of a room with his wide eyes.

Sunday we had a full scale freak out over Little Mo. He didn't eat breakfast. For a cat who has never missed a meal it was pretty surprising. Of course, we had somewhere to go that day because there is never a convenient crisis. We didn't know if we'd end up at the after hours vet..... or if Little Mo just ate a bunch of popcorn that we left out from movie nite.

After a lot of futzing we determined that Mo was not in crisis. Later we learned that he was just fine and ate dinner like normal. What's the big deal? Cats - especially shy ones like Little Mo - hide their symptoms. Sometime you have no idea anything is wrong before it is too late.

When she was young one of my old lady cats was on the brink of total kidney failure and the only clue was that she sat someone else at night. That was it. I took her to the vet and the only symptom to report was that she wasn't watching TV with me. After some scoffing by the office staff the blood work revealed a crisis. We got her fixed up and she went on to live 18 good long years. So we take changes in behavior seriously.

So now Little Mo is back to rights after a hard day of us hovering over him. Nicholas gave him some extra snuggles and all is right with the world.

I'm also using this picture of Nicholas to catch OneVikingGirl's attention.... I used your spice suggestion on roasted turnips and they were terrific! Thanks so much.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I need some floof today....

Any body else need some floof today?

The Major Fuzz. Nicholas knows how to take it easy.

These are not squishbeans... they are mouse stompers. Nicholas's paws are impressive.

Happy Saturday everyone! Go and hug your floof!

Strange bedfellows

I caught these goings on the other morning. Nicholas and Lucky on one bed.... and just behind Lucky's ear is his food bowl. Things could have gone very badly.

 Nicholas and Lucky. Very strange bedfellows.

It all ended well. I moved the food and then Nicholas got annoyed and left. Lucky got his food back later.

My beautiful Nicholas strikes a pose. He can see into your soul.

There has been a lot of food consternation around here lately. We have still been on a mission to get Nicholas down to a more normal sized cat. His initial goal weight of 19 pounds was reached a bit ago and now we are headed toward 17 hefty pounds. The next time he goes to the vet they are going to be wow'd by his accomplishments.

Our Sweet Peep is also on a reduction plan. That isn't going so well. "Just feed her less." They said. "It will be easy." They said. Yeah. Sure. All it's done has turned her tortitude up to 11. It's been hell here and I am not kidding.

One thing the vet told us was to feed the cats only canned food - not dry. This has worked really well. I'm not sure if our success is due more to a low carb type diet or because we are rationing their food. But our Paleo Peep has shown some losses as well.

In the meantime the cats, like a gang of sharks, start circling me early in the morning to make sure they get their carefully measured out ration of cat food love. If I'm not on time then the cats start heading toward the dogs and their food. Starvation creates very strange bedfellows indeed. Just ask Nicholas.

Also.

I want to give a special shout out to OneVikingGirl for her tremendous post on roasted veg with mayo. If you read the comments in my blog you'll know she is a visitor and we've been have a discussion about this very thing. I was a naysayer until I realized I was using mayo as a salad dressing on roasted veg - it was delicious. So thanks! OVG, I'm going to be trying this out very soon. Yay!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Singleton.

So this happened.

Hen and chick.

One of our hens hatched out exactly one chick after setting a nest in the goat hay feeder. As soon as she got off the rest of the eggs I rushed her and the little one into the garage and into a cage. Life can be very precarious for a lone chick or duckling.

We find that the singletons turn out a little weird. They never really mesh with the rest of the group and tend to be outliers.... which makes it easy for us to get attached to them. They tend towards humans a little more...and less towards chickens. 

These singletons don't always make it thru the terrors of the barnyard. But so far so good with this little guy. I'm keeping my distance because I'm pretty sure he's a rooster and he will be destined for noodles. But for now they are pretty funny to see them running around the yard.

This is another singleton ...she totally turned into a weirdo. 

Our Peep. You can read her story here. She was actually being cute the other day.

We mercifully got a little rain last nite. After nothing but mud and floods of rain we've turned into all dry all the time. I'm trying to take advantage of a little moisture out there.

Happy Friday everyone!

Nibbles. Captain of her Destiny.

A little while ago I was out walking thru the barnyard and I caught Nibs asleep in this tub. I tried to sneak away to grab my camera but I woke her up. She was cuter when she was sleeping but I thought she looked rather majestic in her tub... like a captain of a ship.

Nibbles. Captain of her Destiny.

We have an empty box in our living room that we can't move or get rid of - Little Mo has claimed it and spends a lot of time sleeping in that box. We call it his space ship. When I saw Nibs sleeping in that tub - her legs all akimbo - I thought she looked a lot like Little Mo. What a goof.

Of course, today Little Mo was not in his space ship - but how adorable is he?

We have a wacky group here, friends. Just another day in paradise...

Happy Thursday everyone! It's a PERFECT day here - are you enjoying it?

So, what really happened to Shine?

Thanks to everyone for their fun comments about yesterday's Adventure Tails. You might have guessed that there is a little bit of truth in all of our stories. We don't call them "Not Entirely Fiction" for nothing. 

Our Shine, King of Barncats. Mighty Hunter.

It's going on about a month or so since our real life adventure with Shine - but this was no tale. We went out in the morning like usual to get the rabble rousted... but when we went in to see the barncats we knew it would not be a normal day. Shine was hunched over, covered in cobwebs, and wheezing.

I immediately snatched him up, shoved him in a carrier, and ran for the car. I yelled over my shoulder that I'd be back in a couple hours. Of course, our vet always has a standing open spot for us.....so we told them we'd be coming in hot and fast. We figured Shine had a respiratory infection and I'd get some antibiotics and maybe some prednisone and come right back.

Nope.

When Shine didn't scream the whole way up to the vet...or at all... I drove faster. Really fast. We were hurried right into the exam room. The vet began asking questions that were not in line with what I expected - Had he been poisoned? Was he chewing on electrical cords? Trauma? Fall? Hit by car? What had he been doing lately? Had Shine eaten anything weird?

I had my husband search the garage for antifreeze leaks, poisons, frayed electrical cords. Nothing.

When they told me to leave Shine with them and come back in an hour or so I started to fret. I was back in 59 minutes and they walked me back to see the xrays that I knew they were going to take - along with bloodwork and some other things.

"WHAT IS THAT?!!"

Technically I actually said a fair bit of "colorful" language in my question to the Good Vet...but I"m sure you take my meaning.

The xrays showed Shine's trachea....but not in the graceful slow curve it should be - but more like a horseshoe river bend. It wasn't supposed to be that way.

We love our little buddy, Shine. But sometimes he is a goose. What are you doing in that crate?

I spent the next 10 hours between our Good Vet and the excellent people at OSU's Emergency Veterinarian Medical Center. We always figured we'd end up there with one of our crew. But we did not think it was going to be that day and for that circumstance.

It was horrible.

Midway thru the day I went to get my husband from work because we Didn't Know What Was Going To Happen.

No one actually knew what was going on with Shine but all agreed it was bad. We were afraid that we were going to have to Make Decisions. All we could do was sit and wait. They had a host of tests lined up.

Here is a LifeProTip for you - never walk into a teaching hospital and tell them you "don't care about the money" because they will find all kinds of ways to leave you with empty pockets. And how.

The OSU Vet ER is one of the best in the country. People come from all of the states to get access to their equipment and expertly trained vets. Their teaching program is outstanding It's really kind of amazing. The staff is incredible. The facility is a wow. And I tell you the truth, it is the saddest place on earth.

Friends, we are tough people. We don't shirk, shrink, or step back from adversity. We don't believe in grand displays of emotion. Neither of us are criers. We set our jaws. We face into the wind. We do not fear. We show no weakness. But the waiting room of the OSU Vet ER very nearly broke us.

I say to you again, it is the saddest place on earth. The SADDEST. Everyone is critical, everyone is crying, and everyone is trying to figure out if they have enough money for their best friend to live. The shepherd with bloat, the little dog with whatever, the old cat in a box crying, the lady with the irritable teenager who could care less as her mother cried and asked the attending vet why it was $3300 to fix her dog? Could she see her little dog one more time? And us... it was awful.

There was a younger couple in the next group of chairs. He was trying to get his wife to eat but she just held the food halfway to her mouth. She was almost catatonic. Everyone was sobbing.

I turned to find a magazine to distract myself but found instead a children's book, "Why Does Annie Only Have Three Legs?" It tried to explain amputation and cancer in dogs to kids. I felt myself starting to crack.

They called us back to Discuss Things.

Near as they could figure there was one of three things that could be going on:
1. It was a cancerous growth and our Shine would slowly strangle to death.
2. It was some kind of abscess and our Shine would quickly strangle to death.
3. It was something else entirely.

I said these options back to the attending vet. We made a plan. They implemented the plan. We waited.

They called us back again. I sat resolutely and waited for The Findings.

Thank heaven. It was not cancer. It was also not some kind of abscess.  It turned out to be some kind of edema - that is, swelling of the cells. They had no idea why. She shrugged and handed me a huge sack of medication. This was twice a day, that was once a day, be sure to ......I kind of stopped hearing her and just wanted my cat back. I was so relieved.

It was an expensive day.

Remember how we were kind of joshing around about that gal with the chicken getting the fake leg? Yeah well, also remember that we get it because we've our share of stomach churning vet bills. That day was a looloo. During just one of the hours that I was sitting there I saw folks at the desk total up about $10,000 worth of vet work for different folks coming and going. Frankly, I think we got off easy. However, my Plutonium credit card from The Fancy Pants Bank groaned under the charges. I thanked the staff at the desk for their kindness. They were very professional.

The next 10 days were a tough mix of love and scratching. We incarcerated Shine in the garage - hovering over him and fretting over every odd look or loose eyelash. He was stuck in the garage with the lame duck and our limpy chickens. And me. Twice a day I tricked him into coming close enough for me to shove pills down his sore throat and follow that with a chaser of liquid something else. By the time the medication was done our Shine was entirely done with me.

Then I had to take him back up to our vet for a follow up. Our Good Vet poured over the report from OSU. He re-examined Shine. He asked me questions about how Shine responded to the medication. In the end he determined that the cause was.....

Bunnies.

Yes. Bunnies. When we first went into to see our Good Vet he asked me if Shine had gotten into anything weird. The only thing I could think of was that just about every day for the previous week Shine had brought in a bunny. We figured he had found a nest of wild rabbits and was helping himself to the bunny buffet. "Good job, Shine!" We'd call to him and then we'd let him go along his way, dragging the bunny back to his lair to eat it. This wasn't really unusual because we'd seen Shine drag in rabbits almost as big as he was - but it was noteworthy that he got one every single day.

The vet thought that maybe a bunny bone somehow created a wound in Shine's esophagus, which caused an infection, which caused the edema, which was pressing on his trachea and impacting his breathing.  It was a one in a million shot and I'm positive that it would only ever happen to us. Bunnies.

"I see." I said coldly as I devised a way to handle the Bunny Menace that tried to kill my Shine. I thanked the Good Vet and he laughed that he didn't want to see anymore of our foolishness and maybe next time just bring in the crew for shots and not some weird mystery. I laughed back that I hoped I wouldn't have to see them again for a while. They did not charge me for the follow up. Honestly, I think they felt bad for us. But I was grateful.

The next day Shine was cleared for duty and free to go. He happily trotted off into the tall grass.

As for the bunnies. Let's just say that all of the bunnies have now gone on to other opportunities. We thank them for their years of participation here on The Good Land Farm and we wish them well in their future endeavors. If they come back they will be met with extreme prejudice as meted out by My Fighting Uruk-Hai Princess BearKiller. The Shining Light of the Realm. She hunts what we cannot see. VengeanceBringer.

After a while Shine finally got his meow back but the entire recovery was very long. We praise God for our Good Vet, the extraordinary folks at the OSU Vet ER, and that our dear Shine lived to hunt another day.

And that is what really happened to our Shine. Can you believe it?

Avoiding the interweb today.....

I have to avoid the interweb today because apparently everyone watched Game of Thrones but me. I need to avoid spoilers so here is Little Mo...

Isn't he cute?

Happy Monday everyone. See you tomorrow!

Goodbye to our Teddi Grumpkins

We said goodbye to our oldest cat, Teddi Gumpkins, on Friday. She passed away on her favorite bed with me washing her face and telling her that she was loved. We rest in the assurance that we gave Teddi a good home but we are deeply grieved.

Teddi was happy exactly one day. This was it.

The truth is that no one is overlooked in The Good Land. Everyone is important and no one gets lost in the shuffle. Teddi may have hated me most of her days here but we loved her. She was our hard luck cat. She came to us half starved with broken teeth on a rainy winter night. You can read more about her story here.

She loved to sleep in a full tuck position.

The vet thought that Teddi was about eight when she first came to us, but we pegged her more at 8 to 10 years old. We think she was about 17 when she died. She had a good long run and got every last dime out of her 9 lives. We like to think that she was happy here but she was our grumpiest cat so it was kind of hard to tell. We always said that she must have been the cutest kitten... the older she got the smaller and more kitten like she looked. She had very expressive eyes.

We couldn't believe that someone would actually dump an older, declawed cat out in December in Ohio. So we made up a story that was easier for us to fathom. We figured that Teddi was owned by a single, older man who we know loved her because he only ever fed her fried chicken and ice cream. She always liked my husband - which was why we know she was owned by a man.

But then this imagined older man must have died and somehow Teddi got out or something. But she made her way to us and saw the visible-only-to-cats-with-expensive-vet-problems sign above our house that says, "Come on in, wanderer, you have a home here."

From time to time she would do very funny things... like to try to figure out who that other cat was.

More realistically, if her owner died I'm sure that the family dumped her or left her when they moved away. The vet thought she had been outside for at least three weeks when we found her. It's a miracle she survived that long. But she did and she begrudgingly became part of the Insane Cat Posse.

A couple years ago she figured out that, not only did I have body heat and was a warm place to sit, but that I was actually trying to understand her needs and meet them. We did what we could to make an angry, older cat happy. She started to fail a couple years ago but the vet and I propped her up as best we could. We were pretty much at the palliative care stage when we tried another medication to ease her pains. 

Several weeks later at a follow up appointment the vet looked at me in complete surprise and declared that Teddi's heart murmur - that I could pretty much across the room - had all but disappeared. "What did you do?" He asked.

I shrugged and said, "I loved her."

Never underestimate the healing power of love. Since I was sure that Teddi was on the way out I determined to double down my efforts and do everything I could to make her happy. Despite my efforts Teddi did not love me back at all - it wasn't until these last several months or, at most, for the last year, that she could even tolerate me.

But she learned that if she meowed at me I would figure out what she needed and give it to her. We believe she was one of the good works that we were appointed to do. She was a reminder to never grow tired of doing good - even if you don't get anything out of it. I was a warm place for her to lay down on and that was about it.

Mostly she just tolerated me. But that was OK.

Did I get loving looks and joyful snuggles? Nope. The best I could hope for was that Teddi wouldn't eat the butter off the counter. But love keeps no record of wrongs. So we went about our business making sure she had everything she needed. Turns out it worked, she was in relatively good health for these last two years.

The last couple of months Teddi needed a lot of care. She had gotten very frail and the other cats were picking on her - she was an easy target. So we shuffled the cats around, gave her a quiet place to sleep, and made sure she could always get to the food and water without anyone bothering her.

The Grand Dowager Teddi Gumpkins. What a gal.

In the end she cried for me one last time and she knew I heard her voice. I put her on her favorite bed and wrapped her in soft covers. I washed her face and told her that we loved her. She had the most gentle passing.

I may not have done a lot of things right in this life but the one thing I can point to was that we gave Teddi a good home. Someone else might have thrown her away but we kept her. She didn't die that winter a hard death of starvation, or being ripped apart by coyotes, or run over by a car. She was safe and warm and lived a good long life here in The Good Land.

We praise God for giving us Teddi, grumpy tho she was. We are grateful that she was one of our good works to do -  which was not a burden. We are thankful for her teaching us that lovingkindness is a gift to give with no expectation of return but is it's own reward. And we say farewell to the Grand Dowager Teddi Grumpkins. Amen.

My Life with Peep

My life with Peep goes largely like this....

she makes cute faces..... 

 ......and then when I get lured in and try to hug her. But all I get is Paws of  Fury.

This is tortitude.

We call her our fuzzy buzz saw.  The other day someone asked what "tortitude" was.... this... this, friends, is what tortitude is. What is she mad about? Nothing. She doesn't even need a reason.

The vet said that because Peep was our bottle raised singleton she would never take me seriously - and she doesn't.

To be sure she still will give me snuggles and kisses - but only if no one else is watching. And at night. And only one kiss. But just one then it's over. 

My life with an angry calico.

Happy Sunday everyone! Does anyone else life with a tortie with a 'tude?

Nicholas and all his hard days

Can you believe we are having another inside day? Sure it's sunny out there ...but it was 24* when I got up. This whole spring thing has gotten off to a slow start. So I did some spring cleaning. So by popular demand, you know who you are, someone has been asking for pix of our beloved Nicholas. So I'm presenting to you his most epic picture ever.

The most epic picture of Nicholas. Ever. Thanks for helping me with that side of pork.

I also went looking for all of the posts about his hard days...and they were a little tough to find. So I decided to create a tab for him at the top of this page. Peep your eyes up just above the "about me" and find it on the top right side. There you will find all of Nicholas's adventures.

Back when Nicholas was bigger than Bubby.

I'm anticipating that he will be having more hard days soon. This morning he had to ensure the tragedy that was me getting up after 7 in the am. He very nearly starved.

That's right, Nicholas, life is hard. Every single day.

Happy Friday everyone and enjoy some hilarity by clicking thru Nicholas's Hard Days - #1 - #10.

ps... If I haven't said it lately... thanks to everyone who has been using my Amazon links! I never know who purchases what so I can't think you personally, but I really really appreciated it.

Little buddies... A different kind.

Nicholas and Little Mo are the best of buddies.....

Nicholas's ham-sized paw make Little Mo's paw look like a small fry.

Happy Saturday everyone!

Really, Nicholas?

Because this happens at my house:

Really, Nicholas?

They are making me old, a little bit, every day......

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Note: No dogs were harmed in the making of this film. Lucky was just annoyed by Nicholas and his shenanigans. Nicholas, however, got a time out for naughtiness.

The unintended consequences of Nicholas.

You'll remember that our big fatty fat cat, Nicholas has a lot of hard days. His life is of constant struggle and hardship. He suffers much as he struggles thru life. One day at a time, little buddy.

 Nicholas. About to do crimes - or help me make something in the kitchen.

His biggest problem right now is that he is still on a reduction plan. Our goal is to get him down to 19 pounds. You heard me. DOWN to 19 pounds. How big is he? Big. Real big. But slowly he's been inching down the ounces and I think we age getting close to his goal weight. The Good Vet told me that getting cats to lose weight is almost impossible. That's right, Doc, tell me something I can't do... it guarantees that I will do it.

Nicholas can stand on his back legs and pull everything off the counters. Thanks, Nicholas.

So we've been working hard. The next time we take Nicholas to the vet I'm positive those scales will say 19 pounds. I know this because Nicholas has spent the last several days up on the kitchen counters. He hasn't been up there in years. These were the days he could easily heft his big carcass up on the counters. But not since then. However this new found agility has become a problem.

Partners in crime. Little Mo is surprisingly gangsta.

This morning I heard odd noises. Then Kai started with her tattle tail bark... so I hurried out to see what was going on.

"What's going on!" I demanded.

Nothing but innocent looks.

Then I noticed one too many dogs in the dog area.

"NICHOLAS!" I shrieked in surprise.

Nicholas is not supposed to be in the dog area. He teases Kai and Zander and that could go bad. Up until now it hasn't been a worry because there was no way Fatty-Fat A-Lot could get up and over the gate.

What happens when dogs get canned food. This is too much pushing and shoving for cats.

Today was a changing day. I'm pretty sure Nicholas was in the big garbage can full of dog food. Due to starvation.

So while I'm pleased that our formerly fat cat, Nicholas, is slimming down fast..... this has resulted in a lot of unintended consequences.

This is not officially a Hard Day for Nicholas.... but if he keeps it up then it could be. Looks like I'm going to have to do some figuring to keep our Nicholas out of trouble.

Happy Saturday everyone!

Shaggy Dog and going to the vet.

Sometimes this is blog is my personal record keeping. Like today. I need to note that Zander has been blowing his coat. This is important because it's almost a month earlier than last year. I'm hoping this means there will be an early spring.

He is a mess. We are calling him Shaggy Dog.

I'm pretty sure that there is an old saying that "When Bubby blows his coat - so does winter" or something like that. But I have to believe we are on the downside of cold and running up to spring. In the meantime I am spending a lot of time raking him out. So. Much. Fur.

Hey look! It's me with Bubby and Kai!

I also need to note that we went to the vet. I need to make another appointment for Dog#1 in a couple weeks. We are doing the series of Lyme disease shots for the Dog Horde.There are two shots for each dog.... so there is going to be a lot of driving around with dogs. Luckily Dog#1 is just fine in the car.

I'm noting this because I need to remember when to make the appointments and also because I didn't really know about this. Lyme disease is starting to make it's way into our state. The vet said some of the spread is caused by hunters going to the eastern states and bringing the ticks back on their deer carcasses. Can you believe that? So it's a thing here now.

I guess I should say outright that this is not an invitation for everyone to start fighting about vaccines. Do what is best for you and your dogs. I just gotta remember to go back.

Last year we were very smirky and told the vet that we don't have ticks because of all the poultry. Which is largely true - but then we all spent a lot of time in the woods and that didn't work out for a lot of us. Once we get more of that area cleared we can see if the chickens will go down there and work their magic.

My cat is sad because I don't understand her inner struggle with the general malaise that engulfs her.

Our cat Pepper also got drug along for an appointment for a weird bump. After a lot of gagging by yours truly they fixed her up and she was declared bump-free. I had prepped the vet and the tech that Pep is a squirmer and we might need more strong people to hold her down for the exam. Of course Pep was the model citizen and they all laughed at me and said, "Not this little angel?" The tech cuddled Pep while Pep shot death rays out of her eyes at me. Her wagon is fixed tho.

That's the word here. More cold but no snow. Today is inside but I'm dying to get off farm again. I've got mine eye fixed on some fancy pastries....

Happy Tuesday everyone! Is the fur flying there? Are you driving around with a happy dog and an angry cat?

Mo Paws and it's 50*

Yesterday was sunny and beautiful. All of the stupid snow melted...and even tho it's a big swampy mess out there at least it's not 0*. I have high hopes for spring showing up sometime soon.

Little Mo's beautiful paws.  He really is my Chief of Staff.

But not this week. Today will be cloudy and 50*, then rain, then back to freezing. But that is OK. It will give me time to do some work outside. And then I can think about tapping the trees.

He spends a lot of time keeping them clean. His little Mickey Mouse hands... we love him.

All the melting snow made us realize how bad our driveway has become. I'm pretty sure that we are going to need to get a big load of gravel sometimes soon. That will be a project for later on.

Happy Sunday everyone! Are you enjoying mild temperatures and melting snow?

More on Shine

Thanks, everyone, for your fun comments on our epic saga, A Tale for Winter. As with all of our Adventure Tails... they are Not Entirely Fiction.

 We sure love our Shine!

Our beloved King of Barncats, Shine, did end up with a festering wound on his foot. In fact, one of his claws was torn off down to the quick (*winces*) and then he had a puncture wound nearby. We have no idea how any of this happened. Thank heavens my husband saw it. We took him to the vet when it didn't get better after a day and she fixed him right up.

He got a long acting antibiotic shot (as giving him daily medication would have been very difficult) and an Rx to stay incarcerated for several days. We gave him extra rations and lots of snuggles. After a couple days he was right a rain.  I"ll probably talk more about the importance of barncats soon - ours are worth their weight in gold.

You can read how her name got changed to Bitty here.

As for Bitty, I'm sure she will have a lot of adventures soon. But this morning she was playing with a potato on the floor.

We really did find Bitty in a dumpster. She started out as "Scruff" but then she changed to Itty Bitty. you can read more of her story here. Our Bitty - what a girl!

Happy Thursday everyone!