FRANCIS'S BLOG 03/23/25
Oh boy. . . .
One of the windows under the barn had a broken pane. So the cat-cops removed the glass to keep certain quadrupeds with more height than brains from cutting themselves. Since an open window lets all those nasty polar vortices into a normally cozy area, the pane was temporarily replaced with cardboard and duct tape, but that got poked out; and then a carpet square was tacked in, and that got poked out. I wonder how?
No picture today, but. . .
. . .we did get the heater for the stable water tank replaced 😛, although one of the goldfish is no longer with us (Moment of silence, please 😔 ok, that’s long enough).
Two cats on a Deere
Pumpkin has a nice new piece of carpet for the hood of the tractor. It certainly must help take the chill off her paws. Zelda of course does not have that problem on the seat.
From -10 to +10 today.
But the wind was light, so we didn’t feel too bad. Here are RC, Stormy and Henry (having a lick of salt), basking in the sun this evening before dinner.
Henry’s glamour shot.
The weather was so mild today (Sunday) that Henry was happy to pose, looking his best!
There is only so much room in the sun,
so you’ll notice Pumpkin is sporting a Sly stole.
And here we have Sly with a sheik Zelda collar!
Oh darn.
Look at what the violent winds did to our curtain this morning:
Oh well, next year we’ll try to find some vinyl that doesn’t get so brittle in the cold.
Stormy’s blanket lasted 4 days before it got “Chavezed.” ☹
We love Chavez, of course. He’s not bad; he just gets carried away. In other news, here we see RC and Charlie keeping out of this freezy weather by snuggling under the hay barn:
Tux has a bit of a “Luigi problem,"
so he gets his breakfast a good distance from the rest of the kitties.
This way nobody gets in-digestion or in-a cat fight!
Henry and the rest of the horses. . .
. . .had their breakfast hay at the bottom of the hill, since this morning was so mild:
Our cats don’t like to boast. . .
. . .but they swear the rabbit was 25 feet down the driveway before it noticed a difference.
Stormy looks sharp. . .
. . .in his new blanket!
Let’s hope it’s more Chavez-resistant than the last one.
Iris’s first Blackhawk College pics!
Now, this first picture doesn’t look too happy, but be assured Iris is fine: she’s just resting after a long day of traveling to Galva and settling into her new routine.
Mary is right by her side, giving her all the support and affection she needs.
Here we see Iris all bright-eyed and ready to go to school!
Here we meet Iris’s new neighbor, Elwood:
Both Schrödinger and Luigi must be very hungry,
to be this close and not taking swings at each other!
Henry knows he’s a little late. . .
. . .but he still wants to wish Mrs. Minas’s class a Happy New Year, and welcome them back to school!
Prancing through the snow. . . .
Iris lifts her feet high to make it through a snow drift. This was in the morning. It rained this afternoon and evening, so AHF is now one big pile of slush (with a cat here and a horse there)!
Hey Zelda, smell smoke?
Sorry, Luigi, looks like Zelda has a new boyfriend:
Hey cat, you get any closer to that heater and you’re gonna be in back of it:
Iris gets a gold star today.
She plans on going to Blackhawk with Mary this coming Sunday, but she needed a blood test before she can be granted admission. Iris took her liquid sedative like a good girl, and the vet took her blood without incident.
Super Freezy Day!
Too cold for words! This morning at 8 o’clock it was -15℉! The kitties' canned cat food froze solid as a rock before they could eat it (but we (well, not “us," but the cat cops) set it by the space heater so it was gone by this evening, when it was only -7). Here’s the only pictures you’ll have of us today, courtesy of the security cameras (look out horse thieves!):
The above picture shows us eating hay under the eerie red eye of the infrared. Here’s a picture of us from this morning when the daylight makes us more colorful:
Not exactly a mouse. . .
. . .this is probably a vole - like a mouse, but stouter and with a stubby tail:
But whatever it is, it’s perilously close to one of my bags of food. It’s times like this that I’m grateful for the cats:
Hmm. . . . Looks like nobody’s breaking their neck to go after it. . . .
Now this thing here. . .
. . .is a manure spreader. We are very lucky our farmer friends empty it for us. They even line it with hay, to keep the moving parts from breaking when the manure freezes. What generosity!
Good news and bad news
The good news is that we now get a bale and a half of hay. The bad news is that they still make us walk out in the pasture to get it (except at night when it’s cold).
Snowy first day of 2014
You can hardly see us from the road:
Tux joined the cats for dinner tonight. As you can see from Luigi and Schroeder’s trajectory, Tux can only get so close:
But don’t feel too bad for him, he always has his cozy place in the hay barn.