FRANCIS'S BLOG 05/13/2026
Sunny day ☀️
What a nice, sunny morning.
It could be a little less windy, but at 38℉, I won’t complain. 🐴
Cats on ice 😺
For some reason this morning, the kittens found ice the place to be:
It had to be cold, kitties:
I don’t try to figure them out anymore. 🐴
Iris investigates 🐎
Iris says, “Oh no! Someone lost their glove!”
“At least, I think it’s a glove.”
“Yep, it’s a glove. I’ll put it in the lost-and-found.” 🐎
Slow news day 🐴
It’s only in the 20’s this morning, with a little snow in the air,
and a little cat in the stable.
Here I am at Oxford! 🐴
Here I am posing in the courtyard of Christ Church at Oxford:
The Great Hall of Christ Church is where they filmed some scenes for Harry Potter:
Here is the Old Sheep Shop, which was frequented by Alice Liddell, the little girl on whom Lewis Carroll based Alice in Wonderland:
It’s a miracle! 🐴
Mount Vespoovius has erupted!
Praise be unto the ancient duck under the heat lamp (and some charcoal starter)! 🐴
Pussycats on patrol! 😺
There are very few sparrows in the garage anymore. All it takes is a quick hop up from the refrigerator:
And Katfish, Noodle and Finn are in business:
If a sparrow wants to spend the night in the garage anymore,
it has to be very fast,
and very lucky. This evening we saw no sparrows at all, but heard some cowering in terror. 🐦
Snuggle buddies 😺
Luigi condescends to let Finn cuddle with him in front of the space heater:
Looks like Finn has found the sweet spot:
Oh those kitties! 😺
Here are some of my London pics 🐴
This dazzling London building is called the Shard, because of its sharp edges:
Here I am on the observation deck, way up on the 72nd floor:
The view was amazing:
I’m getting woozy! 🐴
Sunny morning in the forties, but still muddy 🐴
Yesterday was so dreary and muddy, only the ducks were happy:
But today is sunny!
It’s so nice, I don’t even mind that cats are kissing on my back. 🐴
Kittens and mud 😺 (mostly mud 😾)
Katfish and Finn check out our breakfast:
Sorry cats, we’ve eaten it! 🐴
Pretty Palace (no wonder there was a revolution) 🐴
Here I am in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles:
I want this bed:
Here’s the palace from the outside:
Here’s the garden:
There wasn’t much to eat. 🐴
Muddy, dreary Wednesday at the farm 🐴
Here I am, posing dangerously in the middle of the Champs-Élysées with the rest of the tourists, in front of the Arc de Triomphe:
Back at the farm, the cats are sticking close to the heater this wet morning:
Oh, and here’s a picture of the sleek Eurostar, that got us from London to Paris in under two hours:
🐴
More pictures from France! 🐴
Here I am about to enter the famous Louvre museum:
I saw the Mona Lisa:
The Nike of Samothrace (Winged Victory):
The Venus de Milo (Aphrodite de Milos):
And a boy strangling a duck:
(Don’t show this post to the ducks 🐴)
Rainy France 🐴
Here I am at the Eiffel Tower (I’m in the lower right corner):
Here’s a picture of it lit up at night:
Here’s another view from our boat trip on the Seine:
We were surprised its color looked “antique bronze,” and not that black or gray we expected. 🐴
I’m back! 🐴
I’m back from England and France. Finn was so happy to see me, she jumped on my back.
She told me that while I was gone, L’Orange had been sleeping a little too close to the heat lamp, and caramelized the feathers on her head:
Pooter and Paschal fortunately had more sense, and retain their snowy white heads:
Apparently ducks have been burning themselves with heat lamps for eons. At Le Louvre, I discovered this Egyptian hieroglyph of a duck under a heat lamp from ages past:
I’ll be back Sunday, Jan 15. 🐴
It was 1 degree this morning. I’ve had it!
I’m going to London, with an overnight Eurostar train trip to France, where at least it will be above freezing. When I come back next Sunday, I’ll show you my pictures! 🐴
Hey, make room for me! 🐴
Here we have some heat lamp buddies:
Kitties are welcome, too! 😺
I want one of those, too! 🐴
Get well, Luigi! 😺
Luigi’s back from the vet. He has a nasty place on his neck,
and a nasty place on his foot:
But both places are hopefully getting better. Mary and Bill put more medicine on them this morning. 😺
Luigi went to the vet today 😿
Here’s Katfish keeping Luigi’s seat warm while Mary and Bill take him to the vet:
Poor Luigi had nasty infected cuts on his leg and a swelling on his neck 😿; but the vet drained both (yuck) put him on antibiotics. Luigi’s on his way home right now. 😺
Kitten in a tree 😺
Noodle discovers an enormous hole in one of our trees:
Look how far back he can go:
You better come out, Noodle, before there’s a cave-in! 🙀
Just kidding. 🐴
