FRANCIS'S BLOG 10/06/2025
Eat, drink, and be merry. . . 🐎
Henry reminds the other horses to enjoy breakfast outside today.
The farrier comes tomorrow. . .
. . .and we’ll be stuck in our stalls most of the morning.
Leap year 🐎
We’re having salmon paté this morning:
So, at least this morning, Minnie isn’t being a cannibal.
Field Trip 🐴
Some mouse ate a hole in one of our bags of feed, and emptied almost the entire 50 pounds on the ground. So we scooped it up and fed it to farmer Rich’s piggies!
The cows were not pleased that they were uninvited.
Sorry cows. Moooo-be next time! 🐴
Ukie visits. 🐴
Here we are watching Ann taking Ukie for a walk to the creek.
Here’s Ukie visiting Iris.
They both like the camera.
Ice sculpture 🐴
This creation of the condensation from the furnace vent has long since melted, but it’s still worth sharing:
It reminds me of the London Gherkin:
Evil in the straw 😾
Why is Evil Cat grumpy?
Well, he just found out the Tomcat rodenticide people have been using his likeness without his permission:
Keep watching the skies! 🐴
The ducks keep an eye on a hawk. They also ran out of its sight, and stopped quacking (for once):
Actually, the “hawk” was an Lockheed C-130 on its way to Davenport Airport, but better safe than sorry.
Lovely morning! 🐴
It’s only 35℉, but it’s sunny, no wind⎯and it’s just me!
And a cat.
Who does not eat hay. 😺
Windy Friday 🐎
On Friday we had wind gusts of 60 MPH! It took its toll on the farm (and our breakfast hay). To start, some of the front fascia on the garage blew off:
The cat cops (who could hardly stand up) put it in with the ducks (who had to be treated for nervousness with high doses of meal worms):
Here’s a picture of the lawn furniture. It must have been blown into the yard and put back by Rich or one of our other farmer friends (we think. We know one of the cat cops had to walk across the road and pick up the recyclables and a poultry waterer):
Security Chief Luigi notes a minor blow-over of a jumping post:
The Chief orders this tarp to be temporarily stored in the chicken coop:
The roof blew off the roosters’ house. It was located about 20 feet away:
Finally, Chief Luigi, and Emergency Management Supervisor Pumpkin, make sure the sharp slice of aluminum that blew off the hay barn is safely weighed down:
Oh, and we had our evening hay in the stable so we didn’t have to run after it:
Cat-robatics! 😺
Schrödinger prepares to scare the next cat cop that opens the door.
And here’s Luigi, who is not the high-wire artist he used to be.
The power of positive thinking 😺
Pumpkin and Kanna tell me they are hatching (so to speak) a plan to revolutionize the way kitties have kittens:
OH NO⎯We’re going to have a CAT-BIRD!
Psych!⎯That’s a china egg. 🐴
The Department of Horsefarm Security never sleeps 😾
Thanks to DHS Security Chief, Luigi, there has never been a manure theft on the premises.
What’s up with the kitties? 😺
It was nice and sunny Thursday afternoon, but Pumpkin isn’t taking any chances: She’s not losing her place on the heating pad!
Is Schroeder turning gray? No, he’s just nice and dusty.
Cold cat’s cranky 😾
Pumpkin is not going to smile for the camera.
It’s 7℉ this morning, and Kanna is hogging the heating pad, again.
Afternoon snacks 😺
It’s been a while since we’ve had any canned cat food, so everyone is digging in big time!
But Luigi’s going to wait until Evil Cat clears out. 😾
Good boy, Luigi, you’ll get your own can. 😺
Horse crime! 🐎
Some hoodlum horse pulled the plug on the tank heater. Not a smart thing to do when the weather has been in the 20’s (the goldfish concur).
It wasn’t me!
Caterwauling kitties 😺
Tux and Schrödinger would rather sing than fight. 😺
Sorry about the graininess, but it was very dark in the hay barn. 😺
Wet, wet weather 🐓
“We had to stay cooped-up, so to speak, in the garage all day because of a sleety, freezing, downpour.”
”We’re glad some people were happy⎯"
😾 Grumpy kitties 😾
Evil Cat and Schrödinger were unhappy with each other this morning. As we see here, cat fights usually begin with the “staring of daggers.”
They had to move once because of the hay barrel⎯but any second, they say, the fur will fly!
Ten minutes later. . . .
We’ll have to get back to you on this one. . .