FRANCIS'S BLOG 04/22/2026
Mouse Power 🐭
We’re having hay:
Schroeder’s having leftover corn:
A mouse chewed a whole in the plastic can that keeps the corn:
Betty and Onslow are having Kibbles ’n’ Bits:
They got back from the vet last night, after being fixed. They'll have to spend the next few days inside. 🙀
Mount Vespoovius continues to grow 🐴
Finn checks out the size of the manure pile:
It continues to grow:
Mount Vespoovius is becoming a whole mountain range:
Finn goes to take a look in the manure cart:
It’s empty. We can’t use it because the manure freezes in winter, and it would break the cart’s parts.
But don’t worry—Mount Vespoovius won’t take over the whole farm. Our friend Farmer Rich will come with his little bulldozer and carry it away soon. What a good neighbor! 🐴
Cloudy, cold Tuesday 🐴
Ferdinand and Daisy are parked under the heat lamps:
And Kanna has her space heater:
I wish they made either one of those things donkey-size:
Oh, and Onslow just found out that he and Betty are going to get fixed tomorrow:
It’s what we call “extreme vetting.” 🐴
Look where we are this morning! 🐴
This morning, Rose, Iris, Jewel, Chavez, Stormy, and Charlie went straight out to the far pasture:
Not me, Henry, and Misty:
And “not me either,” says RC:
“Not at least until we eat some more of this nice, green hay.” 🐎
Gusty winds 🙀
The roaring winds have us all befuddled. We don’t want to eat outside, because the hay blows out of our mouths:
And it was a little crowded inside, because we were still having our stalls cleaned:
The wind got behind the door to the tool shed and gave it a good bang, breaking off some of the wood:
I’m staying inside:
Let’s cheer up by watching two more videos from yesterday:
By the way, the wind dried up all this water. Poor ducks. 🐴
Rainy, slushy Saturday 🐴
The bad news is, it was raining buckets this morning. Onslow and Betty just didn’t know what to do:
But the good news is, the rain and the thaw made a pond in the yard, and the ducks are finally getting a bath after being locked up in the garage. Here’s Onslow checking them out. . .
Before he just had to go climb that tree:
Let’s watch Severus and Regulus (don’t ask me who’s who) do the butterfly stroke:
Happy Friday 🐴
Any day above freezing is a good day:
Schrödinger is paying me a visit:
As Security Chief, he’s off to patrol the pastures:
It’s lonely out on the “tundra:”
Oh, and as usual, the kittens are all over the place:
They are great on the “balance beam!” 😺
Sunny morning 🐴
The weather’s nice for breakfast outside:
How nice of you to join me, Betty! 😺
I’m glad you found the water fountain. 🐴
Eating hay can make you thirsty. 🐴
More ice and snow, but not too cold 🐴
Oh look, another gravity-defying drift sculpture by the back door:
And Major Tom tries out the new cat bed:
And then has breakfast on the hay:
Betty has a visit with Iris. . .
Before following Onslow from bale to bale (his favorite place):
Finally, Finn and Zelda stay cozy in the barn:
“Don’t forget about us!” 😺
Onslow is in demand 😺
Onslow climbed up the side of the stall and hopped on Iris, and gave her a nice massage:
Chezzie says, “I want my butt massaged, too!”
Onslow never misses an opportunity to climb:
Oh, and here’s Schrödinger eating some spilled horse feed:
Waste not, want not. 🐴
Farrier Monday 🐎
There was a lot of snow overnight, but that didn’t stop our friend Travis from doing our hooves.
Anyway, here are some pictures taken a few days ago, before all this snow. All the runoff down the hill to the creek has created a deep trench:
This deep trench will be a problem for those of us with hooves:
On the bright side, our creek is beautiful:
We’ll have to get those ruts filled in by spring (if it ever comes). 🐴
Nasty snowing morning 🐴
This morning’s snow has left us an interesting drift-sculpture:
Here’s Kanna being cozy on the new cat bed:
But she decided to come outside and look pitiful:
A little later, Kanna was not expecting Ukie to join her for breakfast:
The rest of us are in the snow:
Including me. 🐴
Sunny Saturday ☀️
Baldy is enjoying the day outside:
I’m having breakfast outside:
Uh-oh, it looks like I’ve picked up Onslow:
And judging from this short movie, he’s settling in to stay:
Five-degree Friday 🐴
Henry says Hello:
Why Iris and Jewel are grazing in the one place there are no flakes, we just don’t know:
They eventually wised up with the rest of us:
We’ll enjoy the dry ground while it lasts. 🐎
Thaw on Thursday, freeze on Friday, and a horse crime! 🐴
It’s in the mid-forties today, but it’s expected to be in single digits overnight. So the ducks are making the most of it, having found some water to putter around in:
Overnight some horse-hoodlum broke into Chavez’s stall, and tore down his feeder! 🙀
Chezzie doesn’t seem bothered at all by this heinous crime:
(We figure he probably did it himself.) 🐎
And by the way. . .
If you were here, I would give you a big donkey-kiss! ❤️
Icy dreary morning 🐴
Nobody’s having any fun except Onslow.
He’s playing “hay guard.”
“Don’t give up the flake!” 😺
And Betty’s exploring the space between the stable walls. She meowed for a while before she managed to climb out. 🙀
Busy morning 🐎
Charlie and Stormy were visited by the vet. Charlie is having hoof problems and Stormy is having urological problems. The Doctor is making some tests, and we’re sure that they’ll both be feeling better soon.
I wish the vet could give me something for cats biting my ears!
I wish they’d go back to just sitting on me:
That’s better. 🐴
Warm cats 😺
Finn keeps warm on the heating pad, and Kanna stakes out her spot in front of the heater:
Schroeder has to finish breakfast. . .
Before he goes to “work”. . .
Staring into the house and meowing. 😾
A crisp sunny Saturday 🐴
I’m having breakfast outside:
This is the first day Onslow and Betty have been out in a week:
Let’s watch Jewel and Rose do laps in the riding arena:
Single digit, sunny day 🐴
It’s cold and windy today. Iris thinks if she stands still, no one will notice her where she’s not supposed to be:
It’s the “stealthy horse” approach. 🐎
Let’s watch Jewel and Rose frolic in the riding arena yesterday evening.
They had been in their stalls all that day. 🐎
What is it about ducks and the rain? 🐴
It’s raining this morning and icy. Of course, if it’s raining that means the Welsh Harlequins and the Anconas (AKA the “gang of five”) make a beeline across the street:
Here they are being chased back, which is dangerous, because they definitely do not look both ways. They are now on lockdown.
The ducks weren’t the only miscreants—Chezzie broke into a stall:
And finally, here are Zelda and Schrödinger doing what they do best. . .
Sleeping. . .
And staring. 😾
We will miss you, Tux 😿
Tux passed away last night. Here he is a few days ago, being visited by Kanna. Even though the weather has been very bad, Tux spent his last days in comfort, hand-fed on a heated pad in a heated garage.
Tux began visiting our farm over 16 years ago. Even then he was full-grown, so we are happy that he had a long cat life.
Rest in Peace, Tux. You were a good kitty! ❤️
Technical difficulty is over 😺
While we were down with technical problems, almost all our snow has melted:
Onslow says, “Oh no, an ice storm is on the way!”
“We just can’t win around here.” 🙀
The snow is melting 🐴
It’s very sloppy around here:
The ducks are happy to be outside after so long:
And Onslow is astonished. . .About what, I don’t know. 🐴
Unexpected guest 🦅
Who’s this at the bottom-right of the manure pile, helping us celebrate the first above-freezing morning in a long time?
It’s a hawk!—cleaning up one of the starlings who succumbed to the deep freeze:
Here’s video (those things flying around are feathers, not bugs, obviously):
It keeps getting warmer 🐎
We were so happy it was above zero this morning, that we didn’t want to come in for breakfast:
Especially me:
I whined and cried until I was served outside:
I am one spoiled donkey. 🐴