FRANCIS'S BLOG 07/10/2026
“Baby-sitting" Patches and Marbles (2 videos)! 😺
Good morning! It’s very hot, in the 90’s today:
Everybody’s getting fresh water:
It’s a great day to have your legs dripping in fly spray (I must admit that I have four of the best-looking legs around):
“We like to think we’re ‘paying our rent’ by eating as many flies as we can, Francis.”
We appreciate it, Mr. Swallow. 🐦
Anyway, here’s Patches, watching the chicks:
Marbles is on guard, too:
You chicks are lucky you’re too big to eat. 😾
To err is cat-cop, to forgive is donkey. 🐴
Good morning! I’ll tell you the awful thing that happened to me last night in a minute, but first, the kittens enjoy a drink from little pans (little pans for little cats 😺):
Bart is getting to know the chicks. He knows not to chase them, like he does with the grown hens. . .
Because Assistant Security Chief is always nearby:
And here’s Betty, taking advantage of the new shade covering Ann put out just this morning, but she’s still keeping an eye on the chicks:
Oh, Luna! Get out of the tool shed! A careless cat-cop could lock you in!
I know! I was locked in the stall ALL NIGHT because someone shut the door without looking first!
This morning I was furious, but when I saw how bad they felt, I soon forgave them. ❤️
Angry bird? 🐥
Good morning! It’s a great morning for sneaking out of the gate for some just-mowed grass:
Little gray baby is braver than you, Dad. Stop being a scaredy cat and go get some breakfast—you’re making management think you don’t like them:
Some chicks are visiting with Ann:
And Security Chief Onslow is watching out for these guys:
Finally, here’s a closeup of one of the buff orpingtons:
I’m glad I’m a donkey and not a bug. 🐴
Did you know that the horses and I grow mushrooms? (plus a kitten video)
Good morning!
The clouds and breeze are keeping the flies down, so we can do without our masks:
Don’t block that door, chicks—the cat-cops have our poopies to scoop:
Speaking of poopies, a little wet weather always grows mushrooms in the manure cart:
I can’t believe these mushrooms are from my personal poopie. . .
My poopies would grow mushrooms that are much prettier! 🐴
Anyway, here is the latest kitten video. They are not doing much. . .
Just standing around, looking adorable. ❤️
It’s about time we got some treats (with a 🐎 video and a 🐔 video)!
“Good morning! A horse as handsome as I deserves a big kiss, but I’ll take two or three peppermint hearts instead!”
“I want some treats too, RC. But first, I see a cat-cop that’s about to get a kiss full of horse-slobbers from lovely me!”
Just so you know Stormy and I weren’t left out, here’s a video ( the chicken video comes right after):
Finally, here’s a little Bard Rock that is very brave around Bart, who is a BIG Bard Rock:
The chicks are proving that they're almost ready to be out in the yard on their own. 🐥
Marbles missed his paté 😿
“Good morning! I’m showing you my ‘What do you mean I missed breakfast?’ look.”
Good morning, everyone. Not so fast, Marbles—you know very well that you heard the cat-cops calling kitty-kitty-kitty…
You were late, and someone ate most of the canned food off your Kit-n-Kaboodle:
It was probably your new little brothers (and/or sisters, we don’t know yet):
They have become the first to breakfast and the last to leave! 😺
Chicken chat 🐔
“Good morning! Francis said I could greet you today. I’m laying an egg in a nice, cozy nest:”
“Why some hens are dropping their eggs in back of the duck pens, I have no idea (but I don’t judge).”
“Francis tells us the cat-cops haven’t named the kittens yet because they can’t tell the gray ones apart.”
“We chickens will have to look them over.”
“There has to be some difference in their white markings, somewhere.” 🐔
The chicks are spreading out 🐥
Good morning!
Little kitten is having a nap:
Oh, horrors! Did a horse step on Patches? Poor Patches!
“No. . .I’m just writhing around on the cool earth. Sorry, I shouldn’t have scared you.”
Anyway, the chicks have eaten all the grass in the white pens, so Ann put out more fence:
But they still can’t be left out unattended:
Even though we think they're now too big for the cats to hurt. . .
They can fly over the fence, and when they do, they don’t know how to fly back. 🐥
Frolicking felines (video) 😺
Good morning! A sunny day after a whole day of rain is perfect weather for “flying.”
Goodness, Buttons—look at all the flies on the board below you (it’s nice that they seem to be patiently waiting for you to finish):
Meanwhile, these kittens are figuring out how to drive a tractor:
Oh no! The cat-cops have left the keys in it!
Anyway, here’s all three of them, and Momma Eva, as they wrestle-around while waiting for breakfast:
Lots of fun! 😺
A clump of chicks 🐥
“Good morning! Can you see all 15 of us? It’s going to rain all day and be a little chilly.”
“Which one of them said that, Francis?”
I have no idea, Rose.
“I always have a hard time waking up when it’s raining, RC. And please leave some hay for me.”
“You snooze, you lose, Stormy.” 🐎
Sunny and short Saturday post (and a kitten video 🐱)
Good morning!
Martha is having a look at the chicks:
Chicks their size can fly just about anywhere they want to go:
I’m sorry I don’t have more for you today 😿, but I hope you like this clip of the kittens having breakfast with Tux and Marbles 😺:
Little kittens, do you know that Tux and Marbles are your big brothers? 😺
Friday Forecast: Sunny with 100% chance of flies 🐴!
Good morning! This end of the manure cart is the perfect neck-scratching height:
“It’s a little short for me, Francis. But if a fly bites my chest, I’ll know right where to come.”
Speaking of flies, Rose, time to get our masks on, and head on out!
It helps that our fly masks get an extra soaking of spray. 🐎
Sunny Thursday 😺, and “Danger, kittens, Danger!” 🙀 (video and YouTube)
Good morning! For all the rain yesterday, it’s surprisingly un-muddy on the way to the far pasture. Come on, RC!
“I’m catching right up with you, Francis.”
Hey! Baby cats! Stay away from that raccoon!
This raccoon seems pretty docile, but raccoons can also be mean and fast—and they’ll eat anything including little kittens! 😿
And here’s our latest YouTube in case you missed it. . .
All cats love trees, whether fake or artificial. 😺
Working around the rain (and a video 🦝)
Good morning. Oh my, nothing but nasty rain and scary lightning. Our only sunshine is YOU!
It’s raining so hard that Luna and Patches won’t walk over to breakfast, so they’re getting fed with us in the stable (which has to be a first):
Oh! Look who’s back after worrying us for five days:
Oh, Marbles, when you worry the cat-cops, you worry us all. 😿
Speaking of cat-cops, they set some food out for the raccoon, to keep it out of the food in the cat garage:
We didn’t notice before that you had such a white snout, Raccoon. How about that? 🦝
Stormy must be free (video) 🐎!
Peek-a-Boo! I have a smile for YOU!
The kittens are eating breakfast with Momma Eva and big brother Tux:
Hmm. . .I see 5 buff orpingtons (the blondes), 5 silver-laced Wyandottes (the silver-heads), three Bard Rocks (the dark grays speckled with silver), but only ONE Rhode Island Red (back in the upper left corner). Oh no! Are we missing a chick?
“Here I am!”
“I don’t like crowds.” 🐥
Stormy is stomping to get let out. . .
Be patient, Stormy. Wait for your spray and mask. 🐴
Patches “checks out” 😺
Good morning! It was only in the 50’s this morning, but it’s rising fast:
I see Luna is escorting RC out to join us:
Patches is checking out the burn pile. It’s growing larger as the cat-cops keep picking up branches torn down by the recent storms:
Then he and Tux watch and wait for the chicks to be released:
And the kittens are having breakfast:
Wait a minute—where’s Rose?
“Here I am! I was waiting for the cat-cops to stop blabbing long enough to mask and spray me!” 🐎
Darling Dukie! 😺
Good morning! It's only 64, which is nice!
It poured all last night, so we’ll get our feet wet on the way out to graze:
But before that, Ann gave me an invigorating, after-breakfast brush:
And look at this picture she took of Dukie during their walk last night:
Lovely sky, lovely grass, lovely doggie! ❤️
The things you can do when you’re just the right size for YOU! 🐴
Good morning! The kittens are having breakfast:
“We still have lots to explore. . .”
“But we feel most secure near or under old broken-down tractor.” 😺😺😺
Not much else is going on, except the gate to the front pasture is closed. . .
Not that that stops me!
I’m just the perfect size for wiggling between the wires. 🐴
Kitties have “graduated!” 😺
Good morning! Hurricane-style wind and rain last night! It’s nice today, but the flies are out in force:
It’s definitely a mask-and-spray day:
I wish I could have fun-in-the-tub like Paschal and Ferdinand:
Anyway, look who is exploring the cat garage this morning:
“Yummy-yum!”
“I’m having dinner with the big cats!”
“We twins have found the food, too!”
😺
Rain and more rain! 🐴
Good morning! It poured last night. . .
And it poured this morning:
The buff orpingtons are waiting for their turn on the “swing:”
The kittens are out and about:
“Where did all this water come from?”
How can I tell we’ve had record rain?
Because our pavements have been washed clean. . .
Of duck and chicken poopies! 🐴
Room to spread out 🐥!
Good morning! I guess I better get moving:
It’s still hot, but there’s a nice breeze:
For Pete’s sake, Tyrus and Tiger, wake up. It’s 10 o’clock!
Anyway, we showed you last Sunday that the chicks got a nice outdoor pen:
Well, this morning they now have twice as much space. . .
For twice as much clover, bugs, exercise and fun 🐥!
Very hot and muggy 🐴 (and a proud hen video)!
Good morning! The flies are out, so the masks are on:
The fans are out:
Goodness, chickens! Spread out a little:
Did some of you forget that there are nests in the stall?
This hen just laid an egg, and is crowing like a rooster:
That egg was hard work—time to celebrate! 🐴
Let’s start off with a video of ME (then a kitten video)! 🐴
Good morning! I’ll be right with you after I have a scratch:
Ahh, that felt good! . . . Anyway, all the recent rain has left us with new clover, dandelions, and buttercups to eat:
Dad is helping Eva finish breakfast. I know two cats who need caught and fixed (catching is hard, fixing is easy):
“Hello Francis. Could you please play that cute video of Eva’s and my latest litter?”
Here you go, Dad:
“Eva and I are very proud, Francis!” 😺
I feel lighter and cooler 🐴
Good morning! Ann is giving me a brush:
My hair left an outline of me on the ground:
Hey! I’m slimmer than I thought! Good for me!
Other than that, we’re waiting for the rain to let up a little—it’s been coming on and off all morning:
And the birds are having leftover watermelon, lettuce and pears:
Colorful chickens with a colorful breakfast! 🐔
Privacy, please 🐴
Good morning! We had heavy rain overnight. So I’m sure the weed growth will shift into hyper-drive:
“Good, more places to hide in!”
If you say so, little baby kitty—just don’t hide from the cat-cops and worry them. 😿
I’m sorry it’s such a slow news day. But I can show you the chicks enjoying their backyard:
It’s only 9AM, but they’re already looking for shade. 🐥
Anyway, if you know something about horse or donkey standing positions, you know what I need to do:
So please, turn your head. 🐴
Kittens are growing up (2 videos) 😺
Good morning! I’m about to get “gunned down” with fly spray:
Apparently some of us don’t like waiting to be fed:
The kittens have discovered grown-up cat food:
But they still get their “baby food” (Goo-Tubes):
Isn’t it nice to see Eva joining her kittens for breakfast! 😺
Here’s a video lesson in the language of Chicken! 🐔
Good morning! I’ll forgive the cat-cops for setting the food scoop on me today, because they’re cleaning and refilling my water tank:
Hey Luna! Wake up for breakfast!
Here’s a baby, finishing up a drop of Goo-Tube. For breakfast and dinner they get 3-4 of them squeezed into a dish (Mamma Eva is still nursing them as well ❤️):
Here’s our Dukie checking out the chicks:
Marbles is intrigued, too. . .
You’re still a cat in the dog house, Marbles, for running away from home! 😾
Finally, here’s an Easter-egger telling an olive-egger to hurry up and lay her egg:
“This egg will hatch before I can lay it!” 🐔
Where on earth did you go, you bad cat! 😾
Good morning! I’m feeling good and looking better!
I picked this flower just for YOU!
Yesterday I told you Eva moved her kittens from under the pallet beside the hay barn, to under the hay barn by all the weeds. Well, today, she’s moved them right back. It’s just as well, because up here they’re easier to feed:
Anyway, here is a picture of a very bad Marbles, who has been missing for 5 whole days! When the cat-cops worry, everybody worries!
Oh well, Marbles—get something to eat and don’t disappear again:
I don’t know where you were, but nobody can have better food than Ann’s Horse Farm! 🐴
Chicks 🐥 and kittens 😺 on the move (video)!
Oh, I didn’t see you come in! Good morning!
Oh, good, I’m getting breakfast first today!
Buttons has caught a sparrow:
The chicks’ outside pen got moved around to the back door of the coop. It’s secure enough where they’ll soon be able to spend the day outside unattended:
And yesterday Eva moved the kittens under the hay barn. Here’s one (being very hard to see):
They also now have a jungle of weeds to explore. . .
But they’re making it harder for the cat-cops to give them food and water. 😾
Betty on duty! 😺
Good morning! Rose and I are on our way to the gate for peppermint hearts 💕:
And the chicks are getting some sun while Ann is cleaning out their coop (one of the olive eggers is “supervising”):
Why are you all clumped together now, chicks?
Oh, I see. . !
Don’t worry, Assistant Security Chief Betty is just there to guard you (or so she says)! 😺