FRANCIS'S BLOG 04/19/2026
Rainy days don’t stop us from riding 🐎
It’s a damp, rainy Sunday:
Noodle just wants to crawl into a pile of hay and go to sleep. 😾
But thanks to the riding arena, Mara and Iris, and Mary and Jewel, can have a warm, dry ride. 🐴
We are always under construction 🐴
Our friends at Emmerson have done a lot of work this week. We have a new path grated to the gate:
And we got a new floor for the riding arena:
It looks very easy on the hooves! 🐎
Fowl behavior 🐓
Baldy is on lock-down today:
That’s so Hansel and Gretel can spend a well-deserved day in the yard. Here’s Hansel, just having a visit with Percy:
Here he is finding some grass to eat:
Maybe Gretel will enjoy a dust bath under the barn 🐔:
When there’s only one rooster in the yard, there’s no cock-fighting! 🐓
We’re enjoying the cooler weather! 🐎
Rose and Jewel are always friendly to the cat-cops:
My only explanation must be that “They’re new here.” 🐴
Rainy yesterday, sunny today 🐴
Here we are last night, after a nasty cloudburst had just blown through:
But it’s sunny, crisp and cool this morning:
I’m waiting for breakfast (as usual):
And Stormy is already “tucking in”:
Even Baldy is having a bite:
🐓
Warm Tuesday morning 🐴
Breakfast is taking so long, I’m going to lay down:
We’re spending the day in the near pasture:
We had, of course, been grazing out in the far pasture. . .
But we’ve been refusing to come in. . .
So this way, we’ll be easier to corral. 🐎
Mean-looking kitties 😺
Noodle guards the manure cart. 😾
Schroeder and Evil Cat declare a truce in the name of dinner. 😺
Sunny Sunday 🐴
Chezzie checks out Iris’s food dish:
Tux stops in for breakfast:
Chica’s foot is still hurting, so she’s still spending time in the pen:
But if the other ducks move too far away, she jumps out! 😾
It’s finally cooler 🐴
It was only 55℉ this morning:
There are a lot less flies around our breakfast.
Stormy’s cleaning up some of Chavez’s food:
And Iris gets any food that RC lets fall:
But RC doesn’t leave much! 🐎
Cloudy windy morning 🐴
It’s breezy and cooler this morning, and the rain clouds are blowing over. So I’m having breakfast outside:
And here’s Evil Cat from last night:
He’s all tuckered out from a full day of evil. 😺
The horse crime wave continues! 🐎
Some horse hoodlum knocked over the floor fan:
We think Chezzie knows something. . .
But he’s not talking! 🐎
Horse Crime! 🐴
Jewel has no idea how this happened!
Let’s ask Iris. . .
Iris doesn’t know how this happened, either.
I am never late for a meal 🐴
Here I am yesterday, ready for dinner:
Unfortunately, everybody else is refusing to come in from the far pasture:
At last, they finally start moving. (The grass out there is never as good as horse feed, people! 🐴)
Slow news Monday 🐴
There’s not much going on today. . .
So I’m just going to roll around in the dust.
What’s good for the birds is good for me, too. 🐴
Stormy has the upper, Chezzie has the lower 🐎
Stormy and Chezzie have breakfast:
Henry heads out to the far pasture:
And Noodle is guarding the saw dust:
It’s a typical Sunday. 😺
There’s a lot going on this morning 🐎
We have a pretty orange caterpillar:
Mara’s dog Phoenix visits:
And Mara, Sara. . .
Mary and Cheyanne, are taking Chezzie, Iris,
Stormy and Charlie for a trail ride! 🐎
It also looks like Tux is about to get splashed. 😿
Debilitated duck 🦆
Poor Chica can’t walk, because she has an infection on her foot, so she’s being kept by herself:
This way, we know she’s getting enough food, and we can keep medicine in her pool water. 🐴
Noodle says, Get well, Chica! (But he’s keeping his distance in case she’s contagious.) 😾
And so do the bats! 🦇
(Not really—the bats don’t much care. 🐴)
It’s farrier day 🐎
I got my hooves done this morning:
Here’s Iris having her turn:
After that, it’s just a bunch of waiting until everyone else is finished:
We didn’t get let out until noon. 🐴
Pleasant Tuesday afternoon 🐎
What was especially nice about yesterday afternoon?
Nobody lost their fly mask! 🐎
A little of this and that 🐴
We have a pretty flower by the house:
We have a pretty (ornery) Schroeder, making a nest in the grass:
We have ducks doing the goose-step:
We have a duck in the igloo:
Oh, and Ukie visited us a few days ago:
It’s all “go” at the farm! 🐴
This morning, we weren’t where we were supposed to be 🐎
Dew-covered daisies by the creek:
Someone left open the gate to the far pasture, so that’s where we were this morning—way out by the corn:
It took a while to persuade us to mosey on back to the stable:
As you can see, I’m responsible for herding them all in! 🐴
Eighteen eggs 🥚
If you don’t check all of their hiding places, the duck eggs pile up on you:
Pooter enjoys the new, clear water in the big pool:
Stormy tucks in to breakfast:
And Iris gives us a “schnozolla shot”:
It’s a sunny cool morning, so everyone’s cheery! 🐴
Cats and ducks 😺
Tux checks out the ducklings (they’re not really ducklings anymore, but that’s all we can think to call them):
Meanwhile, the pekins raid the cat food:
Pumpkin knows, you can’t do much but wait until they’re done. 🙀
Chicken Surprise 🐓
We’re trying to stay out of the rain.
Baldy’s holed-up in the igloo. . .
And Schroeder has a nice dry spot in the garage. 😺
Rainy Thursday 🐴
We’re having a bale of hay in the front pasture:
Henry has to think about going out in the rain (but he finally did):
For some reason Jewel and Rose couldn’t find the gate:
They found the water, though:
Eventually they joined us:
It looks like it’s going to rain all day. 😾
I’m so spoiled 🐴
Since it was nice and breezy this morning, I decided to have my breakfast outside (actually, I whined and cried until the cat-cops gave in and brought it out to me):
Henry was the last one out of the stable today:
He checked all the open stalls for any extra food (I think the horses take turns doing this):
Finally, here’s a picture of the pretty flowers by the creek:
It’s going to be a good day! 🐴
Sunny Tuesday morning 🐴
Jewel is excited to be spending the day in the far pasture with the whole herd:
And so is Rose:
But right now they need to stay out of the stable:
”Housekeeping” needs a chance to clean out our stalls. 🐎
Happy Labor Day 🐴
Poor Evil Cat—that wound on your head is taking a long time to heal 😾:
We would take you to the vet, if you’d only let us catch you. 🙀
Horses 🐎 and bugs 🐛
Iris and Charlie will spend today with Rose and Jewel:
Oh, and here’s another very big bug:
We’re not sure what kind of moth it will become.
But it will probably be a sphinx moth (web photo):
Big caterpillars make big moths! 🐴
The wildlife on the farm just gets wilder 🐴
We’ve been visited by a bunch of creepy creatures recently. But before we get to that, our Iris has been getting a lot of exercise and training: She was ridden by Mary yesterday:
And she was ridden by Mara this morning:
And now for the creepy crawlers: Here is a 4-inch long orb weaver spider out by the tac room (YIKES! 🕷):
And here are the ducks, befuddled by the new gray “kitty”:
What are you doing out here in the daylight, possum? Did you forget you’re nocturnal?
Please get back under the barn, so we can forget that we have possums (and raccoons, for that matter). 🐴