9 posts tagged “cats”
Just had to share a couple of pics of one of my barn cats (Owen) on his quest to rid the barn of birds...
In other news, it's damp and cold here (my least favourite combination). We did need the rain, though, so I try not to complain too much. Myf has finally lost all but the last little bit of her winter hair & is much darker now than in the last set of pictures. Annie continues to expand. How she is going to carry that baby another month is beyond me. I have visions of her getting stuck in her stalldoor a la Winnie the Pooh, she's gettting so big. (She won't, of course, but it's hard not to have the thought when seeing her lumbering up to the door to say hi.)
Still no real preferences on what to name Annie's baby if it's a filly. I'm debating whether I should go Arthurian (my current inclination) or other fantasy character name. My theme, if you will, for naming is fairytale/myth/fantasy/scifi characters. This gives me a large pool, though can make decision making difficult.
Jack likes the fence...
So do the horses...
And just 'cause he's cute, Ianto:
So, yes, as promised quite a while ago, I have tackroom and kitten pictures.
First, though, we have my hay field...
Some of the bales ended up in a standing-stones-esque upright position, which was a little odd looking. Splitting 50-50 with the sheep rancher who cut & baled it for us, we ended up with about 160-some square bales. They're pretty good sized, too, and packed tight. My resolve to stick to the "no new animals for the rest of the year" rule wavers every time I look in the very full hay shed and think about the batch from the next (hopefully next two) cutting.
The panelling is partially done in the tackroom now, which has enabled me to put up my two wall saddle racks and three of my bridle hooks.
Also my fancy halter hooks. Rose & Tyler are admiring them here. There's another, higher up with Merry & Zahr's halters & leads.
My tool belt not only worked good for keeping my hammer and nails to hand whilst working on the walls, it also made a great kitten pouch. Owen is modeling here.
I'm beginning to hate Friday evenings. Those who've been reading this blog for a while will likely recall my traumas of last summer involving my gelding Zahr. Both of his major freak-out incidents happened on Friday evenings, including the one where he ran away and was missing until midday the following Saturday.
Tonight the feral male cat that occasionally hangs around the farm got into my tackroom while Rose and her older kitten Tyler were out playing in the yard and I had gone into the house for a drink and to scrounge a quick dinner. He killed the female kitten Toshiko before Rose and Tyler made it back into the tackroom and chased him off. I got out there just as she was dying.
She was a little too fearless for her own good. I'm sure she went right over to the feral when he jumped over the gate I had up in the doorway. Her brothers were in the kennel together, while she had been playing out in the middle of the floor. I do believe that she saved their lives by being out there and being attacked first. Her cry alerted Rose & Tyler so that they could come to the rescue before the feral made it back to the others. If they'd all been in the kennel together, he probably would have killed them all.
Intellectually, I know that things like this happen to farm cats. If this hadn't happened, she could have got killed by one of the horses because she wasn't being cautious enough, or wandered into the road and got hit by a car, or been eaten by a coyote. I love my animals, though, and she was one of my little babies and a favourite, so I find it very upsetting.
I buried her out in the 'memorial grove' where we planted the oaks as part of the memorial for my grandfather this spring. There are also some older maples and pines over there, and it's a very pleasant spot. It seemed appropriate.
The kittens were exactly one month old today, ironically enough. I'm probably going to be in or near tears every time I play with the boys for a bit, but I'm glad that they survived.
Finally got the farm sign up this week & have a few pictures of it.
Gimil (and I) posing in front of the sign. Please try to ignore me - I wasn't exactly prepared to have my picture taken. As much as I love my Birks, they aren't exactly classy. Focus instead on how cute Gimli looks in his wee saddle. He's practicing for giving little kids rides.
See...
Yesterday morning, moments before I went into the barn to feed everybody by the looks of things, Rose had her kittens. There are only four, so I'm just going to keep them all. She actually had them in the kennel in the tackroom, rather than in some inconvenient place like the space between the desk & wall or somesuch.
He did very well. It took me a little bit to get used to his big walk stride again. Initially, I always feel that he is about to try to run off with me, but then I settle into the rhythm and realise that, no, that's just his walk. We did some walk-trot, walk-halt, and even some trot-halt-trot transitions. I'm finding he's got quite one-sided over the winter (left). I'm going to have to pay special attention to working his right side -- I may do a little extra on the longe line on that side.
I broke out my breastplate this time, tacking Merry up. He's finally got enough in the chest & shoulders that it fits him. The caramel leather looks so handsome on him, and its addition makes him look more fully dressed. Ever since I started using one on Toad regularly to keep the saddle from slipping back when we worked, I've felt my horses look only half-dressed without them if they're in hunter/jumper tack. With the breastplate, Merry looks like a serious, working horse and not just some lightweight. No pictures yet, I'm afraid.
Spring has been a here one day, gone the next proposition so far this year. At least we're getting rain consistently rather than snow, now. I've shifted my fence panels around a bit so the horses can go out on the grass for short bouts on the days when it's not completely soggy. They're pretty thrilled about that.
Planted a bunch of trees & bushes around the farm -- oaks, pines, dogwood, and chokecherries, plus an ornamental pear and some low juniper and a river birch. Most of them are pretty little now, but they should eventually turn into nice windbreaks for the place.
My mother painted a sign for the farm with my horse-head logo she designed for me (which you can see on the blog here) on it. It's not up yet because it hasn't been warm enough consistently to varnish it, but when it is I will post a picture of it.
Had the vet out this past Friday. Merry & Gimli have been deemed 'slightly overweight', but Zahr's weight is finally up where it's supposed to be. Yeah! Merry's excess should come off once I start riding regularly again. I have plans to create a track around the inside of the arena so I'll have someplace with decent footing to ride even when it's a bit wet. The black dirt we've got here is great for growing things, but it's frighteningly slick for riding when it's wet.
The pregnant barn cat I got with the birch tree (long story) is due to have her litter in another week, according to my vet. Poor girl is so round now, I can't imagine how she's going to make it another week, but there you have it. I'm hoping for mostly boys 'cause it's easier and cheaper to neuter than to spay. Rose (momma kitty) is quite friendly, so I'm hoping she'll stick around after the kittens are weaned, but she's totally fearless & I'm a little afraid that she'll come to a bad end. Her son, Tyler, from her last litter who came with her is a total wimp, on the other hand. I had him neutered & am hoping he'll just keep himself to the tackroom. Unlike his mother, he's not all that keen on trying to get out & go exploring. He's also discovered that being brushed is one of life's great pleasures. Why leave when you've got brushing, food, and shelter?
