Color gone wild!

Our Catwalk was more than just fresh air and exercise.  It was an opportunity to photograph the beauty of mid-summer vegetation in the foothills.  
The ground beneath these plants has never been farmed, sprayed or fertilized.  Well, that's not quite true, because horses and cows travel around and leave something behind.
What they take away in the form of food, they put back  in the form of organic fertilizer.

The end is in sight.

Blue took off ahead, unable to tolerate the bickering and arguing between Pinkerton and Flag.  Far in the distance, OT is waiting on the road to congratulate the hero and reprimand Pinkerton for his unsavory behaviour.

Wait a minute!! OT didn't make the trek either!!

She has no room to talk!!

By the looks of it, the two walking along have reconciled and buried the hatchet.

No harm done.  Flag has bragging rights for achieving her goal and Pinkerton made an effort.  That's more than we can say about the rest of those lazy freeloaders who call Barn Cat Mansion home!!

At least he waited......

"C'mon Pinkerton.  You gotta understand why Flag is so upset.  Here you are, half way down the hill, waiting for our return.  Why not put yourself out there and just finish the walk?"

"OK, Chick.  I get it!!  What you and Flag don't realize is that when nature called, I stopped for a second by the side of the road, and you were gone!!  Nowhere to be seen!!  If I had the nose of a dog, I could have carried on, but since I couldn't see you, I couldn't follow.  At least I didn't run screaming for home!!"

Did he just get lazy??

With victory in the air, Flag made the decision to return to the Mansion immediately.  Perhaps she realized there was no food at the summit, or she just got lonely.

Half way down the hill, she ran into Pinkerton.  He raised his tail to acknowledge her accomplishment, but refused to look her in the eye.

What kind of a Hillside Warrior skulks away from a challenge, then tries to join in the celebration walk?

The Pinkerton kind, that's who!

A true hero.....

Ahead is the bend in the road and directly in front of us is the cattle guard.

Look who made it!!

FLAG!!

She showed undying stamina and made her feline family proud. 

If we had a cat statue, we'd place it right beside the road in her honor.

In fact, if anyone has an old cat statue, something like a Sphinx, please send it to Barn Cat Mansion.

Quitters!!!!

It's with great sadness that we announce the disappearance of nine BCM cats.  Oh don't worry, they're not dead or anything, but we're 3/4 of the way to our destination and we only see ONE cat.

A couple of horses slowed down to talk to Barn Cat Master and Chick was left to accompany Flag and encourage her to carry on.  Reaching the summit with ten cats, two dogs, eight horses and one human would have been EPIC and a testament to the fortitude of all "animal kind".

On the Catwalk!!

Walking away from Barn Cat Mansion are all ten cat inhabitants.  Don't worry!!  They're not leaving home in search of better living conditions.  They're following Barn Cat Master and the dogs.  Well, that's not entirely true because ahead of the Master, are 8 horses.

So this is a kind of multi-cultural, multi-species outing of epic proportions.

Our plan is to walk half a mile, to the top of the hill.  There we'll find a cattle guard, or Texas Gate, as some of you may say, and a bend in the road.  That's our destination.

We all know the horses will make the trip with ease.
Barn Cat Master has her trusty dogs to urge her on.
The question is, can we count on the cats to make the trek?

No harm done!

Penelope just doesn't understand.  How can Socks lay around on an old picnic table when there are so many things to do?

First of all, climb each post in the area........just to see what's at the top!! 

And it never hurts to learn something.  In this case, Little Miss Pepper Face proved that

what goes up must come down.

The descent is always tough.  Sometimes you just have to jump and see what happens.

This time,  Penelope held on until she was half way down, then jumped an amazing 2 feet.

Sleeping Beauty

It's Tuesday and late afternoon at Fox Farm.
Socks has been fooling us all along.

He's finally doing what he came here to do and that's

to take a nap.

All of these other antics were just window dressing - leading us to believe he was busy and concerned about cleaning his toes and such.  When all is said and done, he's doing what he does best.

....and that's a good thing!!

It's Monday and early afternoon at the Fox Farm.  Socks is still lying around, working on personal hygiene.  He finally removed all of the toe jam and now cleans up the spot that should have a dew claw, but doesn't.

At least he's persistent...

.....as well as impulsive!

Nobody will be able to sing the "Smelly Cat" song about Socks.......

Work, work, work

It's Sunday and almost noon at Fox Farm.  Socks is in the same spot we saw him in yesterday.

But today, he has found something to do.

Acting solely on impulse, he put his left front paw to his lips and began the tedious process of cleaning between his toes.

Work!!  That's all this cat does!!

The day ahead......

It's Saturday morning at Fox Farm and Socks is charged with the task of planning his day.  As the "man of the family" he has responsibilities, and without a Day Planner handy, he has to keep a list in his head.

Thinking has never been one of his strong suits.  Usually he acts on impulse.

Now he's waiting for an impulse.

Say PLEASE!!

And suddenly, with all her might, OT pushed Pinkerton right on the head!!

"When I want a bird, I expect a BIRD!
My wish is your command.  After all, I am the Queen,  Queen of Barn Cat Mansion, inside and beyond."

Pinkerton took the push in stride.  He didn't react like a Warrior might.  He showed respect and restraint, but deep down inside he was disappointed.  Disappointed because OT forgot the magic word.

Keep your eye on the bird!!

The youngster kept his eye on the bird.  It flew back and forth across the lush, green Sports Field and landed in each tree it came to. 

His neck was so stretched, it hurt!!

Pinkerton carried on as if in a daze.  He may be Pinkerton, Hillside Warrior, but he's no match for Orangey Tail.   Look out, Pinkerton!! 

You won't like her when she's angry!!

The Queen has spoken!!

Little Orangey (green) Eyes sat quietly and

waited......

and waited...............and waited....

but Pinkerton didn't move a muscle.  He was told to catch a bird and obviously he defied the order.

This can only end BADLY!!!

It's too hot for bird hunting!!!

Suddenly, OT stood half way up and yelled at Pinkerton:

"Hey, Buddy!!  I just saw a bird I'd really like for lunch.  How about if you catch it for me?"

Pinkerton was NOT impressed.  He knows the only way to keep OT happy is to do as she asks, but catch a bird?????

That's way to much to ask of a lazy cat on a lazy summer day.........

The new normal.....

Blue's been wondering what happened to this blog.

Well, with all of the displaced people in the area, it seems that everyone wants to be on the Internet.  Our server is a network of small towers where you pick up the signal with 'line of sight".  All of the wireless devices are picking up the signals and the traffic is backed up to where we  can't get on most of the time.  Maybe a few towers are down, also.

Don't worry Blue, we'll survive!!

Keep your distance!!

This guy was spotted roaming around the neighborhood.  We call him

Black Bear

In our experience, this type of bear is harmless if left to his own devices.  He lives mainly on vegetation, ants and bees until the berries are ripe.

By the end of July, he'll be camped in the Saskatoon patch, chowin' down on the delicious berries.

Bottle babies...

Shortly before the kittens moved away, they provided some much appreciated entertainment for everyone at BCM.  With two kittens in, and one outside, the bottle was rolling back and forth and around the floor.

Kittens jumped in

Kittens jumped out

At one time, part of the third kitten was in the bottle but we felt maybe a picture of the end that didn't fit wasn't really appropriate.

It was all fun and games until the bottle rolled in the corner, where it was trapped and abandoned.

Just chewin' the fat.....

There's been lots of water under, around and over the bridge since our last post.  Hundreds are still homeless in the community north of BCM and FF, including our son.  The other son began throwing out everything in his basement today.  At least he's been allowed back in.  It will be a long time before any degree of normalcy returns to the community.  Now we know how Louisiana felt, only on a much smaller scale.