What you don't know....

Nasty rumors

were floating around the Mansion this morning.  Something about a knife and a doctor and an appointment and an operation and on and on.....
It all started yesterday when Homer "Chelsea" Simpson was a little too friendly to Casper.   It might have been fine if the Big Kitty hadn't witnessed this display of affection.  He immediately "put the run" on the young tom and banished him from the Mansion.
Why is everyone getting their shirts in a knot?
Casper meant no harm and had no idea that just being a tom could pose such a problem.....After all, why not have a few green eyed,  striped orange kittens around the barn?

Today's the day...

Today, the Big Kitty, King of Barn Cat Mansion and all he surveys, made a call to the office of
Dr. T, and the conversation went as follows:

Bumble said, "Is this the office of Dr. T?"

Secretary for Dr. T said, "Yes it is.  How may I help you?"

Bumble said, "If you don't come over and fix Casper the Friendly Ghost Kitty, I am going to beat him to within an inch of his life, and then chase him away!!!......click!

Yup!  Spring is officially here...

Buried treasure....

Remember when Pinkerton ran off with treats that were supposed to be for everyone in the Mansion?  Well, he obviously hasn't eaten all of them yet and has spied a few lying at the bottom of the broken wall of the grain bin.
Pinkerton should have eaten them the day he stole them because now he's

a whole lot bigger and fatter.

He'll never get those treats....might as well call in a few mice and they can eat them.....!!

I can't watch!!

Suddenly, Casper did the unthinkable!!

He jumped!

Bumble, being much older and wiser, couldn't watch.  He covered his eyes and hoped for the best.  After all, there was nothing he could do.

Long story short?......Casper the Friendly Ghost Kitty, in true barn cat fashion, landed on his feet and carried on with the day.

Whewwww.....

Mr. Clean

Sitting at least 15 feet above the ground, Bumble seems to be totally relaxed.  So relaxed, in fact, he has time to give himself a

spit bath.

His paw looks pretty clean from this angle, so he may just be soaking down the hair in order to clean some other part of his majestic looking body.

Barn cats have two ways of bathing without ever using a drop of water.  We'll show you a barn cat bath in a barn cat bathtub another day.

Dust yourself off....

So, Tipster picked himself up off the ground, dusted himself off and began the tiring ascent of the loading chute posts.  His goal  was to reach the summit, push Casper off and claim a spot from which to watch the world go 'round.  Stopping to rest on one of the planks and surveying his options, he decided to rethink this mission.

Does a cat that 

has never been allowed on a tall post

actually want to attempt the climb of a lifetime?

A lofty perch....

Far above the barnyard, with nothing between them and the clear blue sky, sit the

King and his Henchman.

Some days you just feel like getting higher, so you climb to the top and that's where you stay!!

Hopefully, Casper doesn't try to leap on that sparrow that's about to fly by.......

Bumble is smarter than that...he's only a little bit interested, and you can be sure he won't risk the 4th of his 9 lives on something that trivial.

Don't be so rude!!

Without even saying

"Excuse me, please",

Pinkerton pushed his way onto the loading chute.  Bumble had to make a quick move to his left, but Tipster had no time to even think!  He fell right off and landed on his back. 

Somebody is always tipping the Tipster off of something and he's getting a little sick of it.

Are all pink cats as rude as Pinkerton??

Too cool!

Look very closely at Casper the Friendly Ghost Kitty.  Look deep into his eyes and tell us what you see.......
What we see are pupils almost totally closed.
Why are they so closed?

Sun and snow.....
the brightest combination ever!!!

While we were looking at his eyes, we couldn't help but notice the fancy stripes on his forehead, cheeks and neck.

Casper, you are one cooooool dude!

Not on your life....

Orangey Tail and Bumble Butt were sitting in the sun, just minding their own business. 

Suddenly, Pinkerton the Hillside Warrior showed up.  He grabbed the Big Kitty by the ribs and said

"ROLL OVER!!

" I want to tickle your belly"

They sure fixed her....

Pokey is officially proclaimed a house cat.
Her town people gave us an update and this is what happened:

 - They took her to the vet
 - She was losing too much hair to live in the house so they shaved her farm cat hair off.
 - The vet checked her over and gave her an operation and a few shots.
 - After they paid more than $400 to the vet, Pokey went home.

  - That's what happens when you're a house cat.

Runway Diva???

Well, well, well.  Now we can see why Suckee abandoned her family.  She had aspirations of becoming a "high fashion model"! 

Or maybe she only had time to practise walking on two legs and no time to feed a pile of kittens.  Whatever the reason, the kittens were obviously fine without her.

Forget that career, Suckee.  Paris is too far away for a farm cat with no money and no way of getting there.  Settle down with your mundane farm life of catching mice and raising kittens.  After all,

that's your real job!

He can't be gone.... :(

We talked about Bumble Butt embarking on a secret mission, but we didn't expect him to leave on his own.  This photo was taken on March 8, the day before he disappeared.  With "cat wolves" lurking in various locations throughout the area, we believed we would never see the Big Kitty again.  He wasn't at the St. Paddy's Day celebration, because it was pre-shot on March 16th and he was still gone.  Then Saturday morning, it happened....

The Big Kitty came home!!! 

After 8 days away, who knows where, he came home.  What a happy day!!

Whose rules are these?

What Casper was saying.....

"Pinkerton, ya gotta live by the rules.  Tall posts are reserved for older, more seasoned cats.  Stay on gates and short posts for now.  Next year, you can sit where ever you want.
Its called Barnyard Etiquette."

What Pinkerton heard......

"Blah, blah blah...........

You can sit where ever you want."

Huh!!

Wasn't that a party!!!

Saint Patrick's Day, 2012

Again, it was difficult to keep everyone at the party for "Photo Session".  H"C"S had some cleaning up to do after she slopped Temptations all over herself and Pinkerton pretended to straighten the decorations instead of

smiling for the camera. 

Poor little Jovi was totally embarrassed as she was the only one who arrived in a bow tie, but....what the heck!!?  Party on!!!

Happy day.....

Blue sky and no wind......

What a treat. 

Orangey Tail and H"C"S soaked in a few rays after days of wind and rather disgusting weather kept them couped up in Barn Cat Mansion.  Not that the Mansion isn't totally comfortable and warm, but there's more to a barn cat's life than just sitting around the house barn.

The evil eye....

The original Ghost Kitty kept an eye on Snookums and the smallest Ghost Kitty without a name.  Snookums and her family are tame  cats, sort of.  Ghost kitty's are wild and its really not good when a

tame cat bites a wild cat.

Wild cats protect family members to the end.  If Snookums knows whats good for her, she'll be more careful when dealing with Ghost Kittys.

Looks can be deceiving...

Yes, we agree.  Snookums did look somewhat sad in that last post.  She may have been thinking of her childhood without a mother.  It just so happens, the smallest Ghost Kitty with no name noticed her sadness and climbed up to give her a hug.  Snookums grabbed the smallest Ghost Kitty

and bit her ear!!

What kind of cat is this?  One second sad....the next second mad???  Oh well, no harm done.  The smallest Ghost Kitty stood quietly....then Snookums just let her go. 

Orphan update...

Here we have one of Suckee's kittens, now a full grown cat.  Three of the orphans live at Fox Farm and slowly, they may all be given names.  We'll call this one

Snookums.

She's quiet, friendly, affectionate and
always on hand to help with chores around the farm.  Sometimes she even goes to the corral to check cows that are ready to calve.

No cats were out on Monday.  It was a lazy day of resting in the shop since the Chinook wind refused to stop blowing   a l l   d a y   l o n g!

Early morning....

Mountain Daylight Savings Time....

Who knew it would be so difficult to get up one hour early on a Sunday morning?

Casper the Friendly Ghost Kitty found a great place to "hang out" and watch the sunlight come over the hill.  It takes till about 10:30 for the sun to peek over that big hill east of the Mansion, but the light was nice enough.

 Sunday was to be a glorious day.......:)

Maybe a mouse?

Here's Pinkerton doing exactly what we expect barn cats to do.......

looking for mice.

Or is he really getting ready to dive into the grass?

Or is there an unsuspecting cat below that he's about to pounce on?

Or did another cat catch a mouse and he's about to steal it?

Perhaps we'll never know......

Oops! Forgot one...

Here's a Barn Cat Mansion cat we forgot about.  This is

Smoke,

and she's another Ghost Kitty stolen from Fox Farm.  When we were introducing the mature females at the Mansion, we didn't think of Smoke because she has never raised a litter of kittens.  It seems nobody in the Mansion actually likes her and she kind of lives outside, sometimes in the grain bin but mostly in an old car in the yard.
She drew attention to herself the other day when she decided to hang out with Bumble Butt........hmmmm...........

Pinkerton's lucky day!!

It looks like Bumble Butt DID wake up on the right side of the bed.  Instead of getting downright mad and cuffing that little pink cat, the Big Kitty gave him a kiss on the nose.

Pinkerton dodged a bullet this time.

Next time? 

Who knows.......

Don't bite!!

After yelling about getting the door closed, Pinkerton leaned back, opened his mouth to yawn, and accidentally caught the Big Kitty's big fluffy cheek right between his
teeth!!

Oh no!!  This may not go well, depending on the mood of Bumble.  If he woke up on the right side of the bed, its not so bad.  If he woke up on the wrong side....

Pinkerton!!  Look out!!

He's just plain angry,,,,

With glaring eyes and a paw clenched, Pinkerton started meowling at us the minute we stepped into the Mansion this morning.  The wind howled and snow flew all night long.  Cold cats snuggled together in the sleeping tubs, hoping spring would arrive by morning. What made Pinkerton so angry?  He wouldn't say but he did say this....

"Close the door behind you!! What's the matter, were you born in a barn?"

The vagrant

Don't feel sorry for Black Jack Meanioni.  He looks rough, but that's his life.  Born and raised at Fox Farm, he had a decent
upbringing, but by the age of 2, moved out to seek his fortune.  Every spring around 
March 1, BJM comes back to Fox Farm and, by the end of May, little black or gray ghost kittens start running around the farm.  This dominant tom, never touched by humans, 

roamed the neighborhood 

for the better part of 10 years.  He fights for the right to sire kittens at possibly 4 farmsteads, and battle scars tell the story.  Its already March 6 and we haven't seen hide nor hair of Black Jack Meanioni......

Thinking about spring...

Here she is, the oldest ghost kitty at Fox Farm and the one we call "Ghost Kitty".   She's not out in the sun much and we don't see her anywhere very often, but obviously she's there!  For the last five years at least, Ghost Kitty has had one, if not two litters of kittens each season but something weird is going on this year. Stripe hasn't been around......in fact we haven't seen a

stray tom

since last fall.  The only resident tom at the Farm is one of Suckee's youngsters, but he was planning to visit the OR.......we may have to cancel the operation.  You can't have a farm without farm cats.....and you can't have kittens without a tom.....

Its not going to happen!!

Ok.  Directly behind Casper the Friendly Ghost Kitty, you can see a pitch fork.  Directly underneath OT and Casper is a pile of hay.  Directly behind this is the hay bale where we got the hay and in front of all this is the corral where the hay is going.  These two freeloaders think they're hitching a ride to the corral.

All we can say is "Please get off!!  This is already heavy enough without you fat cats sitting on it and it ain't no

hay ride!!"

Good boy, Pinkerton!!

Don't ever let it be said that Pinkerton  isn't very smart.  Since the Tall Post Battle last week he's been getting out of the Mansion earlier than anyone else.  He picks the tallest post he can find with a

clear view

of Barn Cat Mansion and climbs on up. Casper and H"C"S love to sleep in and rarely poke their noses out before 8:00 AM. 

As the days get longer, Pinkerton will have more and more hours of luxurious, tall post sitting.  He might even get a suntan sitting up there like that!

Leap Year Party

With very little fanfare and absolutely no decorations, Barn Cat Mansion cats quietly celebrated February 29, 2012.....

Leap Year Day!!

Tipster was kind of squeezed out underneath the Big Kitty while Jovi stepped on his back, but other than that, things went well until Bumble Butt yelled "Hey Camera Lady!  Put down the camera and bring on the Party Mix!!.........please"

Pokey's old life.....

Here's a pretty good picture of Pokey back when she was one of the Fox Farm Mecatics.  These farm cats included all of Suckee's family plus a few more.  Each day they wandered around the yard looking for machinery that didn't work.  In the evening, instead of catching mice, the

Mecatics

tried to fix things.  Pokey found a few things wrong with the bale processor that day, but moved to town before it was fixed.  By the way, she loves her new family and they love her even more.:)