Trick or treat!!

Happy Halloween from

the cast and crew

at Barn Cat Mansion.

Big Kitty did a pretty good job of training the youngsters.  By Christmas they'll be

perfect!!

Best behave, Pinkerton!!

Pinkerton does a little last minute cleaning while Flag waits patiently for the rest of the decorations to arrive.

We can't believe that Pinkerton is willing to help.  He usually sneaks in after the Temptations are served and runs off long before anyone even knows he was there!

Big Kitty may have threatened him with his life!

Pinkerton doesn't want to make any wrong moves with winter coming on.  It's a rough life "outside the Mansion" when its -20 C.

Get ready to PARTY!!!

Flag and Smoke were out looking for Halloween treats this morning.

No kitties!

Halloween parties at Barn Cat Mansion don't start until after dark on Halloween Day.

The decorating is well under way and OT has delegated jobs to everyone......including Big Kitty.

We'll check back later and see how its going.

Wanna buy a cat?

In case most people forgot, this is

Suckee!

Mother of Socks and Grandmother of

Timbit!

She was given to us by a friend whose aunt raised part bred Siamese farm cats.  This aunt sold  kittens for $100 each.  She figured over about 20 years with various mama cats having kittens, she made $16,000 selling little cats.

That's a lot of selling at a hundred bucks a pop!

A cat of a different color.....

At first glance, you might say Timbit is a Siamese cat.  After all, look at the creamy coat and blue eyes.

With the second glance, you could say she's a tabby.  After all, she has lots of stripes.  If you look real close, even the creamy coat has subtle stripes hidden within the beauty of it all.

The only thing we can say for sure is that she is

unique.

Her dark tail is truly amazing.  Perhaps that's what makes her so remarkable!

Is there a name for this color pattern?

Scaaaaarrrrrrryyyyyy!

Halloween            2010

The first Halloween celebration at Barn Cat Mansion was a wonderful affair!  This was back when cats came to a party and stayed till the end.  Big Kitty, OT and H"C"S displayed manners beyond reproach.  They helped with decorating, ate as many Temptations as cattly possible, and sat around visiting till the wee small hours of the morning.

Bumble is finding the younger generation difficult to train.  Etiquette lessons began well before Thanksgiving, but Pinkerton and the gang refuse to understand the finer points of "cat parties".

Keep trying, Bumble!  They'll get it! (we hope) :/

This took us by surprise!

Timbit has a cold foot.

This is her first look at snow and, like the rest of us, it's not making her very happy.

On Tuesday, eight inches of snow fell and it was blown into drifts by a relentless north wind.

In fact, the big door to Barn Cat Mansion was blown in and it took 15 minutes of shovelling just to get it open!!

Go back to the Mansion, Timbit. 

It's warm in there.

Soaking in the sun....

Socks knows how to warm up on a cold October day.

Stretch out on top of a black truck with your belly and foot pads lined up with the sun and just

bask away.

Ahhhhh the joy of being a cat!!

Her Royal Highness....

OT posed for her annual portrait on September 30th.  She definitely is the Queen of Barn Cat Mansion.  Her stately appearance, poise and grace confirm the position.

Chosen by Big Kitty as his "main squeeze", she oversees all social gatherings at the Mansion.  In fact, she looks after everything from disciplining the youngsters, to making sure Big Kitty has his special position at the supper table.  OT will now prepare for the next big celebration: 

HALLOWEEN at Barn Cat Mansion

Aren't those things retractable?

Hey, little kitty!!

If you want to get in the saddle, its best to use the stirrup!

We always have kittens trying to sit in saddles.  Maybe they want to ride or more likely, they want to sit on the warm blankets that are draped on top.

We put the blankets on top so they can dry out and at the same time protect the leather from those ever present claws that kittens seem to have.  They can scratch up a smooth leather seat in no time!!

To our friend.....

....from Barn Cat Mansion:


This rainbow is for "Brandi".

"Lace"

We discussed naming cats the other day.
The same rules apply to our horses.

Try not to use people names and have whatever we call the horse relate to something.

This little mare acquired a name last spring.  Her mother is "Ace" so she could be "Little Ace" but that's not real original.  Besides, the cats get called 'Little This or That' enough.

Look at the lacy patch of white on her forehead.  Think about it and Little Ace becomes "Lace".  Yup!  That's her name!

What's for lunch?

Wait!!  Don't get in a snit!

We have too many cats, but we're not cooking them.  It looks like this kitten is in the  pot, but really, it isn't.  The pot is on the deck and the cat is sitting on the doorstep.

Come to think of it, in some country in this big wide world, people probably do have cats for lunch.

 BLAH!

Anybody need a cat? or 4?

We are officially "out of control" with the cat population at Fox Farm.  Remember the story about Sid moving to the neighbor's?

...and the part about seeing her there?

We made one huge mistake when we stopped to talk to her.  That little encounter initiated frequent Fox Farm visits by Sid, conveniently at meal time. 
Guess what!!
She's moved her whole family back  and there are at least 4 kittens!

Awesome view!

Yesterday morning, the Barn Cat Mansion crew woke up to this spectacular sunrise.
Our buildings are perched on the western slope of a big hill.  Though we never see the sun come up, we do see a beautiful light show as it rises and illuminates hillsides to the south.

 Sunshine on fall colors - gotta love it! 

First Socks......

.....now Pinkerton!  Climbing all over and trying to find a way into the Nissan.

What is with these cats and this truck?!!

Could this be a message?
Does he want to leave home?......or just quickly get to the vet for his operation?

Perhaps we'll never know.....

We like to have options.....

A few months ago, it was evident that OT wasn't having kittens this year.  She's only  6  or 7
years old, but as a grandmother, great grandmother, and possibly a great great grandmother, its not necessary to have more kids.

Children are a huge responsibility!
 
But with grandchildren, you can be responsible for them......or

you can send them home!


Good choice, OT!

Catch him if you can!

There's our friend Pinkerton, blending into his surroundings again.

Our mission this winter is to tame this wild cat down.  Big Kitty barely tolerated his presence this year, and next year will be much worse.

Our goal?

We have to catch him, put him in a cat carrier and whisk him off to the vet.  One mature tom at Barn Cat Mansion is enough.

Our problem?

Pinkerton, like OGK, absolutely hates to be touched!!

What's in a name?

Naming cats can be difficult.  At Barn Cat Mansion, we rarely give them "people" names.  Sometimes it take a few months to "tag" a kitten and once in a while they don't get "tagged" at all.

Yesterday, this one was out and about with the family and everywhere it went, the tail was straight up and fluffed.  It's not a big cat, but it can look big with a big tail.  It was evident this cat should be named

Flag!

Meet the mouser!!

If we remember correctly,  OGK
took this tannish-blue eyed kitten on a hunting trip.  She absorbed the lesson well.

The next day, she was growling and carrying on under the saddle rack. On closer inspection, she had her claws buried in a small, wild animal and believe me, no one was taking it away.

Every morning, she leaves the shop and makes her rounds, looking for anything that wants to run or fly away.

She takes after her grandmother.  Suckee is the best hunter Fox Farm has ever seen!

What a cat!!

I was sitting quietly in the Nissan, checking phone messages when suddenly

Socks appeared.

The window was rolled down about 6 inches.  This cat carefully stepped on the side mirror and launched himself through that small opening!

I couldn't believe it.  He landed in the back, kind of tumbling around, then came up and sat on my lap.

Paradise found.....

Southern Alberta at its finest:
Pastures with cows
Willows and trembling Aspen
Foothills and Rocky Mountains
Grass as far as the eye can see.

And a whole lot of peace and quiet. :)

Pinkerton is stuffed!

A second shot of Barn Cat Mansion's Thanksgiving Party just for Cattywumpus!

Pinkerton ended up in a total of one picture and this is it!

Maybe he ate too many Temptations!

The more the merrier!

Its organized confusion at Barn Cat Mansion on Thanksgiving Day.  A little bit of decorating and a whole lot of Temptations keep everyone happy and begging for more!

They never invite the dogs. : /

Why wouldn't they invite the dogs to such a sumptuous celebration?!!

Here Chick(whistle) C'mon Blue(whistle)

She never has just one!

After our chance encounter with Sid at the neighbors, she started showing up at Fox Farm for breakfast.  It was obvious she was feeding kittens.
 
We thinks Socks followed Sid to her new home to check out the family, decided they were fine over there and came back.
She was going home yesterday, so we snuck along behind.  This little gray kitten ran out to meet her.  Sid is happily raising a family with a new family.
Good job, Sid!!

A mysterious disappearance.....

After the incident with the clean Nissan, Socks decided to lay low for a few days.  In fact, he wasn't spotted until this morning.

We might know why he left, and it has something to do with Sid.... 

Sid disappeared last spring, sometime in May.  She is the only real "black" cat that lives, or used to live at Fox Farm.  Dr T always believed that she was gone, but still in the neighborhood.
It just so happens we were herding cows along the road going past a neighbor's house and guess who was walking along a row of trees.

It was Sid!!   (to be continued)

Caught red handed.....

....actually, not red handed but white pawed!

When we take the Nissan to the car wash, we think it'll be clean for a few days.......and it might stay clean if there are no puddles around.  Well, we had a little rain.

Obviously, Socks walked around in the mud, and walked around on the hood.  Then he invited the girlfriend up to admire his handywork.

....you can't deny it this time, Socks!

.

Not a misfit anymore : )

Somethings are soooooo photogenic

and Timbit is just that!

She's been accepted by Barn Cat Mansion's cat family and that's a good thing!  She'll spend the winter snuggled up to big, warm cats like Bumble Butt and Orangey Tail.

Next summer, who knows........maybe we'll have a few little Bumble Bits running around! lol

Meanwhile, Timbit's been exploring and making friends with the kittens.  Whiskers and her brother don't pay her much mind, but the three little ones

love her half to death!

3:30 PM and a smokey sun!

On Monday, we were processing calves; giving them vaccinations and ear tags.  A Chinook wind came up and suddenly from the southwest, the air was filled with smoke and the smell of fire.

YIKES!!

The truck was close, so on went the radio.  You never know what's going on when you can smell and see smoke!  Lucky for us, the fire wasn't in Southern Alberta.  Unlucky for British Columbia, it was over there. 

That was a close one.

Imagine the surprise when we spotted the whitest kitten out in the calving pen, sitting in the weeds.  Not far away, was Old Ghost Kitty.

Did OGK take Baby White out hunting?

Maybe Baby White (not her real name) followed along, looking for fun and adventure.

Whatever the reason, its not a good place for small cats.  The weeds grow tall and thick and could cause an unsuspecting animal to get lost.

Thanks to her brilliant white face and bluish tan eyes, we spotted her quickly and carried her back to the shop.

....but that rarely happens!!

In October, Barn Cat Mansion cats are expected to attend Party Practise.  Big Kitty calls everyone to join him in various locations around the ranch and they munch a few Temptations.

OT and Bumble try to train young cats in the fine art of Party Etiquette.  When Canadian Thanksgiving rolls around, cats are expected to pose for photos and stay at the Thanksgiving Party until its over.........

Summer is gone!

October 1, 2012
 
Above and beyond Barn Cat Mansion

We have autumn color on some of the poplar trees and the long grass has ripened and dried.  Summer is definitely fading......
Dry conditions and very little frost are making this fall unusual.  Leaves are dry and falling instead of the usual freezing, changing color and falling later.