Practise makes perfect!

Black Panther takes this sport seriously.

He practises day and night. 

Up the tree

Down the tree

Up the tree

And down again!

Presently, he is the self proclaimed Tree Climbing Champion, and no one can take that away.

Now to pick a coach.......

Meet the Manager.

Pinkerton, Hillside Warrior

Every team needs a coach and a manager.  The Hillside Warrior is a bit temperamental, so he's not coaching material.

But, he can be a manager!

Stepping up to run the day to day antics of Team BCM will be a challenge, but Pinkerton doesn't have a busy schedule.

He can continue sitting around looking serious and fit the job just fine.  He'll schedule the Tree Climbing Competitions and post results as they become available.

Already dressed!

Little Orangey Blue eyes has stripes......stripes going every direction!

If we call Tree Climbing a sport, we should set out a few rules.

That's where the stripey cat comes in.

She is in charge of regulations and violations pertaining to active participants in the game.  She will start the clock, blow the whistle and call time when it's over.
In some sports, the referees wear stripes.

Little Orangey Blue Eyes is the referee!

Let the games begin!

Flag's brother is the boldest tree climber ever!  We're thinking of naming him "Black Panther".
We used to have Pink Panther, but he's gone.
BP scoots up the trunk, flips around and scoots back down again.  Sometimes he travels out on branches, but that is a whole other story.

Tree Climbing is proclaimed, from this day forward, an official Mansion sport.  Games are set for any time a cat wants to climb a tree.  They believe if this becomes fun for most, it'll be fun for Timbit.

Its like Participaction.....staying fit and enjoying yourself.

They called her "chicken"!!!

Before Timbit arrived to try and overcome her fear of heights, a group of Mansion cats gathered by the maple tree.

They waited in anticipation.

Just five minutes prior to this meeting, Timbit was in the Mansion, not even worried about climbing the tree, until someone called her a name......

Overcoming fear....

Timbit understands that cats can't be afraid of heights.

She is working to conquer fear by climbing the old maple tree in the yard.  You may think, judging by the size of the limb she's clinging to, that she is high in the tree.

Nope!!.

That's a young branch low on the tree and she's only about 12" off the ground.

That's okay, Timbit

You have to start somewhere!

California dreamin'.....

Thursday, we woke up to the most beautiful hoar frost covering everything, so the cats got the day off and the camera was aimed at our landscape. Here's the view from the hill above Barn Cat Mansion looking southwest (towards California). 
We dream of California when it's -14 C, or even -25 C, here in southern Alberta.

Lets get comfortable!

During the winter, we feed horses along wooden fences outside of Barn Cat Mansion.
Every morning, Big Kitty comes out to supervise.  He selects a post close to the hay bales, and watches intently as each little stack of hay is pitched out.  He checks to see that every horse has its own pile and that they proceed to eat in an orderly fashion.

Big Kitty takes his job seriously, and from this perch, half on the post and half off,
he's ready to intervene if a fight breaks out among the herd.

She has a PHOBIA!!

Timbit watched her buddy Little Orangey Blue Eyes from the ground below the tall post.

She hasn't dared to climb on a post yet, and its not because she doesn't know how.

It's because

(and don't tell anyone)

she's afraid of heights!

The order of life at Barn Cat Mansion....

Those of you familiar with our story, know that Tall Post Sitting is an earned position.
Young cats are never allowed to sit on the tall post if a senior cat is near.

We all know who's sitting on that post beside Little Orangey Blue Eyes.

Of course, it the King!

Bumble Bee Lion King Orangey Butt
AKA Big Kitty          AKA Bumble Butt

They'd have a 'hay day'!

As the sun was sinking into the clouds on the western horizon, it illuminated a grain bin.  It's one lonely building in a field north of our home town and on the road to Fox Farm.

If only the cats could visit this place.  There must be a hundred mice living there.  Ghost Kitties would have the time of their lives!!

Tread softly around the kittens....

Little Orangey Blue Eyes ran over to Tipster to tell him about her new friendship.  When she got there, she realized something.

She had run right between the front and back legs of Weaver Too.  That is very dangerous, since hooves and cats don't mix.

So why is she looking so sweetly towards the horse?  Little Orangey Blue Eyes is quietly thanking Weaver Too for not stepping on her soft little body.

Hey!!  Weaver Too doesn't step on kittens!

Cleaning up her act.....

Big Kitty knows that all the youngsters idolize him.  After all, he's muscular, good looking and keeps his fur clean and shiny.  Never do you see a hair out of place on Bumble Butt.

Regular dirt and/or spit baths keep Big Kitty in tip top condition.  The point is:

If you want to be his buddy, you'd better know how to present yourself.

Little Orangey Blue Eyes got the hint and started bathing immediately.......

Mutt and Jeff?

Hey everyone!

Little Orangey Blue Eyes here.

Watch me.  I'm going to make friends with the Big Kitty.

Yup!  Me and Bumble Butt are going to be buddies!!

Mystery minds.....

Bumble is the dominant tom cat at Barn Cat Mansion.

Every day, he walks out of the Mansion, followed by at least half a dozen young cats.  It seems like they do nothing but slink or trundle around and sit on things.

Really, what are they doing?

If we could truly understand the mind of a cat, it would be obvious.

Buried treasure?

Timbit is up to the eyeballs in snow!

What the heck is she looking for?  It isn't cat food, because we've had no Temptations at the Mansion since Halloween.

Maybe its a pocket gopher she hears. They dig around under the snow all winter.  Or it could be a mouse, but not likely.

Hey!  Maybe she found a "Snow Angel"! hahaha

Good bye, little kitty!

Remember back in August, we had this litter of kittens living in the grain bin?  Most of them have been re-homed.  In fact
yesterday, the smallest kitten (way on the left) was  selected and has moved to the big city.  Yes!  He moved to Calgary, Alberta to be a cool city cat.  Thanks to Rita.  She has impeccable taste in house pets.

Now that was a memorable occasion!

Lost but not forgotten....

We looked for this cat all day long!

Socks is always there.......until he isn't!  When he's around, you don't really notice, unless he's sitting in or on the Nissan.  But when he's gone, you notice right away.  That's why we were looking for him.  He wasn't in any of the regular places so we got worried.  By late afternoon, he was still gone!  At 4 o'clock, it was time to feed oats to the calves.  As the door to the bin swung open, out jumped Socks.  He'd been locked in there since yesterday!   He probably had a few mice to eat, but he's lucky we feed the calves every day.  Cats can't live on mice alone.....:)

Lest we forget....

Remembrance Day at Barn Cat Mansion is commemorated with a moment of silence while gazing upon this 2010 photo.  Horses and dogs have served in the armed forces and received recognition for bravery beyond the call of duty.  There's never been a war 

including cats, but they do appreciate the sacrifice.   Somber expressions and  a quiet demeanor proves they too are grateful

to live with the freedoms fought for by soldiers who defended all inhabitants of our fine country.

Brrrrrrrrr!

Winter hit Southern Alberta with a vengeance!  Eight inches of snow and -14C: 

that was our world on Saturday!

The horses didn't notice the cold as long as the wind wasn't blowing. 

Here Weaver Too digs for grass amid snow, frost and the setting sun.

Ride 'em like you stole 'em!!

Here we have a Ghost Kitty practising to be a Cowboy Cat.  She heard that Sid has a job at neighboring farms, so figures if she gets a trade, maybe she can get a job also.

There's just one problem....

If she actually talks someone into hiring her, she'll soon be fired.  This is a wonderful way to ride a sawhorse, but perching like that on the back of a real horse spells certain disaster.  Turn around GK.  Your life depends on it!!

Gainfully employed...

After speaking with the Lady of the House across the road, it is evident that Sid has set off on a new career:

Sid is a Migrant Farm Worker.

She travels around the neighborhood, between three different homesteads and works for food.

We haven't spoken to the neighbors where we saw her in the summer, but we will.

The Tale of the Tattletail

The pretty, little fancy cat that we met a while ago had a story to tell.
Sid told her to be quiet, but she wouldn't listen.  Today she told the world what Sid's been doing over at the neighbors' and it was verified by Mr. Size 14's.

He was there doing some plumbing and saw with his own eyes that the Lady of the House across the road is feeding milk to Sid and any kitten who tags along.

We'll have a talk with that lady!!

Caught in the act!

Kittens have been disappearing, but we know where some of them are!  Sid has moved them to the neighbor's farm. 
We watched as she made her way across the field, followed by a kitten that wasn't even hers.  It stopped, meowed and tried to come home.  Sid ran to it.  We don't know what she said, but the kitten followed again.  We believe that Sid is a kitten napper!

Time out for election...

Sunrise south of Barn Cat Mansion.

We hope all of our American friends get the representation they want in their Presidential election.

Good luck and watch for the cats to be back tomorrow......

Hip, Hip Hooray!!

On the left, we have one of Sid's kittens.  It is wild and obviously a tom.  He runs into the shop for food, sits for a minute, then runs off again.

In the middle, we have the "yapper" and if we don't quit calling her that, it might stick!

On the right, is the little calico female.  She was pictured a month ago and guess what!

She's found herself a new home and leaves next weekend.

Three cheers for the kitten with a new home!

The ugly ducklng.....

Remember the "yapper"?

She was the little cat who was trying to give her brother and sister away.

Well, she managed to do that, thereby saving herself to live out her days at Fox Farm.

She was a homely little thing back then, but

Look at her now!!

She's as beautiful as Timbit. 

Well, almost anyway..... 

When a "tail" isn't a "tale"!

Who could have known that Orangey Tail would put her tail in a photo that was supposed to be part of a story for Cattales from Barn Cat Mansion!

There is a BIG difference between a "tail" and a "tale"!

If we wanted a story about tails, we would have called it Cattails from Barn Cat Mansion.

OT!  We really don't have time for this!!

Sorry it's late!

November 1, 2012

Looking west from the hill above Barn Cat Mansion.  Posting was delayed because of the late night edition of Halloween at the Mansion.  This was the first clear day since October 18, and it only lasted a few hours.....just lucky to get the photo!