Biting is not allowed....

And still more rules:
(concerning horses)

1.  Horses are allowed to move the ball with
     a nose, lip or chin, but never a tooth.

2.  Horses must keep their ears in a forward 
     position, unless they're being coached by
     another horse, at which time the ear may 
     turn a little sideways.  If a horse, at any
     time, lays its ears back, opens its mouth
     and tries to bite the ball, or a cat for that
     matter, the horse shall be disqualified and
     asked to leave the area immediately.

Paws for a moment.....

More rules:
(this time regarding cats)
1.  Cats are required to use their front feet to further the progress of the ball.  There's no need to declare a particular foot.  It's not like baseball where the batter can bat right or left, but must choose when he gets to the plate.  Each cat can use one or both front feet, but if a back foot is used in an unbecoming way, such as a cat that would lay on its back and thump a horse with a back foot, that cat will be disqualified and asked to leave the competition area immediately.

No ifs, ands or buts!!

More rules:
(pertaining to horses in competition)
Regarding the feet!!

1.  A horse will not be allowed to use a foot, or feet, in any way to further the progress of the ball.

2.  If a horse is found to be putting a foot in the trough, or pushing or squishing the ball with a foot, said horse will be removed from competition immediately.

It's settled.....

Three shades of Orangeys showed the new ball to one shade of three horses (all sorrel in color).  So technically speaking, the horses are Orangey's also!!

It was unanimous!!  We'll use the new red ball and call this game.

Orange - y Bowl of Trough Hockey!!

Next, we'll set out a few rules:
   1.  The game shall be "one on one" - one
        horse against one cat.
   2.  Possession shall be "9/10ths of the law"
.......to be continued

Calling all horses!!

Orangey Tail and H"C"S took their idea to some cool cats sitting in the Trough.  They also took along the new ball.

OT described her plan and everyone agreed. 
Challenge the horses to a Trough Hockey Game.

We'll let the horses choose:

Rock Hockey? or.....Ball Hockey?

Canada's Game!!

With Big Kitty perched atop a high pole in the barnyard, the Supreme Ladies (or Queens as we call them) of the Mansion plotted their day.  OT was forcibly removed from her committee, so has time on her hands and she's not very happy.  To make matters worse, the King of the Mansion isn't speaking to her.

But, when these two get together, trouble is a brewin'

The following statement was overheard:

"Let's take that ball I requisitioned and challenge the horses to a game of Trough Hockey."

Quiet up there!!

Whiskers couldn't stand the yelling!

After all, some cats were ready for the Committee Meetings, but Big Kitty didn't notice.  He was too busy yelling from his perch high above the world of Barn Cat Mansion property.

Timbit found a piece of hay to play with, thus keeping her mind off of the task at hand.  Somebody sitting on the fence, directly below BK stuck his tail in the photo just for the fun of it, but Bumble continued his tirade.

Finally, Whiskers reminded him of the upcoming Annual Whisker Growing Contest of which she is in charge.  Last year's winner always organizes the next event.

Big Kitty agreed to come down and talk about it..

And nobody came...

So!  They had some lunch, and then they had a nap.  Big Kitty figured everyone would be happy to return to the Cat Committee Meeting.

WRONG!!

He jumped up in the Feed Trough and said:

"I hereby call this meeting to order!"

Guess what.  Not one cat showed up for the afternoon session.  This prompted BK to climb the tallest post in the barnyard and he yelled:

"I HEREBY CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER!!"

Take a break!!

How many hours can a Cat Meeting of Committees really go on?

Not even ONE!!

Big Kitty called a recess and everyone ran back to the Mansion for a nap.  Everyone except Timbit and LOYGBE.

These two decided to play a Valentines Decoration Game.  Timbit finally stuck her head in the Heart Garland and took off, while LOYGBE became hypnotized by the faux fur Cutie hearts.

Everybody's MAD!!

When the fur quit flying and the dust had settled, OT left the feed trough, stripped of her status as Chaircat.  In order to appease the CiA Committee, Big Kitty offered a seldom used decoration (you can see it over by Flag) to be used in the Trough Hockey game.

And you can see how that turned out!!

Let's get physical....

Decoration inspection was a fiasco!!

Flag tried to put in his two cents worth and Orangey Tail slapped him.  She even threatened to bite him right on top of the head!!  Whiskers watched in horror while Big Kitty moved in quickly to break up the brawl.  OT may be forcibly removed as Chaircat of the decorating committee. :/

Odd man!..... OUT!!

Big Kitty assembled a Valentine's Day Decorating Committee that includes Pinkerton, Whiskers and Smoke, with OT as Chaircat.  OT and BK ran to the Mansion to find the Valentines decorations from last year, and the committee sat on the edge of their seats, awaiting the arrival. They'll check out supplies and make an executive decision to either go with what they have, or requisition a few new things.
LOYGBE!  It's not your committee!!!

Get in the game!!

Big Kitty called the meeting to order, and immediately designated a few cats to a few committees.  Cats in Action Committee consists of H"C"S as Chaircat and three teenagers to demonstrate new CiA activities.

The first game is Trough Hockey.

Flag, LOYGBE and Timbit play a quick game to show everyone how much fun this can be.
All they have is a dumb old rock, so H"C"S agreed to requisition a ball or maybe even a puck.

Hear ye!! Hear ye!!

Big Kitty waits patiently for everyone to arrive.  He's called a meeting for the local chapter of "Cats in Action".

On the Agenda:

1.  Find a replacement for TOT who was coach of the Tree Huggers.  As we know, he has a new job.

2.  Organize an activity that tests the intelligence of BCM cats, not only their physical skills. 

3.  Plan the BCM Valentines Day Party.

Cammo cat!

Its not easy to see her, and we never expected to find her in this position, but there she is.
Timbit is clinging frightfully to the side of the double trunked Mountain Ash at least 15 feet above the ground.

She's been sneaking off after lunch every day to practise.  Gradually, and with sheer determination, Timbit has overcome a fear of heights.

When Time Trials resume on the Sports Field, she'll be ready to replace Tabby the Speedster on Pinkerton's team of

Warriors!!

It was a small lunch!!

Maybe we were a bit harsh when we said Penelope wouldn't divulge her secret.  After a short discussion, she agreed to let us tell the world.

Penelope ate a songbird!!

It was a cute little Black Capped Chickadee that she caught over by the grain bin.  Poor little thing was eating some oats on the ground and Little Miss Pepper Face pounced right on it.

We told on her because she really doesn't believe she did anything wrong!!  After all, she is a cat...... :/

Sun spots!!!

Today, we're changing the subject.

We just can't believe everyone wants to know Penelope's Secret.  We threatened and she complied......therefore the secret is safe....for now, anyway.  Maybe one day she won't listen, and we'll "let the cat out of the bag", so to speak, but not today.
Back to the subject at hand.  There's another shot of the grain bin, home to hundreds of delectable mice. :)

Yup!! She caved.....

That's right!! We shamed her into it. 

She saw us photographing her through the window, so Penelope Pepper Face ran quickly out of the shop to see what was going on.  It only took 10 minutes of pleading, begging and crawling on our bellies to talk her into helping with the chores.  She gave in when we threatened to tell everyone her secret!!

That's one lazy cat!!

How much is that "kit-ty" in the window?  The one with the pep-pery face.

Oh, don't worry.  We won't sell Penelope Pepper Face.  She's just too darn cute!!
There she is, sitting in the shop window at Fox Farm watching the world go by.
You'd think when people are in the yard working, she could stick her nose out and give us a hand!

Stronger by the day.....

Little Orangey Yellowy Greenish Blue Eyes had no idea Black Panther could climb so fast.  He was hoping to run that race for the Going Away Party of TOT and Tabby the Speedster, but didn't have a chance.  He barely got to the Get Set part when BP was halfway up the tree.

Oh well, there's always another day, another tree, another race and hopefully another cat to race with....that is, one that's much slower than the little black guy!!

We've noticed that LOYGBE has started to bulk up lately, so competitors beware. He seems like a sleeper, but he's ready to race!

Thanks for the memories....

Once in a while, a rare and exciting event takes place on the Sports Field.  As Big Kitty and Homer "Chelsea" Simpson checked out a practical trail for the first Maple Tree Race, Black Panther had an idea of his own.
Coach TOT and Tabby the Speedster were about to depart on their new adventure, so BP staged one race for their benefit.  As BK and H"C"S stared into space, Black Panther raced up the Maple Tree like his life depended on it. 
His time? 3.2 seconds!!  Fastest time ever!!

Right there in the tree!!

The Sports Field lay empty through the holidays, but now, let the games begin again!!

H"C"S and Big Kitty climbed the Maple Tree to see what they could see.  Actually, they were scouting a perfect, fast route for a race.

A problem arose when Big Kitty

put his right foot out
put his right foot in
and did the Hokey Pokey!!

Oh my goodness!!!

You tell me!!

You don't know much about Tabby the Speedster.  He is a tom cat and brother to Whiskers, winner of the BCM Whisker Growing Contest.  He, along with TOT, has accepted a position at the Feedlot and leaves tomorrow afternoon. 

We may not have agreed to send him if we had taken this photo earlier. This is amazing!

This cat matches the Maple tree!!  Just look at the bark behind his head and tell me:

Was the tree designed to hide the cat? or was the cat designed to hide in the tree?

No picture today, again!

Sorry, no time today to look into this picture problem.  Hopefully BCM will be back soon. :/

No picture today!!

Sorry for not posting a picture today, but this blankety blank site
won't let me go to my pictures.  I'll try to find some help with this.
Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow.
:( :( :(

The blanket saved the day!

We don't know who was the most fortunate here.  Snookums took a notion to ride Scooter, so she jumped from the ground, put her claws into the horse blanket, and climbed on.

Scooter was fortunate for having a blanket.
Snookums was fortunate he had a blanket or the claws would have landed in the horse.
I was fortunate Scooter had a blanket and the claws didn't land in his hide or he would have jumped right on top of me.

We were all equally fortunate.

TOT and Tabby the Speedster get a job!!

Dr. T called from the Feedlot and asked that we consider the following advertisement;

Feedlot Help Wanted
Must be male and willing to work long hours for short pay.  Necessary skills include the ability to sneak around, unseen and unheard.  You must have long whiskers, sharp claws and be able to see in the dark. 
Main job:  Mouse Control
Lazy cats need not apply.

Meet the little lady......

A couple months ago, we introduced two kittens at Fox Farm: one pretty little Siamese type and a brown tabby.  Well, both of those cats disappeared when Sid took them for a walk one day.  Little did we know that the neighbor "stole" them and gave them to someone who wanted some cats.  It's all fine and dandy that they found a new home, but "cat napping" is just like "kid napping".  Really!!  It's against the law.

Anyway, to make a long story not so long, we didn't introduce this stunning little lady just in case Sid took her for a walk and lost her too.  Now she's old enough not to be led down the "garden path" by any cat or neighbor, so here she is!!

We call her Penelope Pepper Face!! :)