Little Orangey Blue Eyes is our 2014 

Halloween Mascot.

Some folks carve pumpkins to resemble cats, but we have a cat that resembles a pumpkin, at least in the color department!:)

He posed in front of the fading autumn hues of the cotoniaster bush, and we couldn't help but realize the part he is beginning to play in the ongoing saga known as

Cattales from Barn Cat Mansion

Have a Happy Halloween!

Flashback to Halloween 2012!!

We'll always remember how 

Big Kitty 

could organize a photo shoot of the whole family.  

We miss his calm manner, friendly eyes and big fluffy cheeks.  

Autumn's her name, hunting's her game!!

A second addition to the Barn Cat Mansion family is Autumn.  Actually, she arrived shortly before Little Scruffy Peanut, but that story will have to start from the beginning.

Autumn B.B. Broomfield

is a descendant of a long line of Manx farm cats raised on the Broomfield Farm, way down in the flat lands.  You can see by her intense stare, that she's a hunter, but that too, is a story for another day.

Meet Little Scruffy Peanut!

Yes, it's been awhile. and there's a lot of water under the bridge since we last visited our blog.  It's been difficult to tell a story because the main character, who inspired the whole Barn Cat Mansion story. is no longer with us.

Big Kitty, 
AKA Bumble Bee Lion King Orangey Butt.

left to make his yearly rounds last spring and didn't come back.  Bad weather, heavy snow and bitter wind must have impeded his journey, and we're afraid he perished in the snow.  We can't replace the Big Kitty, but life goes on.  The next chapter of Barn Cat Mansion will tell the story of Little Scruffy Peanut.  That's him sitting on the stump.

It's like this...

Timbit tells us what happened:

"So like I called OT out on her vile behavior and she was like, don't tell me I'm the Queen and I was like, you're ruining our day and we like, won't get any Temptations if we, like don't find ALL of the eggs and like, give them to Barn Cat Master and she was like, I forgot about the the reward, so I'll like, behave and like apologize because I was like, so wrong to take the pink egg and the yellow chicken.  So like, Barn Cat Master, it's like all straightened out and you can like, bring the other five bags of like, Temptations and like, put them in the feed pail in the Mansion."

Tough as nails!!

Fur flew and everyone ran off......except

Timbit!!

She's not one to back down, even when the Queen is pitching a Queenish fit.

OT's outburst is ruining Easter morning.  The rules are clear:  hunt the eggs down and bring them to Barn Cat Master. 

The reward???  Temptations for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Timbit looked OT squarely in the eye and said,

"Come here!  I want to talk to you!" 

Chill out, OT!!

Sunday morning is meant for sleeping in.  Everyone knows that.  OT was kicked out of her sleeping tub waaaay too early.

Or she woke up on the wrong side of the tub!!

Whatever the problem is, she's mad!!

Whiskers found the pink egg and OT took it, along with the yellow chicken, and claimed them for her own.

Whiskers doesn't really care, and finds her behavior unladylike and certainly un-Queenish!

Everyone stay away from OT and let her have the pink egg.

Game on!!

Easter morning started like any other.  Everyone was hunting.

Oh wait!!  It's not like any other morning because Mansion cats never hunt in the morning.

Except for THIS morning!!

Yup!!

They're hunting!!:)

Court Jester!!

Tipster may be the "odd man out", but he loves life at BCM.

He's just plain L-A-Z-Y!!

As you know, a few years back, he met with the sharp knife of Dr. T and is the only "fixed" cat in the Royal Family.  In traditional royal circles, he's known as a eunuch! Around here, he's

Tipster, Friend to All, Enemy to None!

Flag is it!!

Flag was at the meeting, but left abruptly when her name came up in the conversation.

She knew what was coming!

Over the winter, we lost Homer "Chelsea" Simpson.  She had a chronic cold and the vet suggested we let her go since she perpetually infected the other cats.  Sadly, she passed away peacefully in January.  Anyway!! Someone must replace H"C"S as Attendant to Every Wish and Command of OT!!

Don't tell me the pail is empty, AGAIN?

LOBE's nose is somewhat out of joint.  He was overlooked for the position of Prince, but really, that's only natural.  Pinkerton is better qualified and at least one year older.

LOBE is now in charge of Cat Food.

When the pail runs low, he's required to set an empty bag on the Mansion floor, sit squarely in the middle of it, and meow loudly until someone understands the dilemma.

Life goes on....

Pinkerton listened intently as Orangey Tail laid down the rules.  Whether he absorbed the lesson is another story.

He is the proverbial "renegade", strong willed and single minded.  Orangey Tail, Queen of Barn Cat Mansion and everything beyond, rules with an iron paw.  On this day, she discussed the role of each and every member of the family. It came as a total surprise when she announced a promotion. Pinkerton will from this day forward be known as:

Prince Pinkerton, Hillside Warrior 

Protector of those less fortunate.

Spring beauty in b&w

Timbit is the coolest cat we have.  She's aloof and partially friendly and never in the way.  She likes parties, but feels the urge to eat and run, so difficult to photograph.

This year, she turns two, and in cat years, that's plenty old enough to have kittens.  To date, she's shown no interest in becoming a mother, other than a fleeting fling with BK late last summer.

C'mon Timbit!  Get with the program.

Pinkerton would be proud to take on the challenges of fathering.  He's not interested in "fatherhood", but fathering is right up his alley.:)

Below the radar......

Here it is - Tom Cat City!!
Big Kitty, being the King and all, sits in the highest spot he can find.  That way, he keeps an eye on everything without anyone knowing he's watching.

Pinkerton perches on the highest post, aware of the King above him, and hoping he doesn't draw any unwanted attention.

LOBE ignores them.  He's not interested in their escapades, because while those two are fighting, he's checking out the ladies.

Back off, Newbie!!

He is a son of Socks, but that's neither here nor there.

Spring is around the corner, theoretically.  (You wouldn't know it today with the temperature pushing -30C with a windchill of -45C.) :(

The young tom has declared a position in the Fox Farm hierarchy and his plan is to come in at the top.

Socks took the challenge and was heard to say,

``Over my dead body!!``

Cat battles can be seen and heard throughout the barnyard.

It`s never easy to overthrow a King, especially when he`s young, strong and dedicated to his profession.

Meet Smudgy!

Oh sorry!  Didn't mean to imply that the cat we saw in the last blog was Sid.  Sid is black and has been known to move to the neighbors twice with her family.  We'll be happy if she comes home again for her yearly "undercover" meeting with Socks, but she should have been here by now.  We think the west neighbors have "sidnapped" her and are holding her, according to her will, in their house!

Penelope Pepper Face went missing last summer, around the time our north neighbors across the road moved out!!  If she was scrounging lunch over there, maybe they caught her and took her away.  We'll never know, but we have our suspicions.  This is one of the new faces at Fox Farm.

The plot thickens:

We haven't visited the Fox Farm Felines lately, mainly because a lot of our regulars are gone.

Where did they go?

We really don't know, but have a suspicion or two.  For example:
Last spring Sid came home from the neighbors and had a couple kittens.  As soon as they were big enough to travel, she took off.  In our neck of the woods, a good mouser is worth her weight in gold!!   The question is:

Did the neighbors catch her, give away her children and keep her for a house pet?

Watch the ears!!

Holly and Big Kitty had no luck trying to settle the dispute between Little Eagle and his cousin.  The battle carried on and Tipster watched in horror as Little Eagle's ears went back and he lunged toward the timid young horse.

A horse with ears pinned back is showing angry and aggressive behavior or he's warning a perceived threat to stay away!!

In any case, Tipster may find it in his best interest to just walk away.....

Walk away, Tipster!!

....just walk away. :(

Such a velvety looking nose!!

While driving t0 town yesterday, I saw this old girl sitting in a field.  She was close to the road, which is unusual and when I stopped the truck, she didn't get up.

I stepped out with the camera and took a few pictures.  It's too dangerous and downright "stupid" to approach a moose, sitting or not, so I yelled and waved my arms feverishly to get her to move.

She kept right on sitting!!

Either she's accustomed to traffic and yelling people with cameras, or she's sick.  She was gone when I drove home so she's able to walk.  Let's hope she can still run and heads back to the bush where she belongs.

Happy Valentine's Day, friends! :)

For the first time in two years, OT decided to tell Big Kitty she'd like to start a family. First thing this morning, right outside the window, Big Kitty agreed to help her out. This wasn't caught on film, but if a few kittens show up in a couple months, rest assured the camera will be pointed at them.

It took all day to gather the troops, decorate the Mansion and get the family's attention. Two bags of Temptations later and we finally set up for the Annual BCM Valentine's Day Party Extraordinaire photo shoot.

It's been a  lllllonnnnggg day!

Will she do it?

The battle between Tipster and Little Eagle is the gossip of the day.

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE in the barnyard heard about it. Big Kitty hopped up on a tall post and confronted Holly.  He chose her because she's second in command of the horse herd and not nearly as nasty as Ace. No one likes Ace!  She's the lead mare and tolerates nothing!

Expecting to be nuzzled to death, Big Kitty held his ground and asked Holly to take a round out of Little Eagle...... 

Barnyard bully!!

Tipster didn't jump, and instead tried to talk some sense into Little Eagle.  There's plenty of room for everyone along the fence and pushing others around isn't acceptable, but Little Eagle doesn't listen to reason.

Plain and simple!!  He's a bully!

The young horse turned away, saddened by the fact that he found a new friend and lost him in the very same moment.

Nooooo! Don't jump!!

As the yearling was getting to know Tipster, along came Little Eagle, the trouble making pony.  He rudely pushed his way through and scared Tipster into almost taking a leap off the fence.

Not unlike a couple of kids, if one has something to play with, the other want wants it.

And so the battle began!!

To jump or not to jump...???

...that is the question.

Hey buddy! Wanna be friends??

Our young horse couldn't resist the opportunity to check this cat out.  As he turned his head, Tipster raised his tail.

Now we might think this is rude, but in the cat world, it's a greeting of some sort.  They perform this ritual when a dog comes close also.  

A horse that's interested enough to investigate a cat, uses his eyes, ears and nose to make this decision:  friend?? or foe!!

If a horse turns his butt towards you, he's either avoiding you, or he's likely to kick!! Tipster can thank his lucky stars.  The horse chose to give him a sniff!!

I don't even know you!!

So I found a way into my blog, but I'm not sure how.  

Anyway, we find Tipster and someone he hardly knows having a conversation on a cold winter day.

They met by chance at the gate, and have chosen to ignore each other.  Watching the body language between these two over the next 4 or 5 pictures is intriguing.

Stay tuned......

We're not going! :(

With Winter Olympics less than 3 weeks away, we have a problem.  This is the scene of our Trough Hockey Practise Field, and as you can see, it's not ready!

We've had so much snow and wind.  No one has had time to shovel the field and without running through the game a few times, our hopes for Olympic Gold have dismally disappeared.  Mansion teams, both equine and feline, are devastated!

Sorry for the delay in posting.  I can't  post due to a "browser incompatibility" message on my computer.  I logged on with my phone today.  Hopefully they'll resolve this issue with Internet Explorer soon. :(

2014?? Bring it on!!