all cats all the time

  Our older, dominant female cat (Daisy) is not enjoying the new kitty quite as much as we are, to put it mildly.  Any tips on helping an older female cat to accept a younger female cat? Anyone?  Anyone?  (halp! iz getting a bit ugly!!)

visitor

I am being tested by the universe.  A wee little baby kitty has decided to make its home on my back porch.  This sad little stray showed up two days ago.  (sorry about the blurry picture below)

I suppose it doesn't help that I've been feeding it and provided a little towel-lined box for sleeping purposes.

I think kitty has picked this as its home, despite the fact that two large superior guard dogs roam freely, and a domineering feline already lives indoors.  The thing is, kitty is so friendly.  So sweet.  So forlorn.  What to do, What to do.... Do you suppose it could live in the garage?  That's where we keep our hay.   Help.

mornings

I like fall and winter mornings when everything is hushed and dark, and you (if you are a morning person) can see the day slowly emerging and taking shape.  Here, the moment you stir, Daisy the cat (aka queen of the house) will start her morning meowing song.  She has radar hearing, you see, and the moment you set a foot outside your bedroom door, she will hurl herself at top speed down the stairs.  She keeps up her singing until she is fed, wherein her purr kicks in (and it's a loud, and gratifying one) .  

'Ooh, turn that flash off, will you?'  (morning people don't always take very artistic pictures when it's too early).

Scout the farm dog, who sleeps on the doormat right outside the back door, has his own way of greeting the mornings too.  He likes to sing for his breakfast by letting out his famous 'morning howl'.  He is promptly shushed and fed.  It's his favourite time of day- that, and belly scratching time.

When you step outside, you will see that the horses are already waiting to be fed.  The moment they see you, they will let out their soft nickering sounds.  Such velvety sounds on a foggy morning.

Shane (the other farm dog) always supervises the feeding of the horses, then eats his own breakfast.  It's a carefully choreographed routine, and he wouldn't want to deviate from it.

Scout feels no need to supervise (he likes to delegate most tasks) and tucks in right away. 

Those are the sights and sounds of mornings here (and I'm excluding the human animals, because they are not very melodic in the morning, as you can imagine).  It's nice to be greeted so enthusiastically when I wake up.

Even if it's just a case of 'cupboard love'!

Oh, give me a home...........

There are quite a few blogs, some of them highly enjoyable and wildly successful, which feature cattle.  Now, don't get me wrong, I do enjoy those blogs myself.  I just wanted to point out that here, at this humble little Canadian blog, we sometimes go above and beyond the call of the cattle.  Here, we sometimes give you pictures of:  dunh, dunh, dunh, dah:  Buffalo!!!

That's right, a neighbouring farm just down the road from us has buffalo roaming around its fields.

They appear to be kind of shy, "hey, Mr. Buffalo, I mean you no harm, don't run away!"

They seem to be such placid, content creatures, and  somewhat ungainly and oddly-shaped, to tell the truth.  The buffalo babies have thin legs and huge bodies, but they're very sweet looking.  I hear buffalo meat is very good for you, because it's low in fat.  I don't think I'll be having any soon, though.

Well, now that you've seen these critters, please rest assured that I can also provide you with cattle photos at the drop of a hat.  I'm versatile that way.  Stay tuned.

FIELD TRIP!!!!!!!

I recently joined my son's grade 5/6 class for a field trip to Agstravaganza.  This is an event run by local volunteers (farmers, veterinarians, etc...) and is intended to educate children about farming and agriculture.  Before your eyes glaze over, you need to know that this event is actually BIG FUN.  Free chocolate milk!  cool machinery!  loads of animals to pet!

Milk a cow!

Bottle-feed a brown-eyed calf!

See the piglets, for crying out loud!   (man can they squeal!)

See random examples of loveliness!

See the cattle, horses, and sheep.  Laugh at the goats' antics:

Then, after all of this excitement, and after watching a bale of hay being shot into the air thirty feet by a baler,  we headed to the poultry building.  And EACH of the twenty nine children got to hold a baby chick.  That's right, you heard me, BABY CHICKS.

Extensive negotiations ensued:  "can I keep it?"... "my parents won't mind"...."I'll just put it in my knapsack" ........ (and that was just me, you should have heard the kids carrying on).  Everyone reluctantly handed back their chicks, and took one last longing look.  

They were only 65 cents each (oh the temptation)

It is safe to say that a grand time was had by all.  Really, it doesn't get much better than this (don't you think?).