Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wishing everyone a very happy and safe Halloween.

Please remember to keep you critters inside or put in a safe place tonight.

Black cats are more prone to suffer cruelty on Halloween. Here it is 2009 and some people still have the mentality that we live in the Middle Ages when it comes to animals.

If you happen to have a neighbor who doesn't watch out for their animals, please watch out for their dog or cat or tonight.

May your Halloween be frightfully fun yet safe for you and your animal family.

BOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Until next time..................................

Several people have asked me what my cats do around my chickens. They want to know if the cats chase the chickens. Well, I can honestly say, no! No, the cats do not chase nor bother the chickens. However, on the other hand, the chickens pester and chase the cats! Yes, the chickens are relentless when it comes to chasing any and all cats. Ok, watching the chickens chasing the cats is quite amusing. Hee Hee This picture shows one of the Mottled Houdans going after Laura ( the gray and white cat) after she has already chased off Mr. Worm. So, in answer to whether the cats bother the chickens. Nope, not one little bit!

I meant to take a picture of this tree when it had all its beautiful red leaves on it. Well, thanks to several big gusts of wind, it won't be until next year before a picture can be taken with the bounty of red leaves. But, this picture gives you an idea of what it did look like. Yup, those are most of the leaves on the ground.

Here it is October 29 and there is one lone Hollyhock bud getting ready to open. Everything is getting that brown, dark color and having this one little dot of color is really nice.

This is what the rain does to the feather top of a Mottle Houdan. I can honestly say, this is one unhappy chicken!

Danni doesn't mind the rain but her top notch has gone to one side. She doesn't have that punk rock look going right now. Almost looks like she is wearing a beret.

Until next time.................

Rose and a Birthday

Today is my youngest daughter's 19th birthday. My baby is growing up! That's her in the white sweater. The cake is one of those Dairy Queen ice cream cakes. Oh my goodness, what a yummy cake! I am not a big ice cream fan, but this cake was really good.

Late Sunday night Rose, our 12 year old Boxer ( she is the beautiful Brindle on the right) had a stroke. At first we thought she was having a seizure, but after a few minutes we knew she was having a stroke. Very scary. Thankfully we had been through this before. Not with Rose but with our old Boxer Jake, who passed away two years ago, from his third stroke. When Jake had his first stroke we immediately rushed him to the vet to be told that there is little that can be done when a dog has a stroke.

The fawn colored Boxer on the left is Chicken Dog and she has seizures.

With lots of rest on Rose's part and being watched like an Eagle ( with very little sleep on my part for the past two days), she has almost made a complete recovery. Her equilibrium is off a bit now, but other than that she is fine. Although I do believe I have created a Princess monster! She won't go outside without me right there. Although I do have to turn my back when she is doing her business. She doesn't want anyone seeing her do her thing. In two short days she has expects the scrambled eggs with bits of ham that is cooked for her. Or the rice with scrambled egg. Or the chicken that is prepared just for her. Or......

At this point Rose can have or do whatever she wants. After all, she is our Princess.

Until next time...............................

A Sunday Drive

Today we drove to the next county to look at something. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to show you some of the countryside here in Southern Oregon. Here is a nice old barn showing the mountains in the background.

Another old barn. I just love old barns. Something about them that fascinates me. Just think of the stories they could tell of a bygone era.

This ranch used to be years ago one of the top Arabian horse ranches in the valley. Some of the finest horses came out of this place. Now it is a bit run down and instead of Arabian horses there is a mixture of horses and mules.

This barn used to be a dairy barn many years ago. These days it just sits alone and empty.

Just some beautiful Autumn colors.

An old train track and bridge. This railway has been around forever and is still in use!

An old antique shop that I don't think has been open for years. I think the building is just gorgeous with all the ivy growing over the old brick building. However, the bugs that live in all that ivy gives me the heebie jeebies. Can you just imagine how many spiders live in it?

A very old, falling down house not too far from our house. The roof has started to cave in after all these years. If I remember right the place was built around 1900.

This Elk sign is down the road from us. If you have never seen an elk in the wild with your own eyes, they are amazing animals. And huge!!! Truly magnificent animals.

This is what we drove to the next county for. A, as I call it, a "beater" or "to and from" car. Hubby works two towns over from where we live and the truck he drives was killing us in gas. So, to help in the gas budget, a "beater" car was in order. Doesn't look like much, but it gets 26 mpg. Better than his 9 mpg truck! And the price on this car was darn near a steal!

Until next time...........................

Adventures of a Chicken

Sorry for not writing for a few days. Little Inger chicken has been expressing interest in doing some travelling. So, I have been helping her with her plans.
The first thing to be checked is the travel trailer inside and out. Here she is inspecting the stove top to make sure everything is in order.

Next on the list is transportation. Hmmm, the farm truck looks to be a bit too big for safe driving.

Now this is more her size.

This is the planned destination. She has been telling me she would love to see castles. Although I had to explain to her that she wouldn't be able to drive to most castles due to them being out of the country. Hmmmm, now that poses a probem. And since she is a chicken, well, her flying is out of the question since she can't fly very well.

Looks like some more planning is in order.

Today's blog is meant to be just silly and hopefully entertaining.

Little Inger is such a sweet girl. She adores to be picked up and carried around. And the whole time she talks to you and tells you all about everything.

Until next time........................

Did it AGAIN!!! Or Help Name The New Addition.

Today was a good day to clean the gutters above the stalls. Rain is in the forecast and with the leaves falling, it was time to make sure the gutters will do their job. My goodness they were full of leaves and acorns and icky black stuff. I wear disposable rubber gloves to clean the gutters out.

Finally, both sides of the stall barn gutters are clean and ready for the rain. Yay!!!

Here is what it looks like around here every evening. Such a tough life they have!! Squirrel in on the love seat while Ozzy is stretched out on the coffee table. The gray furry thing on the back of the loveseat is not alive. It is a plush Snauzer. Told my kids when I get to be really old I want a Snauzer for a dog and will name it Winston. They all laughed so bought me a fake Winston for now.

Yup, you are seeing the picture right. Those are two kittens inside that box. Two kittens that came from my favorite feed store. Had to go up there today to get some hay and grain. My oldest daughter went with me and she was walking around the store. Then it was, " Mom, you need to come over here." I did. And there were these two kittens in separate cages. And they looked a lot like Squirrel! You guessed it, these two were caught last night and they are from the same litter as Squirrel! As you can see, Squirrel is checking out her brothers/sisters. We don't know if they are male or female yet due to them being totally wild.

The kitten on the left I am keeping and the one on the right my daughter is taking home.

Not sure if you can see the differance in Squirrel compared to her siblings. Her siblings are skinny, filthy, full of ear mites and wild as all heck.

This is Ozzy's reaction to another kitten in the house. I do believe his look says it all!

No name for the kitten I am keeping. Any suggestions?

Until next time............................

Friends Come To Visit The Farm

On Sunday two very dear friends Danni and her hubby Jim, came to visit. It was so exciting to see them. They are two of the nicest people on the planet. And with them was their cute farm dog Roxy. That little Roxy is so funny. She made her self right at home. Danni has been baking homemade bread. As you can see in the picture she was so very kind and brought us some. Plus she brought us some homemade rasberry jam and a container of rasberries from her garden. Her bread is scrumptious. Way better than any bread you can buy in the store. And the jam is so tasty and is wonderful on the bread. Thank you Danni.

Here is Danni taking pictures of just one of the donkeys here. Danni has a love for donkeys.

More donkeys wanting their pictures taken.

Pearl and Ruby very curious as to what Dani is doing. They are pretty sure that item she is holding in her hand is something to eat.

I was so excited to see Danni and Jim that I didn't take a lot of pictures. I kick myself now.

Danni has her own blog. It is called On The Way To Critter Farm. You can click on her blog to the right in the sidebar. It is wonderful reading.

Thank you Danni, Jim and Roxy for visiting us. We had so much fun.

Until next time......................

A Squirrel Grows In Oregon

It's been awhile since I talked about our Squirrel. This picture is of the day I brought her home ( August 31). She was about five or six weeks old. Complete with ear mites and an eye infection. She is starting to grow. And get very curious about everything!

Her favorite 'toy' is still the two fake trees in the house. In fact, one of the trees looks like it is starting to lose its leaves just like the real outside ones do.

And boy can our Squirrel jump! This picture it looks like she is climbing up onto the furniture, but she is jumping to get her toy we use to play with her.

Squirrel coming down from one of her high jumps.

Here is what she looks like today. She thinks she is a dog! No kidding. When the dogs come running into the kitchen, there is Squirrel in the midst of them.

Our Squirrel is growing up so fast. Nothing like having a kitten in the house!

Until next time.........................

Connect The Dogs

I walked down to collect the mail, came into the house and this is what I see.
My first thought as I stood there looking at these spoiled, rotten dogs is, " Connect the dogs".

I know, dumb thought, but wanted to share with you.

Until next time.....................

Kitty Litter Box Tip

I didn't know how to edit the last two pics of the cat box. So, here is what it is suppose to look like. My sister called me and let me know mine was upside down! The lid goes on the bottom. Now the cat box fits just fine!

We have a couple of indoor only cats which of course means the dreaded kitty litter box. I don't know about you, but digging around with a miniature poop scooper in a box of sand hunting and searching for cat poo is not my idea of any kind of fun. Heck, I don't know anyone who enjoys that!

This morning I was talking with my sister Connie and the subject of kitty litter boxes came up. She feels the same as I do. We both complained about the sand getting kicked out of the box and having to constantly clean it up. And of course there is the dreaded 'smell'! Yuk!


She asks me if I have one of those hooded kitty litter boxes. Nope. The one indoor cat is, well, um, let's call him a husky fella' and won't fit comfortably inside one of those hoods. Besides, those hooded cat boxes aren't cheap!

She then tells me what her daughter ( my niece Marrissa) did. She had heard a tip to use a plastic tote with a lid and make your own hooded kitty box. In fact, Marissa used the tip for her own cat's litter box.

So, guess what? Today I fashioned a 'poorman's' kitty litter box.
First, get a plastic tote with a lid. As you can see, Honey Dog and Squirrel are checking it out. They are pretty sure this is for them. Well, it actually is for Squirrel!

Next step is to cut a hole in the end of the tote. After I cut the whole I sanded the edges to make sure there weren't any sharp edges. Don't want anyone getting hurt. Yes, I am aware that the hole is not perfect! That's what I get for using a cutting blade. Probably would have been better off using a saw.

I know, the box doesn't fit very well inside the tote, but it will have to do until I get a smaller one. Hmmm, no more sand getting kicked out in all directions! I like that!

Next, put the lid on. And here you have it......a poorman's covered litter box. Before I could take the picture Squirrel had to use her new bathroom. Thanks Squirrel.

I am going to get a couple of those stick up deodorizers and put them inside the lid to help with the dreaded smell.

A big thank you to Connie and Marrissa.

Until next time........................................

What a Life!

After I came in from doing outside chores this is what I find. Apollo sleeping on the bed. Mind you, after he has messed it up!

Trashcan snoozing away on the rocking chair.
Honey Dog getting her forty winks.
Baby worm taking her cat nap.
Rose being very comfortable on the couch. Rather surprised she didn't cover herself up with the cats' blanket ( which is under her) and use the couch pillow for her head.
Chicken Dog on the loveseat ( where she knows she is not allowed). I guess she thought the pillow was big enough no one would notice she was up there.

The least they could have done was dust and vaccuum while I was outside.

What a life they have!

Until next time..................................