Changes ... changes

December 14th - and it's a week and a half before Christmas, and here in Texas it was 77 degrees outside at 4:30 pm! It was like an early fall day - a BEAUTIFUL SUNNY WARM day. By 5, it had dropped to 75 (no big deal, right?). Then a breeze came along, and soon it was blowing at quite a good clip, so checked the outside temperature, and it was 59! Within 2 hours of the 77 degrees, it was 38!!!! Now, at midnight, it's 28 - soooo, that computes to almost 50 degrees fall since late afternoon!! It dropped so fast, the kittens are all in the cat carrier waiting for a trip to a warmer climate! And poor Eeyore - his HeeHaw is only a Hee, 'cause the Haw froze in his throat! The coyotes must have run for cover too, as it's pretty quiet out there tonight!

On a warmer, fuzzier note, I've noticed some amusing changed behaviors lately. Sam always vies for attention whenever one fusses with the kittens, the horses or Eeyore. He MUST be first!! All of a sudden, he noticed Tober through the living room window, and is totally fascinated with her! His gaze bores into her! He can't avert his stare for fear she should move and he'd lose sight of her! If she comes toward the window, he barks and goes crazy! Yet, he lives with 6 orange cats outside!!!!

Then there's Kibbie, who isn't the least bit interested in the moist cat food! Up until the last week or two, she eats only dry food (kibbles, thus her name, Kibbie). All of a sudden, she's taken up eating Sam's food! She waits with Sam and starts eating while he's going through his commands before being released to eat. And she doesn't move when he starts eating either. I've heard him growl a couple of times, but I think he's given up and claimed her as 'his' kitty!!! Sam's kind of a big pussycat anyway! He frequently shops for mice and rats out in the field just like Kitty! And he plays with them until they won't play anymore!

The equines are creatures of habit also. When we first got Doc and Eeyore, it sometimes took 15 minutes to get them in their respective places to feed them. There's a pecking order!! Doc is the alpha horse. Eeyore is no threat to Doc and can get by Doc even in tight spaces. But the girls are a different story. If you don't get Tutu through the gate before you feed Doc, she won't go and will hang out and eat Eeyore's food. Racey and Doc will kick at each other if Doc lays his ears back, so you don't want to get in the middle of that!!! They've learned their places and often wait by their own trough now,so it only takes a few minutes to feed them. When Doc is done, he displaces Racey, who either displaces Tutu or goes in and takes over Eeyore's remaining grain. Tutu will check out Doc's vacant bucket and then go to Eeyores. Usually they go out to the field for the day, but on this nice sunny morning a couple of weeks ago, they all sunned themselves - all laying together (except Tutu is on this side of the fence) ... and you'll notice that the gate is open to the field on the far side of the horses!! They must have had a tough night and slept in!!! MORNING ADDENDUM: At 6 am, it was 21 degrees and according to the forcast we may not see 30 today. The horses had the sense to come in out of the cold and spent the night in the shed. At 7 they came out trotting, kicking up heels and chasing one another to get warm! Turns out I have a Christmas Horse or a Holy Horse! Tutu has a 'crown of thorns' tangled in her forelock. I went out with treats to attempt removing it. She gladly took the treats, but it was too tangled and I only got half of it. Mike was afraid if she shook her head, it could puncture an eye! Now it's shorter, so I'll get the rest out when it warms up!!! This branch is from our Mesquite trees and we have a lot of them - makes me want to take the lopers out on the next warm day and get rid of the lower branches of the ones that will continue to live on our little ranch!