Ups and Downs of Ranch Life

(Please excuse any graphic material in this post, but a picture is worth 1000 words)

Since I'm working, I don't get to spend much time composing, plus the computer has been acting up, further interfering with blogging! So, there's much to catch up on! I might have to divide it into a couple blogs to keep related items together. This will be my 'animal' blog and my next one will be a 'work' blog!

Sadly, my 'bestest' babies have been missing for a week. Though I know there's a small possibility that they're off exploring and COULD turn up one day, each day Mia and Mitzi are gone, my hopes are dashed a little more! Living in the country, we have too many predators to hold out a lot of hope for their survival! All I can say is that they were the sweetest and gentlest kittens I've EVER had. It makes me sad to consider their likely demise. For all the times I've heard the coyotes close by, yip, yip, yipping, my kitties have always showed up. As long as there were trees nearby, I knew they could find safety. In the open field though, the odds change in favor of the coyotes. Unfortunately the kitties and Sam search for field mice and rats out there.

Now the next generation is coming along pretty well. I've observed some interesting training methods of late. Little Kitty hunts at night and brings her quarry to the porch for the young ones to feast on. I've seen evidence of a mouse, and then last Saturday, she brought a rat and showed the kittens what to do with it. When they lost interest, she tossed it around as if it were alive (demonstrating her techniques) until she got one or two interested and then they'd feast on it for a bit. Like a good mom, she waited until they were done before she ate her share.

I can also tell she's in the process of weaning them. I see them eating dry food and drinking water. A couple of them like the wet food. Then there's Tiny (the pint size kitten) - he's feisty, but still prefers mother's milk. They were taking advantage of Kitty's eating to sneak under for a drink of milk, and all you can hear is multiple purrs coming from beneath her belly. The kitten IN the food dish nursing is (of course) Tiny - it's kinda like standing on a stool.

He's starting to look cuter these days!

And they have become so playful and they're sooooo cute. Judge for yourself!!

In a couple weeks they'll be ready for their new homes and it will be pretty quiet around here.

Snakes and snails and kitty cat tails...

Sam just gained some status in our family of furries! Last night he was barking at something, not just a bark at the kittens or at distant coyote calls, but a more immediate slithery something. So Mike went out with the flashlight to see what the fuss was all about, and found Sam and the kitties (Mia and Mitzi) around the side of the house contemplating how to rid the yard of a rattlesnake!! Our first since we moved in 1 year ago!! So Mike came in and retrieved his snake gun while Sam and company kept it from slithering away, and Mike gave that viper a taste of the snake gun. He didn't like it too much, and in fact didn't survive the assault. So here's Mike with his prize: Interestingly, upon looking up about rattlesnakes, I learned that when they're young, they can shed their skin up to 3 times that first year, so you can't count the rattles and determine their age exactly. My newly educated guess is that this snake is likely a couple or 3 years old. Did you know they can live 20 - 30 years (in captivity)? Here, if they wander into the yard or nearby, they won't have the chance!

As for kittendom, at 3 weeks and 2 days, their world is growing! The first explorers are 2 sisters, inviting the others to come out and play:

Speaking of which, playing is a new activity when not sleeping which still takes up a lot of their daytime.

(As you can see, "Tiny" has a little growing to do to catch up with his sisters and brother. He's too small to join the fray right now.)

Mama has been moving them around lately. One night she moved them from the pet carrier to the cardboard box, and the next night she took them under the porch. We're expecting a storm tonight, so I put them back in the pet carrier (if she'll leave them there till after the storm). They're starting to exhibit personality!

Don't kid yourself, Mom has eyes in the back of her head - she KNOWS what's going on!!! Hmmmmm, what's this?

Home Home on the Range

We left our little ranch to visit Travis, Pam and Brenden in Savannah on Wednesday morning (September 17th), and arrived in Savannah in time for dinner on Thursday. We had a REALLY nice visit and really enjoyed getting to know our newest grandson, Brenden, pictured here with his grandpa. Friday they took us to lunch at The Crab Shack on Tybee Island which was a delightful marshy place - just what you'd expect from the name. It was very 'nautical', had exotic birds, LOTS of small alligators (~3 feet long) and lush palm trees and HUGE live oaks with Spanish Moss hanging down - not to mention GREAT seafood. Then on Saturday afternoon, we joined some Savannah based Browns fans downtown to cheer for the Cleveland Browns (but they lost!). Even young Brenden bellied up to the table :) A boyhood friend of Travis' (Kevin) from Cleveland visited and also enjoyed the game - but not the loss!

After a weekend of college and professional football, we headed home to resume duties on 'the ranch'. Right before we left, we discovered fleas on Tober. So upon return, I've washed linens in all her usual sleeping spots, and of course bought some flea shampoo to give Tober a bath! I think the fleas liked it (but Tober didn't!), so I'll give them another shot today!!! Poor Tober!!

It was good to see all the animals doing well, but especially the kitties. I worry about my wandering 6 month olds (Mitzi and Mia) because of all the predators that lurk in the shadows. Then there's Little Kitty and her new babies that were a week old when we left. She moved them to the pet carrier on the side porch while we were gone. All were accounted for! They have their eyes open and have grown appreciably.

Day 6 when we departed (left) and Day 15 when we returned (right).

Wednesday I started day shift on my new temporary (seasonal) job. You remember those school fundraisers? You or your children had the opportunity to sell candy, nuts, candles, kitchen items, or knick knacks to your neighbors and mostly to Mom and Dad, Aunt Mary, the folks at Mom or Dad's office???? Well, the warehouse for all those things is right here in Olney, Texas and it's called Cherrydale Farms! We fill orders for schools and bands all over the USA!! It's a production line arrangement and I'm a 'puller' which means I pull products from the shelves and place in a crate that gets checked and double checked for correctness and then gets packed for delivery. We really hustle to fill these orders. Some lines process 10,000 items in a shift!! My legs are REALLY tired by the end of the day from the constant activity!

Also, Mike is a Substitute Teacher for Olney High School for science and math, and he's been called upon twice so far, bit I suspect he'll be called upon often to share his expertise in these fields! So for now, that is life home on the ranch!!!

Love is evident EVERYWHERE

How can anyone not love furry little things? Just look at these cute and loving faces!!!!

Momma Kitty LOVES her babies - 4 days old

SWEET at 5 days:

Don't forget me!!!

Sam and HIS kitty (Mia):

But MOST beautiful of all is the love of a mother for her child -

Now don't you dads get your drawers in a bunch!!!! Special attention is upcoming!!! : )

Happy Birthday X 6

Happy Birthday to all of Kitty's new babies!!! Did you count??? That's how many new babies Little Kitty had sometime in the early morning hours of this stormy night! Like her first litter, these babies were born on the patio table on the front porch, but Mama Kitty did it all by herself this time! I didn't get to play 'midwife'! There must be another male kitty living somewhere in the distant neighborhood, as ALL the kitties this time are either like Kitty (3) or are VERY light (3), almost albino in appearance. They all appear healthy and perfect!

Most of these babies already have loving homes to go to when they grow up a little and once they are weaned! Kitty was first taken in by a couple of hunters that spend weekends about 1/4 mile away, and they will take a kitten back home to the Fort Worth area. Our friends, David and Shirley recently lost their kitty that looked like a male version of our Mama Kitty and was a wonderful companion. They will have 2 of the kittens, and my friend, Pat who I work with every Tuesday morning (as a 'pink lady') will have a kitten. Since I lost 2 kittens at 10 weeks last time, we'll wait and see how many kittens we have when we get to that place in their training! Thus goes the saga of new kittens!!

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors...

--slightly amended from the famous poet, Robert Frost:

'Why do fences make good neighbors?

Isn't it where there are cows?

But here there are no cows

Before I built a fence I'd ask to know

What I was fencing in or fencing out?'

Here on the ranch, we don't have cattle yet. I often see a neighbor's cow or calf (or bull) roaming outside the fence along side the road. But I never see horses wandering about! Since living here, I have learned that horses can find weak spots in fences when it means finding the grain or greener grass.

Doc says - "Hmmmm... the grass looks greener over there"

Well, yesterday I was watering and gathering produce from my garden when I came across a partially eaten cantaloupe (left) and disheveled vines. I knew I'd had a visitor! Maybe a skunk? My kittens attack the tassels of corn and romp in the vines, but they don't EAT cantaloupe!! After a little more investigation, Mike pointed out a missing section of wire fence on the far side! With that BIG clue, I found hoof prints and horse/donkey piles of 'poop' around the garden, and then I checked the corn! On an earlier escapade they had eaten some of my corn and killed a few plants. This time there were ears to be tasted! I'm lucky if I have 5 corn stalks standing!! Good thing the corn was a loss anyway because of maturing in the heat of August or I'd have been really cross with those horses!!! At least they didn't trample the squash, cucumbers, okra or other melons. Aside from the corn, I lost 3 melons, but there are several others coming along. For a garden that was planted late, we're getting lots of summer squash and okra. Melons are doing well. We're just starting to get cucumbers. The tomatoes have been a bust so far, but as it cools this month, I think we'll be rewarded with lots of tomatoes and peppers. The 'late planted' garden is really paying off!!!

Along another fenceline, Mike found this huge garden spider this morning. I'm not sure what she's consuming, but it's the size of a grasshopper if that gives you an idea of her size. Isn't she a beauty???

A father's son...

In looking for baby pictures for Travis, I came across pictures of both children (of course) and one particular picture of baby Snakeye triggered a WOW!!! Boy, does that kinda look like Brenden!!!! YOU check it out and weigh in!!! Does Brenden look like his dad?????














(Too bad the quality of print isn't equal, but technology has come a long way!!)

And while we're at it, check out Cheyenne and Riley!
I couldn't find as good a comparison, but you can see that she had a rounder shape to her face. I don't have access to John's baby pictures to make any comparisons, but most people say that Riley looks more like John - though I'm sure he's a combination of both as is little Brenden.