at the barn

sunshine and melting !!!

oh what a relief to finally

have sunshine and puddles

I was out in the barn with our animals

today

here is a calico cat

that lives in a barn with other cats, but she is the only

Calico

hello calico!

 Hello Summer...your fur is sure thick and soft right now

lots of petting and slobbery kisses for me today

i

 Wendy and Gerald

 they have looked after our horses and Summer all winter

it may be a while yet before there is a move for us

so we appreciate their friendship and compassion in taking on our pets.

little Gracie on Gerald's lap is a rescue dog and

she is a cutie!  She also has issues and the retraining program

is frustrating.  She is a 2 year old pure bred cocker spaniel.

 I am still loving the city life though with my family and close friends here.

so rock on with spring!

ramblings

 an acreage just came up on the MLS listings close to Yorkton

planning our viewings for next weekend with the realtor

this is the listing we want to see ASAP
(40 acres and only 9 miles from the city and house looks good!!)

there are several others but we will know right away if it is
a wasted trip

where is March?
with this cold weather have not seen Summer in 10 days

 i am attempting painting horse heads now

 we are very ready for a place where we can be with
our animals - right Mantracker?

 missing Sal - apparently he is living up in the loft
of the barn now as 2 other cats came with the new owners
so he is on the HQ floor - ha!

Life is for deep kisses
strange adventures
midnight swims and
rambling conversations
(off a bottle of red wine)

off to yoga again tommorrow
then wait for the arctic weather to move on!

what I got for Christmas

2 great gifts!

show and tell time with my Christmas gift from Mantracker.  It is a wonderfully compact Canon Powershot camera that I can slip in my purse and pocket.  I am a small camera photographer and this camera does so many things.    

here is what I got from my son and it is very unique....a picture done up Anthromorphically

{definition:

 ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things}

Kirkville pets

Sal on right (showing off his 6 toes)

Summer in the middle (guard dog)

Snowball on the right (a proud princess) - I miss Snowball)

very unique idea!

leaving behind...coming with

we are in the full throttles of packing now and also we had no luck
in finding an acreage so we are wintering in our condo

Summer has been a major stress for our family,
he is not an inside the house dog, oh no, and we are moving
temporarily to the city

such emotions...

Sal, however will stay on the acreage and the new owners
have 3 little ones, they are a very young family and they have
2 horses as well.  The one girl loves Sal and likes so much playing
and petting him.  Lucky Sal!

As for Summer, our dog, who has lived here since he was 6 weeks old
and is now 12 1/2 years old, will move and live on Wendy's acreage outside of Qu'Appelle
Regina is only 30 miles away and we can visit Summer alot, hopefully it will go well?

Once we find an acreage in the spring we will take Summer with us
I am praying he makes the adjustment, but with Wendy who loves animals,
he will be just fine! phew!  relief!

it will be a great place for him and we are praying he adapts well there.
I  will spend several days with him at his new home to
reassure him.

now I must pull out another box and keep packing and throwing out and making
decisions on what comes with and what goes out!

Sal the cat is in a dilemma?

I 

I am tired and hot and the mice are way too fast for me....

the heat is ridiculous!

I must keep sleeping to conserve my energy!

(if I was a female or if one happened to be around she

can catch them)

LOL

so much work

our acreage and home has a couple of realtor showings this week

and last night I took our dog Summer to our favourite canoe spot

the Highfield Reservoir

poor old dog struggles with his hip

but he loves to ride in the back of a truck

and be with us

I can't leave him in our yard when new people show up

he is too much of a guard dog!

so off we went

now Sal, he greets these strangers and guards the deck.  Someone has to

stay in the yard?  He thinks people love him because well "I am so darn friendly and soft and well just darn good looking!"

I take my Kobo and sit by the water and read with Summer until the showing is over.

I was thinking that this is just a pain to have to take the dog away from the yard

but I am actually looking forward to our little excursion again tonite!

bottle these days up...

spring is so special in the country

and the mornings are the best for me

the feeding time for Summer and Sylvie Sylvester is pronto 

as soon as I awake, which is still between 6 am and 7 am and it is a parade

to the barn with the food

the rest of the day is supervising the yard and activities going on

this years potato patch has just been planted

 the first truck ride up into the coulee pasture

for some fencing repair work

I received a crocus from Mantracker as I was

driving the tractor along the fence while he fixed

and adjusted and replaced posts and wire

i just want to put these moments in a bottle and keep them forever!

what has your long weekend this May been

like?

meds for barn occupants

i am really loving our barn cat Sylvie

she needs to be de-wormed again

so I have the medicine to give her

today

we have booked a surprise vacation in Tofino, BC last night

a special young lady friend is getting married their

she boards her colt at our place

so awesome to be going there for a week this summer and

staying at

Whale's Tail Guest Suites

now i must give Sylvie and Summer their medicine...

Note: yesterday our vet called and said to come pick up the deworming meds for

'Winter' and our barn cat.  LOL I said "Winter" ? you mean 'Summer',

she said oh darn! i new it was one of the four seasons !

well.. it feels like their is only one season in Canada right now...

Miss Sylvie Cat

 This is our beautiful barn cat and we named her Sylvie

she just showed up in the barn one day since last November

she was pretty hungry

we started to feed her and she has her own

spot on top of a horse stall that way our dog

Summer cannot bother her

 she has found a good home and she is so

dog friendly and tolerant of Summer

 well I suppose she has to be to stay in our barn through

the winter

 she has an opinion like all cats and we hope she stays around

when spring gets here and doesn't take off

 I think she likes it here

 she knows how to be patient

and when to walk away

taking over

yup, our new barn cat "Sylvie" is taking over

our dog is back sleeping under the deck

barn cat just like Snowball

here is our new pet

we call her 'Sylvie', she is living in our barn and

showed up a month ago

she has no tail because her breed is Manx

she is a female and is a great mouser,

we can pet her and she likes that, but she does not

particularly like being picked up

our dog Summer is very compliant about her being in the barn

 he has a huge bed pillow with a heat lamp 

Sylvie is always sleeping on it and Summer lets her sleep there.

wow!

this was our cat Snowball (below) who at the age of 13 died a few years

ago and I never replaced her.

Sylvie is very similar in appearance to old Snowball and I LOVE THAT!

more cat stories to follow I am sure....

my weekend plans

(photo credit unknown)

 cuddle up to something soft this weekend

reading under a soft blanket

white paws and black velvet....

i miss my kitty already....this was not just a cat...she was the only creature who was my baby....i wanted a cat, i went and picked her out and brought her home and the last few years I complained about her at times and yet there was nothing like a soft cat hopping on to your lap and purring like a tractor to calm the nerves and relax me... i decided to take her to a pain free home today...which i like to think is cat heaven...i could see it in her eyes on Monday nite when she jumped onto my lap while i was all cozied up with my quilt on the sofa watching TV. I was pleasantly surprised when two white paws creeped up onto the quilt and then her head and the big sad eyes ...that was it "her eyes" said it all ...i am not well and i need comfort....i have been worried about our dog and here Snowball is the one that i needed to "lovingly" ease her poor quality of living that she has had the last few months.

this black and white velvety cat was almost 13 years old (born in April 1996) and has peacefully passed away today.


did I know I would feel this way? all of a sudden a decision had to be made and i new it was the right one....I watched and listened on Monday nite and i finally got the message .....it is time to say goodbye.

my soft little "snowball" pet was mine from October 1996 to Feb 5, 2009 {ny nickname for her was "precious"}

blessings..

 
reading by the campfire with a loyal friend...
 
"snowball" ....she loved this summer...she used to always be chased by "Summer" our dog...but this year she must of thought..life is too good to stay inside....love this cat she is soooo velvety soft and healthy at 12 years old (even though she did bite my finger once and I ended up in the hospital for a little surgery and tetanus shot, i startled snowball badly just after we gave her a deworming pill and she attacked my finger - what a shock! but with animals there is always a reason)

 

Tom off to college tommorrow and he took this picture of the three of us out at Uncle Trevor's farm this summer with his other favourite dog "Ralph" the blue healer.

May beginnings...

i created this mosiac to show that alot of teamwork was going on out here this weekend...spring is finally here...

1. corral puddle, 2. follow me, 3. inside nest box, 4. nesting box (falcon), 5. it takes two, 6. Snowball, 7. scratching post, 8. beginnings -a rock garden, 9. helpers, 10. rock search

Snowball

my cat...12 years old - she has been a wonderful pet until the finger biting episode in August, but I have forgiven her...we should of called her "sylvestre" but the boys were into watching the Simpsons on TV back then and named her "snowball".