RIP ~ Tat the Barn Cat

Tat died of old age yesterday morning...we'll be burying him this morning.

Tat was a cat of his own...which I think most cats are. In August of 1997, I got two free kittens which I wanted as barn cats, and they were named Tiz and Tat. Well, Tiz had other ideas; he promptly made himself at home at the neighbor's place...on their bed! They loved him dearly, so how could I take him away from such a great home.

Tat didn't want anything to do with people, he would hang around and occasionally rub your leg, but petting was not allowed by his standards.

I quickly glanced at his file this morning and took a total of the medical bills that I had kept; $740. Whoever says owning a pet in not costly doesn't take care of their animals! He got kicked by a horse one time and it knocked the hip bone out of the socket...$300 later he was a good as new. Then he developed a urinary tract infection and has been on special (expensive) food ever since. But, you just do what needs to be done.

~Rest in Peace Tat~

Tat had become a "mud room" cat in the past couple of years as we knew that he wouldn't be able to withstand the harsh winters here in Harney County. He was already very thin and didn't have much of an appetite, but quit eating a couple of days ago. He only showed any sign of pain a couple of times...and whenever you petted him he purred like crazy...to the very end.

He had a good long life, but my mud room is sadly quiet.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Garden Stalker

 ~ 

Get more Wordless HERE!!

Also participating in Wordless Wednesday Again.

Sunday Stills ~ Music Groups or Song Titles in Pics

Well, I just couldn't pass this Sunday Stills photo challenge up...fun!!!  The challenge was to take photos that would represent either a music group or a song title.

I opted to go with song titles on my photos...the first couple should be pretty simple, but the others are a bit more difficult. Give 'um a guess...but I've put the titles in the comments.

 ~ 

 ~ 

 ~ 

 ~ 

 ~ 

Check out the other participants for this week's challenge at Sunday Stills!!

Friday Fences ~ Tat the Cat

I don't think Tat's been on the blog for over two years...since his "Photo Shoot" post in March of 2010!

Let's see...I got Tat in October of 1996 as a kitten...so that makes him 16 years old?!? He's pretty spry for an ol' man...he still likes to rule the two feral cats in the barn!

Tat the barn cat

Last year's weeds are hiding the field fencing...I've got a lot of spring cleaning still to do!

Happy Friday!

Friday Fence's with Life According to Jan and Jer!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Wordless Wednesday...check out more participants HERE!

Sun and Snow = Spring!

~I hope it's a good season and I get out of debt.

If not, I'll have to count on some good luck.~

~Sherry Decker 1898~

Participating in:

It's a blog hop...check it out!

It sunshines...it snows...back to sunshine...Mother Nature is such a tease this year! It is unseasonable cold, but the good news is that our normal amount of precipitation is higher than usual.

Thankfully we are on high ground whereas the folks on the flood plain have already had issues with flooding and the mountain snows have barely started to melt...it could be ugly for them and I pray that we have a slow melt for their sakes.

All we can do it take one day at a time~

Tat the Barn Cat found a spot of sun on my Aldo Leopold bench.
He's probably wondering where spring is too!

Despite the snow and cold, spring pushes onward.

A look back at the ranch house from the rim rock.

Colt and Gus are whoopin' it up in the cool, crisp mornin' air.

Today Colt and I will help move heifers and their calves into the corrals for branding at the 3J Ranch. Tomorrow My Man and I will help McCoy Creek move a herd across the desert to their spring range. It's a good day when I can be in the saddle!

Happy Friday!

Tuesday Mornin' Ramblings

~If you're going to be a writer,

the first essential is just to write.

Do not wait for an idea.

Start writing something and the ideas will come.

You have to turn the faucet on 

before the water starts to flow.~
~Louis L'Amour~

I have this printed and posted at my desk. I've read so many times on other blogs that they're just in a slump and can't quite figure out what to blog about. This has helped me a few times when I seemed to be "empty" of any ideas. The other thing that gets my mind moving are photos...but you've already figured out that I tend to like photos  ;~)




This mornin' we had the first real freeze! I even broke water on the troughs 'cause it was pretty thick. There was a nice frost covering everything and the sun was shining too...a stunning mornin' in "God's Country."






Tonight we're supposed to have 70% chance of snow/rain and 40% tomorrow. Ty at the 3J Ranch called last evening and wanted to know if I could help gather and sort either today or tomorrow...YES!! Well, today would have been the better day, but they decided on tomorrow...guess I better get out the serious winter riding attire...it could be a long, cold day.

My neighbor friend Sam is coming over around noon today to ride. Sam competes pretty successfully in teh barrel circuit and I've been helpin' her with some stuff with her new horse she just got a few weeks ago. It's nice to have someone to ride with.

It's going to be Gus' first outing to the big arena. I've been riding him in the hackamore and he's coming along much better than in the snaffle. I've got a call in to our "new" mobile vet...who specializes in equine...we're all very excited about that...to get everyone's teeth checked. I'm sure Gus hasn't had his wolf teeth removed, so I know that's a big part of the snaffle issue. But, he's doing really well in the hackamore, and if all goes as well as it has been, I'll just leave him in it and follow the training structure that I'm learning from Mike Bridges.




Cowboy must not have gotten a very good sleep!!!

OK...why is it that horse poop balls taste much better when they're frozen?!? Because of the freeze this mornin', Cowboy and Bella Jo were packin' around what I call sh*tsicles...what fun!





Tat loves to help feed too...he usually follows me every mornin' and evenin'. For a 13 year old cat, he's doin' pretty darn good. He felt a lil' bit thin, so we're supplementing his kibble with a bit of canned cat food in the mornin' and he's startin' to fatten up! He'll be good for another winter I'm sure.





Ahhhhh...and Bella Jo...she sure enjoyed her "Gotcha Day" celebration...the cookies were the best! Thanks for all the wonderful comments on that post...I read them all to her...she was very proud!

I've got a new recipe in the crock pot...and the kitchen is startin' to smell mighty good...the wood stove's a goin'...and daylight's burnin'~

Sunday Stills ~ Potluck

Another edition of the Sunday Stills photo challenge has come around...I've missed the past couple, but how could I not participate when we could take photos of "anything fun and interesting?"

Bella Jo and Tat the Barn Cat made good subjects a couple of days ago as they see who's the toughest...

Bella Jo always starts something...

But Tat isn't afraid of showing Bella Jo exactly what he thinks of her...

And Bella Jo is willing to accept his opinion!

In the end...they are really pretty good buddies.

Enjoy more Potluck Photos by going HERE.

Have a great Sunday!

A Photo Shoot with Tat the Barn Cat

Tat the Barn Cat doesn't get a lot of screen time here on the blog...but that's not sayin' that he's not a valued member of the ranch...which of course he is!!

Tat the Cat is...well...you know...a cat.

One that has his own way of doing things.

He's about 13 years old now, and he's just recently

decided that it's OK to be petted...see...

he has to do things on his "own" time.

But I asked Tat if he would like a "spotlight" in the blog.

At first he pretended not to hear me.

Then when I finally got his attention...Tat gave me

the "oh...who me?...well maybe look."

It was a beautiful, sunny day...but the wind was

howlin'...he was a lil' flustered with

his hair style. I told him that

all the "hot" photo models used fake

wind to get the affect that he had goin'...

Hmmmm...he wasn't buyin' into my story...

And, the glamor was wearing off...all too quickly...

Tat was headin' stage right at a pretty quick pace...

Yep...this is definitely "The End."

Have a great week!

I'm Leaving Him In Charge

Yep, there he is...the man in charge. Tat the Barn Cat!! I think he looks like he'll take care of the Rough String while I'm gone overnight...what do you think?

I'm off to Grant County to do more Ag Surveys...back tomorrow!

Hot Coffee 'n an Ice Cold Mornin'

Here's my first confession...I love my mornin' coffee. And to brag on My Man a lil'...he brings me a cup in bed every morning!! How spoiled am I?!? He's such a great husband. The day after Thanksgiving our farm store (BigR) had their 20% off sale, and we treated ourselves to a new coffee maker. I am absolutely in love with this one. It's easy to clean, easy to set up to make coffee, and the best part is that there isn't a carafe to break! I just walk up to it and put my cup under it...wahlah! Coffee!!!



After reading some blogs this morning, with a nice hot cup of coffee in hand, it was time to get out to feed. My Man said it was cold this morning...he was right...16 degrees. Ok...time to dig out the cuddle duds. Boy they felt good too!

Colt's trough was frozen pretty good.
I guess I better get the heated bucket out for him.
He's in his own paddock at night; the others already got their tank heaters in.

Here comes the morning Breakfast Parade down the hill.
Stetson & Catnip, the burros, are in the lead as usual!

Awww...Stetson and Rohan can share!

I turn around after feeding the Wild Bunch and see this.
It may not look like much, but it's where all 3 cuttings of alfalfa used to be.
The last load left here yesterday going to a dairy in Idaho!
Every last bale is now bought, paid for and gone! AMEN.

This photo is from a couple of days ago...do you think my Christmas pups are impressed with me?
LOL...Abby wouldn't keep her antlers on long enough for me to get a shot!
Poor Cowboy is hoping his ears aren't permanently damaged!!

Now here's a question for ya'll. Hoof abscesses are all too common in horses, but have you ever heard of an abscess in a cat's paw? In fact, it wasn't exactly in his paw, it was just above it. Well, Tat made the trip to the vet and came home sporting a pretty pink bandage. He got antibiotics and pain killers, and it took him 3 days before he was walking on all 4 feet again. It was really painful for him. They never did find anything in the abscess. Just one of those mysteries I guess.

Sounds

This morning it started about 4:30 a.m.~~thump, thump...tap, tap, tap...thump...tap, tap...silence. Then it started again...thump, tap,tap, tap, thump...what the heck is that????!!! My guess is that it's the deer...I sneak out of bed and go to the sliding glass door (6 feet away)...sure enough...there's this cute lil' doe starin' me in the face at the crack of dawn!!! Sorry, no pic on this one!!! The deer have been devouring our lone apple tree this year for some reason; they've never done it before. This lil' doe was putting her front hooves up on the deck (just outside the bedroom patio door) so she could reach higher into the tree to get more apples and leaves...they are stripping the tree! It'll be ok, the tree will come back next year in fine shape; it's a really big tree.

So...sounds...besides doe hooves at 4:30 in the morning, there are a lot of sounds I love. Sounds of the "few and far between" cars or trucks coming down our road in the still of dawn. They can leave a beautiful hue as I watch the sunrise. That's not mist...it's dust from the gravel road hovering over the valley floor.

Sounds of hooves rhythmically hitting the ground could put you to sleep after a long day's ride. Colt and I are riding along the edge of one of the alfalfa fields...this view is of one of our wheel line movers and the line (parked for the winter) through Colt's ears.

How about the sound of a herd of yahoos, coming down the hill for dinner? They can surely create a stir of clattering hooves on rock and send a ton of dust into the air. This "herd of yahoos" includes Stetson & Catnip the burros and Duncan & Rohan, two of our mustangs. They had just come galloping down the hill for dinner.
Sounds of training in my "training program" include clucking and kissing to my horses to get a specific response...come on, take a spin on my reined cow horse!!!!



I love spinnin'...that was not quite 2 revolutions and in a competition it's usually 2 1/2 revolutions, and faster too!

Sounds can be very subtle sometimes...like the flies that have landed on my hat bathing in the sun.

Another subtle sound (around me all day long) is my lil' shadow~~Cindy Sue~~Here she's nestling in the straw bedding in for a lil' nap.

Do cats make noise?...not much that I've ever noticed...this is Tat the barn cat...observing whether I'm saddling the horses correctly or not.

Alright...my favorite sound...it's the sound of horses eating. That may seem odd to most, but they eat as rhythmically as they walk, trot or lope. It'll put to sleep if you let it. Breath in the sweet smell of hay and listen to the soft crunch of hay...heaven!

John's horse Whiskey makes a nest out of his hay pile as he finds the best leaves of alfalfa to eat first.

My 21 year old Quarter Horse, Toby, has the best rhythm of them all. Maybe it's just because I've listened to him for so long that I understand him better.

Colt is actually eating an apple here...more slobber...yum~~