Sunday Silence: Foose April 15 2009 - June 21 2025

 

I have an excuse...

 for not posting in a week. I have been busy fencing. We have so much grass here and if I don't get it grazed down it just dries up and becomes a fire hazard. So we fenced off a few acres for the mare's next pen as their original one that they have been grazing since winter is getting short. 

I had a supervisor doing QA and QC. 

Better turn that insulator a couple more times!

We put in 30 posts and 3 strands of hot wire rope. The heat is brutal  so I could only work in the mornings, and 1 evening. But we got it finished today!

That board fence in the back is where their first pen was. We only had to fence 2 sides of this pen. 

Happy mares!

They only grazed for a short while then went and hid out in the shade of their shelter to get away from the biting flies. They have lots of distance to go for shelter and water, so they won't just be filling their faces 24/7. I may lock them out of the new pen and just have them in their shelter pen at night if they get looking too... fluffy. 

Velvet is 29 days post breeding and hasn't come back in heat. I will keep checking her for a few more days just to be sure. I will start checking Ruby back around the 17th. For inquiring minds, I just lead the mare to a safe spot over the fence from Beamer and let him holler at them. If they aren't in heat they let him know- pinned ears, striking etc. If they are in heat, they squat and pee a little bit. 

We have a heat warning for the next few days. I want to get back to working Ruby so it will either be early morning or evening for that. I did take her out for another ride, but she was nervous so I kept it short. Not having someone to ride with makes me more cautious with a mare I don't know really well yet. I found a good post by Martin Black on ways to work from the ground to get her more focused on me that I can do in the round pen, so that will be the next step. I think a horse that is worried on the trail or riding out alone isn't connected with and trusting in the rider, so it looks like I have a lot of work to do with her before we get to that point. 

I found a guy locally who does feet/teeth/bodywork as a combined way of assessing the horse so I may haul over to him. Ruby is very stiff laterally in her neck, which may be from the years of needing her teeth done. I think my next step with her will be to do a lot of the Masterson Method on her first before I spend the money on anything else. See what I can do myself first. 

She had become much more friendly and wanting to interact with me. Even lets me touch her face - I attribute that to  having her teeth done and a bit of hand feeding a bit of grain. I want them to come to me, even if I have to treat to make it happen. Build the desired behavior and  let it become a habit. 

We have a bunch of new birds around here. We have seen Baltimore Orioles, blue Herons, Gold finches, several birds I can't identify yet and of course baby birds like these starlings. 

It may be difficult to keep the cats from getting them when they start to fly. May have to lock them up in the barn for a couple of days. 

Mr. Innocent.

Sunset and those cats

 Once again we were treated to a magnificent sunset. This kind of colour only lasts for a few minutes so I had to hustle to capture it. 

No editing! It really was that intense colour. 

We are at the tail end of a spell of warm weather- but it's time for ole man winter to breathe his icy blast on us again. Next week we are expecting temps in the -30 (C) range. That's -22 + in Fahrenheit. 

Touques and long johns will be in use! I have a down work coat that I use for chores in that kind of weather. Ted's dad gave it to me and I am ever so grateful; it is a tough green canvas with lots of pockets and is mid thigh length. Perfect! 

Our cats are cuddle bugs. They like to visit Ted when he sits outside. Thumper is a lap cat- Foose not so much. Anything more than a few seconds and he wants outta there. 

Ted, of course, didn't let him go in the prerequisite 3 seconds.... 

Thumper says more cuddles please!

The feral cat that is the least skittish is Ringo. She  He will come and demand food if we are late feeding! (News flash, Ted got a good look and Ringo is definitely a he. No gender bending intended!)

Checking for mice from his vantage point

The kittens continue to live in the barn. I am keeping a watch on the little Siamese, she looks suspiciously fat. 

Cats

 Thumper and Foose have been together so long they are like an old married couple. Foose is 13 now and Thumper will be 12 in August. 

They do a lot of things together. 

Sometimes Foose comes complaining to me if Thumper hogs the food bowl, but it's usually Foose who hogs it!

Sometimes they share sleeping space, but mostly it's Thumper on the bed and Foose on his own bench.

Kitty paws! 😍

Thumper is the cuddlebug of the two. Always happy to take over my lap!

Foose is the you may pet me but only for three seconds type.

Thumper is the security guard . He is always scrapping with any cat that comes into his territory. The latest one is this Siamese Manx - very pretty cat but still intact so he is flexing his territorial muscles. He lives 2 doors down.

Foose mostly hangs out in the house these days, but with the nicer weather he is a kitty-in-and- out! 

Yeah? So what! Thumper can do all the work!

Now that we don't have dogs, we are very thankful to have two such lovely and personable cats .

Sunday Stills- Cats

 Cats.... What can I say about my 2 cats...

Thumper is 11 and Foose is 12.  Since they realised we no longer have dogs in the house, they imperceptibly managed to stop being barn cats and become house cats.  At least, they thought they were being sneaky about it, but they were aided and abetted by Ted offering them a saucer of milk every time they came to the house. (We miss the dogs, for Ted it's Merle in particular.) 

So before you know it, they have taken over the house. And they are slothballs. They sleep all the time!

This is kittehspeak for Do Not Disturb

In case you missed that..... 

Thumper usually lays on the loveseat with me and if I get up he moves to my spot. Guess he wants to keep it warm for me- thoughtful kitty 😁

Foose is more of a loner, he usually spends his time snoozing on the top of Ted's dresser (mine is too cluttered!) 

This is his usual position....

Love those furry tufted paws!

But sometimes he finds a spot on our bed and really relaxes.....

Note that he only bothered to open one eye to see Why I Was Disturbing Him! And that he brought some of the outside in stuck to his fancy pants.

I love my kitties!

My sister has a very handsome cat called Rodrigo.

He helped himself to some catnip from the garden and had a good roll.

He reminds me of Kitty Pearl.