Animal Crackers - She took a piece of our heart -

Howdy -

This one is a hard Animal Crackers to write - This week we lost a piece of our hearts. Our inside kitty Gato passed away. 

She really wasn't a cat, at least she didn't know she was a cat. She was only about 3 weeks old when she came to us. Hubby brought her home after finding her in the engine of our delivery van ... many years ago. She was tiny and covered in grease. It was a miracle she survived the engine, but she was meant to be found and come to live with us. A blessing for sure.  Oh at the time I told him NO don't bring a cat home. Then it was just we will clean her up and find her a home.. yeah we found her a home. Right here with us. 

She was so tiny... wouldn't eat from a bowl, so I had to feed her with a dropper until I could get her to eat on her own. She quickly became the heart of the house and we all fell totally in love with her. Including our large border collie at the time. She adored her. 

Gato soon realized that she would have to learn how to pose for me. And she was great at it! 

I have a bunch with her in my photo tent back in the day. She loved my tent! Usually just cuz she liked the lights... but the girl LOVED to bite and shred paper too.. and one day I walked off and left my card in the tent BEFORE I took the photo... 

Silly kitty... and her sleeping places and positions. She loved warm laundry - and she loved my antique doll beds. 

Never did understand the plants... just doesn't look comfortable. 

She spent most of her evening naps in Hubby's lap or mine. I love this photo, as her sharing with Libbie was not something found often. 

I could go on and on.. she was our baby, she loved to be held like a baby and rocked. She loved having her photo taken, and she was gorgeous so she was a great model. We still can't believe she is gone, thankfully she was still pretty active and all around the house as normal until the last couple of days we could see things were changing. I held her and made sure she knew how much she meant to us and just how much we love her. And then she sighed and was gone. I am thankful that both Hubby and I were right there with her, and although skinnier she was always Gato and never really suffered. 

You will be missed Miss Gato - But I am thankful we were the ones blessed to have you in our hearts. 

Hug your furry children! 

Have a blessed weekend - 

HUGS and 

Animal Crackers - Tuxedo's Surprise

Howdy 

This week we got a "little" surprise. Now you may remember our stray kitten that showed up months ago, Tuxedo, as we named her. She lives in the goat pen and seems happy there... a while back Hubby came in and said I think Tuxedo is pregnant... and I answered "How?!!" Yeah you can imagine the look I got. But then we remembered months ago we had a day or so where we saw another cat... then never again. Hubby said it was a male ... and well I guess it was. This week I was called outside to see a surprise... This is what I saw out in the goat pen as I came off the back porch.

Tuxedo's surprise is the cutest little kitten... we have named him "Shadow" I am sure his Momma will be teaching him to live cautious and in the shadows of the goats. That is how she has stayed safe, and well hid her little baby for so long. The goats seem to have accepted the new little creature,  just as they did Tuxedo. 

I didn't get a photo of Tuxedo this week, as soon as she sees me she bolts for cover. So here is one photo I did get a while back. 

Now this little guy is just adorable.... 

It was really adorable when Hubby went into the pen to see if Shadow would let him get close. 

The hiss was even adorable. HA! 

But as soon as Hubby left him alone, he climbed up on the deck (yes it is flipped over, the goats do that.. sigh, we can't flip it back now because that seems to be where Tuxedo and Shadow are staying right now) Anyway... he climbed up on the deck and found a tail to play with.. his own, it was so cute! 

We stood out there quite a long time watching this little guy. Hopefully in time he will be a little friendlier than his momma. And we won't let them know that soon they will both be trapped and taken to be fixed to help keep the population under control. They will be brought back and left to live with their family, the goats. 

Gato isn't worried about the new competition... She knows we wouldn't bring anyone else inside to live with her... but mainly to live with Libbie. Nope Libbie wouldn't allow that. 

Now the weather here has been unseasonably cooler than normal. Sorry I know those of you in the Northwest are roasting in the heat that you are not use to. Here this week the last few days we have barely made 80 degrees. And cloudy rainy weather as well. Loving that! 

Louise not happy.. well the cooler weather yes, the rainy.. no. You know goats... they melt in the rain. 

Well at least they think that... and express it loudly as well. The ground is wet!!!!

The only really great donkey photo I got this week was Valentine. My standard boy. 

Some days you get a quick hello while he is passing, to food usually, or just following his Mom Cocoa. But the other day I got out of the car and he came right up to the door and stood there, I took advantage and loved all over him. Ok he was wet from the rain, so I became a mess as well. But I love the days he wants attention. Such a handsome guy. Wet and dirty and still a handsome guy! 

Hope you got a smile again this week and that you enjoyed our little surprise this week as well. 

Have a blessed weekend - 

HUGS and 

Animal Crackers - A Weekend with the Girls

Howdy, 

Since we had last weekend with a few of the boys, I thought today I would stick with some of the girls. Now Thelma says hello... but didn't want to stop with her breakfast. She has spread it out to a big mess, and is picking out all the best for her meal. 

Chloe was going steady and slow. That may be a bit due to her age. When did she become one of the old ladies? 

Keeping a close watch on her and Lucy. They both are in their golden years, and a bit skinny. But still going good, and they haven't lost a trot to their meals! 

And Miss Gracie... do you think an animal can really enjoy having their photo taken? She seriously runs to me and my camera and poses! I know I say that all the time, but it really cracks me up how she believes she is a super model. She seems to hold poses perfectly for me, where with others it is a million deleted photos of blurs and misses. 

Oh well I love showing her off - she is a pretty lady! 

Went back to see the lady donkeys, but I was too late again. All they cared about was eating. Although I could tell it was really killing Juliet to not come over and get her obnoxious lovings. But if she did she would loose her place in the hay circle... that could be horrible! 

Came back inside as it was already getting so hot and humid outside... 

Chica came in and just totally flopped over on the wood floor... I bet it felt good and cool huh Chica??? I would have joined her but that probably would have freaked Hubby out if he came in and saw me laying there next to her. HA ! And then I would have to get myself up off the floor and that would have been scary as well! 

Came in to my desk to download my photos... sigh... Gato and I recently have an on going feud over my office chair. She thinks it belongs to her, she loves this chair! 

But it is MY chair, there are LOTS of other places she can go and have her cat naps! Yeah I know I plugged in my camera and left her there for a while, she is in charge. But after I got laundry started and made some noise in the kitchen she jumped down and left her claim... so I took it! She did come back a bit later and meowed and pushed on me, but I stayed firm and she finally went and got in the recliner. Silly kitty. 

Hope you have a blessed weekend, a happy 4th of July holiday here in the USA - 

HUGS and 

Animal Crackers - Frozen Texas

Howdy - 

Well it has been a very interesting week here in Central Texas! I know those of you that live in cold climates chuckle at my complaining about the "cold".. but the issue is here is Texas we are just not prepared or built to have such cold temperatures, especially for days on end. We were trying to prepare the animals - with food and water for a day of frozen temps... then one day turned into days and days! Water went out... we started collecting any water we could get in buckets and totes for the animals. No water would be critical for them. Then the power went out. Then on for a little while... then off for a long while... felt like forever. It never gets down for long periods in the teens here... much less the single digits were were seeing! Poor Hubby was collecting any trickle of water he could, and working out melting snow to get out to the animals. Hauling 50-60 gallons of water to them was rough work each day, but he did it. Whatever it takes for his animals.  It is amazing how many layers of clothing I could find to put on.. and how many quilts you can put over you before you can't breath anymore. Lol inside doggies were big time into cuddling and Gato seemed to think the only place she would get was literally around my neck under the blankets. Longest hours ever! But finally... power is back - heat is working and as of writing this we are getting water pressure at times! Still having issues with the water but it is coming! 

All the animals made it through well and despite their confused looks of what the heck is going on they are good. 

It really was beautiful...  Hubby did a great job snapping photos for me. I will be honest. I didn't go out in it much at all. Clutz here... snow ice and no heat to warm up uh nope will stay wrapped up inside. He was the super hero around here. 

It snowed all night during the first round... woke up to 4 inches of powder snow. Thats when things went all insane and we lost power the first time and water was shut off. 

Love the look of the trees... 

Then Hubby said "as long as they don't break off and tear down our power lines" Now our power outages were due to rolling blackouts - gone nuts if you ask me... they said 45 minutes on 15 off was the plan. Uh nope many people went days without power, luckily we were just a day an half of no power, then hours at a time off with an hour or two on. During that day and half Hubby decided to check things out and see what was going on... yep a huge property in front of us... one of those limbs of ice took out the power to our property and the handful of houses behind us. Finally someone came out and fixed it and our power was restored just before dark. Glad Hubby took things into his own hands checking things out! 

I don't have the smartest of chickens... some of them just stayed out in the snow then carried little mounds on them for a while. 

Autie loved the snow. Ran out no problem and checked out the entire yard of white stuff. Libbie.. she went out did her business and went straight back in, no big deal, no issues of anything going on. Chica.. well that was a different story. 

First few times she had to be carried out put in the yard and told over and over "Hurry up as soon as you go you can come back in" Nope she would just sit down and shiver and look at us like were torturing her and we were horrible parents. It was so sad. But after day three... she decided it wasn't too horrible and she was running out with Autie and barking at everything. Silly dog. 

The second round of snow came during one morning... forecast said it would all be over around noon. At 4:30 it was still coming down... insane! I can count on one hand the snow I've seen here in my entire life and now 2021 we have had it 3 times! Once in January and then twice this past week! 

Once we had power again Gato decided that as long as she was on my lap that was good. But she wouldn't get very far off of me just in case the temperatures dropped again she wanted to be ready to get under covers! 

Now life will get back to some sort of normal hopefully. I hope this isn't some sort of new climate going on! That would be really scary! Probably going to take a few days to make sure there isn't any damage to pipes, trees and structures. But we are really done with Winter here... Common Spring! LOL 

Hope you are all safe and warm where you are - We are blessed to all be healthy and WARM here! 

HUGS and 

Animal Crackers - Gotta Love Texas Weather!

Howdy -

Gotta Love Texas weather! We went from the 80's one day to a windy high of 53 the next. I went out to snap photos the donkeys, who were having lots of fun running and playing in the wind. It is pretty entertaining to watch the older ladies run... or trot... and play with the younger donkeys. 

Josie was trying to get her Momma, Jolene to play a little longer,  but Jolene was done. 

 This little girl has become a gorgeous young lady. She is still tiny, but is filling out more. Her nose is such a luxurious black velvet just like Mom's and Dad Black Jack's. We are so in love with her. 

After loving on Josie I called over Hanna. She came and let me kiss her on her nose, and give her lots of head scratches. But then her Momma Bella snorted and Hanna hung her head and walked away from me, off to follow Mom to the hay bale. Gotta go when Mom says so you know. 

I then had a little girl talk with Miss Macie. Sweet old girl. She has always been special to me. I've always said her eyes just speak to me, and melt my heart. She is just so calm and gentle. 

I looked across the pen and saw Patti and Pavo having some sort of chat going on. Man I wish I could hear what they were discussing. 

I am sure they were making fun of someone's running. A few older ones here they don't all run as well as they use too! Now Patti is one of my older girls, but she still has her game! She sticks right up front with all the young ones. You go girl! 

As I came in the back door Gato was sitting in the kitchen. Meowed and demanded to be fed. Now she had food in her bowl, but it wasn't 100% full and not "fresh". Silly Kitty. 

Speaking of getting older. She is over 14 now. Now she still acts young.. but we are seeing some changes in her. She is skinnier, and her cat naps are a bit longer than they use to be. But when she gets that little twitch like lightening striking she is flying through the house 90MPH! Such a perfect kitty - my little heater kitty. 

I hope you have a smile again this week. Hope you all have a blessed weekend and have furry friend to love on! 

HUGS and 

Animal Crackers - When Breakfast is Stuck to Your Head...

Howdy - 

It is a rough start to the day when you get your breakfast stuck to your head!! And I mean really tangled up and stuck! 

Little guy was so upset... he was bouncing around, bucking his head and rubbing on everything. I am just glad I saw him out the window and could run out and save him!! I called out to him and he ran towards the fence as if he knew I had come to rescue him! Took me a minute to get it all untangled but finally he was free... I didn't even get a thank you... he went right back to eating what was just a hat on his head! LOL 

I did catch Domino in what I am sure was a really good laugh at his buddy Alvin Jr. 

I think I heard Domino yell out "Dork"! HA! These guys sure are entertaining! 

Went out to visit the ladies then. So sweet. Fancy Pants sure is showing a bit of age... that tiny little white spot on her head has gotten a bit bigger and gray, and she is starting to have a bit of gray coming in all over her face. 

Such a beautiful lady... a bit controlling, but beautiful and sweet.

Then once they all calmed down and went back to eating breakfast, my sweet timid little guy Pavo came for some lovin'. 

It amazes me just how sweet and friendly this guy has become. We barely could touch him when he was in with the other guys. But he was being beat up and since he is a gelding he can live in with the girls. So we moved him in and he fit in perfectly with his new girl friends. Now he loves to get attention and scratches all over. In fact he followed me all the way to the gate, and didn't want me to go. So sweet. So glad he lives happily in with the ladies, now I can love on this handsome man. 

Then Raffie yelled out... 

Now I am fluent in donkey you know... He said... "MOM MOM... Just 5 minutes in with the Ladies please... MOM 5 minutes!!!" HA! I explained that it isn't long before we put a couple of girls in with him. It is starting to cool off a bit and then we can have a few dates for him. He just doesn't like to wait! 

When coming through the back door I found this.. 

Now this is a rare thing.... Libbie isn't the most loving family member towards Gato. Chica and Autie love Gato, but Libbie.. not so much. But since she has been blind she tolerates much more. Even Gato. At least at this distance.. much closer she starts to make some noises to let Gato know she is pushing the limit... She may be blind but she is still in control and can show it! 

Hope you got a smile or two this week. And honestly how can you not have gotten a smile from Alvin Jr's breakfast hat? 

Have a blessed weekend and love on a furry or feathered friend! 

HUGS and 

Animal Crackers - Cloudy Day

Howdy - 

Oh my... rain rain please come our way. We need rain, and yesterday it was raining everywhere around us... storms would move right at us, break apart then re-fire once they passed us! We are starting to take this very personally! Praying for future predictions to actually hit here! Yesterday it was cloudy and dreary most all day. I went out to snap some photos and found the young men goats playing in their water and flirting with the girls. They are flirting pretty much 24/7 now a days.  Even when trying to be cool and manly, these boys stop their snorting and girl calling to run over for attention and head scratches. They are very sweet boys after all. 

Alvin Jr. came and was showing off his baby blue eyes at me, and his very wet dunked beard straight from the water bucket.

 

He is always so very sweet, even if he is sticky and nasty. LOL Love this guy and his baby blues! 

Speaking of Blue Eyes.. I found Alice looking out the lady goats new side window. 

Goats are so destructive... sigh... I can't tell you how many times Hubby has fixed, replaced and reattached the side of their hut... But Alice does look like she enjoying the view from the side of hut, but before cold weather that new opening will have to be fixed again. 

I decided that I would try and get a photo of the young donkeys... well they had a different idea. You see it was much cooler than it has been, cloudy and well they were feeling like being rowdy and playing! 

Hanna paused just long enough for me to snap a photo of her resting her head on the fence. She is such a sweet girl. Just wish I could have gotten a better photo... but you can see how sweet she is in those big brown eyes... 

A few minutes later Jose and Hanna stopped to take a minute to "scratch" each others back. 

Love the look on Josie's face, HA! She is like not now Mom! They seemed to really be hitting the right spot and enjoying it! Funny girls... I didn't get a photo in time, but their Mommas Jolene and Bella was doing the exact same thing the other side of the pen. Was too funny.

I came inside and couldn't find Gato... every once in awhile she gets in a bad kitty mode and likes to try and run outside. And lately she has actually made it a couple of times. I did not want to chase her around the back yard or especially up the tree! So when I couldn't find her I had a small panic. Then I went into the Living room when I remembered her new spot. Since cleaning out we have a trunk under a window... I put a quilt over the top of it and Gato now has claimed it as her own window bed with a view. 

Look at that innocent look on her face, You been looking for me?? I've been right here taking a little cat nap. 

Thought I would show off another favorite "thing" around the house. This time a kitty... and some roses. 

First the Kitty Teapot - its not super old, or valuable. But I love it. It technically is Hubby's, he collects all kinds of cat things. I remember the day we bought it, years ago. A great day out antiquing just the two of us, end of the day and there it was on a shelf. Not anything we normally was out looking for but it stood out and we had to have it. It has personality. It sits in my corner cabinet on the top shelf where we can see it every day. Behind that Kitty... something very special. Those are the silk roses from our wedding. We sat and made those roses with my Grandmother before our wedding day... Grandma and I sewed, Hubby wrapped them with tape and put them on wires. Then we filled them with bird seed... I have saved that little grouping of them for over 33 years... It is a nice happy memory of Hubby and I spending time with my Grandma. Miss her, but have lots of special memories like this. 

Hope you got a smile today - Cooler temperatures and a little bit of rain makes us and my fur kids happy and smile! 

Have a blessed weekend!

HUGS and