ANIMAL PLANET WITH A LITTLE KETCHUP ON THE SIDE...

It was a day like all days...grey, no wind and getting milder.  Phoebe Bluegrass and Mademoiselle Gucci accompanied me to the barn, but no cats appeared until I put them back in the house.  Out came L'orange.

Then Sidney and Seymour showed up.

My sidekick Barb was on the scene and we got on with the morning chores.


It almost felt like a heatwave compared to the last two weeks.... ha ha.

Masterpiece...

King Mustafa....

(Ooops...there's Barb picking the paddock)

Berlin...

and Glen Aberlour (Abbe) were trying to have a nice quiet breakfast, but they were constantly being distracted.

Meanwhile back in the house....
Phoebe was doing her morning exercises....

along with her little sister...the Guch.

At 2 we jumped in the car and headed down to the Brockport Animal Hospital.  Gucci seemed to have a problem with one of her ears.

Of course it turned out to be a bacterial infection....cha ching....cha ching!  This month has been bleeding me with vet bills.

Got home in time to get near the fire, before going out to do chores.

Did not take my camera...until I get my little one back, I probably won't be taking as many pictures...don't like taking my good one out to the barn.

I LOVED  our dinner tonight.  A carrot/apple/dried cranberry/walnut salad (with a little lemon juice and mayo).

Roasted potatoes...better than any French Fries anywhere....

And veggie burgers (on oat nut bread) with swiss cheese and fried onions.

COMFORT FOOD that really hit the spot.

Now I am going to get COMFORTable like Seymour.

PS-I often wonder what makes people find this Journal, and why do they keep in touch?  Before this counter, I had about 10,000 hits and now there are over 90 some thousand more.  I'm over 100,000 and can't believe it.  Peanuts compared to the Pioneer Woman and Chickens in the Road, but so amazing.  Just a little pohdunk town in the middle of nowhere....a small horse farm....lots of sweet animals and a couple of retired baby boomers who like to sing, do art, work in the community, grow things and meet people from around the world.  Ain't life grand?  I appreciate you all so much.  Thanks for tuning in.  I want to meet everyone.

Night all.  Esther in Niger...Mike and Ann in England...Helen in Scotland...Dedene and Ronelle in France...Sabine in Germany...Terry in Colorado...Felicia in Philly...Gayle in Alaska...the whole gang on the west coast...Sara and her flock in Kentucky...SJ in Ithaca...Jon and Maria at Bedlam Farm...Sharon in Chautauqua...Sandy in California..Susie in Saudi...Elvira in Tuscany...Maery Rose, Cherie, Kate, KV, Carmon, Sally, Rebecca, Jill, Inger, Lynda, Arlene, Jo, Victoria, Ingrid, Nea, Frank, Sophie, Gail, Sunny, D, ....man, I could go on and on.

Good night John Boy!

A CHANGE IS ON THE WAY....

On my own for chores this morning.  No problem.

L'orange ventured out with Sidney and Seymour.  He has been very quiet lately so I was happy to see him socializing.

We have 3 barns that are open during the day, so the cats have a gigantic playground.

There may be about 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground now...it has steadily disappeared.

A little warmer, but that darn wind came up again.

So what's the big change?  The weatherman said it could be 50 by Saturday.  Guess we will have to go for a swim in Lake Ontario.  There sure won't be any snow left.

My little digital camera would not work today...made a buzzing sound and kept telling me to turn it off and turn it on again (Sony cyber-shot).  Called Sony and am sending it in.  That leaves me with my Canon Power Shot and I will have to be very protective of it when I go out to the barn.  I can't tell you how many gazillion photos I've taken with the Sony and have only had it since last April. 

Perhaps I can get some better close-ups now.

Late morning our friend Deb showed up with her daughter Claire, who is visiting from Spain.

It was so nice to meet her.  She has a couple of horses and wanted to see our setup.

All four of them came with us to the indoor and were acting pretty frisky!  Must be the change in the barometer.

Had lunch and got ready for class.

Of course Gucci and Phoebe could not wait for Tina to arrive (with their treats).

Sandy brought them some too!

Just three students today.  This time of year it is pretty quiet with everything going on.

Sandy is almost finished with her horse.

Tina transferred her drawing of DJ and Tootsie Louise.

and Mel continued to work on his bird.

Barb had chore duty, so I could just veg.

Dinner was a simple salad...greens, onions, carrots, goat cheese and homemade croutons.

I put some of my pickled beets on the top....

Ta Daaaaa....leftover beans and greens.  A no brainer.

It's not even 7:30 and I am outaheaaaaahhh.
Night all.

CRAZY WEATHER....

I forgot to show you the painting our friend Sara did of L'orange.  She gave it to us Christmas Eve.

Looks just like him....don't ya think?

It was extremely cold here today (2 degrees with the windchill) so he was most happy to snuggle up in his little "cubicle/box/bed."

Barb got to the barn before me and discovered that part of Berlin's stall wall was blown out into the aisle.  We figure that something spooked her (like a cat fight).  Thor (a big short tailed cat) has been showing up in the barn and we think he has been picking on L'orange.  That's the only thing we can think of .  Berlin was not down and she is extremely quiet in her stall.  Guess we will never know.

She seemed fine, so we proceeded with chores.

Gary would have to put the wall back in place when he got back from coffee.  You can just imagine how thrilled he was.

It started to snow and the wind was nasty.  The Vet came for an appointment with Mustafa late morning and then we the horses back in the barn. 

  

Back to the house and made sure Sid and Seymour came in.

Started making some beans and greens for dinner.  Monday night!  Jenny and the boys.

First I sauteed some garlic and onions....then added a large can of crushed tomatoes and four cups of beef (or chicken) stock.

Sid was not interested.

At 4 I let the horses out....cleaned the stalls and set up for evening chores.  It did not seem quite as cold as it was this morning.

The sky was actually quite beautiful.

Got back in the house by 5:20.  Added beans, baby spinach and pasta to the soup.

Topped it with Romano cheese.

The salad...mixed greens, pears, walnuts, dried cranberries and onion.

Served with crusty Italian bread.

After dinner there was a competitive game of Junior Monopoly.

Followed by an outrageous Skyping with their cousins in Nevada.
Time for a cupa tea and the fire.

Night all.  Fortunately, we may get up into the low 40s in the next couple of days.