Ranch roses

I always drive by the roses up at the ranch, get out, and take some photos.  They are so beautiful!  Of course, they have PLENTY of horse manure to enjoy!  I hope these brighten your day.

Horse visit Sunday

I had a good visit with the herd yesterday.  It was extremely muddy up at the ranch so I didn't take any of them out...just too slippery!  In fact, I slipped in Gigo's corral as I was brushing her.  I brushed them all.  They are all filthy, but more rain is forecast over the holiday weekend.  Rain is a good thing, and California desperately needs it, so I'm not going to complain.

I brushed them all.  Scout and Quad didn't have much loose hair, but Lucille...OYE VEI!  She's a woolly mammoth!  Poor thing.  I hadn't been up there in 3 weekends and it showed!  So, I brushed and brushed her while she ate a snake of pellets.  She's such a GOOD GIRL!  Sunni and Gigondas had quite a bit of hair come off, but nothing like Lucille!

It was a beautiful day up at the ranch.  The roses are blooming, the hummingbirds were at the feeders, clouds were gathering over the mountains...it was a great day for a drive!  I'm glad I had the energy to do so!

 Scout couldn't be bothered by my brushing.  She was too busy eating!

 Quad was more interested in extra food than anything else!

 This is AFTER I brushed out Lucille!

After brushing her (again)...

Kitten update

Well, the little guy has been surviving.  He's "adopted" our neutered gray male cat as his role model and follows "Mr. Gray" around the yard.  I think they even sleep together out under the Chinaberry tree out back.  He shows up for breakfast and dinner, then sleeps all day...typical cat behavior!  I occasionally see him streak across the front yard after a bird or two, but he hasn't caught one yet!  Sometimes I see him lurking out in the back yard, among the dead grass, again, terrorizing the birds there. So far, in his near-week of freedom, he has adapted well.  But, remember, he was feral when he was caught in the trap by our neighbor, so he is used to being outside, on his own.  The lone kitten in the cage now just pretty much ignores its brother (I haven't determined its sex yet...) and doesn't seem too bothered by the gain of its brother's freedom.  Oh, and the dog is now banned to only the front yard, so she can't go eat the cat food I leave out for the little guy!

Escape!

Well, one of the kittens (now almost fully grown) got out yesterday morning.  They were screaming for their breakfast and I'd gone out front to feed the birds, but I had to get the birdseed from my car, so I did that first.  I did feed two of them, but I went back later to add some dry food, since they were completely out.  SOMEHOW the little tabby one GOT OUT!  I never saw him escape, but he did.  Soon, I was counting only one nose (and it was black & white!)

ACK!

I immediately put the dog inside and told hubby.  Sure enough, he was prowling around the porch (loose).  Now, remember, I have a neighbor who wants to KILL THEM if she can trap them!  So, I worried all day yesterday at school.  Hubby sent me a couple of messages and told me that he was terrorizing the birds! And, he was hanging around.  That's a good sign, right?  By late that afternoon, he was still in our yard, and at one point, while I was checking into Facebook, he was out in the front yard.  He comes and goes now through the wrought iron fence separating the two yards.  I did put food out for him last night and this morning, he was screaming for food, so I put more out.  I saw him eat it and I put bowls of water out, but he is really on his own.  There is no way I can capture him.  He does come up to the cat house and "talk" to his sibling quite often.  So, I hoping and PRAYING that he will stay in our yard, where it is safe, and not venture into our neighbor's yard!  He has plenty of food, his sibling is in the cage, and there are plenty of birds to watch!  So, please send positive thoughts my way.  He's going to need all the help he can get!  The other two male cats aren't interested in him, but Ripley, my dog, does like to chase him back into the back yard.  She is now prevented from getting back there to harass him, so she's banished to the front!

WHO would want to harm this cute kitten?  Beautiful face, eh?  He's prowling around the yard somewhere right now!   :-(

Sunflowers as tall as the sky!

I bought some sunflower seeds and planted them during my winter break.  They are now tall and gorgeous!

I did, however, have a problem for a while.  I would go out in the morning and find dead little ones carelessly tossed about!  SAY WHAT?  SOMETHING was eating them!  It was cutting them off at the base and just leaving them to die.  How heartless!

So, one morning, as I opened the gate, I saw them moving.  SOMETHING was in the middle of them.  I froze and watched...it was a HUGE RAT!  EGADS!  After I screamed at it, I put out a TOM CAT rat trap (the one with the plastic jaws).  And, several days later, hmmmm.....I noticed the trap was GONE!  Where did it go?  I looked and looked and didn't see it anywhere, so off to school I went.

That night, hubby said, "Did you put a rat trap out front?"  Well, DUH...yes, I did!  Anyway, HE found it and the rat out in the middle of the street!  We have no idea how it got there, except that maybe a passing dog or cat took it out there?

So, after the demise of the rat, my sunflowers thrived.  One is about 8' tall and towers over all the others.  And, the flowers out front aren't being eaten, either!   :-)