Cattle, wheat field, Oklahoma and flip flops!

Such as this week.

I was in the house all day. (yeah, I know...no big surprise there! ;)) Anyway, I took out several loads of trash out to the dumpster and noticed the cows out behind the garden on the wheat field. Dad has been running cattle out there for several weeks, so it wasn't anything new to see them there.

I walked back in the house and proceeded to finish what I was doing and then it dawned on me. There's cattle outside, behind the garden, on the wheat field. Didn't Dad just tell me last week that he took the cattle off there and wasn't going to run them back out there???

Maybe he changed his mind. I looked out the kitchen window only to see the temporary fence he had up at one time was down. Uh oh. And Dad? Well, he was in Oklahoma for the day. So, why did the cows choose today to get out???

So my call to Dad went like this, "Are there supposed to be cattle on the wheat?"

Dad, "No."

Me, "Well, guess what? There are now! Where are you at? Are you on your way home?"

Dad, "No, I'm still a couple hours away. How many? They must have gotten through some fences. You're going to have to run them back in the corral."

Sure, just run them back in the corral. Most people find it hard to believe I live on a farm or that my sisters and I used to help Dad work cattle. But, it's true. Admittedly, it's been years since I've done it and as one person so accurately announced in church one Sunday morning, "There's this young lady living at Quincy's farm who doesn't help him with cattle." Well, guess what? That's about to change! ;)

I had walked outside while I was talking to Dad and Austin was in the yard (our next door neighbor) with his dog. Help was in sight!!!! I asked him if he would be able to help me round up the cows and get them in. His response, "Sure!"

I went back in the house for sunglasses and shoes. I've been grilled since very young to ALWAYS wear closed toe shoes when working with cattle and horses. Hmmm......shoes. I briefly debated this dilemma. I don't own tennis shoes. And I'm not wearing my good black boots out in a filthy field and corral. Soooo......it's gonna have to be flip flops!

Austin and I walked out into the corral and discovered that the cattle had broken through a gate, which would require repair to hold them back in there once we rounded them up. Austin said he could fix it (thank goodness!), but he needed wire and a post. Ok. Another call to Dad to find out where he kept that stuff.

Gate mended thanks to Austin. Now, to get the cattle. They happened to be clear at the opposite end of the field and I decided that we were not walking all the way out there to bring them back. Austin commented to me that now was the time he needed his horse here. Yeah, I agree. The next best thing? Dad's four wheeler! Worked splendidly!

Thankfully Austin has worked on a farm before and is familiar with repairing fences, herding cattle and driving four wheelers. About the only thing I did was call Dad multiple times as he was explaining to me the what and where with fences, gates and cattle.

I'm thankful I caught the cattle out there before they wondered who knows where. And so thankful Austin was here. He was just getting ready to leave when his dog came over to play with Lady and at that moment I walked outside. Perfect timing! If I would have noticed the cows out five minutes later, Austin would already have been gone! Praise God He worked through everything!

And....the flip flops worked! I still have toes!! ;)

Spoiled kitties!

Really. Honestly. My two cats have no idea just how spoiled they really are. For a multitude of reasons--one being right now as my lap has been overtaken for one of them as I'm trying to type. ;)

My cats have taken quite a bit of time getting used to Luke. When he's here, they aren't particularly thrilled, so I've started bribing them with extra canned food every morning when he's here.

So Luke bought a entire box of 32 cans of food just for them for Christmas. Told you they were spoiled! So my question to Luke was, "Are you going to be in Kansas 32 days before May?" ;) lol!!

They weren't too thrilled with the box until I opened it up. In addition to the 32 cans was a plastic ball and a bag of treats.

The ball they didn't really take much to.

The bag of treats? Oh, yeah---they knew exactly what that was! You have no idea how many of those bags of treats Skittles has taken down off the shelf and eaten without my knowledge. Usually I find the bag the next morning. On the floor. Empty. Torn up. Clawed to shreds. And lacking treats.

However, the ball was made to put the treats in it. Then as the cats would roll it around, the treats would fall out. Ummm, hmmmm. So I showed them the treats inside.

And then rolled the ball. The ball isn't too exciting for them. The treats they want. Skittles figured out to roll the ball, but Scamper still hasn't gotten it yet. I believe this will keep their attention for hours on end. They have yet to accomplish getting the treats out. :)

Black Friday Shopping!

Ok, so I'm not a huge fan of enormous crowds--especially when shopping! It's something I always try to avoid. Shopping on the weekend is something I normally do not do. But I decided to brave the stores the Friday after Thanksgiving just for fun. I really can't say I was looking at anything in particular, although I did find some good sales! And I was not waiting in line at 4am at JCPenny's for their front door to open! ;)


But surprisingly enough, when I got to Penny's around 8:30, they still had some snow globes left! I was soooo surprised! I've never been there early enough to actually get one! I wasn't even looking for the snow globe freebie stand when Jeanette (a friend I know who works at Penny's and the library!) called over to me and said she was saving a snow globe just for me! :)

It was fun browsing the mall and other stores, just looking around and running into people I know. Some people I see every week at church and others I only see every so often! Or people who work in stores that know you because you are in there often enough. I have a feeling that will be missing when I move to Colorado Springs. :)


I did find my cats a cat bed, which I'm trying to make them use. You see, they tend to sleep/sit exactly where I do not want them to. My goal is to try to train them to sleep here! I put this cushion on the chair where they always sleep and they didn't touch it for a week. Finally when I moved it to the floor, Scamper decided it was hers! And I've seen her in it multiple times. Maybe, just maybe, she'll adopt it! I can hope!

My cats jealous? Can it be true?!

My cats love me. With one exception--Luke. They have learned that when he is here, they do not have my undivided attention and they are not happy! At first when Luke started visiting, they would just run and hide when he was around. They have improved much since that time--even letting him pet them. But they still don't like the fact that him being here takes me away from them.

Therefore, I started bribing them a few months ago. I will give them extra treats of food on the days he's here. And the funny thing is--they know it! They will scream consistently until I feed them that special treat every single morning Luke is here. When he isn't here, they don't beg one single bit for it. They know when he's here, they won't get much attention from me, but they will get special food to eat. And since they know they'll be ignored, they demand the food!

They have learned to tolerate his being here, but it never ceases--the moment he leaves and I sit down to do anything, they are right beside me or in my lap within 10 seconds. They know he's gone and they are back to having just me.

Not jealous at all, are they?! ;)

They just know!

I'm not quite sure how, but my cats always seem to know exactly when I'm leaving! They can be anywhere in the house and the moment I get my suitcase out and into my room, they are right there! And just the sight of that suitcase tells them that I'm leaving them yet again. Smart cats. ;)

As soon as they spot my blue suitcase (I guess color really doesn't matter since cats are color blind, but if they can't see color, why do my cats like black pom poms to play with more than any other color?!?!)--anyway, once they spot my suitcase, they either sit right on top of my clothes as I'm packing if it's open. And if it's shut? Yep, they sit right on top!

On this next trip, maybe I should just pack them too....

Do you see what I see??

Yep, two baby owls were camped out in one of our trees this spring!

Aren't they cute?!?!

Yes, the love each other, follow each other around and would be totally lost without one another!

And don't dare try to separate the two or you'll get an earful of pure Siamese screams!!!! :)

Zoo animals!

The last weekend that Luke was here (for those of you who don't know, he lives in Colorado Springs :)), we visited the Garden City Zoo with our cameras. And here's a peek at what I caught through my camera lens...

Wrinkly elephants...

Lazy lions that would not look this direction for anything!

Roadrunner - that little bird darted all over SO quickly that it was hard to catch him!

These monkeys were just hanging around - all stretched out! :)

Pink flamingos that weren't really that...uh, pink!

Kangaroos and their babies enjoying the warm sun and ignoring the fact that we would like to have a shot of them jumping rather than sacked out sleeping!

And these, rather...uh, ugly creatures. But at least this one DID like having his picture taken. He just sat there, looking out the fence at us.

Ducks...nothing too exotic, but I really like the rippling water! :)

Lots of chain fences! Especially since my camera liked focusing on that instead of what was behind the fence. :)

Cute little otters that peeked out of the rock wall...

These cute little things...whatever they are! They were baby-somethings in a dark room!

And then the humpy turtle that very slowly crawled away from us.

And the best and cutest little fluffy thing - the red panda! Isn't it adorable?! :) I want this one for a pet! You think my cats would get along with him?!?! Hmmm....

Just a spoiled dog!

And obedient....most of the time! (Although, she tends to obey orders better when a treat is lurking in your hand! Which I failed to have this time.)

Lady, sit! (sorta, kinda!)

Ok, now look at me! (sure!)

Now shake! No, not yawn!

Roll over! (not happening!)

But she did lay down. Does that count?

Let's try shaking again. Nope, still not working...shaking does not mean scratching.

Now she decides to roll over!

And then she heard Dad over by the shed and decided she'd had enough of me and knew she could have more fun with him.

Merely a skunk

Lady is notorious for finding four legged creatures...while they look kinda cute, they don't smell quite as nice. Such as the other night. She was barking like crazy in the front yard at this skunk.

Knowing Lady all too well, Dad locked her on the porch to prevent her from getting sprayed...again. She's had her fair share of skunk perfume in the past. :) As Dad and I watched this skunk out the front window, we could see it digging up something in the flower bed.

A rabbit. A half-eaten, dead rabbit that Lady buried there the day before. No wonder she was so upset at this skunk!! That skunk dug up that thing! Once the skunk was gone and it was safe to let Lady off the porch, she immediately ran to the front yard only to discover her "treasure" had been stolen. Poor thing!

THAT stash of toys!

Interrupting this continuing series of my trip to Kentucky to report:

For the past several nights, I have been awakened by two cats digging and trying to scratch their way under my nightstand. The other night, I could take it no longer, so I took a deep breath and carefully stuck my hand into that darkened area, wondering what was drawing their attention there so frequently.

Since both my cats are indoor only cats, I knew it couldn't be a mouse (something that could have happened in past years!), but flies, bugs or crickets - now, that's another story. As my hand brushed against something furry with a long something, I began to wonder if this was a wise idea.

Thankfully, that furry, long thing was a toy mouse and not the real thing. Whew!! Would you believe those cats had stashed all this under there?


Those little black pom poms were Skittles's favorite toys as a kitten! I wondered just where they all disappeared to about a year or two ago! What was she doing? Stashing them away? For what? And I have no idea why she liked the black ones so well (she preferred the black to ANY of the colored ones); aren't cats color blind?!

Anyway, I discovered that they liked to carry those toys over to my nightstand, bat them under there and then try to retrieve them. One problem: there's only a one inch space between the bottom of the stand and the floor in the front. So they are only able to get their paws under there; yep, digging and scratching, trying to find that one toy!


Much to my dismay, after pulling out all those toys and throwing them clear across my room, Scamper promptly goes over to the now uncovered stash, picks one up in her mouth, comes over to the nightstand, sets it down and takes her paw and bats that black pom pom right back under the stand.


Why did I even bother getting all those toys out of there?!

Now back to my regularly scheduled blogging....:)

It's ok. Really. I can work without you right next to me.

I know my cats miss me when I'm gone. In fact, they tend to get rather depressed. But since I returned home last night, they have literally not been 10 feet from me the whole entire day. If one of them is not in my lap, they are sleeping nearby.

I really am capable of typing or sewing without one of them in my lap. Really.



Ahhhh....but it's good to be home! Jena and I had a wonderful week in Kentucky and I've got photos to upload and posts to write which hopefully I'll get to uploading in the next few days.

Stuck in the mud

For some reason all the cows have decided to have their calves at once; there's been several days where we've had 2-4 a day. And of course right now, there's snow, cold and mud in abundance!

Saturday when Dad came in for lunch, he wanted me to go out with him and get this calf that was stuck in the mud. Yep, that's right - stuck in the mud. Apparently the cow had her calf that morning out in the field and because of all the mud, couldn't get up. The poor thing was cold, hungry and soaking wet!

So Dad loaded the calf onto the back of the pickup to take back to the barn, hoping that the cow would follow as we drove toward home. Uhhhh...no, that didn't happen. We got the calf in the barn, but the cow didn't get the idea to follow us.

Many hours later Dad finally was able to get her into the barn with her calf. And now, Dad has the field gates shut so the cows will stay out of that muddy place!

Dad was telling me where to drive so I wouldn't get stuck. I don't think I've ever driven in such a soggy, muddy, wet field!

One year ago today...

...three little kittens were born! At 6am Skittles woke me up and by noon three little babies with white fur and pink paws were camped under my dresser with their happy mommy. Now Scamper, one of those sweet little babies has grown into an attention-demanding cat. That couldn't have anything to do with the fact that those kittens were loved, held, petted and played with constantly for 8 weeks, could it?! :)

Finally...three Siamese-to-be kittens!

Pink little tummies!

So sweet!

And so little!

Happy babies!

So fluffy and cute! And so hilarious as Skittles
chased, hissed and growled at Jena and Krissa
as they played with her kittens!

They tended to sleep just anywhere at anytime!

You would always find them piled on top of each other!

They loved to play as well and then promptly took a nap!

Favorite place...my bed!

Then, Reeces left and only two remained.

And Joanna took Snickers.

And Scamper remained.

Through the many car rides...

...the toys scattered all over...

...Scamper completely taking over my lap...

...insisting on sleeping on anything of mine...

...even sleeping right where I need to sit and work...

...I still love them to pieces!