The Adventures of TLC Cai-Cai on Friday—-Farm Adventures, Working with Mom, June 3, 2022

Posted on June 3, 2022 by Dayphoto

When Dad goes out to the farm with one of his HUGE, BIG, LOUD machines

Mom goes into her yard, or out by the farm buildings, or into the corrals, or something or other.

The second I hear the back door open and then shut

I know Mom is outside somewhere.

Someplace.

Somewhere.

I stop what I’m doing and start looking for Mom.

Sometimes I look for Mom in a sneaky way—like hide here and there.

Hide under this.

Or that.

Then I walk very quietly to Mom

Sit down and wait for Mom to notice me.

Other times I run down the road

As fast as I can.

Soon as I get to Mom, I start rubbing myself all along her legs.

Either way, Mom always stops and gives me really nice rubs and pets

Then Mom ‘gets to work’

Sometimes that means dragging the hose all over the lawn

Or loading up the wheel barrels with shovels, rakes, and the hoe

Other times it means Mom sits down on the side of the flowerbeds and starts grabbing the weeds

No matter what Mom starts doing I hang around with her

I hang around

And around

And—

This is so sooooo boring.

I don’t mind waiting and waiting if there is a mouse to torment

catch

But just laying in the shade, under a big leaf, waiting on Mom

IS—-

I’m done!

See you later, there are things to do, and mice to catch!

TLC Cai-Cai

A Mindy Adventure Story—Life Goes On, Friday, December 18, 2020 Chapter Seven

Posted on December 18, 2020 by Dayphoto

Chapter Seven

I have been helping Mom and Dad. They are cutting and hauling wood.

I go out and hang around while Dad runs that LOUD thing that cuts the logs.

Sometimes I jump on the big woodpile to see if any mice run out.

They don’t.

Then Mom and Dad haul the wood and I stay in the corrals. There ARE mice in the corrals.

I was hanging out in the corrals searching here and there after Mom and Dad stopped for the day.

It was growing dark

I forgot about growing dark time.

When SUDDENLY out of nowhere

THE OWL CAME gliding down and lit right in front of me!

I FROZE

“STOP RIGHT THERE, CAT!!! NOW!”

I stopped.

I was already stopped.

I was frozen.

There was no way I was going to move.

I was trying to move, but I couldn’t.

“I am not going to hurt you. Get that through your head. I just want information.”

The owl fluffed her feathers this way and that, settling down right beside me.

“My name is Ruth!” the owl announced. “Boomer was my very best dog friend. We had lots of adventures together. I want to know if the rumors I am hearing are true.”

I just stared at the Owl, Ruth. My eyes must have been bigger than my face, my tongue was frozen in my mouth, I couldn’t talk.

“Come on, Cat. As soon as you tell me, I’m out of here.”

Yeah, right, and you grab me on the way out. I thought to myself.

I just stared at—-Ruth.

“I WILL NOT EAT YOU!” Ruth yelled at me. “I WILL NOT!”

I squatted down, trying to make myself tiny. Oh, maybe that isn’t a good idea. I FLUFFED myself up, trying to make myself big.

“Stop it,” Ruth tiredly commanded. “Just tell me about Boomer.”

She glared at me with her big round eyes.

I started to shake and shiver.

“Okay, here is a deal. You tell me. I continue to sit right here, I won’t move. You run as fast as you can away from me and hide. Then I will fly away. And only then.”

“You can’t leave, you know,” Ruth announced. “I can get you before you even think about moving your paws. So, tell me about Boomer. Once I know the truth, you can run off and I will let you go. You really don’t have a choice.” Ruth stated flatly. “You have NO CHOICE!” She emphasized.

I stared and stared. Ruth was right. I didn’t have a choice.

So, I told her. Everything. The whole sad story.

I was very shocked to see big tears rolling down Ruth’s face.

“You really did care about our Beaglie?” I asked.

“Yes. He was the most special mutt. He really cared about the farm and all the animals on the farm. He was my friend.”

“Where is his grave, cat?” Ruth asked sadly.

I told her.

She lifted herself up and silently flapped away.

She didn’t even try to eat me.

She didn’t even let me get away.

She just left.

Off I ran!

Later on, that night, as I sat on Mom’s lap; Mom told Dad that she (Mom) saw a marvelous wonder. An owl was sitting on the giant tree stumps covering Boomer’s gravesite.

Ruth, I thought. She really is an owl of her word.

The Adventures of Mindy on Friday— Day by Day, Friday, October 2, 2020

Posted on October 2, 2020 by Dayphoto

Mom says I have to very careful, out there hunting mice, out there, close to the butler bins

Because now the Coyotes

are moving everywhere on the farm.

(See the quail getting away from the coyote?)

Mom has seen them multiple times

when she is has been out taking photos

So, I stay close

Well, sorta close

I go past the Grain bins

And down by the hay swather and combines

Sometimes Boomer goes with me

Not like he used to go, (I ran away from Boomer, he looked so sad when I did it.)

but he still goes

Just the thought of coyotes makes me jumpy

So, to please Mom,

and to keep close to my buddy, Boomer,

(and to make me feel safe)

I stay pretty much in the farmyard

I think there are enough mice here to keep me busy and full.

Mindy Lou Min-Min Brown

The Adventures of Boomer on Friday—A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Dayphoto

It’s been a busy week!

We’ve — meaning Mom, Dad and myself, have gone

here and there,

and then over there, and then back there.

Romeo, my oldest sister’s horse and my oldest sister came over to see us. I barked at Romeo…in the BACK of Romeo, but he turned around REAL fast and snuffled all over me.

Everyone laughed because I laid as flat as I could get on the ground. I didn’t think it was funny at all.

Let’s just say Romeo and I have an understanding…I don’t bark at Romeo anymore. There is just something rather intimidating about a HUGE horse nose sniffing all over your rather small dog body.

Sammy and I scared up a ghost one night, we were outside by the gated pipe, just hanging around, when we heard the back door open and then close. I was going to head in to see if Mom or Dad came out, but the door sounds came again, so I figured whomever it was, had already gone back inside.

About that time, Sammy scared up a couple of mice, which he and I gave a good chase.

After, that the night air was starting to cool down—I gave Sam the good-bye paw and headed back toward the house.

Just then a ghost came around the grain bins! Sam and I let out a holler, meowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, WOOOOOOOF!

GHOST!!!!

Silly us…it was just Mom.

The next day Mom and I went to town again, when we got home…

I HAD a new yummy bone!

Sure has been a busy week!

Boomer

The Adventures of Boomer on Friday—NEWS

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Dayphoto

Mom buys me toys to play with…but I don’t like them.

Mom throws me balls…I chase them sorta…Fuzzy and I used to place chase with each other, but not really. We enjoyed chase the fox, or chase the squirrel, or splash in the ditch more. Well, ummmmmmmm, Fuzzy enjoyed splash the ditch; I liked (and still do) GATHERING NEWS!!!

LOL!

News for the day!

Mom moved a couple of the garden toads from under my dog houses to her corral garden.

They really seem to like it out there…works better than getting living under my dog house.

We have frogs in the irrigation ditches! I love, LOVE, to put my nose on them and watch them hop away.

Our yard is full of birds…they sing us awake every morning and chirp sleepy little songs in the evening to put us to bed.

Lots of Gambol’s Quail this year. Dad is really happy we have more pheasants than last year. We lost lots of pheasants a few years back and it’s taken awhile for them to recover.

There are baby raccoons in one of the trees in the yard. Cute little things!

There are raccoons in the yard, in the farm yard, and out of the ditch. There are as many raccoon as there are fox; is seems.

As for the home front—Sammy does a very good job of keeping the mice down. (I’m glad that his job…it’s NOT something I’m ever going to do—Fuzzy would do it, but NOT ME!)

Well, that’s the news for today. I’m off, now, to get ready and bark the mailman down the road…he should be coming anytime now.

Boomer

The Adventures of Boomer on Friday—Out on the Ditch Bank

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Dayphoto

Mom had to go help Dad over at the other place. She went on the tractor so I didn’t get to go! 😦

Mom and Dad won’t let me run alongside either, they say I’m too old (I’m eleven now) and it would be way too long of a run so I get—“No, Boomer! NO! You stay here”! Then Mom gives me a hug and a very stern look and off she goes.

BUT! I always meet Mom when she comes home! ALWAYS! I meet Dad, also, but I don’t run down the road as far. 🙂

The fox are coming into the yard. One had Sammy cornered. Mom heard the racket and came running out of the house just in time to see the fox and Sammy in a standoff at the grain ben. I chased the fox all the way to the upper end. Whew! Boy was I ever hot and tired when I got back. Mom gave me a big bowl of cold water and a dog cookie. I gobbled up the water and the cookie and took a Loooong nap. I sure needed it. (I might be old(er), but I can still do my job!)

Last night we scared Momma Deer and her Princess out of the corn field when we went up to change the water. (Dad was a little disgusted, but at the same time we ALL liked seeing the little baby!) Mom told me that today we will just take up more of the shelled corn and put it closer to where the deer are bedding down.

Everyone had a big laugh when I chased a mouse out of one of the siphon tubes. It ran toward me and I sorta jumped. BUT!!! No one jumped as much as Mom did when she put a siphon tube into the water and a vole rushed out of the end of the tube and over her hand!

Mom didn’t scream but she sure did lose the siphon tube in the ditch and run backwards for a short spell!!! 🙂

Early this morning we were just stirring around when the fox came back INTO THE yard and ran right by the kitchen window. Monkey started growling low in her voice, Sam jumped up on the window sill, Mom and I hurried out the back door and Mom said “Get!” to the fox. Which it did.

I didn’t chase the fox this time, he/she was going so fast there was no reason to give chase.

Well, there is my week. Doesn’t seem like much, but it sure is fun!
Boomer

The Adventures of Boomer on Friday—Scent Detection

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Dayphoto

After helping Dad cut down a dying tree in the yard, and cleaning up all the branches and stacking the logs…..

(Mom said it was a sad thing to see it go, Dad said it was important since it might fall into the power line to the meter base on the house.)

Mom and I went for a very looooooooong walk! All the way around the place, even to the front of the place to get the mail and then home. We had a great time.

I’m a beagle, you know. Beagles have great noses, we have short-hair (so the weeds don’t get caught in the hair), and we don’t shed too much. Also, we are small. I only weigh 40 pounds at my heaviest…if I get even two pounds over that I start to get a belly and Dad says I look like a sausage. (Humph…a SAUSAGE!?!?! I Don’t THINK SO!)

(Here is a little secret…after you get older it’s harder to lose weight! Since I’m nine now I have to make sure I go out and sniff around…I used to play tricks on Fuzzy, which was great fun. I would run barking out to the grain bins like something cool was out there; Fuzzy would think he missed something so he would run out barking right behind me…then when he got there we would both go check out the hay yard, over to the equipment area -Dad has two spots- and back around the barn and the two workshops. We had a great time.)

Now it’s easy to just lay around the house soaking the heat from the woodstove into the pads of my feet and taking a snooze. If I get to snoring too much Monkey walks on me until I wake-up. That silly cat.

Anyway, Mom says the house starts to close in on her so when that happens we (Mom and I) go for a walk.

Usually a LONG walk…It’s the best part of my beagle day.

In my former life I always had to walk on a leash….not here!! No sireee, not on the farm, not ever…I get to go wherever I want. (If we go to town I have to have the leash, but not on the farm)

The best part of walks are SMELLS!!!

Humm…this is a good smell…rabbit! Oops! Hawk and rabbit…oh…I don’t think the rabbit made it. Well, I won’t say anything to Mom she’s busy looking over at the apricot tree.

We scent-detection dogs can tell lots of stuff that is going on just by the smells. Here, right here…is the home of some mice…sniff, snuff…ACHOOO!

What a bunch of stuff they have stuck in their hole…all sorts of loose bits of this and that ACHOOO! ACHOOO!!!!

Where is MOM! Wait a minute MOM…MOM! Wait a bit I’ll be right there but I need to mark a few spots here and there. The coyotes need to know they are NOT the only canines on the place!

Nice…I can tell Shannon and Jason have been down here to check on the other house…they had Rocky the Rottweiler with them…yep! Good Job, Rock…let me add some to it!

Mom says I can’t sniff around on the main road, “Hurry, Boom. We have to get over to the mailbox and back to the farm before some county truck, or logging truck or fast speeding car comes…You can gather the news down our lane once we get the mail!”

So Mom and I hurried down the main road, waved to Mr. Happy our new neighbor—the little grandchildren call him Mr. Happy because he is always friendly and waves, past the head gate– where we crossed the main road and got the mail, then we trotted over to the lane to our house.

Sniff, sniff, snuff, snuffel….

CATS!!! Let’s see…the yellow and white tom that belongs to the neighbor down the hill…that tom sure gets around. OH! New cat…hum young, tom, black and furry…oh…he lives at the house across the road close to the church. Looks like they are both mousing. Good for them…Mom always like to have the cats out looking for mice. Hunting for birds now, make Mom unhappy, but cats can catch mice all they want. Fuzzy used to catch mice also. Me…not at all; I just love hunting with my nose!

Home now…sigh! That was a perfect way to spend an afternoon.

Oh…Mom says I have to wait right here while she gets a pan of warm water and a rag…she says I can’t come in until I the mud and weeds out of my paws.

That’s okay…I rather like standing in warm water. Once inside I know I can lay right in front of the fire and soak up the heat in my pads.

Ahhhhhhhh…inside, fire, turn around three times, make sure the paws are pointing toward the wood stove…settle down………..sigh……………good. Boomer

Monday, December 2, 2013

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Dayphoto

I have a little hawk…he/she is an extremely friendly….

He/she sits very close to me looking for mice hanging under the firewood

I’ve never had a hawk be so…hum…NOT shy. But this one is.

He/she even let me go into the house, get the camera, come back and take his/her photo. Of course the wild birds have fled…I would too if I were potential dinner. 🙂

As for the mice…he/she can have all that can be eaten.

Hauling wood is an even most pleasant chore!

Your farm friend,

Linda

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday — Fall Work

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Dayphoto

Well, let’s see….first off Boomer and I helped Mom clean the chicken house. Boomer really doesn’t help; he just bounces around in the house while I am looking for mice. If I see mice, I grab them up and snap them. Mom says I’m a very good mouser.

(Although, I don’t see as well anymore, but don’t tell Mom, I don’t want her to not let me come in to the hen house with her and hunt mice. I talked to Boomer about my ‘little problem’ and he said he would watch me and try to do what I do.)

Anyway, there was only one mouse; Mom said the two snakes that had been living in the chicken house have done a good job. She dreads this winter when the mice will run all over the place again.

Mom washed out and cleaned all of the live traps because they now have to take the place of the hibernating snakes.

Then we got on the four-wheeler and headed up to where Dad is re-building fence….remember that huge fire we had last spring? Actually two huge fires? Well, the main fence that runs along the west of the place still hasn’t been fixed. Long story.

The damaged fences on the top of our place Dad has decided we better remove. He says we won’t have cows anymore so he is taking down the fences that have huge fire damaged wire. The range cows won’t have to be fenced out of the fields because they come in the winter and run the whole place anyway.

Lots of work, but necessary, you can’t have a cow or calf walk on a burned and down fence, get tangled in the barbed-wire and go down, get cut up, and hurt.

No, sir!

So we are all helping Dad.

I sit by the four-wheeler lots, unless Mom moves somewhere then I go with her. Boomer runs around, gets the news then comes back and tells me what’s happening out there.

We work until sunset.

The corn is drying down well.

Before supper Shannon comes over and we take a walk with all of her dogs. We like walking with ‘the pack’.

Hank even comes with us!

OH! YES! The old tree that was burn last year by our second huge fire the next day…IT IS COMING BACK! Mom was so happy she petted that tree!

Lots of our farm neighbors have told us how they miss that tree…well maybe it will be back stronger than ever.

Mom said we will just have to wait and see!

(That’s the fixed fence the ditch company burned and have now RE-BUILT!)

Fuzzy

Chickens and Mice (do not proceed if you like mice)

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Dayphoto

Mice in the chicken house are a pain. They are nasty, dirty and (if you don’t take care) EVERYWHERE!

But one nice thing about chickens…..

They are very good mousers.

I was raking around the wood pile and the chicken house when suddenly a mouse ran right by me, followed with a very determined Lucky Hen.

She grabbed the mouse and ran over to the trash pile (will get it cleaned up soon, I promise!) making sure the other hens don’t follow or Sam the Cat.