Marcy's Cats

 Our cat population began innocently enough several years ago.  A cat came to us, we don't know how, but we all were secretly feeding her in the barn and not telling anyone else.  When it finally became confession time a funny thing happened...we had all named her Barnie!

We needed cats for the outbuildings so Barnie did not take long to supply us with many.  The funny thing about cats is if you have one many more seem to wander in from somewhere.  Then you have even more.

I am not much of a cat person (GASP!) but I have always had cats.  Growing up the rule was the cats stayed at the barn and the dogs did not bother them.  If they crossed an invisible line, they disappeared.

We began the same rule here.  The dogs knew not to bother the cats in the barn and the cats knew the dry creek was the line they could not cross.

Rules change.  The cats became friends with the dogs and there was no more segregation. Cats, chickens and dogs became one big happy family...all on their own.

We never actively brought cats in but cats came to us.  One after the tornado was blown in from God knows where.  He nested in the rafters of the barn and hissed at us when he walked under him but he stayed.  He had a huge cut from neck to chest.  We imagined from the tornado.

Then I, who prefers dogs to cats, brought one home.  A bob tailed kitten we called Orange then Agent Orange.  He disappeared I suspect into a house somewhere in the neighbor hood.  We have orange kittens now and then and just this year we have two bob tailed kittens so Orange lives on as does Barnie.

Don't ask me how many we have.  I have no idea.  Marcy is the cat keeper and feeder.  There are only one or two you can pet because they are a farm tool just like a tractor (I know, HORROR!)

Nature keeps things in a good balance and we care for the ones that are here.  Every now and then one will show a bit of Barnie lineage and we are happy all over again that she chose us for her family.

Our First Lady Has Died

No one actively sought cats for the farm.  In fact, none of us really liked cats.  Then Barnie came.

Appearing magically, she was a secret.  No one told and every one fed her at the barn.  We all fell in love with her and each secretly called her Barnie, I know, we are very original with our names.

One day, with the families gathered, one person confessed to feeding a cat in the barn, then we all had to confess.  We discovered we had already named her.  This is the way Barnie joined our life.

She was the queen of the farm, we fed her, loved her, nutured her, in return, she loved us, gave us beautiful babies and brought us gifts of adoration.  Barnie was a wonderful mother, a wonderful huntress and a great friend to us all.

Today, Marcy buried her.  We did not know she was sick, we did not know her age, we do know we shall miss her. 

Good bye, Barnie, thanks for enriching our lives.  You will live on in each of us At The Farm.

Orange, A Tail With No End

First, I would like to point out the originality of the name. I did not know there were rules about naming cats at the farm.

After a week, I asked Marcy what she named the kitten and she informed me, I brought him, I was supposed to name him. She said I have being calling him orange...so meet Orange, our no tail kitten.

This is an enjoyment in itself, to have a different color to call the cat instead of gray, and big gray and little gray. So orange has stuck and is fitting in quite nicely.

No tail Orange has settled right in, these are his adopted siblings.

Barnie is just a wonderful mother, she accepted Orange as if he were hers and just added room at the dinner table.