Checking in on Harry ...

Not far down the road is an equestrian center for handicapped children. They do such wonderful things for children suffering from both physical and emotional problems.

It is amazing to see how the interaction with horses is both an aid and a comfort.

Harry is in charge of the "feel good" department. He is one very big love bug that manages to keep just about everybody happy.

He sure makes my day !

About my new home ...

Now, about this adorable little pup,
she belongs to my friends.
They sent the details and photos.
I just couldn't resist sharing the story.

~~~

As Harmony tell it ...

Here I am, snug as a bug in my new home. I didn't arrive here by accident, you know. It took planning.

I was at that age where people were coming to look at me and my brothers and sisters. It was something about getting a new home. When the doorbell rang, I thought, "oh, no, I don't know these people"!

I liked the sound of their voices. That's when I decided I wanted to live with them. I tried to get their attention by yipping "me, me, me", but they thought I was just making those cute puppy sounds.

Then I thought of a plan.

I wrapped my paws around the man's foot and hung on for dear life. It worked !!

I jumped right in to show them how good I was at eating.

I had no idea how exhausting that would be.

This is my first portrait taken in my new home. Cute, huh?!

I loved showing off my other talents like rolling around in a towel.

Now this trick is more difficult.
It seems it is ... a cat thing.

Let's see, stretch the paws ... put head between paws
... turn back paw. Humm, not easy.

I live in North Carolina with Roger and Jean,
my mom and dad.

They are both musicians...
and named me ... Harmony !

My parent's have a friend in California.
She is writing this for me.
So that means I'm a ... cyber pup!

A Little Outing ~ Balboa Island

Balboa Island

~~~

We decided it was time for a little adventure away from the farm. The hay barn was full, which means the truck from the local feed store had just delivered and stacked about 60 bales of hay.

You see, we don't exactly have a North 40 or even a South 40 around here. So, cultivating and cutting hay isn't something we can do or know how to do, even though we sometimes think that might be terrific, especially if we had two beautiful black Percherons to help us. (but you've already heard about that fantasy ... click here for a little reminder.)

So, with all the feeders, water bowls, cat dishes, dog bowls filled and the horses turned out ... we were on our way along the Pacific Coast Highway to one of our favorite places ... Balboa Island.

After the usual drive-around to see the old time cottages, we were off to the ferry dock. It's a tradition around here. It takes about ten minutes on the ferry boat to go to the "other side" ... where all the fun stuff is.

Along the way we can see the once endangered California Brown Pelicans, who fancy sitting on docks and taking delight in selecting the most expensive boats that are moored in the harbor for their sun bathing perches.

Even though the ride is a short one,
the views are wonderful and the sea breezes so refeshing.

Kayla, of course, knows the procedure very well.
She has become a regular passenger.

In the distance can be seen the Balboa Pavillion dating from 1903,
a landmark for the area.

At the turn of the century, it was the scene of dances, parties
and all kinds of hilarity for the Los Angeles bunch.

This was the place to be, and this was no small excursion.
There was no ferry boat to shorten their trip.
They took a trolley or other historic means of travel to arrive at
what really was a fancy structure built on a very large pile of sand.

However, today, at the end of the ten minute ferry boat ride,
is the well know "fun zone" with rides, cotton candy
and, of course, fine dining at the old Pavillion.

This was our day to spend wandering the familiar walkways
... and a day away from the horses.

However, it seems we always manage to find them.

Finally, it was off to the beach to watch the surfers ...

And then we were headed back home
along the beautiful sea coast drive.

It really was a wonderful day!

By the way ... did you know Lucy could read?

Would you turn the page, please?

Lucy much prefers history books. Certaily not historical novels, but books that are well documented and filled with ... foot notes. (mostly hers)

One of these days, Lucy could very well become a book, herself.

She grew up with Kayla and quite fancies herself to be a dog. It is rather ordinary to see her following the dog through the barn, into the horse corrals, up the hill and into the gardens.

When everyone has gone in the house she struts from one door to the other. Eventually, she settles down to just being a dedicated ... window peek-er.

Probably her greatest pleasure is being carried around the yard, next to reading history books, that is.

She's somethin'. There's even more about Lucy ... here.

So, what exactly is wrong with the hen house?

We spent a great deal of time at the drawing board designing the perfect ... hen house. Plenty of room, plenty of nest boxes, just the right amount of light and fresh air. Seemed pretty spiffy to us.

Not sure what went wrong.The girls hung out in their new castle for awhile and did a pretty good job keeping us supplied with eggs. Then ... zero. Nothing. No eggs, ZIP-O!

They still went about the gardening thing, but seemed to be ignoring their purpose for ... being here!

It was quite by accident that we discovered what was going on. Actually, the horse gave it away. Royal would only eat on one side of his feed box, carefully avoiding the far corner... the side that was filled with eggs ... and a chicken.

Hummm ... was this an opinion of our architectural skills? Was the hen house the wrong style? Did they prefer English Tudor?

So, we rounded up the girls and had a little conference. They were given some time-out in their quarters for a few days. I mean, Easter is one thing with this egg hunt business, but everyday?

They got the idea. Now, they are agreeable to laying eggs in the proper place.

What a relief. We weren't exactly looking forward to building another chicken house.

Wish we'd thought of this ...

Even though this isn't our Golden Retriever, I just had to add this photo to my collection of "irristibles". Now, really, you'd buy soup from this salesperson, wouldn't you?

Homeward bound ...

Kirk and Royal heading back to the barn.

This guy was born in a saddle and there's not a happier pair than these two boys out on the trail early in the morning.

This former movie star reminds me of Clint Eastwood on some days and Gregory Peck on another. It's really quite confusing.

The only way to tell is to check the riding boots ... are they cowboy boots or the high English knee boots?

Whatever, he sits tall in the saddle and always has one big smile when heading down the trail.

Geranium ~ The Flower of Summer

Kayla on a dog day of summer

From The Garden ~ Cyclamen

Household Staff ~ Negotiating Contracts

This is Fuzz-Buzz

Even though just a kitten, she carried a detailed job description when she arrived. It was clear that in exchange for purring, and never hissing or being cross, her primary duties were to be limited to sitting on chairs and beds of her choice.

She made it clear that she would have no part in chasing mice, imaginary mice or any fast moving objects. She agreed to remain an indoor cat, especially since there are no beds on the back porch, so why bother.

In addition, she promised to flash her baby blue eyes at guests only long enough for their admiration, then it would be back to holding down any moveable furniture.

She occasionally admits to taking a swipe at a chair or two, but only in passing. So, what's the problem?

This is Lalique

This little girl was a Princess from day one. Her terms were that she was to be held at all times. She found that jumping on to a shoulder was an especially enjoyable sport. And making herself into a fur neck wrap was quite delightful. This meant that she could have a full time ride around the house and be held ... all at the same time.

In exchange, she produced the loudest purr on the planet. Her favorite occupation is to purr into the phone when people are talking. She's rather proud that some think we have a tiger in the household.

She is the social director of the household and delights in locating the one person in the group that does not like cats. She prompty occupies their lap. She doesn't seem to mind that they pet her with one finger.

Escaping outside is another favorite hobby. Even though warned about all the horrible things waiting to devour her, she doesn't think this includes her. And hiding behind the bushes while everyone is frantic is rather amusing.

She knows when she is finally discovered, everyone will be so grateful that she will be pampered and held, again. And that is the game.

Also, she is quite clear that any swipes to the chairs do not come from her. It is that big fat lazy cat who sleeps all day on the bed ... who is clearly to blame.

There is one thing that upsets Lalique and that is when mom is gone. Just what is a girl to do all day?

So, getting cozy with Fuzz-Buzz is about as comfy as you can get.

You know, maybe Fuzz-Buzz has something going with this 24 hour sleeping schedule. Well, almost, 24 hours. We all know she sneaks off to eat. Have you picked her up, lately? Geezzzzz !

Fuzz and I both agree life isn't perfect here. There is something they call "contracts". It bascially is about all the things we cannot do. It's really annoying and unreasonable.

It is about things like: staying off the kitchen counter, not jumping on the tables, and most of all, not scratching chairs. What's so special about those chairs, they've had them forever.

They actually went out and bought those dumb things called "cat scratchers". Now really, I'm supposed to travel to scratch something?

Fuzz and I agreed that we'd like to make them happy and worked the scratcher over a little bit just to please them. However, we got tired of that and were soon back to taking swipes at something more convenient like the nearest chair.

This is NOT a plan !

Apparently, they thought we didn't like the little cat-scratcher and they actually bought a bigger one!

Fuzz and I decided to destroy it as quickly as possible. That way it would be removed from the house once and for all, and we could get back to taking swipes at what we do best, the chairs.

Hello ! We do not like this !!

Now, this is the horrible part of our story. They called a meeting.

We were each carried by all the chairs in the house. Mom didn't sound ... friendly. And I remember exactly what she said !

CHAIR NUMBER ONE !

"Do not scratch this chair ! You may only sit on this chair!

This is not "your" chair!"

CHAIR NUMBER 2

"Do not scratch this chair! You may not even sit in this chair!

Remember ... this is a living room chair! "

Now, we are getting nervous.

We were heading towards the ... dining room.

We didn't even ... meow !

CHAIR NUMBER 3

"Don't even think about it ! Not even one paw touches this chair!

You may not ever sit on this chair."

Fuzz and I decided we'd spend some time under the bed.

Things were pretty quiet around the house for a long time. I think they kinda missed us, because they started looking for us ... you know, with that baby talk stuff. That's when we knew the scary times were over.

We finally came out and crawled up on their laps and started purring. We knew we had them, now. This was "negotiating" time.

This story has a really happy ending.

We got a cat-scratcher of our very own. We even got to choose it.

It is even in the shape of a chair. (No, we can't touch the other chairs.) But look what we got!

We get to scratch it, claw it, jump on it, sleep in it, tear it up ... anything we want.

Take a look ... how cool is that?!

A Study In Pink

Dear Santa ...

Percheron Team

Ok, I actually called about these horses. I really think we need these boys here on our farm.

The problem is ... where.

I've pretty much walked the entire (um-uh) North Forty, even considered moving the barn ... yah, really.
I asked the neighbors if they would like to move ... but so far, I don't think that is working out.
Since we're keeping all our other critters, I'm afraid things might get a little cosy.
So, I got to thinking and remembered that in the olden days in Denmark the farmers and horses shared portions of the house
You know ... this just might work.

Gathering Roses

The fragrance of roses fill the air ...

Meet Alberta

So glad you stopped by ...

you probably haven't heard but I'm mom's favorite.

Great day by the pond!

(They built this for me, you know)

My favorite place (ok, I have lots of special places)

If I wait long enough somebody will come along

and I can sit on their lap, get petted and fed.

How cool is that?

By the way, this is my mom. I pretty much follow her everywhere.

We've made brick walkways together, planted gardens,

cleaned the barn and the best, just sat together on the swing.

She says I'm her ... baby.

HEY! Where'd you go?

Are you in the house ... again?

Are We In Nebraska, Yet?

A strange garden for Southern California, but sometimes a girl gets lonely for the sights of the good old Midwest.

A dear sweet old man in his 90's remembered how much I loved sunflowers and sent me an envelope of seeds from his backyard.

Determined that they would grow, I prepared the soil as though I were going to plant a crop of corn. And much to my surprise the plants grew ... just like at home.

I'll admit that the horses helped out a great deal.

I quickly had a photo snapped to send back to my generous friend. He, too, was surprised. Actually, his words were ... I didn't think you could do it.

Hummm... I guess the word travels far as to my not always very green thumb. But nevermind that, I was one happy ... farmer

And then there is ... Lucy!

Lucy is in charge of ... everything. She darts around most of the day checking to be sure things are in proper order in the garden, the barn, the yard ... simply put, just about everything. She seems to be well liked or perhaps it is ... respected.



Lucy is also the official babysitter, guardian, companion of the dog. She loves the dog and makes claim to Daisy at every opportunity.

I've never quite understood what makes these bonded relationships. But this is one lasting friendship, for sure.

Patience Is A Virtue

Daisy and The Girls

The Gentleness of Nature