Let me just start by saying that I don't name ALL of my animals.
There are a couple of reasons for this. For one, my mother convinced me at a young age that re-using names was not only a faux-paux, but bad luck to boot. But mostly, I just can't remember that many names - I have more important things to spend my brain-power on than a name for the smallest Barnevelder chicken in the yard.
That's not to say I don't name my animals, I do, the animal just has to earn their name.
For instance, I refer to our eight chickens with descriptors, such as "The Rooster", the "Brown Easter Egger", or "One of the Barnies" (cause honestly, I can't tell the Barnevelders apart). Only one chicken has a name, and that's Big Mamma - She's a Black Easter Egger, and my largest chicken. She has a name because she actually likes me. Seriously - I can carry that chicken around on my arm like a giant parrot.
That naming convention extends to the feral cat's we inherited when we bought the Rock House, being referred to as "The black Tom" or "The Crazy Calico" was about as far as names went.
After a year, only one of those initial cats got the privilege of a permanent name - Checkers.
Checker's is the only original Rock House cat that seems to like people, but let me tell ya folks.... although she's a sweetheart, she's a little lacking in the common sense department, which is often crucial to a farm cat's life.
Her first litter didn't do well, as she thought the appropriate place to hide her kittens was under the grill on our back porch.
While they were doing construction on our house.
Alongside two dogs that HATE cats.
Needless to say, that didn't end well.
So, when she got preggers the second time, I didn't hold out much hope she could keep them alive. In fact, out of four kittens only two have survived (with A LOT of help from us I might add).
First, she had them under a construction dumpster... the day BEFORE they came and removed said construction dumpster.
Then she moved them under the shed in the back yard (again, with the dogs that hate cats).
Luckily, the kittens stayed under that shed and didn't venture out far. When their eyes opened a few days later, and they started to roam, we picked them up and moved them out to the goat barn.
We had hopes she would keep them there, and she did.
For two days.
After which, she moved them to our pool house - again, in the back yard with the dogs.
We moved them back to the goat barn, and she kept them there for a few days...
This has gone on for weeks.
It's like herding cats.
We even had two Tom-Cats helping us out for a while - they would form a perimeter around those kittens, standing guard as their protectors.
The kittens are now coordinated enough to go wherever they want, whenever they want, and for the most part they stay away from the dogs on their own, although they are still curious and wander down to the pool house occasionally.
Out of a litter of four, two have made it to adolescence.
One of them has earned a name.
Now, I'm NOT a cat person, so if I find one I like, they've got character and charisma in spades, and Miss Piggy is no exception.
She's a little butterball - I've never seen a cat eat as much as this girl does.
And that attitude...
OMG, the attitude on this little girl is like no other.
She hides behind rocks and waits patiently till her sister comes looking for her, then jumps out and tackles her, scaring the bejeezus out of her.
She lays on the ground and pretends to sleep.... until one of the adult cats come close. Then she jumps up and surprise attacks them until they are wrestling around like they are auditioning for the WWE.
She loves her belly rubbed, but only after she's eaten twice her weight in food. Any pets are allowed only on her terms... otherwise she runs from you like a drunken toddler.
She (and her sister, who we lovingly refer to as "Tuxy" 'cause she's black and white and looks like she's wearing a tuxedo) provide us hours of evening entertainment. There's nothing quite as cute as kitten's playing.
In other farm news, we are getting ready for fall and all the holidays that follow. The cooler temps will bring more outdoor work in the form of clearing trees and brush-hogging. I'm looking forward to bonfires, sitting on the back porch with the pinion wood burning, and Halloween. Although we won't have a big yard display this year, we are looking forward to Trunk 'R Treat downtown (the hubsters has already bought his weight in candy to hand out.)
Our booth at the farmer's market here in Drumright has gone well, and we look forward to doing Bixby and Tulsa in 2025. My pickles have a following, and I've called dibs on my dad's tomato and cucumber crop next year.
If you've noticed a lot of sewing posts on our Social Media pages, and that's not your jam, please be patient - that part of the business is set to split into it's own beast in March 2025. I do appreciate all the support you guys have given me out there. Those posts, shares, and comments are crucial to running an online business and I appreciate all your support while we get this thing off the ground. Please continue to engage with the Social Media posts - it helps the algorithms find people who would be interested in our content.
If sewing IS your jam, then know I've been busy behind the scenes setting up the website and social media profiles, and the Logos and Mascot are almost complete. (Special shoutout to McKinley Meyer creates for help in our branding. Check her out on Facebook if you need a logo or artwork created. She's amazingly talented.) We've added a new machine which I am LOVING! Even the hubsters was excited when they delivered her (he didn't even complain about how much money I spent).
Hope you all have a Happy Halloween!!
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