Naughty little Kitty

Fluffy may look cute and cuddly, but that is just an act. He is becoming a real trickster.

Imagine for just a moment that you are a young cat living on a farm looking for some mischief to get into during the summer. What would you do? Here is an idea for you.

You could watch for the farmhouse lady to come outside and walk the big dogs. You walk beside them on the trail for awhile, then disappear into the cornfield. You stealthly sneak through the cornfield beside the trail until you are ahead of everyone else. You hunker down and silently wait. They get closer and closer, and still you don't move a muscle.

Then when everyone is almost right beside you, rustle the corn as much as possible and jump out in front of them. Be sure to stick your tail up and try to look larger than you really are. Make as much noise as you can and look ferocious.

Sometimes you might even scare the big dogs , but everytime you will frighten the farmhouse lady. If you are really lucky, the first time you do this she might even yell out in fear. It is great fun. Then don't forget to run back to the barn, as fast as you can, and tell the other cats how funny you are.

Oh, there is just one more thing. Don't be surprised if the nice farmhouse lady refuses to give you any cat treats for the next few days because she says you are one naughty little kitty.

Anybody need a cat?

Miss Priss rules the roost

We live on a farm. Through the years, we have a raised a variety of different animals. Right now we only have a few animals, but they provide me with my own only little "Wild Kingdom" in the barnyard.

Time has taken its' toll on our little flock, and this is our last chicken. Her full name is "Little Red Hen", but I often just call her sister. The other day it was particularly beautiful outside. The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing gently, and the temperature was mild. It looked like a good day for some yard work. I decided to let "sister" come out of the barn and wander around in the yard with me and the rest of my wild kingdom.

Sister stayed busy. She dug for worms beside the barn. She strolled through the flowers. She strutted around the yard clucking at the other animals, telling them what to do. She was your typical bossy little hen. Sister spent the afternoon following me all around the farm, watching what I was doing. She rarely left my side.

When I went inside, I asked my husband, who was working in the garage, to watch out for sister. He agreed and looked mildly amused to be "chicken sitting." When he and I both went inside for a moment, I left Luta, our fat old chocolate Lab in charge of the chicken. I gave him strict instructions to keep her safe. (He is a good babysitter. In his younger days, he used to babysit kittens for me, but that is a story for another day.) Sister had other ideas though. When I came back outside, I found her waiting patiently for me near the door.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the day. The dogs, the cats, and the chicken all played in the yard. We only had a couple of tense moments. When sister first came into the yard, she was busy looking for worms. Fluffy, a lazy black and white cat, decided to lay down beside her to watch what she was doing. I warned him to stop flicking his tail, but he didn't listen. Pretty soon, sister saw it. She reached out and grabbed it, hoping it was a big, juicy worm. That cat let out a squall at the top of his lungs, and sister let go of him realizing her mistake. Fluffy quickly moved a safer distance away.

Then later, Luta ruffled sister's feathers. He was feeling young and frisky again, so he started rolling around in the grass, scratching his back and making his happy noise. He sounds a lot like he is laughing when he does this. He kept rolling and rolling and getting louder and louder until he was in between sister and I. She wasn't going to have any of that. She fluffed up her feathers and started running towards him like she was ready to flog him. She didn't seem to care how big he was or how many teeth he had. I had to yell at her, "Sister, no. He is just playing."

She quickly stopped when she heard my voice and realized we were safe. It was clear then though, who was really in charge of the farm. She might be little, but sister rules the roost.

We are having another beautiful afternoon. I believe I'll go get sister and we can do some more yard work. I hope the weather is beautiful where you are.

Blessings to you.