Cow Pie Buzz

Oh Tommy Boy

This is Tom Tom.  He is one of the stray cats that used to come visit us daily at our old rent house in town before we moved out to the ranch.  My Cowboy and I agreed that any cat that was around the day we moved guaranteed them a spot at the new house.  The day we moved we brought three cats with us Tom, Gray, and Miss Thang.  We really didn't put a lot into naming them because you never knew who wasn't going to show up for breakfast or dinner and we didn't want to get to attached.  They serve as our outside barn cats that protect us from mice invading the house.

Anyways like I was saying this is Tommy Boy.  He doesn't look lovable but he is really sweet.  We moved out to the ranch in September and he was with us until spring.  Around that time he would wonder off for four or five days at a time but he always came back.  One time he was gone for two weeks and then just popped back up again looking none the worse.  We had no idea how he survived for two weeks out and about on his own with coyotes and bob cats prowling around at night.  After that little romp he stayed in our carport eating his Kit-N-Kaboodle for about another two weeks and then he was gone.  Two weeks went by and no Tom.  Another two weeks went by and still nothing.  Neither one of us ever said anything but we knew that something had happened to him.  In my mind he found him another home to live at where he could live inside sleeping on a blue crushed velvet pillow and was fed the Fancy Feast wet food in a real bowl instead of thrown out on the ground like cattle feed.  This however could not be a reality because we have no real neighbors.  The closest people to us are about 3 miles away.  We are surrounded by land all around.

After about two months both of us stopped thinking about it and just went on feeding and playing with the other two.  Every now and then I would think about him and wonder what ever happened.  Well last week I got my answer.  My Cowboy had gone out to feed Gray and Miss Thang their breakfast when all of a sudden this cat comes out of nowhere and runs up to My Cowboy and starts purring and rubbing on his legs.  It was Tom.  The prodigal son had returned. 

Tom had been gone for more than six months but knew exactly who we were and where to go to get his food.  He was scrawny as all get out but still ok.  There were no broken bones, scars, or gashes to lend that he might have almost been someone's meal.  As bony as he was we guessed that he hadn't found a family to live with and feed him but if he wasn't living with someone then where had he been?  I guess that will be one question that never gets answered.

We are very glad to have him back home, sunning him self on the four wheeler, eating his Kit-N-Kaboodle, and sharing his love with us.

-Cowpie-

Shopping

My Little Gremlin loves to shop.  I don't mean the kind of shopping that women love but he likes shopping in my kitchen.  Since I don't have any kitchen cabinets my kitchen is pretty much one big toy box.  He loves to get out my pots and pans and see if he can figure out which lid goes on what or he loves to drag out all of my spatulas, whisks, and wooden spoons.  Here lately since he is much more steady on his feet he likes to go shopping off of the kitchen table.  He gets on his tip-toes and with one hand holding on to the table he takes his other hand and reaches it as far as it will go grabbing anything that he can touch.  Most of the time this isn't a problem except for when I'm in the middle of cooking dinner and I have knives, cutting boards, raw meat, or vegetables laying around (I don't have any kitchen counters either so I have to do all of my prep at my table) that I really don't want disappearing.

That being said one night while I was taking my bath and My Cowboy was on the computer checking some emails MLG decided to do a little shopping.  He did it very quickly, quietly, and carefully.  He was so quiet and careful that My Cowboy thought that he was in the bath room with me playing with his ducks.  Boy was My Cowboy surprised when he turned around to find this.

Busted!  While he could try to blame it on the little vultures circling by, the dogs, none of the dogs had cookies in their mouths while MLG's cheeks were packed to the brim.  Apparently MLG wanted a snack.

But how could you be mad at a face like this?

-Cowpie-

Sliding

One of My Little Gremlin's favorite things to do is to go down his slide.  Every evening we end our outside chores with a slide fest.  He quickly learned how to climb the ladder, which led to him learning how to climb up on the couch and get into all kinds of trouble, and how to get his legs into position to go sailing down the hard plastic chute.  He hasn't learned how to come to a complete and safe stop yet so mom or da is always waiting at the bottom to catch him.
In the beginning MLG had to be coaxed into letting go and slinging down with mom saying "one, two, three, WEEEEEEEEEE!"  He would then clap his hands and come on down with his sly grin on his face.  Now days he thinks climbing up the ladder and going down the slide is a race against mom to see if he can get to the bottom before I get over there to catch him.  And there usually isn't a smile on his face but there is lots of giggling and laughing.  He belly laughs so hard sometimes that he can't concentrate on getting his legs right which then leads to frustration but soon everything gets into place and it is all smiles and hand clapping again. 

I don't have any pictures of this slide fest to show you because I figured that this would be even better.  If all you see is a big black box put your mouse over the box and right click.  This will open a window and at the top of the window click PLAY/PAUSE and you should be able to see what is going on.  You have to give it a few minutes and turn your volume on.

Oh yeah and by the way he can walk now.  For about a week out of the blue he would get up on his knees and walk around like that and then on Thursday the 17th we got to watch him take his first steps.  He never really showed any interest in walking and any time you would take him by his hands and try to let him walk he would automatically sit down so we figured that he wasn't ready.  Like they say every child is different and will do things in their own time.  Learning how to walk on concrete floors is pretty tough so we couldn't be prouder of our Little Gremlin.

I hope you enjoyed the video and if you couldn't get it to work just let me know.

-Cowpie-

Hide-N-Seek

Ever since he was old enough to figure out hide-n-seek, using a blanket to cover up his face, My Little Gremlin has loved this game.  While he still likes to play with mom he prefers to play with his dog Bubbie.  For some reason Bubbie makes it more fun and exciting.  Maybe it is because Bubbie has the extra sense of smell to make the seeking a lot easier.

MLG finds a place to hide.



"Can you see me?"

While he tries his best to wait for Bubbie to come find him he isn't the most patient of people, he gets this from his dad, and jumps out a little early.

 

"Surprise!"

When all he sees is mom with the camera he quickly hides again until



"tag your it" Bubbie finds him.  The game can last over ten minutes giving mom a good break.  They both love this game and you can hear MLG's donkey laugh echo throughout the house.  Usually after a good game of hide-n-seek MLG needs a big lunch and a good long nap.  For this reason mom loves hide-n-seek too.

-Cowpie-