FRANCIS'S BLOG 04/11/2026
Happy Halloween! 🎃
I thought, this year, that I would be a lovely Austrian shepherdess:
But Finn and Noodle were expecting me to be a witch—so I guess I’ll be a witch:
Henry said, “Phooey on Halloween!” and stuck out his tongue:
So Finn, Noodle and I “hexed” him, and gave him antlers!
Don’t worry, Henry, you’ll be back to your old self by tomorrow! 🐎
Tomorrow is Halloween! 🐴
Tomorrow may be Halloween, but last night and this morning had their share of “tricks!”
This ghostly image is of Misty “cribbing” (or “crib biting”—look it up) on the front gate:
We were afraid she’d pull it down, so the cat-cops opened her and Henry’s feed doors, where she normally likes to crib. Cribbing is a bad horse-habit—but pulling down the gate is worse. 🐎
In other animal crime, the ducks raided the cats’ food:
And a mouse ate a hole in the bag of mealworms:
Mouse crime! 🐭
Kitty capers 😺
Pumpkin says, “Good morning! Let’s eat!”
Schrödinger wants the last “kaboodle” out of the bag:
And Finn made a nest:
😺
Bright fall Sunday 🐴
Our tree looks pretty in the morning sun:
The leaves are bright gold:
And the lights are up in the riding arena:
We’ll be riding day or night. 🐴
Sometimes the people around here just have to wise up 🐴
Since no amount of straps can keep Jewel’s door from being broken down, we’ll move her food bowl up against the wall (so Iris will no longer be led into temptation):
And, it appears the rain bucket will be knocked over, and the new drainspout torn up—until, either we get a lot of rain, or the bucket is filled. . .
. . .so the cat-cops have broken down and decided to fill the bucket:
Now, that’s service! 🐴
Kitties tuck in 😺
We don’t know why the cats prefer to eat up on our hay:
That’s a lot of faces squeezed into a little bowl:
At the same time, there’s lots of elbow room on the ground:
I guess when you’re off the ground, you never run into any “interference”:
Chickens and ducks like cat food, too. 🐓
Busy Wednesday night and Thursday morning 🐴
While the truck was being backed into the stable to unload wood chips, I stepped outside. . .
. . .and had something to eat:
Noodle climbed way up on the roof of the truck, and checked out the downspout:
This morning, it was no big surprise that Jewel’s door was down—the cat cops will strap it down extra hard tonight:
It’s also no surprise that Finn is staying toasty on my back:
And here, I wish people wouldn’t try to hurry me along:
🐴
Frosty Wednesday morning 🐴
Yesterday, poor Evil Cat’s eyes were gooey and almost shut. 🙀
But today, his eyes are much clearer. 😺
We’re glad you’re feeling better, Evil Cat! 😺
Another day, another horse crime 🐴
Of course, nobody knows how this happened:
And here’s RC, demonstrating what to do should your clothing catch on fire:
It’s warmer this morning 🐴
The ducks are happy that their water is liquid this morning:
And they’re hanging around the feed shed, hoping for some worms:
Hansel is bright-eyed and happy under the heat lamp:
And I have a cat sleeping on my back:
If you don’t wake up soon, Finn, you’ll find yourself out in the far pasture. 😾
There’s ice on the duck water! 🙀
Our 4 youngest ducks have never seen ice before. They got a shock when their beaks went “thud.”
Daisy will spend some time in the pen, because the drakes have been too mean to her this morning:
RC beat me out to the pasture; and Mary and Mara wrapped some red tape around the gate boards—maybe that will suggest to some of us not to break through them:
Oh, and Stormy will get a ride this morning—so he’s on lockdown:
And so is Iris!
🐴
We’re running out of boards 🐴
Somebody broke another one of the boards that make up the gate to the far pasture (it wasn’t me):
So, we’re all locked in the front pasture until we get new boards:
The ducks of course are free as birds:
Someone’s showing off their wings:
There’s a lot of wing-flapping around here, but very little flying. 🐴
It’s movie time! 🐴
Let’s watch the manure steam on a frosty morning:
And let’s watch Patrick hog the pool:
We love Kaidence and Kadison! 🐴
Look at this pretty pair of peaches!
Aren’t little baby people just the cutest things? ❤️
Let’s go for a ride, my rosy-cheeked fillies! 🐴
Nice, sunny Wednesday! 🐴
Henry looks handsome, backlit by the morning sun:
I look handsome—backlit, front-lit, or any-lit!
And the ducks are waiting for the hose to overflow their pool:
It makes a nice stream in which to dig for worms.
First frost! 🐴
It was 35 this morning. Notice the frost on the ground between the ducks and the manure spreader:
Baldy is staying toasty in front of the heat lamp:
And the kitties are staying sun-kissed:
Any day that’s sunny is a good day! 🐴
Bad horse morning 🐎
Look at the size difference between these duck eggs:
Oh, come on, horses! Didn’t we do this yesterday?
Nobody thinks Rose did this on her own.
Other than that, it is a very pretty morning, and we can’t wait to get to the far pasture. 🐎
Horse Crime! 🐎
How can Rose stick her head out of the stall like this? Where’s the door?
Oh, there’s the door—HORSE CRIME! 🐎
Counselor Stormy advises, “Admit nothing, Rose. If you’re asked if you saw anything, say, ‘Neigh! Neigh!’” 🐎
Cat tricks 😺
Oh no! What happened to Finn? 🙀
Did she get stepped on by a horse? 🙀
No, she was just playing possum! 😺
I wonder if our possum ever “plays cat?” 🐴
It’s getting cooler (only 38 this morning)! 🐴
Doesn’t Henry look good trotting down to the far pasture?
Oops! The gate’s not open yet!
Good help is hard to find. 🐴
Oh, and here’s a video of us coming in for dinner last night:
It was only 42℉ this morning! 🐴
Thankfully it’s sunny and dry.
We celebrated by knocking over the salt lick rack.
PEEK-A-BOO!
I suppose I better move, if I expect to get breakfast. 🐴
We are tired of rain! 🐴
Here we are again, on another dreary, rainy morning:
Let’s cheer up by looking at some pictures of us being friendly!
You know Jewel and Rose are buddies. 🐎
And Schrödinger and Noodle play all day. 😺
And Ferdinand, Percy and Daisy fear no Evil (Cat)! 🐴
More horse crime 🐎
Jewel is complaining that her fan is not working:
It might help, Jewel, if you would not chew on the cord:
Thank goodness for circuit breakers and polarized plugs:
Otherwise, she may have had a shocking experience! 🐴
Dazzling Ducks 🐴
The sun was out this morning, for a change.
Let’s watch the ducks enjoy their morning ablutions!
Good clean fun!
Will it ever stop raining? 🐴
We’re having hay inside this morning:
Partly because it’s raining. . .
And partly to keep Iris company. As you know from yesterday, she has a little swelling on her leg, and we don’t want her slipping in the mud and making it worse:
I’m not supposed to be back here, but I was impossible to push out of the way:
I’m feeling stubborn this morning! 🐴
Animal injuries 🙀
Poor Finn has something in her eye. I wonder how that happened? 🐴
Maybe when she was prowling around inside the stable walls?
It looks like she’s better now:
And we’re in the front pasture because Iris has a bump under her left rear knee:
You won’t see Stormy, Jewel or Charlie because they’re being ridden by Mary and Mara. 🐎
Nothing to do but watch the ducks eat 🐴
It’s going to be a very rainy day, and it was a very rainy night. 🐴
But luckily, it stopped in time for breakfast. 🐴
Speaking of breakfast, let's spend 2 minutes watching the ducks eat:
Horse crime! 🐎
A cold front blew through with terrible winds, and the temperature dropped to 47℉:
Many branches were blown down:
But we digress—HORSE CRIME!
Someone with a heavy foot broke a board (again). And of course, nobody saw anything!
Jewel says it definitely wasn’t her:
“We think she doth protest too much!” 🐴
Summer’s not done with us yet 🐴
It’s supposed to be almost 90 this afternoon, followed by a storm (let’s hope not). Meanwhile, Evil Cat and Major Tom share breakfast, albeit at a safe distance:
And Willie makes you some fresh duck soup:
Oh, here’s a video of us in the front pasture. We got a good spray this morning, because of those little flies that set up house on our backs. Check out Jewel and I at about the 53 second mark, where we do some synchronized fly-swatting:
There is a problem with this rock 🐴
I would like to lodge a complaint with the management:
My complaint concerns this new rock:
It makes me sneeze. 🐴
Tons and tons of rock 🐴
It seems like we’re always getting new rock:
It makes us wonder, where does all the old rock go? 🐴
As long as it stays off our pastures, I guess we don’t care. 🐎