A Quick Summer recap…

Summer was crazy here, the calendar was full and every weekend came way too fast and were booked solid!  I wanted to go camping at least once before July…oh shoot…we never made it out this summer!  But, we had a great spring and summer anyhow!

Summer in my world is “Dog Show Season”.  Things start up in the spring and by summer there’s a show within reasonable driving distance just about every weekend.  My show season started a bit early this year.  In March, you may remember that Spartacus started and finished is AKC Beginner Novice (BN) title all in one weekend.  Then, in April, he earned his AKC Companion Dog (CD) title.  It wasn’t as pretty as I would have hoped, but we did it as a team and I learned a ton!

Hera has started to make her appearance in the conformation ring as well.  She’s maturing beautifully and has already earned her first 2 points.  I’m really looking forward to what a few more months will do as she continues to mature and really come into her own.  She’s making friends and settles in just about anywhere.  Often when attending dog shows I stay with friends, many of which also show dogs.  Hera’s made some travel buddies, her favorite of which is Liberty the English Setter.  Liberty’s sister Fiona is not quite as amused by Hera and Liberty’s wrestling and general level of “crazy”.

Hera learning the ropes of show dog afternoon nap from the always beautiful Vivi

Hera helping herself to the hotel bed

The fabulous Fiona

 

Aside from dogs, I got to complete a few projects.  I’m particularly proud of how my potting bench turned decorative table turned out!

Isn’t it cute?

 

 

Springing Forward

Here in the midwest we’re having a warm up!  This has me starting to think about spring.  I’m not kidding myself, we’ve still got plenty of cold, wet, snowy days left for the season.  But it does make a person start to think ahead to green grass and sunshine!  And for me, I start getting motivated for dog show season.  The winter months have fewer shows but in a few months they really start popping up like Daisies!  Spartacus is done with his conformation show career, but he’s recently returned to the Obedience ring.  In January he picked up his AKC Beginner Novice title with three scores in the mid 190’s out of 200 for two FIRST places and a second place.  Best of all, people got see how smart bulldogs really are!

Tonight we’re off to some local pet stores to do a little training with distraction in preparation for his next trial in April.  I leave you with a picture of Sparty showing off some of his ribbons from his BN title.

 

Crazy Love

When we got our first Bulldog, we had no idea what that would mean for our future.  As it turns out, you can’t have just one.  They’re hilarious.  They’re expressive.  They’re so darn cute.  They are so stubborn!  I admit, getting a Bulldog was not my idea, but as it turns out, I’m a huge fan.  Over the last 5 years we’ve made some amazing friends in Bulldogs, and it was only a matter of time that we added another to our home.

Enter Hera.

Hera was bred by my mentor’s in Bulldogs, Deb and Randy.  She was their pick of the litter, they’re show hopeful.  “Tulip” actually, was her name.  Along with her littermates Iris and Charlie.  At a dog show on a warm July night, I fell in love.  Not with that crazy face up there…I don’t know who that creature is!  Just kidding, it’s her…I told you they are expressive!  This is the face you get when it’s mealtime.  Anyway, the rest is history.  Hera joined us a few weeks later.  She’s our next show hopeful, showing great promise and fantastic Bulldog attitude.

She’s growing up so fast, and already graduated from her first obedience class and her show career will start in the next few months.  She keeps us on our toes, and is a fantastic addition to the farm.

there

 

Guard Donkey

I’d like to introduce you to Peaches, the lovable and very opinionated “guard donkey”.  Peaches is a mini-donkey and serves as the matriarch of the farm.  She takes her post seriously, announcing the arrival of visitors for the whole coulee to hear.  We got her to keep our horse Stella company and to give her a home when our Farrier took her in from a client who was fighting cancer.  While the circumstances were sad, Peaches has been a welcome addition to our home!

Peaches arrived in the spring by her red Ram 1500 chariot.  No really, we picked her up and drove the 30 miles home with her in the backseat of our pickup.  No doubt somewhere on the internet is a picture of Peaches, her derriere pressed against the window.  At one point she started releasing a few gases so we opened the window behind her as we drove through town.  Couldn’t we have used a horse trailer, you might ask?  Why yes, yes we could have, but she fit pretty well in the truck and it seemed like a bigger adventure.

Peaches the close talker

Up next, we’ll be introducing you to our puppy, and newest show prospect.

For now, I leave you with some pictures of warmer days gone by…

Goofy and Sparty

Thanks for stopping by!

 

A year, oh my!

I’ve thought about my blog now and then over the last year, but I just never made it on here.  I don’t know why.  In part, I probably needed a break to get off the computer a bit.  While I didn’t write a ton on my blog, I do spend a great deal on the computer between work, and free time.  But I think I’d like to come back, if you’ll have me.  I miss it, and life is teaching me so much that I’d love to share.  So hold on to you’re hats friends, the Midwest Funny Farm is back!  Complete with some new furry faces to be introduced.  I’ll start by featuring our new faces in their own blog posts in the coming days.

Meantime, back on the farm, you missed out on our summer weather…we’re back to winter.  Perhaps in the coming cold days, I’ll do some throwbacks to the warm-weather happenings.

Merry Christmas!

 

Goodbye, Fast Boots, and the Feline Tyrant

It’s been a week of ups and downs around here.  We had to say goodbye to our resident “old man” kitty, Jamie last weekend.  He lived a nice long life, and his age has been catching up to him for several months now, but it doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye.

Spartacus got some fancy new booties to protect his paws from the severe cold we’ve had, combined with the salt that we’ve had to use to keep things under control.  While he doesn’t love them, he’s certainly a good sport about them, although he seems to prefer to run everywhere with them.  Our five year old nephew, Jack would be proud.  When we went snowshoeing as a family over Christmas, Jack brought his wonderful imagination with him and put his “fast boots” on to keep up with us.  When he started getting tired, he’d tell us they were running out of batteries, and we’d encourage him to keep going by convincing him we found new batteries.  So, here’s Spartacus in his very own “fast boots”

Spartacus and his new “fast boots

We also had a bit of a sleep over with our dear friends’ dog Gypsy while they were out of town for business for a few days.  Gypsy is a frequent visitor of our house, and has stayed with us several times but this time was an experience we haven’t had before!  Our indoor cat, Dora gets a long quite well with Spartacus, even plays with him on occasion.  She’s not a fan of any visiting dogs though, as we’ve watched a few that have had very poor cat manners.  Gypsy isn’t one of those dogs though.  She is interested in the cats until they look at her, at which time she promptly changes direction of travel and avoids eye contact.  The last several times Gypsy’s been with us, Dora has gotten rather brave, even following her around.  This latest time, however, she seemed to gain a whole new sense of confidence when she smelled Gypsy’s fear of her and spent two days straight down-right terrorizing poor Gypsy.

I knew this visit would be different when I got home from work to let Gypsy out (her owners dropped her off and crated her while I was at work) and she followed me into the bathroom.  A few seconds later, Dora appeared in the doorway…and there she stayed…staring at the dog with that crazy cat look in her eyes.  She was on a power trip, and a TERRIBLE hostess!

The Feline Tyrant

Dora wouldn’t move from the doorway, and Gypsy wouldn’t go anywhere near her.  I finally had to come to Gypsy’s rescue and chase Dora off.  The evening continued much the same way.  Gypsy quietly snoozed at my feet until Dora would appear out of no where, charge at her and Gypsy would go running, with Dora on her heels.  If Gypsy started to walk around you could hear exactly when Dora would appear and she’d quickly come running back, with Dora on her heels assuming the charging bear stance, puffed up, running slightly at an angle.  What’s that saying?  Oh yeah, cat’s are jerks!  Gypsy would resign to just laying as close to me as she could for protection.  She’d stay there for 15 minutes or so, then suddenly get up and move away.  When I’d start looking around, there Dora would be, creeping around the couch, chair, or coffee table, eyes fixed on Gypsy.

Please, save me!

Here, Gypsy joined me in the bathroom getting ready for work, and became trapped as Dora perched herself right in the doorway.  Just staring at her, clearly knowing she was scaring the bejeezes out of the poor dog.  Seriously, she’s such a jerk!

Trapped again

I honestly love my cats, but Dora is a serious jerk…

 

The Deep Freeze

Winter has really set in here and I’m not a fan.  Normally I kind of like winter, but when temperatures reach -20 without windchill (and -50 or worse with windchill!) I start to wonder why I live here!  The other day I was crossing the frozen tundra to give the barn animals water while a friend was complaining it was too warm in Florida, where it was a full 90 degrees hotter…not factoring in the terrible wind chill!  That same day I put a gallon of milk outside to freeze because we weren’t going to use it before the expiration date otherwise and it was a solid rock 2 1/2 hours later when I checked it.  I kid you not…I am living in a deep freeze.  Today, we reached a balmy 7 degrees above 0 and I was TICKLED!

Meanwhile, the barn kitties are bringing pure joy to our life around here.  Buddy, our fluffy black cat has been nicknamed Velcro, for her amazing ability to attach herself to anyone who will let her.  In this cold weather when we’re bundled up, she’ll climb up your leg and cling to your chest purring in your face before you even realize she’s nearby.  The other day she scrambled up my arm and perched on my shoulder as I walked by the hay bales she was sitting on.  Goofy is almost as friendly as Buddy, and only slightly better at respecting your personal space.  A few weeks ago we had guests staying with us and the barn cats were a big hit with the kids as they soaked up any and all attention directed in their general vicinity.

“Pleaase pet me!” -Goofy

 

 

Weekend, weekend, how you fly by…

Well, I still have two cats in my wall.

Who knows why.  They come out to eat every day but they refuse to come out when I’m around.

New barn guardian, Buddy

Buddy on the other hand, is living up her new life of freedom.  She completed her round of wormer and is now free to roam the farm.  She seems to fit in just fine and has made friends with Stella, our resident guard-horse and Jamie, our older farm cat.  Buddy must be keeping busy, I rarely see her during daylight hours, but every evening when I go out to feed she comes running in the barn from the woods to say hi.  Actually, her name should be Velcro…I’ll have to get a picture of it sometime.  These days it’s cool enough in the evening that I dress in my Carhartt overalls and jacket…better known as Buddy armor.  While I do chores, Buddy prefers to climb up my leg and stick herself Spiderman-style to my chest so she can meow, purr and rub my face.  Daily I remind her of just how much she hated us when I first brought her home.  I don’t think she remembers, it might have been her evil twin.  At any rate, she’s fast become my sweet Buddy!

While Buddy was getting used to the lay of the land over the weekend, Spartacus and I hit the show ring.

Getting handsome for the show!

My “home” kennel club hosted it’s show over the weekend so Sparty and I put in some long days.  Ok, so mostly Spartacus had it pretty easy.  Aside fr om the short time he was in the ring, he mostly napped in his crate and visited people at the club’s information table.  Ok, let’s be honest, mostly he just slept.  And then we came home and, well…

Momma, I’m so sleepy…

We had a great time visiting with lots of exhibitors, some old friends, and some new ones!  Spartacus did a great job the first time in the ring as a Special (finished Champion) and took Best of Breed on Saturday, and Select Dog, Best Owner-Handled, and Owner-Handled Group 4 placement on Sunday!  Now we take a break from the ring for a couple months.  If I’m ambitious, we’ll start obedience training again and see if we can finish some more titles on the end of his name.  Those are really his favorite.  He should be able to pick things up again quickly, he loves the obedience ring so I think he’ll train eagerly.  Now…to get myself motivated!

 

I kissed a camel, and I liked it!

Katy Perry’s got nothin’ on me. Seriously, this guy is the sweetest ever!

That is all. Kind of like wordless Wednesday…except not…

 

Adventures Never Cease

 

Know what this is?

This is what happens when your new barn cats get stuck in the wall.

Yep, that’s right.  So I was perusing good ol’ Craigslist a few weeks back when I saw a post from a lady trying to find homes for her outdoor cats.  She had taken in something like 15 cats over the years as strays and had taken care of them as outside cats.  Problem is, she’s now moving to a small home in town…can’t take all those cats with her.  I thought, well…we have a barn, we have a pole barn, we have mice…maybe we have a home for a few.  

No good deed goes unpunished, I’ll tell you that much.  She was a very nice lady…but…  She had three that were siblings she’d had since they were kittens, they were all fixed and she wanted to keep them together.  Since I don’t want to end up with a cat farm, I thought getting some fixed cats for free sounded like a good idea.  

Well…

What was supposed to be a 50 minute drive to her house was more like an hour and 45 minutes.  Then, as we loaded the cats into crates, we realized just how unhappy they were about crates.  That’s when one escaped and clawed the crap out of the lady’s arm as she tried desperately to stop him from escaping.  I departed her house with 2 of the 3 cats, one of her little crates, and a promise that she’d catch him and bring him to me because she desperately wanted him to go home with me.  

When I got home, Buddy, the black cat was angrily trying to kill me through the bars of the crate.  My husband came to help move the crate and looked at me like I was nuts.  I assured him that she had been very sweet when I picked her up, but she apparently didn’t appreciate the crate or the car ride.  Buffy just hid in his crate, never making a peep.  I put them in a nice insulated room in our barn with litter boxes and lots of food and yummy treats until they got used to their new home.  For a few days Buffy just hid behind some boards against the wall and Buddy hissed at me anytime I came near her hiding spot.

A few days later, Wednesday I think it was, I got a call that the escapee, Goofy had been caught, and she was on her way to my town.  Nevermind it was the middle of the afternoon and I was at work.  She begged me to meet her just outside town…she’s terrified of city driving.  So, off I went to meet her.  She sent me off with Goofy, another crate she told me to keep, a big bag of cat food in a container, and $20 to buy more.  Goofy wasn’t super impressed with the crate but let me pet him a little once I got him in the barn with his brother and sister.  

After a couple days I thought I’d made some great progress with Goofy and Buddy.  Goofy loved attention and Buddy quickly decided she wanted in on the action.  The two of them enjoyed scratches, extra treats, conversation, and even let me carry them around.  That was last week.  

Tuesday night I went out to feed the cats and discovered Buffy seemed to be missing.  He never came out of hiding before, but this time he was actually gone.  I searched high and low, enlisted my husband’s help, and we determined he was gone, though we couldn’t really find a way out of the room.  Wednesday night I went out to feed the cats and discovered I was down to just one cat…Buddy.  Yep…the one that appeared to be a rabid (she’s not, she was just crazy), demon possessed cat when I first brought them home was my lone ranger left.  

Where the heck did they go?!  

I called and called for Goofy, who usually would talk back to me, but I got nothing.  I searched everywhere, went outside in the dark to see if I could see any slivers of light coming from that room that might tell me where they’d escaped…nothing.  After a good 10 minute search, I had given up with one last call to Goofy when I heard a faint call back.  

You have to be kidding me…he’s behind the wall!  Ugh!  With my husband’s help we dismantled the section of the wall you see in the picture and sure enough, when I checked with a flashlight there were two sets of eyes at the far end of the wall staring back at me.  Goofy has decided he doesn’t like me anymore, and now prefers to hide in the wall with Buffy, who never did like us, and Buddy is still, well, my buddy.  Who would have guessed?  Certainly not my husband!  

Honestly…it’s never dull.  It would have been so much easier to get some kittens…