We usually have one or two tame cats around the barn...and several slinking nameless ones that prefer to stay in the shadows. That all changed this year! A few of the barn cats had kittens...and the grands took it upon themselves to find the kitty nursery and tame them. All summer long they played with kittens...
...checking on the kitties was the first order of business for the day. The kittens soon abandoned the barn...and now hang around the house...waiting for the back door to open. They climb into cars...jump on tables...
...and wait for the kids to come out to play.
Since the mistress of the house (that would be my DIL Broni) is allergic to cats...this whole scenario is causing a bit of a problem. The word is out that some of the kittens are being placed for adoption. In fact...two went to their new home up on the hill on the weekend. It was not a good scene...with three grands sitting in the back of the van and crying as the kittens were being delivered. Mister Miley (it turns out he was not a 'miss') and Midnight are hopefully settling into their new home...where they have no 'barn cat' expectations.
What we really need are barn cats...not a dozen cats lounging at the back door of the farmhouse...waiting for their meals to be delivered. On the farm we like cats just fine...but they have their place...and that's in the barn!
Those would be my kind of cats...barn cats. I could have used an attic cat a few weeks ago :0)
ReplyDeleteMy aunt felt the same way that you do and it nearly broke my heart when I'd find kitties in the barn and learned that she didn't want them in the farmhouse. Ha! Wouldn't this make a wonderful children's book? It would be a good way to explain the need of a lot of cats for the barn, but not for the house.
ReplyDeleteI have been admiring your beautiful photography and will be catching up here completely one fine day. I'm sure that there have been many fine adventures since I last checked in.
What's a dairy farm for little girls other than a place to tame kittens? I grew up doing that for years, and just yesterday I taught my niece who had spotted a new kitten hiding, how to coax them out with a few little 'meows'.
ReplyDeleteOnce your grands become teenagers, the cats quickly revert back to barn cats.
Oh we've tried and tried to have cats lounging around the barns. . .and they somehow always find the road way too enticing.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up we always had barn cats too .. .The problem was we started to have kitties being born with crooked tails, no tails, and other oddities ..
My beloved would love to put a few barns in the pit. . .oh if he was only allowed.
my word verificaion was barde. . we almost had barn
I have a lot of empathy - not as many cats - but same problem. Our problem was not cured when our daughter became a teenager. She still loves them - babies them, tames them, sneaks them in "just for a visit" - and we end up shooing kitties away from the door.
ReplyDeleteThey are awfully cute though!
Oh oh! I am a cat lover so you know where my heart lies..lol I hope you will get barn cats fixed so there will be no more unloved kitties..that is always the very best solution for all!
ReplyDeleteHow interesting and what fun.Not coming from a farm I would be far too sentimental but I know that you cannot be.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful skies and enjoyed the garden pics too. Have just left another b log with a rainbow.
Ooohhh....barn cats......my husband likes to tell stories about his childhood and how he was instructed by his dad to get rid of the barn cats that were overpopulating the chicken barns. I won't go into detail, but I hope you can continue to find humane ways to decrease your cat population!
ReplyDeleteSince we had quite a problem with mice last winter, we are taking all precautions for the winter ahead. Yesterday the Erlich man was here from the extermination company. He did recommend an outdoor cat, stating he thinks that would be a great help with the mice and the voles. Today, I read your post. Am I being told something? Oh, if only we had a barn, because I really do like barn cats, or perhaps an attic cat as one of your commentors aluded to.
ReplyDeleteI can agree with you. But for some reason the grands just want them right up with their daily life.
ReplyDeleteQMM
I don't have too much to say, except that all animals should stay in the barn....but I know that my daughter has a dog...and it's in her house, not mine...
ReplyDeleteShoe them away.....
That is the only cats Dad allowed.
ReplyDeleteI'm allergic, too, but they are cute. My aunt and uncle had the same problem.
ReplyDeleteI hope the tears ended soon after.
At least they got new homes! It's so sad to say goodbye to a beloved pet. There's been many tears shed about pets in my lifetime...I remember going to the farm (your farm, but it was grandpa's back then), and barely being able to wait to go to the hayloft and look for kitties. We once found a desperate mother whose kittens had fallen down into a wall, between the wall studs, and the mother couldn't reach them. We were so glad to have found her, and were able to get her kittens, and move them to a safer place. I LOVE cats! Much to the dismay of Adam. He likes them, but he thinks I'm crazy. Ha :)
ReplyDeleteI can see how this would be a problem, but I was just picturing those darling grandchildren having so much fun with their newfound friends and can see how they would get attached to them. Hope it all works out.
ReplyDeleteKitty fun!
ReplyDeleteA side note to solve the tears at parting: We had an unplanned litter of mongrel pups (our pure bred brittany spaniel skipped by the other brit pure breds in the neighborhood to tangle up with a mutt!)
Our five year old son was heart broken when we announced that the pups needed to find new homes. We ran an ad in the paper...he cried as people came to get pups, right up until the moment he saw money changing hands.
Money could be made from those pups??? No more tears from that mini-capitalist!!! He was suddenly thrilled to sell the whole litter.