Relaxing

Daisy was happy I was out in the yard this afternoon and evening so she could spend time with me.   She is getting tired of the cattle in the yard.  Manure all over and the calves are fascinated with her.  Depending on the calf they either follow Daisy around or run after her.

Wet weather

It has been a very wet weekend with over an inch of rain having fallen.  Daisy has been restless.  This morning since it was too wet to go outside Daisy ran around the house, meowed, and wanted me to open drawers and closets so she could check them out.  It was hard to sleep with all her commotion.  Eventually she settled down and slept on the bed with me - and ended up hogging the middle of the bed pushing me to the side.

When I went outside late morning to check on the cattle she insisted on accompanying me even though it was raining steady.   As I checked on Buddy's feeder and moved some hay Daisy sat in the red feeder and waited for me to finish even though it was raining steady.  She stayed there until I was done and then came with me back to the house - all wet.

The following photo is from weeks ago as I didn't have my camera with me today.

Late afternoon she decided to brave the rain and go outside.   Naturally she was very wet - top to bottom - when she came back inside.  Unfortunately she decided to lay on papers I had on the floor while I was sorting them.  She got a number of papers all wet.  She was so wet she only washed and cleaned herself a section at a time and tolerated being wet elsewhere.  I did pet and brush much of the water off her when she had come back into the house.

This is a cat not afraid of water and getting wet.

Sleeping while it rains

Working on tree stump 5

Today was a cool and rainy day.   Daisy and I mainly slept much of the day.

Last week Daisy accompanied me when I dug partway around another tree stump out in the pasture.

Here are 11 more photos:
    https://picasaweb.google.com/109566462412251958234/6286634603100155489?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIO7goixyoL6Gg&feat=directlink


Here is a 2 minute 47 second video of Daisy hunting something, then checking out the hole I dug:

https://youtu.be/ldQsE8SSGTM

-

Morning routine to check on cattle

Many mornings Daisy comes with me when I go out to check on the cattle.  She did again on Sunday morning.  After a few somersaults at my feet she lays and watches the cattle with me.  Notice that she insists on laying against my foot.  She also doesn't mind getting dirty.

Here is a 38 second video of Daisy laying at my feet.  The video ends with a pan up to some of the cows and calves, including calf 13 and his mother on the far left.

https://youtu.be/OJLTqH4zwJc

-

Drinking and sleeping

Friday afternoon Daisy was limping slightly as she walked.  But that appears to have gone away by Saturday.

In the morning drinking from the cattle's - I mean Daisy's - water trough.

Sleeping in the afternoon.  She didn't even wake up when I took these photos.  Notice the bent front paws, curled back paws, and her tail making a circle.

Insisting on getting wet and dirty

A weather front came through this evening.  Strong winds, cold and rain.  After waiting in the pole shed for Donna and I to finish working the newborn calf, Daisy was happy to come in the house with me.  She was clean and dry as she waited.

Once Daisy ate her "special treat" (wet) cat food her routine is go back outside.  This is what she wanted to do now.  But when I opened the door to the strong cold wind and rain she changed her mind.

Five to ten minutes later she was roaming the house and complaining.  She wanted to go outside.  This time she sat on the front porch's small carpet.  For about a minute or two and then came back inside the house when I opened the door.

Ten to fifteen minutes later it was more of the same.  Around and around the house she roamed.  Meowing loudly complaining about the weather and wanting to go outside.

After about ten minutes of listening to Daisy complain and coming up to me over and over asking to go outside I relented and let her outside.

This time I let her stay outside for 15 to 20 minutes.  When I opened the door she come running - fast.  So fast she slipped on the concrete front porch.

Daisy was very wet and her legs and belly were wet and muddy.

Once inside Daisy wanted to lay on my lap.  I had to get a blanket and put on my lap.   She laid down and began washing.  She is so dirty she can only wash so much before taking a break.  Her wet fur also smells.

Daisy... Daisy... Daisy...

At least she is satisfied with staying in the house now.  She is currently curled up on my lap.

The white spot below her face is were she licked the dirt off her leg.

In between washing she would lay with her head and neck against the table.  I had to turn sideways as I was afraid she would get a crick in her neck.

Irrigation shed work

I had wondered why the irrigation shed had been leaning on the river bank.  Initially I had put it down to the shed being there 60 to 70 years.  But I figured it out.  The rain running off the shed roof slowly washed dirt away.  I decided to fix this and add a rain gutter to the shed's roof.

Last night I was cursing up a storm due to the old bowed roof and the difficulty in getting the rain gutter installed.  (The cattle bellowing back at the corral didn't help).  Tonight Daisy came with me.  Even though the work still didn't go smoothly I was in a better mood.  It also helped that the cattle were quiet.

After a while Daisy wanted to go up on the roof to get a better view as I worked.

Shots and trench work

Today I took Daisy to the annual animal clinic to get shots for her.  She got another 3-way shot for diphtheria, etc.  I also got a rabies shot for her.  Combined with the rabies shot from last year Daisy is now protected for 3 years.

The clinic was from 11 am to 3 pm.  I got there just after noon.  The line of people and their pets went all the way across the parking to the road.  Vehicles lined the side of the road as the small parking lot was full.  While I waited in line a skinny tattooed neighbor woman came over to the clinic to complain about all the cars parked along the side of the road.

I went at the worse possible time as the line was the longest when I first arrived. Daisy and I didn't get out of the clinic until almost 2 pm.  A long wait.

At the beginning Daisy growled / moaned as she didn't want to be there.  But soon she settled down and watched the commotion from the safety and shade of her pet carrier.   There were many more dogs than cats at the clinic. Daisy was well behaved when it came time to get her shots. 

When we got home Daisy went down to her quiet place in the basement to sleep and recuperate.

Daisy has forgiven me for taking her to the animal clinic.  Now that she is done with her patrol for the evening, and has put the cattle to bed, she is now laying on my lap.


The previous evening Daisy accompanied me as I dug and put a couple of railroad ties in the ground for my upcoming electrical work.  Because I drove out with the railroad ties I had Daisy ride with me in the pickup.  She is not fond of riding in vehicles and she wanted to sit on my lap as I drove.

I had to hand dig a 40 inch deep trench over to the power pole and Daisy had to inspect my work shortly after I started.  She also checked my work when I was done but I wasn't fast enough to get a photo of her down deep in the trench. She was able to quickly jump up out of the deep hole.

Hay bale surprise

Today I got and moved another large hay bale for the cattle.  I have a line of more than a dozen bales.  I drove into the hay bale with some force to get it on my bale spear.  At the far end of the line of bales Daisy ran out all of a sudden and then stopped and looked my way with a surprised look.  Apparently she was sleeping near/under a bale at the far end and I surprised her.  She then decided to go sleep in the hay shed where there is currently no hay bales.

Supervising from a hay bale

This evening while I was working on the corral panels move and the fence fixing - and while Buddy was distracted by the cows - Daisy laid on top of Buddy's hay bale and supervised my work.

Daisy loves when I work outside in the late afternoon and early evening.  She follows me around.  And if I spent a bunch of time in one area she will take some tangents to go exploring only to show back up when I move to the next project.

In the corral

I had a busy Saturday with cattle and hay.  Daisy was right with me.

Leading a calf into the corral

Supervising from the top of the corral fence

Playing tag with Donna

Later Daisy decided to lay in her favorite water trough.  She was pulling herself along the length of the trough when Buddy decided to come over and check out what Donna and I were looking at.

Here is a 12 second video of Buddy and Daisy.

https://youtu.be/NyApRlPm6pY


Later in the afternoon Daisy came with me out to the pastures. (No photos of Daisy being cute as I forgot my camera.)  We walked out to look at the river then went to my southern neighbor's pasture to check the pocket gopher trap (caught another one) and to reset the trap to a new location.  Then it was back to a tree stump I was digging around.  Daisy laid and rested from our long walk, then she sat here and there keeping a lookout.  In between she came down to the bottom of the hole to check out my digging.  She was a tired kitty by the time we got home.

Calf checking and water trough hole

Daisy often comes with me first thing in the morning when I go and check for new baby calves.  No new calves this morning.

Daisy waits for me as I walk around counting the baby calves as I look for new ones.

Are you done yet?!

Yesterday on a nice and warm afternoon I scrubbed the cast iron cattle water trough to clean it.  The scrubbing revealed a small hole.

Several years ago the water trough had several similar small holes.   I had some JB-Weld and was able to fix the holes.  This time I was out of JB-Weld.  I used a different glue mixture.  Now to let it cure for a day.

After we checked for calves Daisy kept me company as I fixed the hole.

In the meantime I am using another water trough.  It is not as nice for Daisy this trough doesn't have a lip where Daisy can stand or sit and drink when the water level is lower.  Even though this trough is slightly taller Daisy can reach the water when the trough is full.

Corral watcher

Last month Daisy kept me company while I worked in the corral finishing the corral divider fence.  She did some supervising and kept an eye on things.

What a cute cat!

Laying around

This morning Daisy laid on her back for a long time and watched for birds at the bird feeder.

Last night I saw Daisy heading over to the yellow house neighbor's house.  I called for her and she stopped and looked around.  I was way off in the hay field and she didn't see me.  So she continued on.   They have a cat who is mostly an indoor cat.  They have dogs but they are fenced in the yard.  Daisy is a little daredevil.

Soaking wet

Well, let's see if Blogger's email send fix also works for this blog too...

Tonight Daisy got soaking wet.  It has been raining steady since this afternoon and it was driving Daisy crazy as she wanted to go outside and do her patrolling of the property.  Finally she went for it and disappeared from the front porch.

When I went out after 8 pm to give the cattle some small hay bales Daisy showed up to be with me.  She was checking out the hay bales in the barn when I left.  I left the barn door open slightly for her to be able to leave - while attaching a strap to the door so the cattle can't open the door further.

Hours later Daisy showed up at the front door.  She was wet! It was like she went swimming.  Daisy isn't too fussy about getting wet, but this was ridiculous.  I brushed the water off her back and sides.  Her legs and belly were also soaking wet.  After eating she laid by the wood stove to dry off.  She is still laying there.

Two more mice

When I checked on Daisy at 8 am I found two dead mice on the front step.  Daisy came in the house and I went back to bed.   When I checked at 11 am both mice were gone.  I know Daisy didn't move them.