Like Magic

After wishing and hoping, and keeping my fingers and toes crossed...the seemingly impossible thing happened on Christmas Ever!

I hesitate to call it a Christmas Miracle, because, let's face it - where miracles are concerned, this is at the bottom of the list.  But still... perhaps we can just call it a tiny bit of Christmas magic.  Despite the prediction that we would have a Christmas Day with the mercury in the 50's, we awoke on Christmas Eve to..... SNOW!!

I could scarcely believe my eyes at 6:30 as we headed out to tend to the animals.  A dusting of freshly fallen snow covered everything.

Like magic.

And just like magic, it was gone... and the sun came out and, sure enough, the mercury rose as predicted.  In fact, it was warm enough that the Johnny Jump-ups came out for an encore.

Like magic.

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

A couple days before Christmas, Jack was feeding the cats their breakfast and did the usual headcount:  Moll Flanders ✅ , Pete the Cat (renamed Pedro el Gato by our Colorado kids) ✅, Bobby ✅, Half-Cat-Pat (MIA), Two Beatrixes ✅, no, Three Beatrixes.  Wait, what?  Count again... one, two.... three.  But, we only have two Beatrixes, so who was number three?  

I went up the ladder into the hayloft to check out this third black cat, and found another black cat with a little larger white chest spot and a white tip on its tail.  I'm really bad at sexing cats - but concluded that it was a female due to the absence of testicles.... a female with a very large belly.  Oh no... not a pregnant cat!  

With a little further investigation, it was determined that this cat was indeed a male... a neutered male with a rather rotund belly.  He had a few plump ticks on him (which I removed).  He has a runny nose (as is common with many feral cats).  However, he does not act feral.  He is as sweet and loving as can be. 

 

It's been several days now, and "Gus" seems like he has moved into the barn for good.  We are going to treat him for parasites and get him vaccinated.  It looks like we will never know his "before" story.  Surely his "after" story will be a good one!

   All of the feral cats around this area seem to come from one of our neighbors who does not neuter their cats.  Sadly, there are many feral cats around.  The fact that this cat was neutered makes me think that perhaps someone dropped off an unwanted cat.... a very sad situation, but one that will ultimately have a happy ending.

Let's take a moment and return to Pedro El Gato.  Pete the cat is definitely living his best life at the barn.

 

 He has the largest personality of any cat that I have ever known.

Just watching his adventures around the barn is one of the best parts of every day!

He is fearless!

And so... please welcome Gus... the newest member of the (ever-growing) barn cat brigade.  Thankfully, he gets along quite well with the rest of the gang.

We are still in the midst of unseasonably warm weather, but still cool enough that the horses are kicking up their heels each morning...

when given their pasture time.

There's nothing like witnessing Moonie, the one-eyed wonder, jumping for joy!

After finishing the cable sweater, I needed a quick project to keep my hands busy - so I started just a simple Christmas stocking.  I finished it yesterday and will pack it away for the future.

  Now I face the question :  What's next?