Friday, March 11, 2016

A Stroll with "The Boys"

Today was a beautiful, sunny day so I thought I would take a stroll with "The Boys".  Other than a quick trip outside in between snowfalls, they haven't been out of the house all winter.  With Spring in the air, they have been itching to get outside lately.  I have both of them on harnesses as they're declawed and we have lots of coyotes in the area.  It would be very upsetting if something were to happen to them.

Blackie and Sneakers are brothers, my daughter picked them up as kittens.  Blackie actually belongs to my daughter but has been with us for most of the last 2 years.  He's a real sweetheart so we're happy to have him along, he's our pretty boy.  His actual name is Yoshi but I called him Blackie from the beginning and it kind of stuck.  He's a little on the chunky side, he definitely loves his food LOL.  His hobby is bird watching.  I have a bird feeder right outside the front window so this is where he hangs out a lot.  He often makes a cute chittering sound while watching them.





Some of you have already seen Sneakers in other posts.  He is all boy.  He's adventurous, likes to get into everything and can be very sneaky when he wants to be, that's how his name came to be.  His two hobbies are trying to get outside when nobody is looking and trying to figure out how everything works.  He's known as the foreman of the house.  He was originally chosen by a friend of my daughters although he was kept at her place from the start, then he became hers, then mine.  His original name was Sloth.  Did I keep that name?  Absolutely not...I changed his name when he became mine LOL!!  He's also a real snuggler.  His favourite snack?  Barbeque potato chips.  He seems to like spicier foods which is a little strange to me.  We love him!


As Sneakers is the adventurous type, he discovered last year that he wanted to become a tree climber.  For a declawed cat, that's not always easy.  I helped him the first time or two but now when he sees a tree on one of his strolls, he makes a made dash and jumps right into it.  There are a few trees on our property where the trunk splits into two and it's lower than others.  This was his first tree climbing adventure for the season with many more to follow.


He has never jumped up into this particular tree before and by the look on his face, I think he was needing some assistance.  He looks a little concerned.  Of course his mom was too busy taking pictures.  Poor guy!


He did make it out of the tree on his own.


This is the other side of our house.  Keep in mind that the snow just melted and the property looks a little on the messy side right now.  The gardens didn't get cleaned up last Fall so I have my work cut out for me.  I decided to leave the old growth to help protect the plants although it would have been easier starting with a clean slate in the Spring.  The garden in front of the cedars is actually a multi- layered one.  We have a lot of work to do on this one, I was hoping to work on it last year but ran out of time so I'm hoping we can get to it this Spring.  Some of the perennials and bulbs will be kept but others are overgrown or more of a wild flower so we'll be changing things around for sure.


You can see our vegetable garden just to the right of the composter (wooden box).  We have our work cut out for us this year on that garden too.  Last year some of the weeds were my height.



This post is located on a corner of our property.  I love old fences.  There isn't much left of this one but I hope this post stays.  Part of our neighbours field is right behind this post.  A small portion of their field tucks in behind this section of our property.


This is the main part of that field.


As you can see, not all of the snow has melted yet.


This photo reflects some of the view from the front of our house.  This is looking out across the road.



I was overjoyed today to see so much greenery coming up.  Many of the bulbs have 1-3 inches of growth and the perennials are also sending up new growth.  I love watching things come to life.  We may end up getting more snow before Spring officially hits but the plants should be fine now.  And what is this plant you may ask?  I can't remember lol.  I usually remember what I planted but this was already here.


I was a little surprised to see a flower blooming on the Periwinkle (Vinca).  It seems a little early to me, usually it's about May when the plant is fully in bloom.  Hopefully this little guy and the bud to the left are the only ones jumping the gun.



Does anyone else have plants coming up prematurely this year?

I hope you enjoyed your walk with "The Boys".  Sneakers enjoyed it so much that he kept asking me to take him out again.  This went on for about an hour.  Maybe tomorrow Sneaks!

21 comments:

  1. Such adorable little fur-balls! Love the jump into the tree:) You have such gorgeous wide-open spaces! So beautiful! xx Karen

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  2. How awesome to take your kitties for a walk! I've never done that. Our cats have always been indoor-outdoor, but I can understand your concern with coyotes! We had a cat named Blackie once too :) So fun to see the pictures of your sweet kitties on your outing, and the views of your property. Gardening is always a lot of work, but so enjoyable when things are blooming and growing! It looks like spring is headed your way about as quick as it is here too! No robins yet though :)

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  3. Cute kitties , our cat wont go out side as she was born feral and I think she had lots of bad scary experiences out there in the first 5 months of her life . We have coyotes here to but it is the Fox that will catch any cats Mr fox is a sly one . Lovely house looks like half is barn shaped I like it and lovely property to . I am itching ti get into my gardens and get planting and what not we have no snow any where it has been gone for over a week now and my spring flowers are then same about 1-3 inches above ground early this year as our winter was so mild and practically snowless and the warm up of spring like weather now . Thanks for sharing , Lovely photos , Have a good weekend !

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  4. Goodness they are so cute! Harness walking is a good safety idea. Such gorgeous photos of your property. Daffodils popping up always bring a smile. :)

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  5. I love cats so much!!! I tried to put a harness on my cat Spunky so he could walk with me and he would not have any part of it!!!1 Just plopped to the ground and would not get up.
    You have beautiful space and scenery at your homestead.
    I planted pansies and violas yeasterday...happy dance.
    Enjoy your day.....Earlene

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  6. Your cute boys remind me of my neighbour's fluffy cat who walked around our street and acted like he owned the place! Hee! He would sit on our front walks and would even come all the way to our front door. How brazen!

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  7. Our cats really enjoyed getting out in the spring too, we have a fenced in yard and they would stay inside so we didn't have to worry, both of them passed away last year, they were 18 1/2 years old. Same thing we got them for our daughter then she went away to college and then got married and they decided to have a cat of their own. My little Anna use to love BBQ and Dorito chips, and anything tomoato based like spaghetti sauce or anything like that, she was a one of a kind cat sure do miss her.
    You have such beautiful land all around you, sure would love something like that. We have our Tiger lilies and Iris's popping up and some of the trees are starting to bloom, I love when everything comes back to life, can't wait to start a garden!

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  8. Afternoon, such a sweet kitty, so much beautiful space to play.... Nice to see hardly any snow there, melting here but still lots... Love the little flower, so sweet. Blessings Francine.

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  9. I found you from Francine's blog. Look forward to getting to know you. I love meeting new blog friends. Your boys are so lovely. We have 3 kitties and 2 were rescues. Janice

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  10. What delightful pictures of your sweet boys! They look delighted to be outside!

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  11. What cute kitty brothers! Thanks for taking us along on your stroll. I enjoyed it. 😊

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  12. I enjoyed the walk around your property! Beautiful cats! Was your home a reconstructed barn? Love the roof shape.

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  13. I am in awe of your beautiful house and property. I can barely keep our tiny cottage and garden in shape so I am impressed with all that you must do.

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  14. Despite an unusually mild February (rain instead of snow for most of it), we haven't seen a single shoot yet. I think the temps are just too close to freezing still. Soon, I hope. I'm craving spring like water in a desert and can hardly wait to feel some heat from the sunshine once again.

    It's really sweet that your kitties will walk on leashes. I had a cat as a teenager who would do the same, but she was the only one so far.

    Many thanks for your wonderfully lovely comment on my post about becoming an aunt,
    ♥ Jessica

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  15. You have such a beautiful view from the front of your house! Lucky girl! Your cats look adorable. My pets (dog and rabbit) are both shedding right now and there's fur EVERYWHERE. Glad to see your snow is almost gone now. I had some plants starting to sprout in the middle of winter, and I'm still waiting to see if they survived being snowed on a few times after that. Isn't it fun seeing what surprises come up in a new-to-you garden?
    Wendy

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  16. Your cats are adorable. I have not had a cat for about 12 years now. I miss having one but my Pomeranian is almost like a cat in a dogs body :) Your property is so nice Kelly. Have a wonderful weekend!

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  17. Great snap shots of the tree climb! I love the one where he is looking around the tree, adorable.
    Listening to you talk in this post made me think that I was sitting right next to you talking while we looked out from your front porch.

    Spring is in the air here but the cold weather is wanting to hang on. We have had some great snow storms and Randy says the skiing is terrific.
    My walks have been with a cold brisk wind, but I have enjoyed the smells and sounds of spring arriving.
    Our wild turkeys have been hanging around close to the house trying to scratch on any grass that they can find. They have a long wait for that.
    The chicken scratch will have to suffice for awhile longer.

    Good to visit with you, Kelly.


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  18. So cute, beautiful cats! Happy Easter

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  19. Hi Kelly, In case you want to see...I just posted my DIY  creations.

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  20. Oh I love your sweet boys! They look like such adventurous kitties!

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