We have had some major snow here lately and cat activity has been largely 
confined to the barn. The whole crew has learned to climb out of the tack 
room now and they spend about half their time up on the ceiling and the rest 
hanging around the food bowl. They are often spotted sitting on the food bin, 
curled up in bunches and keeping each other warm through the cold snap.
    The cold blew out some water pipes in the barn, which flooded the lower 
stalls and rooms. The water promptly froze in place, making the tack room 
unpopular with the cats for a few days. At the first thaw I swept out the 
area and the cats like that better than the ice.
    Some of the kittens have taken to spending the nights outside their 
little tack room nest, especially when the weather is dry and the moon is 
full. I finally gave up on corralling them at night after spending half an 
hour with brooms, trying to herd cats. The two of us managed to get three out 
of five, and decided that it was no longer worth the trauma to the cats. 
these late night roundups were making them anti-social, and we can't have 
that in our cosy little barn, nosiree.
    It seems that the kits have discovered the mother lode of kitty litter. 
Yep, they have found their way under the tarps and are exploring the shavings 
pile outside. The horse look somewhat askance (as only horse can do) at the 
wee gifties that are arriving with their fresh shavings, so I try to make 
sure they get swept out with the other debris daily. Pendragon, our somewhat 
regal Arab, examined one such cat puck, lifted his head to stare at me, and 
then cocked a single nostril and said "Phuff!". A Parisian gourmet could make 
no more condescending remark about a plateful of lobster tails smothered in 
Vindalu sauce.
   Each day I bring in a couple of bales of hay and dump them in the hay 
room. I have discovered that if you stack them against the wall, with the 
bottom bale a few inches away from the wall, you get a perfect cat tunnel. 
Many an ambush is launched from there daily.
     Today Lynn, the fuzzy black and white, tried to walk across a bale of 
hay that had the twine cut already. The individual flakes started to separate 
under her weight and the whole bale fell apart in slow motion, like a deck of 
cards stood on edge. Lynn danced back and forth, uncertain which way to go, 
and disappeared suddenly as a crevasse open beneath her. Search and rescue 
parties are expected to report on her whereabouts within 24 hours. :)
--- Maximus 3.01
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