Elliott is in the house ......

And I don't mean, "Elliott is here at the ranch" .... he's been at the ranch for over a year now; I mean really in the house.  And as you can see, he has made himself at home.

He doesn't live in the house, preferring to be able to roam the creek and pastures and patrol the barn at will - I think he has a personal commitment to eliminate as many voles as possible ... I must say, I support that commitment!  The good news is he is not daily leaving a vole on the deck and/or sidewalk - about once a week he leaves them for us, the rest of the time I think he just "leaves" them - I find deceased rodents at random spots around the ranch ..... I actually okay with that too.

Make no mistake, Elliott has not replaced Zeke, in the house or in our hearts; Elliott is his own cat and finding his own place.  Zeke used to nap like it was his right, in fact his entitlement to nap and by jingo he was going to do/have the best nap ever .... Elliott is more of a focused and enthusiastic napper; I think or would imagine he relishes the luxury of being able to do a 3S nap - Safe, Secure, Spot sometimes sunny sometimes soft .....

Elliott curled up and sound asleep on the bedspread.  You could almost hear him as he drifted off to sleep ... "oooo this is soft - maybe if I fall asleep quick, I'll be too cute to disturb and I can sleep here for the rest of the afternoon ..."

In case you were wondering:  He was (too cute to disturb) and he did (sleep there the entire afternoon).

Not quite so upside down and still sound asleep - Seriously, how does he sleep all wrapped up like that?

Another day - another nap!

All stretched out in the sunshine ..... life IS good!

Nose to nose with a 'napping cat'.

He cracks me up, one eye open as if to say "You woke me up - What is it exactly that you want?  Can you not see that I'm sleeeeeeping here ....!!!"

Now this is a comfy comfy boy ......

Honestly, the only other critter I've seen sleep with all four in the air is Murphy.  I don't think I've ever seen a cat sleep in this position - until now.

When he sleeps all upside down and silly it makes for some great photo opps .....

He seems to be settling right in - to 'his' corner of the couch.

He and Murphy are getting along just fine, sharing couch space.

Elliott doesn't actually doesn't come regularly or often - some days it is in and out, other days not in at all and then some days he comes in finds a comfy spot and naps the day away. 

I think he kind of likes it here ....

The "Girls" and then some

Mama

one of the wise ones ...

Mama having a snack .... check out all the pollen in the air - those dots you see on Mama are NOT my camera lens needing cleaning, it is pollen. 

Mama just cracks me up ......

Shaking off after a dust bath ...

Shaking everything back into place after shaking all the dust off after her dust bath.

Couldn't you just scoop her up and give her a hug?!!

Miss

She's my girl alright and the girl is making me crazy- yesterday afternoon she was eating thistles

 First she paws the ground where the thistles are growing

 Then she has a bite

and another

and some more bites

then more pawing

 and another mouthful

she is so careful and delicate - using her nose, I guess, to find the tenderest pieces .... on the other hand, she is eating thistles and they are prickery how dainty and delicate does she need to be?

Nicker

When did she get so grown up??  How did I not notice?

Nicker at the stock tank - something caught her attention.

 She is getting big!

Heading towards being a full fledged grown up horse ..... well almost.

 She still gets sidetracked for treats - she thinks thistle blossoms are treats, not exactly my idea of a treat, she likes them just fine.

 Despite her appearance of calm maturity and looking like a mostly grown up horse .... check out those cheek bones in her reflection - nice!  That is a 'big girl' reflection she's got going on.....our girl totally serious - she still has time for horse play, or as we like to call it "Nicker playing around"!

She is still a girl who likes to play in the water!

 And at least she is 'self entertaining' ...!!

 She gets a kick out of herself and she seems to have such fun - she makes me laugh!

 Ohhh Nicker !!!

Oh my goodness she is growing up - much too fast for me.

Looking more like her Mama and sister every day ... her stockings just crack me up - she looks like she is trying out for a burlesque show or the Rockettes.

Rose

the old wise one ...

Rose has a scratching tree in every corner and every possible spot on the ranch and in the areas that don't have convenient trees, she fills in with whatever is available - could be a T-post or a vehicle bumper or a fence post or a telephone pole or part of the yard fence or a corral post, or as in this case a huge fallen tree (doubles as a condo unit and home to several bunny families).

 Getting her chest and shoulders a good scratch .....

Ahhhh ..... that's the spot - perfect height for her right shoulder and the side of her nose!

And then some .... The Herd

 Some days they are all clumped together ....

Seriously, in the middle of heaven knows how many 'lots of acres' - can six horses GET closer together?

And then some days they hang in groups

 The 'girls', Mama then Miss and Nicker and Rose, in the lead with Hank and Shadow walking shag.

I'm not sure if the girls slowed up or the boys started moving faster or ... some combination between the six of them of slowing down and speeding up.

There we go .... what a nice line they've fallen into - Mama, Miss, Nicker, Rose, Hank and Shadow.

They so crack me up....the cutest line of "goobers" you'd ever want to see.  ha!!

The part that cracks me up is that they wouldn't do this in a million years - if I wanted them to .... leave them on their own and they line up in the straightest prettiest line you'd ever want to see.

 Check out how the little ones have grown - Miss is next to Mama and noticeably taller; Nicker is third in line just in front of Rose and she is every bit as tall as Mama and within catching up height of Miss.  Hank at next to last is almost as tall as Rose and I'm not sure, could be Shadow at the shag end is every bit as tall as Rosie.

Interesting how they've naturally broken off into pairs .. well kind of into pairs.  And yes, that would be Hank looking at the camera .... maybe he knows I'm taking pictures and wants to make sure everyone knows which horse is him?  "Hi Mama!!! It's me Hank - Do you see me Mama?  I'm right here, second from the end ....I'm looking right at you; I see you, do you see me? Hi Mama!!"  That's my Hanky!!