A Poem

I recently read "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman, and it contained a poem which I use here, accompanied by photos of my sleeping and resting dogs and cats:

Sleep my little baby-oh

 Sleep until you waken

 When you wake you'll see the world

 If I'm not mistaken...

Kiss a lover

 Dance a measure,

 Find your name

 And buried treasure...

 Face your life

 Its pain,

 Its pleasure,

 Leave no path untaken.

Dogs And Cats At Their Leisure

These may be the "Dog Days Of Summer," but the cats like to get in on the inaction also. Bramble cuddled right up to Daphne and Clover for an afternoon nap:

Outdoors, the ramp is a favorite napping site:

Daphne, Clover and Jack:

Seamus, Fergus (wearing his belly-band) and Draco, now deceased:

This is why the ramp is such a favorite spot. At many times of the day, it's the only place they can find shade:

Fergus, again wearing his anti-peeing belly-band, and Bramble:

Jack and Fergus, watching me water the new plants. Clover and Daphne are on the ramp behind them and you can see some of this winter's hay bales in the background:

Clover and Daphne:

Clover, proving what an expert she is at finding comfortable spots:

Clover and Bramble:

Seamus and Fergus, with the tractor in the background:

Rocky and Bramble. I don't have many usable pictures of Rocky because his black and white coloration doesn't photograph well. But I sure do have lots of pictures of Bramble as he seems to insert himself into every comfortable, napping situation:

Happy Pets At Home

Our spring is always late in the north country, but this year has been later than normal. Nevertheless, it is arriving now, little by little, and the dogs are thrilled to be spending more time outdoors in their fenced run. They love to stretch out in the sun and they certainly love to bark at everything, real or imaginary, which moves:

When indoors, life goes on as usual, one big sleep-fest. Here Daphne, Seamus, Rocky and Fergus shared a couple of fleecy dog beds:

Clover and Bramble snoozed back to back:

Draco likes to jump up on the dog food bin to relax and watch the rest of us moving around the kitchen:

Daphne, Bramble, Clover and Fergus:

Fergus, Seamus, Daphne, Bramble, Clover and Jack:

The dogs watching the chickens parade past them on the other side of the fence:

I moved a cat tree into the cats' food/water/litter box room and Georgette claimed its top shelf as her own. It was only fitting, after all, as the walls are painted almost the same color as her fur:

Daphne, Clover, Bramble and Fergus, all curled up together on one floor pillow:

Dixie the guinea pig, as tame and pampered as ever:

Draco looked as if I just woke him up. He's deaf and elderly, so I probably did:

Standing in the kitchen and looking at Fergus and Seamus in the hall:

"What If You Slept," A Poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

What if you slept

And what if

In your sleep

You dreamed

And what if

In your dream

You went to heaven

And there plucked a strange and beautiful flower

And what if

When you awoke

You had that flower in you hand

Ah, what then?

Sleepytime Corner - All Through The Night

You have probably noticed that I post a lot of photos of my dogs and cats sleeping together in the corner of the farm house kitchen. You also likely noticed that those photos were not very good because the corner was dimly lit and the walls were dark green. Well, I recently bought a used floor lamp for $12 which I've put in that corner and have since taken lots of pictures. I present some of them here, accompanied by the lyrics to the famous lullaby:

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT

Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee, All through the night:

 Guardian angels God will send thee, All through the night:

 Soft the drowsy hours are creeping:

 Hill and dale in slumber sleeping:

 I my loved ones' watch am keeping, All through the night:

 Angels watching, e'er around thee, All through the night:

 Midnight slumber close surround thee, All through the night:

 Soft the drowsy hours are creeping:

 Hill and dale in slumber sleeping:

 I my loved ones' watch am keeping, All through the night:

 Guardian angels God will send thee, All through the night:

All through the night: