Working in the barnyard always turns out to be more fun than not, once I'm doing it, especially when the season is changing and that change is palpable in the air.
We discovered yesterday that Dickens E. Wickens, who occasionally gets scarce and worries us if we don't see him either coming in to eat or hanging out in the barn, has a new hide-out. He is sleeping in the hay manger in the horse trailer.
Now that we know where to find him, he was lured out for a photo shoot by my daughter, who had a good time capturing Dickens in all his cowboy glory.
After marching by as if he owned the place, he did his characteristic Dickens yoga stretch:
And his regal Dickens In the Sky With Clouds and Tongue pose:
He played with the grass:
He gazed demurely in front of the Lilliputian gate and muck bucket:
And when sister Keats was brought out to join in the fun, he barely flicked a whisker and she went running back to the safety of the back yard, turning to make sure he wasn't in pursuit before she launched herself up and over the fence to safety:
If it didn't take a bit of time to upload all the photos, I'd show you the entire set. There are so many good ones, and the sheer number of poses would convince you that Dickens Edward Wickens quite possibly has a second career as a male model.
The requisite headshot (this one is better if you click and enlarge):
Billie, do you think Dickens could really be a mountain lion trapped in a small black and white cat body? He seems so much larger than life. He obviously runs things at your place with an iron paw. We need him around here these days - what with the wildlife running amok. A cat who can control snakes can control puffballs.
ReplyDeleteHe is so cute!! He looks just like my Bella - except she could never pass as a male model. ;)
ReplyDeleteSheaffer, there is truly no telling what is trapped inside Dickens' body - he is such an anomaly to me. I've never known a cat who is so perfectly attuned to horses and the barn routine. LOL about the puffballs - I suspect if you had very young donkeys at your place those puffballs would have been stomped to death by now!
ReplyDeleteOf course you and Jack know better than to go about stomping on things..:)
Michelle, I love Bella's name! I think the tuxedo cats have a very distinctive personality.
ReplyDeleteDickens is certainly one handsome boy and should definitely be modeling for kitty magazines. He seems like quite a character who knows who he is and is very comfortable with himself.
ReplyDeleteHe's a true blue cowboy - the James Taylor song Sweet Baby James is his theme song:
ReplyDeleteThere is a young cowboy he lives on the range
His horse and his cattle are his only companions
He works in the saddle and he sleeps in the canyons
Waiting for summer, his pastures to change
And as the moon rises he sits by his fire
Thinking about women and glasses of beer
And closing his eyes as the doggies retire
He sings out a song which is soft but its clear
As if maybe someone could hear
(chorus)
Goodnight you moonlight ladies
Rockabye sweet baby james
Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose
Wont you let me go down in my dreams
And rockabye sweet baby james
Now the first of december was covered with snow
And so was the turnpike from stockbridge to boston
Lord, the berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frosting
With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go
There's a song that they sing when they take to the highway
A song that they sing when they take to the sea
A song that they sing of their home in the sky
Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep
But singing works just fine for me...
Oh, I love these pictures. The one of Dickens, chair and tongue is just too much!
ReplyDeleteDickens loves the horses and donkeys. He was lying out in the barnyard yesterday evening and both donkeys came up and touched noses with him.
There truly is an affection between he and the equines.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he was a horse in a previous life. :)