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AROUND THE FARM
Sapphire Farms is actually two farms about a half mile apart in south central Pennsylvania. Mary and Sue are sisters with a common love of the Arabian horse. We thought you might enjoy some images from our little corner of the world...
A pair of our Guinea fowl - September 2013
New puppy Tootie -- October 2012
Pair of Canadian Geese in front pasture in the spring
Female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird visiting the feeder - July photos
Pennsylvania Whitetail deer photos taken in March
Images of some of our colorful flowers
In memory of our beloved Decker Terrier, Lexi. She was getting older in this photo and the vivid brown markings on her face are turning white but she is still one of the best canine companions I have ever had. This rare breed is starting to make a comeback. These dogs are intelligent thinkers, loyal, clean and just the right size!
Lungwort, a shade plant, in full bloom.
A male Ringnecked Pheasant -- once common in Pennsylvania, this colorful cock bird is the first one I have seen here on the farm in 10 years.
A colorful Pennsylvania rainbow in November after a storm.
A blind squirrel with his lookout buddy and the reason they are so nervous
Homozygous black broodmare LR Elana in her "everyday attire"
FARM KITTIES
When I first posted photos of our cats on this page I never expected all of correspondence we have gotten about them! Apparently there are quite a few cat lovers out there...
We never set out to acquire farm cats but it seems like our little collection keeps slowly growing. (Butter and Marble reside with Sue while Twiggy and Blackie reside a half mile down the road with Mary.)
Butter, guest greeter and property patrol. Butter got her name from the color of her coat.
Butter above -- "Does this coat make me look fat?"
New kitty dubbed "Marble" because of her marbled dilute torti coat pattern. She needs a wonderful loving home!
Butter is still adjusting to having this new addition around...she is not overly amused by the sheer gusto for life that Marble exhibits.
Twiggy, another unexpected new addition. Found underneath our rural mailbox on a cold night about 6 weeks before these photos taken around the beginning of October, 2008. She was given the name "Twiggy" due to her extreme lack of body mass or fat. This kitten was in such bad condition that we weren't sure if she would make it -- her eyes were pasted shut with a thick layer of goo that even covered her nose to the point that we were unable to tell if she had eyes at all. She was very, very dehydrated, thin, hungry and sick. Now she's been to the vet, had antibiotics, eye ointment, dewormer and lots of attention. So far, so good!
Twiggy in December 2008, above -- caught in the act of making some adjustments to the ornaments, lights and garland on the Christmas tree. Her eye color recently changed to a vivid green so we are guessing that she is pretty close to four months old now. We have picked August 15, 2008 as her birth date as we will never know exactly when she was born.
Twiggy above at five years old. She has matured into a beautiful cat! Photos above were taken in November of 2013. Twiggy lives with Mary where she is cherished and loved every day!
Blackie, a rescue. This cat was doomed for euthanasia at the Humane Society, having bit several caretakers. The woman who took him to the Society was so terrified of him that she was afraid to leave her house -- even to get in her car to go to work. She worked with Mary and carried a broom along in her car every day to protect herself from Blackie on her dash to and from her car. He was, in fact, the absolute meanest thing on four legs that I have ever seen, racing towards humans to launch a full-fledged attack with teeth and claws. In order to save this cat Mary went to the shelter and adopted him, spent hundreds of dollars to fix his broken fang (someone had apparently kicked him in the face to save themselves when he attacked them) and countless hours being kind. At first nothing mattered to Blackie. Even after his wounds were healed and he was free to roam around the farm he was always seething mad with hatred for humans and would launch an attack from the bushes at every opportunity. We carried brooms for months when out and about on the farm! Time, patience and love wore him down...he is now the most loving cat to all who visit and a great companion for Mary -- he is quite the talker and follows her everywhere.
May 2012 update...
Blackie has gone to Kitty Heaven. He passed away peacefully in his sleep. His age was unknown when Mary first acquired him as an adult, but she had the pleasure of enjoying him for 13 years. That was one heck of a cat!
He was a loyal friend to the end.
Keep watching this page as new photos are added...
ALL INQUIRIES to Sue at InquirySapphire@aol.com or call us at 717-938-8801 |
