First Auction of 2008.....

I FINALLY got the chance to go to a farm auction this year! It wasn't a real HUGE auction, just a few little things and some large equipment and implements. Most of the stuff on the hay racks was not really worth much. The auctioneers tended to "lump" a lot of things together into one pile to get done faster. I bought 3-4 of these $1 or $2 dollar piles in oder to get the 1 or 2 things I wanted. I pretty much got everything I bid on, and came away spending $13 dollars on small stuff.

The one "High Dollar" buy I made was for a set of tire chains for my tractor. They are for a tractor with SLIGHTLY narrower tires, but should fit mine without any problems. If I need to add a couple links to them (although doubtful), it won't take much. Usually, tire chains go pretty high. I have been watching them for 3-4 years now, and the cheapest I have seen them go for is $60 a piece. I managed to get these for $20 for the PAIR. There are 3-4 broken links, but they will be easy to fix. Otherwise, they appear to be in good shape.

I scared the skin off one of our cats this morning. She looks CLOSE to the cat that has decided to be a house cat. They look close enough that we call this cat the "Evil Twin". She's not really EVIL, but it fits. She is the one that loves jumping into the air to catch dragonflies or bread chunks (or other food). She is actually quite good at catching things thrown at her.

She did't WANT to catch what I threw this morning.

I was out feeding the goats and was getting a hay bale down to put in the feeder. I had it balanced on a gate in the barn and gave it a heave, just as the cat rounded the corner of a fence. She ended up being about 6" from "Ground Zero" when the bale hit. She jumped straight up in the air, the bale tipped over and she landed on TOP of the bale! As soon as her feet hit "hay", she launched herself up and over the gate, through a goat pen and up a wall before she stopped. Her eyes were as "big as saucers" as she stared me down. If looks could kill......
At any rate, it sure got her blood pumping! It all happened in about 3 seconds. SHE didn't even know she could move that fast! I think it aggrivated her more that I was laughing at her......

THEN....About 30 minutes later, the same cat was sniffing around a small shed we have behind our house. The dogs saw her and wanted to go bark at her. The shed is outside of the back yard fence, but it never has stopped the dogs from letting things know it's THEIR yard. I opened the door, the dogs run out barking, and the cat takes off like a SHOT! I guess she was still a little nervous from earlier.....

This afternoon, when we got back from the auction, I parked the pickup in the barn so I can unload it tomorrow. All of the cats decided that they had to "inspect" the new stuff. The Evil Twin was intent on investigating a coil of rope I bought. I had the tailgate open and grabbed one of the tire chains I bought so I could pull it out and take a closer look at it. Unbeknownst to the cat (or me) the rope she was inthralled by was hooked on the chain. Between the sound of the chain and the movement of the rope, it was enough to "launch" her for the THIRD time! She jumped up, and out of the truck in about 1.00003 seconds, nearly killing herself, me and one of her buddies in the process.

I haven't seen her in awhile. She's probably in hiding and wishing that this day would end before she gets hurt or has a nervous breakdown.....