Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Jacques & Tomás, Barn Kittens



I've read that barn cats are the canaries of the farm.  If you have healthy cats you have a healthy environment for the rest of the animals, and for the humans as well.  I don't know how true this is but I do watch the kitties to get a sense of how healthy it is in the barn.  Anyway, in late spring we got some very young kittens from Duskwind farm and both Selena and Xavier take care of all of the cats on a daily basis. They are very sweet, lovable cats and are well socialized, which goes to show that barn cats do not have to be wild and skittish.  In March I plan on neutering them with Camp Companion that will do the operation for barn cats for a very low price.  I don't want them reproducing any more unneeded cats in the vicinity.  Having them neutered will also keep them closer to home and they will be safer if they are not roaming around looking for action!

Jacques



Tomás



"Gray cat" is a stray that arrived here, from who knows where, late last spring.  At first he wouldn't let us come within 25 feet of him, but after leaving food out for him he slowly warmed up to us.  Now he is a very friendly cat who has taken up an interesting friendship with Karl, our Pygmy buck.  Gray likes to lay underneath Karl or right by him.  Karl even shares his food with the cat.
 Poor Mathias is the original barn cat who lived here before we moved to the farm.  He's a very nice cat but he is pissed off that so many other animals have moved into his space.
Jacques, enjoying the winter sun


Tuesday, June 08, 2010

The MacPhail Guitar Quartet's Radio Debut


Above: Henry Johnston, Xavier Jara, Luke Banchy and Austin Wahl
This week Xavier's quartet is featured on the program "String Theory" with Kevin Barnes on Jazz 88 FM. It airs again on Saturday, June 10 at 2:00 p.m. but can be listened to online at: Jazz 88 KBEM

The Program:
Quartet Live In Studio- Allan Johnston Director
Ensemble Performances Scottish Fantasy by David Crittenden
Bach Brandenburg Concerto 6 Movement 3 Allegro- J.S.Bach
Solo Performances-
Luke Banchy- Mazurca Choro by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Xavier Jara- La Joia by Vincente Asencio
Henry Johnston-Chanson From Sonata 3 by Manuel Ponce
Austin Wahl-Schnee In Istanbul by Carlo Domeniconi
Brouwer Cuban Landscape

Austin Wahl


The quartet with Kevin Barnes (on the left) in KBEM studios at North High School in Minneapolis