🐈 Charlie Takes a Ride & Homestead Blog Hop 451

Let me tell you a story

Yesterday, I needed to head to town. I grabbed the money to pay a bill, and planned to zip down my driveway.

Once I hopped into my SUV and bumped down the gravel drive. Yes, I said bumped. Somehow I missed the fact that the trash trailer was hooked up to my Honda Pilot. Oops. I really didn’t want to take that thing with me, but there I was, a third of the way down the driveway.

I’ll tell you a secret: I’m a little bit lazy. Rather than driving down the driveway, turning the SUV/trailer around down at the bottom, and driving back up, I opted to back up the driveway. That’s right. With the trailer.

What was I thinking?

I can tell you right now that didn’t end well.

Another secret about me–I can‘t back up a trailer. But I just thought that somehow backing it up–up the hill with a curve would be A-OK.

I did manage to avoid the ravine ditch completely, but jackknifed the trailer right at the edge. That was as good as I could get.

I fought with the hitch and tongue, called Greg for minor instruction, and finally managed to free the ball from the tongue (or whatever it’s called).

For most people, this would have been a simple process, but I’d say it took me a good twenty minutes or more.

That finished, I got on the road again.

Today I stopped down at the bottom of the hill at the end of the drive. I needed to deposit some egg boxes for the neighbor, plus check the mail. I normally just keep on driving.

Imagine my surprise/shock when I returned from the mailbox to find Charlie (Chuck) riding on top of my SUV! Yep–he just caught a ride and held on!

I shudder to think what would have become of our little friend if I had not stopped! I never would have known. Thankful doesn’t describe my feelings enough!

Chuck did not worry. He was super chill about it all. In fact, he saw no need to come down, and I resorted to coaxing and begging, then finally grabbed at him until I snagged a paw. I plopped Chuck inside the car and we bonded while riding up to the top.

Once at the top, Chuck still needed to explore the car, look out the window, and linger. He took his time before eventually hopping out and trotting away.

Crazy cat!

Again–I’m so glad that I found him! He’s everyone’s best kitty, and Greg especially loves that little guy! He’s quite a hoot sometimes!

Oh, our animal friends!

Animals are fun, crazy, and aggravating, but they do make our lives richer!

Some of my favorite animals tales of all time are found in the James Herriot books. All of his books are entertaining–chronicling the experiences of James Herriot as he served the rural communities England. I learned recently that his books are a conglomeration of different people/events taken from his long veterinary career. This article tells a little bit about his background and books.

Our best of his books is a collection of animal stories called the Treasury for Children. Somehow, if Chuck had lived in James Herriot’s time, I think his antics would have earned him a mention in a story. If you’re able to get your hands on the children’s collection, be sure to look up the story of Oscar, the Cat About Town. It’s very cute.

Well…thank you for coming by today.

I hope you enjoyed our little account!

Have a great day!

Laurie

Welcome to the Homestead Blog Hop!

Homestead Blog Hop will take place every Wednesday and is for all things homesteading: real food recipes, farm animals, crafts, DIY, how-to’s, gardening, anything from-scratch, natural home/health, self-sufficiency, self-reliance, natural remedies, essential oils, & more! Basically anything related to homesteading.

Meet Your Hosts!

Follow Their Blogs

Natasha – Houseful of Nicholes (Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | Instagram)

Laurie – Ridge Haven Homestead (Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram)

Liz – The Cape Coop (Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | Instagram)

Kelly – Simple Life Mom (Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram)

FEATURED POSTS from the Last Homestead Blog Hop

Each week we take turns choosing three posts to feature. Each post will be shared on all social media platforms by all of the hosts! Here are the features from Last Week’s Hop

1. Garden Salsa Recipe from Simple Living Country Gal

2. Prevent Splitting and Cracking in Tomatoes from Road to Reliance

3. Quick Blueberry Oatmeal Cups from Treat and Trick

Congrats! Feel free to grab the featured on button for your post.

Just right click and ‘save image as…‘

Guidelines for this Get-Together:

1. Click on the “Add your Link” Button below and add a great image of your project or recipe. Make sure you link to the page of your family friendly post – not the main page of your blog.
2. Link up to three posts each week.
3. Try to visit at least a few other blogs at the party. Be sure to leave a comment to let them know you stopped by.
4. Link your post back to the Homestead Blog Hop. If the hop isn’t linked to your post then you cannot be featured. All featured posts will be shared on all hosts’ social media channels.
5. Please link up posts that you haven’t linked to the hop before. You are welcome to link old posts from your blog.
6. By joining the party, you are giving the hosts permission to use one photo from your post with a link back to your site if it is selected as one of next week’s Features.
7. This is a family-friendly link up meant to inspire and motivate the homesteader in all of us.

Let the Party Begin!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Join Our Pinterest Board

Follow all your hosts on Pinterest and send me a message that you’d like to be added to our Homestead Blog Hop group board. The only rule is to only add posts that you’ve also added here.