Our 2026 Garden: which ones, when?

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Nothing like the bone chilling temperatures of a polar vortex to get one thinking of warmer days in the garden!

Yesterday, I watched a couple of inspiring videos. This first one is from MI Gardener.

A bit of irony on this one, talking about how starting seeds too early can actually sabotage the effort. With our short growing season, a lot of things actually do need to be started indoors super early – at least for a growing zone like where he is – and we’ve already sowed our onions, trying out the seed snail method.

None have germinated yet. I’m a bit concerned that our living room might be too cold for germination, and we aren’t able to set up a heat mat in there. Onions handle cooler temperatures well, but they still need a certain level of warmth for germination. Hopefully, I didn’t just waste a whole lot of seeds!

One of the things he brings up is the need to pot up frequently if starting too early. There’s a couple of things I would try to do, to get around that. One is to pre-germinate certain types of seeds (not really worth it for the tinier seeds). That way, they can be planted in the second thing I’d want to try, and that is to put the pre-germinated seeds into pots or tray cells that are quite a bit larger, so that they either won’t need to be potted up at all, or need potting up less frequently.

This next video is from Gardening in Canada.

This is more relevant to us, since she is in the same zone as we are, and I’m pretty sure her growing season is shorter than ours.

Here, she talks about planning out how many seeds to plant, if the goal is to save money on groceries for a family of four.

It’s a place to start when adjusting for individual needs. For example, my family likes to eat fresh tomatoes, but I can’t, so I’d be planting enough for three people, not for. However, I can eat processed tomatoes, so if I want to grow tomatoes for cooking, making sauces, freezing, canning or dehydrating, I would actually want to grow considerably more of, say, paste tomatoes.

Since we started gardening after moving here, a lot of what we chose to grow was to determine what we actually like to eat, and which varieties, as well as what will actually grow well here. We are still doing that, to a point, but have started to narrow things down.

With that in mind, I went through my seed bin for things to start indoors, to see which ones need to be started the earliest – as in, by the end of January, or early February. This is what we’ve got.

There is one thing that should be started before the end of this month.

Luffa. Yes, I still want to try and grow luffa! So that’s something I will set up to pre-germinate probably after this coming weekend.

Other things that I would start, probably in the beginning of February are:

Peppers – we have Sweet Chocolate, which the girls said was universally liked. I also got a new variety, California Wonder Bell, specifically because it was described as having thick walls, that I want to try. We also still have Sweetie Snack Mix that I’d like to try again. This past year, we had such healthy looking plants, but they barely managed to produce anything. I think they might work better in the sunnier location I’m planning to grow peppers in, this year. I’m thinking a total of 9 plants would be enough for our needs.

Caspar Eggplant – a new variety that I plan to grow in a 4′ square bed, where I should be able to protect them from the elements. I think 4 – 6 plants would do, which would also leave space for interplanting with something like onions, or maybe some herbs.

Golden Boy Celery – I’ve never grown celery before, so this one is a total experiment. I think I would shoot for enough to fill one of my large celled trays, which means 21 plants.

Thyme – I may or may not try starting these indoors. We have two varieties of them that are heavily mulched that I hope will survive the winter. Just a couple of plants is enough, though, so I might start more and interplant them with some of the vegetables.

The next batch are things to start in March or early April.

Herbs – tarragon, summer savory, oregano and spearmint are possibilities. I think I would rather buy oregano transplants, though. We do have some in our little herb bed, along with the thyme, that might survive the winter. Spearmint is something I would be growing in a pot to prevent spreading, if we grow them this year. Tarragon and summer savory, though, are definitely things I’d want to start. Once again, only a few plants would be needed, to I’d probably be shooting for two of each.

Flowers – according to the packets, this would be the time to start Cosmos and the black hollyhock we have. Last year, I direct sowed Cosmos and they did eventually bloom, though very late. I might try starting a few indoors, then direct sowing in spring, to see how well they do.

Tomatoes – we will be growing three varieties, for sure, possibly four, all of them new. One is the Orange Currant tomato, which will be my alternative to the Spoon tomatoes we grew last year. Spoon tomatoes have been the only tomatoes I can eat fresh without gagging, and I’m curious if the tiny Orange Currant tomatoes can be added to the list. We will also be trying the Blue Berry and Chocolate Stripes varieties. These three all look to be rather prolific varieties, so we’d probably only grow three or four of each variety. I’m still debating whether I want to also do the Manitoba tomato, which is the variety my mother used to grow here, when I was a kid. If I do, I’d probably grow more than the others, for both fresh eating and making sauces.

The next batch would be started in late April, early May.

Bi-colour pear gourd – a new one, and the only other gourd of the many varieties of seeds I have, that I plan to grow this year. They should be prolific, and I’m thinking three or four plants of these should be enough. They would be among my “for fun” things to grow.

Herbs – in this time frame, we could start the chicory, Florence Fennel and chamomile. I would actually want to grow quite a few of each, based on their uses. I could get away with starting a lot of them and not have to worry about potting up too often, since they would be started so much closer to our last frost date.

Then there are the last ones we would start indoors, in early to mid May, based on a last frost date of June 2, though the adjusted averages now say our last frost date is in the last week of May.

Melons – Sweet Siberian Watermelon, Tigger melon, Hale’s Best Jump cantaloupe, and both orange and green flesh Honeydew melons among the varieties I want to try (all but the green honeydew are new to us). We had really poor results with melons last year, with only three varieties. I’m hoping this coming year will be better. I need to decide: do I want to have two or three each of five varieties, or pick just a couple of varieties, but more plants each? Either way, I think I would be shooting for about 15 plants in total as my goal.

Herbs – caraway. I honestly don’t know how many plants I’d need to grow for our needs. We’d be growing them for their seed, and I have no idea how many they tend to produce. Will have to research that.

Cucumbers – we have three varieties to choose from; Eureka, which is dual purpose pickling or slicing variety, Lemon and Bushy. The Bushy variety is good for pickling and has such a short season, they could easily be direct sown. Where I intend to grow them doesn’t have room for a lot of plants, though they will be trellised, which will allow for slightly denser spacing. I’m thinking of doing the Lemon cucumber for sure, then maybe the Eureka. We’ve grown those in the past and they did surprisingly well under that year’s growing conditions and their location.

This last category is of things that, in theory, I can direct sow, but I would rather start indoors, given our past garden history. These would be started in mid May.

Pumpkin – maybe. I’m still on the fence about trying the “Cinderella” pumpkin seeds I got. If so, I’d be shooting for 2-4 plants.

Herbs – borage. I might just direct sow these. Or I could try both starting indoors and direct sowing. I’ve been warned that they can self seed and spread easily, so I would want to treat them like a perennial and find a place where I can allow them to self seed.

Winter squash – along with wanting to try the rare Arikara variety again, because I want to save seeds, we have the new varieties I want to try. Golden Hubbard, Black Futsu, Butterneck and Gill’s Golden Pippin. If I start 3 or 4 of each, that makes for 15-20 plants in total. Will I even have enough space for so many, and still leave room for the direct sown crops I’m planning on? The goal with these is to have plenty for winter storage, so I would want to have quite a lot. With starting these so much closer to our last frost date, and pre-germinating them, I shouldn’t have to do any potting up at all, if I use my deep cell trays or Red Solo cups right from the start.

Summer squash – I’ll be selecting from all new varieties this year, which includes Yellow Scallop, Green Scallop Bennings, Early Prolific Straightneck and Lemon. Last year, we tried direct sowing our summer squash and got next to nothing, so I want to go back to starting them indoors. We love our summer squash, so I’d probably shoot for 8 -12 plants in total. If I want to try all four varieties, that’s only 2 or 3 plants each. Which would be enough – unless something kills them, or they just don’t thrive. The last few years, summer squash has not done well for us, so I’d rather have more, in hopes to get at least something! By the time we would be starting these, I should have a better idea of what space will have and can decide then.

So, there we have it. A plan of action, more or less, for what we’ll be starting indoors, and when.

Now, I just have to set up our basement to fit this all, with enough warmth and light. I’d hope to get the aquarium greenhouses down there, and might still bring down the small one, but we just can’t figure out how to get the big one, with its stand, around the bottom of the stairs safely. We might be able to get the stand through, but the tank itself is a completely different story.

Ah, well. We’ll figure it out!

The Re-Farmer

Unexpected stock up: this is what $293 looks like

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Since we had to bring cats in for neuters yesterday, and would be hanging around until they were done, we took advantage of being in a city. We wanted to pick up a few things before the polar vortex hit, so there would be no need to go anywhere during the coldest days.

Of course, we got more than was on the list.

This is what $293.80 at Walmart looks like.

Except for the three boxes of tea. My daughter bought those separately.

Gosh, that added up fast.

Part of it was because I needed to pick up some supplements.

The “white cheddar” at the top is actually a popcorn seasoning. We still have plenty of lactose-free cheese.

The “mineral” is my potassium, which I got along with some magnesium and zinc.

My older daughter had sent some funds, and part of her list included more energy drinks. The cases of 4 were on sale, so we got two cases.

My husband let us know we were almost out of peanut butter and molasses, one of his favourite snacks since childhood.

Next is a 5 lb bag of carrots – a good price, there. The vinegar is 7% cleaning vinegar.

It took some searching, but I found a small bag of seed starting mix, since I finished what I had left from last year, when starting the onion seeds.

The “sticks” is pretzel sticks; my husband requested something crunchy.

Not on the list is something we spotted on clearance. 3×10 heat vent covers. We need to replace several.

Pizza pops at under $20 is a good price, these days. At least compared to other places.

Next on the list is a new sponge mop head. My daughter tells me our current one has started to disintegrate!

Then there’s a bag of brown sugar, followed by a case of XXL puppy pads, feminine hygiene product, and a liquid soap refill.

Normally, I’d get a flat of 30 eggs, but they don’t fit in the hard sided insulated bags, so we got an 18 of eggs, instead. Then there are four loves of rye bread, followed by a couple of chocolate bars, one of which became part of my “lunch” on the way home, several hours later!

I got a 4 pack of distilled water for my husband’s CPAP humidifier. He wasn’t out, but the prices are much better at Walmart, so he’s well stocked now for some times.

Next on the “multi discount” list: We got a couple of energy drinks for right away, rather than for home. There is also a couple of coffee creamers for the girls, and 4 boxes of water flavours for my husband.

And that’s it.

Even with larger stuff, we didn’t fill a shopping cart, and it cost almost $300.

We did end up getting more.

After a had a bit of a nap in the truck, waiting for a call back from the vet clinic, I ended up going to the Dollarama. I didn’t get a picture of what I got, though. I found some 10% acid cleaning vinegar, so I got that. I really ought to remember to go there first. Walmart only has up to 7% acid cleaning vinegar, and it costs almost twice as much. I also got a roll of clear, self adhesive plastic that will be used to protect things from cat. I finally found a particular small size of hair elastics I’ve been looking for, for ages. I also got a small cat bed/mat for the inside cats. Last of all, I grabbed a small bag of roasted, salted cashews, which became part of my lunch/supper during the drive home, after picking up the cats. In the end, the total was about $16 and change.

That done, I rejoined my daughter in the truck. We didn’t stay there for too long before we headed back into the Walmart so my daughter could use the facilities, and then we just looked around at other things.

To get to the bathrooms, we had to go through the shoe section, which is where I spotted something hilarious.

Yes, I did end up getting them.

I found slippers that perfectly matched the pattern on my new coat.

Different brands of product, but same brand in pattern!

I didn’t even try them on, because I didn’t want to fuss with my boots. When I had the chance at home, I spread out my coat and found the matching pattern sections for pictures.

I also found some underroos in one of the few brands that are actually comfortable, in stock for a change, so I got a package while I could. I “splurged” on some cheap yarn in graduated, rather than variegated, colours. My daughter picked up a sketch pad and drawing tools for herself, which is where I found a small spiral bound sketch pad for my mother. None of the drawing tools in that section were things my mother could manage, so we went to the stationary section, where I found some coloured pencils that don’t need to be sharpened.

Altogether, with the slippers and undies being the most expensive items, it came out to just pennies over $60.

It ended up being a long time before we got home but, thankfully, nothing we got was damaged by the cold while sitting in the truck box. The insulated bags made the difference, so we didn’t have to worry about frozen eggs.

The last thing I got, just before heading home, was $30 in gas. Gas is currently $1.249/L

As for my splurge on slippers, when I tried them on, they did fit – sort of. Something about the toe design doesn’t fit my feet right, which would have caused blistering.

My daughter now has new slippers. They don’t bother her feet the way they do, mine.

And that’s it. Our mini stock up trip of almost $300 at Walmart, plus a few unplanned extras that brought the total to just over $400.

*sigh*

The Re-Farmer

Yesterday

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Wow. What a day it turned out to be!

The original plan.

Get three cats to the vet for spay/neuter. That’s an hour’s drive one way, so we were going to drop them off, then stay in the (smaller, nearer) city to do any shopping we needed until we got the call to pick up the cats. Typically, that’s been around 1 or 2, though I’ve have them call me before noon at times.

Once the cats were picked up, we’d take them home, I’d drop them and our shopping off with my daughter, then I would go to my mother’s apartment in the town south of us, check on things, clean her fridge, pick up the wheelchair the hospital requested, then go to the town north of us, to my mother’s in the hospital. They want to measure her in it and see if it’s appropriate to go with her to a personal care home, whenever that happens.

After dropping off the wheelchair, I planned to visit with my mother for a while. Due to her cognitive issues, she was not told that there was an appointment at 6pm with my brother, as PoA, the doctor and myself, as her advocate for the past 7+ years. From there, I expected to go home.

Of course, that didn’t happen.

Well. Part of it happened.

The first thing to do was get three fasting cats from the isolation shelter, into carriers. We really, really wanted to get Frank. She was perched on the shelf above the cat bed, in the middle, where it was hard for either of us to reach her from the sliding windows. She did get close enough that my daughter could get her, but I couldn’t get around to get the carrier closer before Frank escaped.

Frank does NOT want to get got!

Thankfully, my daughter did not end up bleeding. (Side note: I finally found the scratch proof gauntlets today! They were hiding in plain sight, of course….)

So we grabbed who we could. That turned out to be Sir Robin, who is extremely easy to get got, Grommet, also and easy one, and a grey tabby with no name, because it was the biggest of the remaining cats in the shelter.

Oh, and we had 7 cats and kittens in there to fast overnight, not 8. I was sure there was a second tabby kitten in there, but I was wrong.

The tabby was not happy. This is a kitten we’ve been able to pet and pick up, but nowhere near as socialized as the other two. We were 99% sure this one was male. We’ve got several similar looking, short haired, grey tabbies that move around so much, I’m never quite sure if I’m looking at the same one twice.

Our goal was to be on the road by 7:30, to get to the clinic for 8:30, though our drop off time was 8:50.

We did manage to be on the road by 7:30, but with road conditions in places, we per parking at the clinic closer to 8:45. Which is why I always like to leave early!

During the drive in, I brought up that we needed a name for the tabby. Neither of us could think of one right away, but while checking them in, my daughter came up with Flopsy, because when we pick him up, that’s how he gets. Flopsy.

Once the cats were checked in and taken to the back, my daughter and I headed over to the Walmart and had breakfast at the McRaunchies there. It was shortly after 9am by then.

After breakfast, we did our shopping. With the polar vortex expected to hit soon, we had a few things we wanted to restock on, plus we found extras. That will get its own post later, since it did turn out to be a larger shop.

I got a message from my husband that one of my packages is in, so I added picking that up on my list of things to do after dropping off the cats at home.

When packing things into the box of the truck, we were selectively packing things into insulated bags to prevent them from freezing, rather than the other way around.

Of course, since I needed to get up and get on the road early in the day, I had an almost sleepless night. I was pretty tired, so we warmed up the truck and just stayed in it, while I tried to nap a bit. We had to turn the truck on to warm up again only once in that time.

After a while, though, I needed to use the washroom, so I headed back into the Walmart, while my daughter stayed in the truck. I hadn’t realized, while I was napping, that the weather had already started to turn. A huge wind had picked up, and there was blowing snow, everywhere. Not new snow. The wind was picking up any loose snow out there, and the parking lot was in whiteout conditions!

I headed in for a few minutes then decided to go to a Dollarama that shares the same parking lot. I found a few things there before rejoining my daughter in the truck.

By this time, it was well past noon and I was expecting to get a call from the clinic soon. My daughter needed her turn to use the facilities, so we both went in and ended up finding a few more things to purchase. Once we were done there, we decided we may as well go to the clinic. We could be in their waiting room instead of the truck, and it wouldn’t be too long, right?

Right?

We got there before 2, only to find out they hadn’t even started on any of the kittens yet.

Keep in mind, these poor things had been fasting for about 17 hours by then. It turned out the clinic had a couple of large dogs needing surgery that took more time, so doing the kittens got delayed.

Now, I hadn’t bothered to tell them that I had a 6pm appointment, because… well… it was at 6pm, and we dropped off at 8:45-8:50am. They know we hang out in town because of the long drive, and they’ve always made a point to do our cats quickly because of that.

Not this time!

When I found out the cats hadn’t been started yet, I told them that I had a scheduled appointment. I was assured the cats would be read by 4. I explained, it’s not just the appointment, but that I was needing to drop the cats of at home in our little hamlet, then drive to one town to pick up a wheelchair (forget cleaning out the fridge, at this point!) and take it to the hospital in yet another town.

I was told they would try to get them done as soon as possible.

So we sat to wait.

Next to a couple of adorable kittens in a cat cage that were available for adoption. While there, a tech came to get them and return them several times, and we learned that they were about to be adopted out together! So glad they are staying together.

It was about quarter past three when a tech came out. They were about to start on Sir Robin the Brave, but he had messed himself in the carrier (they’ve been in carriers all this time?? They usually get transferred to larger cages!), and his back end was a dried up mess. She confirmed that these were outdoor cats and that they would be going outside again, so they would try to wash him off as best they could, rather than just shave the area. Easier and faster to shave, but no one wants to risk him getting frostbite on his nethers!

Which means they didn’t actually start the surgery until probably half past three.

We could hear the techs talking at one point, probably while still trying to wash off Sir Robin, and heard them giggle with delight over his full name.

Then we waited.

When 4:00 came and went, I was messaging my brother to warn him I might be late.

Finally, at about 4:20, someone came out to let us know the cats were done. Still groggy, but awake enough that we could take them. We got the instructions (we’ll keep them in the isolation shelter for at least 3 days) and the carriers were brought out. I’d already left the donation funds with the front desk when we checked them in, so we could leave immediately. My daughter and I loaded the carriers and were on our way.

Thankfully, by this time, the winds had died down a little bit, and there wasn’t as much blowing snow. I was able to do the speed limit for most, not all, of the drive.

Once we got home, my daughter got out to open the gate, but left it open for me as I drove into the yard and up to the house. I started unloading our shopping just to the front steps until my daughter caught up and helped me. Once the truck box was empty, we unloaded the carriers. Then my daughter took over while I headed back out again.

I just barely made it in time.

I had just parked at the hospital when I got a message from my brother. They had just arrived themselves, were set up in a family room for the meeting, and told me where it was.

The doctor was a few minutes later, so we had time to catch up and focus on what we were trying to find out, etc.

At one point, my SIL asked, how do we respond if they try to send my mother home again?

My answer was simple.

No.

That’s it. Just, no. They can’t send her home. Homecare is not reliable, and I can’t be driving that distance – especially in winter! – to cover for them so often.

Thankfully, that never became an issue.

The doctor came in and actually recognized us, from when my mother was in the hospital almost a year ago. There was a nurse as well, who was also the note taker for the hospital (my brother took his own notes, of course. He’s very organized that way).

We had a very good and, I would even say productive, meeting.

One thing is clear. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

They knew nothing about the panels done by home care – I was there for both of them, including the one that was done before my mother went to the hospital – even though the report would have gone up to the same department the hospital has to go through when it comes to long term care assessment. He was able to let us know what was found in my mother’s X-rays that were finally done, though it wasn’t “official” since the radiology department still had to review them. As expected, she has severe osteoarthritis. That’s the source of her pain. He did not have access to my mother’s MRI brain scan results, but he could work on getting them.

We were very confused when he started talking about my mother’s congenital heart disease as the cause of her edema, when she’s been seen by a cardiologist, and her heart checked out better than most people a quarter her age.

Oh, wow. I just went out to meet the prescription delivery driver. That wind out there is BRUTAL!!!

Where was I?

Oh, yes.

So the doctor explained that they use the term “congenital heart disease” to cover a lot of things. In my mother’s case, it’s her A-fib, which she’s had forever (I have it, too). It has never been a problem. Now, however, he basically described it as the upper chambers of her heart being in a constant quiver, while the lower chambers are pumping normally, when it used to be just a little hiccup now and then. To put it simply, her heart is getting tired and misfiring more. This is what my father got a pace maker for, but she’s not at that stage. It didn’t come up as an option, though; we all know that at her age, surgery would be a greater risk than the A-fib is right now. That her heart is otherwise strong and healthy and all her arteries are clear helps, but it won’t stop the edema.

In the end, my mother has two issues going that mean she can no longer go back to her apartment to live independently, even with home care. There’s the edema, and the OA, and right now, the OA is causing her so much pain and reducing her mobility, it’s actually the more severe issue.

Then he had to get our consent (which they already got from my mother) to do a panel for my mother to go to a personal care home.

…

YES!!!!

Good grief. We’ve begging for this from the start.

So the official hospital testing and paperwork will be done and go to the department that makes the decisions. Because 1) my mother’s level of care doesn’t need hospital status, 2) she’s bored out of her tree and 3) they need the bed for more urgent patients, my mother will probably be transferred to a temporary long term care facility – she may even be back in the same town her apartment is in! – before being transferred to the nursing home she’s been trying to get into for the past 2 years or so. Even then, she might get transferred to a different one before she get get into the one she wants. Once she’s in a long term care facility, even a temporary one, there will be more programs and activities available to her, so she won’t be stuck sitting in her room, day after day.

We did also have a chance to discuss some other issues related to our vandal and that he might try to convince my sister to help him manipulate my mother. He’d managed to do this with my late father. Right now, the one thing protecting my mother from her own self sabotage is that my brother has binding PoA, so even if she is declared mentally unfit, he can take care of her. They already understand that, at this point, cognitively she cannot make things like legal decisions on her own, but they will get her officially tested and assessed, so that there is documentation. This way, even if they do convince her to sign something, it won’t be legally binding. My mother, with my sister’s help (“I was just following her wishes”, was her explanation) has already messed herself up so badly in other areas, she has no clue what she’s done and, legally, my brother can’t fix it. They also want photos of our vandal and my sister to have with my mother’s file, so they can recognize them as people with limited access to my mother.

I’m so disappointed that my sister got manipulated into it, and is completely oblivious to the harm she has helped cause. Honestly, I have concerns about my sister’s cognitive health, too. But she’s skinny, and we all know skinny people are perfectly healthy and never have such problems, even if she is almost 70.

Yeah, I’m being sarcastic, but that is essentially what I’ve been told flat out, in different ways.

So then we got to talking about my mother’s apartment. She’s not going back, we know that, but until the panel process officially declares that, it’s recommended we don’t end that contract yet. However, it’s basically 99.99% sure the panel application will accept that she needs to be in a personal care home, so go ahead and start packing. We can basically cancel her services while we pack and empty the apartment, little by little, so that once that official word comes through (and we don’t know how long that will be), all we would need to do is cancel her rental agreement with public housing.

That all done, we parted ways, then went to visit my mother. She was very surprised to see us (we learned my sister did visit earlier, as today is her non-sabbath related day off), and happy, too. Which was a nice change.

The visit was… about as good as can be. She was in a good mood and I think her pain levels are under control, as she had only a few “moments”. We updated her on the status of things, as best we could. We explained the importance of her accepting any transfer they offer her, because it’s part of the whole process of getting her where she wants to be.

Which was when she started talking about “going home”. Meaning, her apartment.

*sigh*

We had to go over that with her again. I expect we’ll have to do it many more times. The doctor, thankfully, is quite aware of her self sabotage. Sadly, this is something they encounter quite a bit.

While talking about temporary long term care and getting her to where she wants to be, she told us about someone that was across the hall from her. He was doing very poorly, they had to wrap his legs, there was always someone having to tend to him…

He just got transferred to the nursing home my mother wants to be in.

She was upset that he got in before she did.

…

We had to explain (again) that people who get taken to nursing homes more suddenly, it’s because they’re not expected to live long. People who are in far worse shape than she is in.

Her complete lack of empathy threw us, even though she does it all the time.

Things got off track a few times, but that did give me a chance to bring out a gift I got for my mother.

My mother has always loved to draw and is really quite good. She doodles all over. So I got her this.

An actual sketch pad, rather than the envelopes and scrap paper she’s been using, with tear off pages, and colouring pencils that don’t need to be sharpened. She already has pen and pencil.

I know it’s harder for her, with her vision getting worse, but she might have some good days and feel up to it. Or just be bored enough to try!

I honestly expected her to be angry, as she usually is when I try to give her things, but she was actually almost nice about it. She just commented on how she can’t really draw anymore, but we encouraged her.

We talked about her apartment, and she started telling us what to do with things. We had to reassure her, she didn’t have to worry about the “stuff”, we would take care of them, and we know she doesn’t want things thrown out (unless they are damaged or broken or course).

By the time we headed out, it was coming up on 8pm. I’d left home around 7:30, had breakfast somewhere before 9:30, and the only thing I’d eaten since then was a handful of cashews and a chocolate bar we’d picked up as road munchies, on the way home from picking up the neutered cats. I had hoped to stop somewhere to eat before going home, but it was so late and I was so tired, I just got some gas and headed home.

Just as I pulled up to the last stop sign, a couple of miles from home, the check engine light on the truck turned on.

*sigh*

I wasn’t about to check on it when I got home. My daughters, sweethearts that they are, had hot food almost ready for me by the time I got in.

What a long, long day, and I didn’t get anywhere near as much done as I had hoped.

I got to bed early (for me, anyhow), and woke up to this.

Yeah, that’s -31C/-24F with a wind chill of -46C/-51F

It could be worse. Some areas of our province were warned of wind chills of -50C/-58F.

That’s what I saw before heading outside to do the cat stuff, skipping most of my morning routine. By the time I got back inside, the temperature had dropped to -32C/-26F. When I headed out to meet the pharmacy delivery guy, it was back to -31C/-24F with the wind chill at -45C/-49F

The outside cats got their kibble and warm water. Even the heated water bowl in the sun room had some ice on top, and the one in the isolation shelter had frost on the edge closest to the window!

The isolation cats were all snuggled together in the cat bed. Last night, my daughter let out the “extras” that wanted to be let out, so there are now four teenagers in there right now. While I was doing the kibble and water, my older daughter gave the isolation cats a couple of cans of wet cat food. The benefits of being locked up in there is special food treats, which won’t freeze before they finish eating it.

It was still at -32C/-26F when I headed out again in the late morning. I got the truck going – it started fine and nothing sounds out of the ordinary – to get the OBDII scanner hooked up. I got the same code as last time; air-fuel ratio imbalance. Top recommendation is to replace the oxygen sensor. The other code concerns me more, though; power mode master input circuits mismatch. The top reported fix for that is replacing the ignition switch, while the next frequently reported fix is, replaced ignition switch wiring harness.

I’ve sent screen caps of the scans to our garage. I’m not as concerned about the O2 sensor. That seems to be temperature related, as it went away on its own, last time. Both code frequencies are listed as “common” for our truck’s make and model. I’ve looked up the parts and they don’t seem to be expensive, though these wouldn’t be local prices.

*sigh*

We really don’t need this. It’s the price of having an older, high mileage vehicle, but it was what we could afford and get financing for. Still, I’m so tired of these sensor issues – which apparently GM is notorious for.

Thankfully, we won’t need to go anywhere for several days. Today is supposed to be the worst for both cold and wind. Things are supposed to be a bit warmer, but still brutal, over the next three days. After that, we’ll have more average temperatures, with highs hovering above and below -20C/-4F.

Interestingly, the long range forecast is showing a whole lot of days above freezing, in February! February is usually colder than January. At least in the first couple of weeks. If the forecasts are in any way accurate, today and the next few days will be the last deep freeze of this winter.

I sure hope they are right. I so feel for the people that have to drive and work outside in these temperatures! Not to mention the critters out there. I’m glad we can at least provide some worth and reliable food and water for the yard cats – and whatever creature cleaned out every crumb of kibble in the catio shelter!

I am so done with winter.

The Re-Farmer

Not tonight

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What a long, long day it’s been.

I’m too tired for a full update, but I can at least share this.

Frank escaped, so we ended up with three males. Sir Robin, Grommet and a tabby now named Flopsy. Because he becomes all floppy when we pick him up.

Unfortunately, even though we got there at pretty much the drop off time of 8:50am, they didn’t start going them until about 3:15pm. We finally got them about an hour later. All other plans went out the window, and I barely made it to our appointment with the doctor about my mother, which was at 6pm.

I am so tired, and so hungry.

My daughter has hot food ready for me.

So I will partake of sustenance, get to bed, and to a proper update tomorrow.

Have a good night!

The Re-Farmer

I can’t stop laughing

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Oh, my goodness!

I just came back from checking on the isolation cats. There was no need to remove the kibble bowl for their fast, as there was nothing at all left in it!

Then I did a head count.

Uhm…

Hold on…

Okay, in the first picture, I was counting five, but Grommet was looking pretty tall in the back.

Second picture, I can see Grommet is on top of a tabby. There’s another cat behind Domino’s butt, also partly under Grommet. That makes seven.

Where is… hold on… Grommet moved. What did I just see?

Yup. There’s number eight. There are six cats crammed into that cat bed.

If you can’t spot it, I did a crop for the very last picture.

Every time I look at it, I want to burst out laughing.

The Re-Farmer

Isolated, and updates

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Well, my hope to go to my mother’s apartment today went out the window. Yesterday’s clearing of the driveway left me in too much pain. I’m wanting to clean our her fridge, and I just can’t do the bending and stretching without time to recover first.

I did, however, get something important accomplished this evening. Tomorrow, we have three cats booked for spay or neuter, which means we needed to get cats into the isolation shelter to fast overnight.

A bigger job than expected.

First, there was moving the box sheltering the ramp door. There is a cross piece at the back of the box to ensure the sides don’t bend one way or the other. Normally, I can just pull it forward and it lifts the ramp slightly as I get it out, with only having to wiggle around the latch.

The ramp door was frozen to the ground.

Nothing the ice scraper couldn’t free up in short order.

That thing is so handy!

Then I got the two litter boxes out from the lower left to clean them out. One of them, set under the larger floor area, was frozen solid, but the one under where the hammock and heat lamp is, was actually thawed out. I was impressed there was enough warmth that far down!

After that, I made sure to sweep away any loose bits of kibble, so that there would be no food around after we take out the kibble bowl.

My daughter came out to help and we got three carriers out from the sun room and gave them a good scrubbing, using snow as the “water”.

Actually, she did the scrubbing, while I cleaned out and refreshed the water bowls, and started prepping other things.

I spotted Adam, hanging out in another carrier. One with a side opening door that the cats like to hang out in. It’s got pieces of rigid insulation on the bottom, so it’s much nicer on the toe beans. Once the isolation shelter was ready, all I would have needed to do was close the door, then take her over!

The plan was to have at least 5 cats and kittens in the isolation shelter, so that we could grab 3 in the morning, just in case there were escapees. Frank was already in the shelter, along with Pinky. She was supposed to be done at the same time as Pinky, only she escaped, and still doesn’t trust us. I’ve been able to pet her more often, though, so maybe, just maybe, we can get her into a carrier, tomorrow morning!

After scrubbing the carriers, I took them inside to get them ready with puppy pads inside, bringing them into the house to be warmer for tomorrow, while my daughter went to close up the ramp door.

It wouldn’t close.

The hinges were full of ice. When we had those warmer days not long ago, with the added warmth of the heat bulb, some of the snow on the roof started to melt from the bottom. I had seen it dripping, but didn’t even think that it was getting in between the box sheltering the doorway, and the hinges of the ramp.

My daughter used the ice scraper and got it clear enough to close the ramp door. Then she went through the windows to remove cats from inside that were already fixed. Except Pinky. She likes it there, and she doesn’t bully the other cats and kittens, so we left her.

Midnight REALLY wanted to get back in!

I went to try and get Adam, only to find that Gouda had joined her inside the carrier. Gouda is neutered and socialized, but when I tried to pet him to coax him out, I scared Adam. Gouda stayed in the carrier, Adam ran out, and wouldn’t come back. Domino, the kitten that was just barely big enough that they might have tried to spay her last time, if we insisted on it (we didn’t, as it would have meant two too-small kittens stuck in strange cages for several hours), tried to go in, too.

We tried and tried, but could not get Adam back into the carrier.

We did get Domino, though, so my daughter took her over to the isolation shelter. Adam was getting panicky with our efforts, as careful as we tried to be, so we stopped. She’s already getting more feral, rather than more socialized, and we didn’t want to make things worse.

We do have our extras, though.

Once they were all in and we’d done the kibble feeding, we also added a couple of cans of wet cat food as an isolation shelter treat. They absolutely went nuts over that! At least in the isolation shelter, we know the wet cat food won’t freeze before it can be eaten.

So we now have two adult cats in there – Pinky and Frank. I really, really want to get Frank in.

We also have Sir Robin and Grommet (both males), who are among the oldest of the kittens. Domino, a tuxedo, is female, but my daughter got another tuxedo I’ve learned the girls have named Batman in there. I believe that one is male. He’s bigger than Domino. There are also two tabbies in there. One a fair bit bigger than the other. I think they are both male, but I’m not sure. Neither have names.

Yes, there are eight cats, cattens and kittens in the isolation shelter!

Once we get our three tomorrow morning, we can let the others out if they want.

In other things…

I’ve been chatting a lot with the rescue today. One of the kittens they took in from us, from a trio that all fit into one carrier, suddenly became very sick. The vets at first thought it was panleuk, but that turned out to be a false positive. They have no idea what’s wrong with him, but he’s in the clinic’s emergency room now. They’ll do as much as they can for him, but it’s going to be expensive. They’ve been posting pictures and information about him on social media, asking for donations to help. At the very least, they’re expecting it to be around $2500. At least, that’s what they expected when they thought it was panleuk. None of the cats from our place have ever tested positive for panleuk, FIV, or any of the others they test for. These kittens have been with the foster since August, and until it was determined to be a false positive, they were at a loss as to how he could have contracted it. He’s been vaccinated for it twice. It’s very contagious, but no other cats with the foster have been sick. Now that this has been ruled out, they’re all at a complete loss.

For now, it’s a wait and see.

In other things, my brother has been contacted by someone to talk about my mother and getting her into a care home. It looks like they’ll be able to get her into somewhere temporary, before sending her to the nursing home she’s been asking for, for so long. When? Who knows, but the process is being worked on.

I got a call from someone else. They know my mother has her own wheelchair – the one my later father had while he was in the nursing home – and wanted to know if I could bring it in. They need to be able to measure her for it, to see whether she can use that, or if she needs another one. It’s a folding type, pretty much the same as what they have for my mother in the hospital right now, just older. She confirmed that there’s no cushion. If my mother does end up using this wheelchair in the nursing home, they would arrange for a wheelchair cushion.

So tomorrow is going to be a long day. After we drop off the cats, my daughter and I will do some errands while we wait for the call to pick the cats up again. Depending on how long that is, I might just drop them all off at home, then head out again immediately to go my mother’s apartment, get the wheelchair, go to the hospital to drop it off, then visit my mother. All together, I’ll be spending at least 4 hours on the road, driving from the city the clinic is in and back, plus whatever driving we do with errands in between, then driving to my mother’s town, to the hospital in another town, and finally home.

We’re having to do most of this without telling my mother a whole lot, because of her cognitive issues. She gets too agitated. All we can really say is what we’ve been saying all along. They’re working on it. It just takes time.

We’re still in limbo, but at least we know something is being done in the background!

The good thing is, all this will be done before that polar vortex hits, and we can hibernate through it.

The Re-Farmer

Got it done. Plus an update

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It took about 1 1/2 hours, but it’s done.

The plow went by, increasing the snow ridge at the end of the driveway. It really wasn’t that bad and we could have driven through. The problem is, between the plow ridges and the driving, the end of the driveway was getting narrower and narrower. I needed to get that opened up, before the next polar vortex hits.

I love that ice scraper. It does a bang up job of cutting through hard packed plow ridge snow!

Technically, today was warmer, and there was less wind, but even a slight breeze brought was was -20C/-4F to a “real feel” of -31C/-24F. I was well bundled but, by the end of it, my toes and finger tips were starting to feel it!

While I was out there, my mother called from the hospital. I didn’t see my daughter’s message until I was putting things away, almost an hour later. My mother apparently sounded frustrated.

So when I called back, I made sure to talk to the nurse, first. I found out that she has been refusing her afternoon pain meds. Because she’s been in so much pain with her back, and the Voltaren wasn’t enough anymore, they now have she scheduled to take painkillers 3 times a day, instead of “as needed”. She’s apparently been having better days and saying no to the pills.

When talking to her about it later, she told me, she’s taking so many pills! Which makes it sound like it isn’t that she’s in less pain, but that she just doesn’t want to take another pill.

*sigh*

I asked the nurse about my mother getting Xrays, but she could find nothing on the file about it. She made notes to talk to the doctor about it. I also brought up that we need to have a meeting with the doctor, so she made notes for someone that can check his schedule, and to call my brother to book a time. My schedule is flexible, so I can work around his.

Then I got transferred to my mother’s room.

*sigh*

She was shouting right from her “hello”. It actually hurt my ears. When I asked her why she was shouting, it was “so you can hear me.”

Yeah, Mom. I can hear you. So can everyone outside your door and down the hall!

No, I didn’t say that out loud.

She then starting complaining. No one is calling. No one is visiting. No one cares (she includes the hospital staff on that). Why doesn’t my brother call or visit?

So I told her about his going to her place to replace the window from the AC set up, then about the woman who fell. She actually knows the woman, as she often does the Gospel readings in church. When I told her about the fall and my brother taking her to the hospital, she only wanted to know, which hospital. I told her, and she started saying, she has children, why did my brother drive her. Her (adult) children weren’t there (I think they live in the city!). Even when I told her, my brother probably saved her life, because if he hadn’t seen her, there was a good chance she would have frozen to death before anyone got to her.

She didn’t care.

She also didn’t have any appreciation for my brother going out to her apartment in the severe cold, getting the window done, helping a neighbour, and still driving her to the farm to drop off the AC, in the dark.

Instead, she kept complaining about how no one calls or visits her. I finally told her that, right then, she was making me regret calling her back, and called her out on how nasty she was being.

She – sarcastically – thanked me for being open with her.

*sigh*

After that, the call was better. She did complain that money was probably taken from her bank account for her apartment. I told her that she IS still renting it. All her things are still there. Of course she has to pay for it. That got us to talking about her things and what she wants done with them.

Don’t throw anything away, she keeps saying.

We’ve got an entire building filled with personal belongings we packed from this house – a building we could really use as the workshop it used to be – that she insists we don’t throw away. Now, we’ll have more, and we’ve already run out of storage space.

Then she demanded I tell her what I planned to do with a particular mirror she’s had stuck in her storage closet for the past 10 years. Something she gets obsessed about, every now and then. I finally had to tell her, don’t worry about it. We’ll take care of it.

Then she started going on about how, really, my sister should be taking care of her more, she and her husband are both on pension, she doesn’t need to be working, she should be taking care of Mom.

I’m sure my sister has been nagged about that a few times, already!

I was eventually able to get a word in – right after she told me, she wants to get out of there! – and told her, I think her problem is, she’s bored. She’s there by herself, with nothing to do, and she’s bored. We talked about it a bit, and she agreed. She is bored and lonely! Which, I told her, is completely understandable!

Well, this post got interrupted by a call from my brother.

We have a meeting booked with the doctor. They got us in as quickly as they could, and it’s an evening meeting, so that works for my brother. It was noted that, since we are dealing with cognitive issues with my mother, she won’t be there, and won’t even be told about it. Our concern was that, if she knew in advance, she’d end up telling our vandal about it, and he could cause problems.

It sucks having to even consider these things.

As for me, I am done for the day. I’m glad I got the end of the driveway cleared, but I’m really going to be paying for it, tonight, even with my meds!

I have to admit, though, I did quite enjoy the shoveling!

The Re-Farmer

Another brutal day, and my brother is awesome

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Today was supposed to be warmer.

Ha!

I suppose, technically it is.

Until you count the wind chill.

This is what it was, this morning, shortly before I headed out to tend that yard cats. I did not do the rest of my morning rounds. -21C/-6F with a wind chill of -35C/-31? Yeah, I was feeling that.

As I write this, the temperature is the same, but the wind chill is now -42C/-44F

All night and all this morning, I was seeing posts about blizzard conditions, white outs, and the general advice of “stay home, if you can!” The bulk of the storm hit the south end of our province, though, so we’re mostly getting that wind, but very little new snow. A small blessing, but I’ll take it!

The weather warnings starting coming in fast on the weather group I’m on, yesterday. While my brother was still at my mother’s apartment. When he set up my mother’s portable AC, he got permission from the public housing department to remove a window. He set up a board with the exhaust port installed in it. In the winter, the AC’s hose was removed and 3″ Styrofoam insulation was set over the window. While we still don’t have anything official saying my mother isn’t going back to her apartment, we’re preparing it for that, anyhow, and he wanted to get the window and trim back in

In that cold.

He took extreme care to ensure nothing chipped, cracked or broke in the severe temperatures, and you’d never know it was ever taken out in the first place.

As he was packing the AC into his car to bring here (which I didn’t even know he was planning to do!), a woman came out of the church across the street.

Then slipped, fell and hit the back of her head on a concrete bench.

!!!

My brother went over to help, and was soon joined by a woman in my mother’s building who saw what happened through her window. The woman who fell was consious, but not moving. They helped her up and to her home, which was right next to the church. My brother checked under her hood, and found blood.

I’m convinced her winter gear saved her life.

As did my brother. She couldn’t get up on her own and, in this cold, even if she survived an unpadded blow to the back of her skull, the cold would have done her in within minutes.

My brother ended up driving her to the nearer city’s ER (the local hospital’s ER, just blocks away, is almost never open). Driving her was faster than waiting for an ambulance. My brother left her in good hands, then drove back to my mother’s apartment to finish loading his car, before coming here.

When he first told me he was planning to come here, he wasn’t sure if our roads were clear, so I went out to check the driveway. Our road was not plowed, but it didn’t need it. The winds swept it clear. Which probably meant the main road was drifted over. Our own driveway had some drifting, but I knew his car could make it all right. Being so much smaller than our truck, he would have plenty of room to pull up to the house and turn around without hitting the areas that were starting to drift over. So I left the gate open for him, then called him back. I did recommend he take a different route. Normally, he take a road that allows him to avoid driving past our vandal’s place, but that road doesn’t get as much traffic, and is not maintained as thoroughly. He agreed. Apparently, the last time they came out here and took their usual route, it was in very poor condition. The main road may not have been plowed, but it gets a lot more traffic, which would make it easier for him to get through.

After calling him back, I bundled up in layers and headed back out with the ice scraper and shovel. There was a fair bit of ice built up under a layer of snow on our front steps and sidewalk, and I didn’t want anyone to slip and hit their heads on a concrete step!

By then, it was getting dark, but it was also warmer than it had been earlier in the day. After clearing in front of the house as best I could, I went and started clearing the drift in front of our garage door, by the light of the yard light. I was just finishing that up when my brother arrived. He stayed long enough to drop off the AC and accessories, then headed home. He had about an hour to drive, and road conditions were getting worse. Happily, he got home safe and sound.

We now have my mother’s AC unit, that my brother bought for her. The first of many things that will end up coming here, over the next while.

I’d hoped to go to my mother’s today, as it was supposed to be warmer. Apparently, we did reach the predicted high of -17C/1F, but it was at around 4-6am! Not going to happen, today. (As I watch the giant maple branches out my window sway in the wind, amazed they haven’t broken off yet.)

The next few days, we’re supposed to reach highs warmer than -20C/-4F. More importantly, the wind is supposed to die down. I’m not sure on the timing of things, since I will also be taking three cats in for spay/neuter on Wednesday.

The last time my mother was in the hospital, it was at the end of January, beginning of February (less than a year ago!). We had to deal with weather issues then, too!

The older I get, the more I am starting to really dislike winter.

The Re-Farmer

Not going anywhere today

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Thankfully, I have that choice.

I was messaging with my brother this morning. In the wee hours of the morning, someone got stuck on the road in front of their place, and it took two tow trucks to get them out. Then the tow trucks came back into the parking lot, for someone else!

The plows were out, though, so the roads should be clear again. The highways, at least.

I was questioning whether my brother was going to come out to my mother’s place today. They were already recommending I stay home, but my brother is going to make the trip! This must be the only day he has available for it.

I headed out to do that cats stuff and, at first, things looked pretty good. The bright sunny morning, and being sheltered from the wind, was deceptive. The sun room’s thermometer was reading 0C/32F, which was encouraging.

A few minutes outside, though, and I was starting to really feel the cold, even as bundled up as I was!

In the end, the choice was made for me. There isn’t a lot of drifting, but enough that I’d want to dig through them, before trying to drive anywhere – and there was no way I would be outside shoveling today!

After today, things will warm up a little bit, and then we’re supposed to drop down to highs of -30C/-22F, as another Polar Vortex sweeps through. Wednesday coming up looks to be the warmest day over the next little while, which is good, because that’s when we’re supposed to bring 3 yard cats in to the vet for spay/neuter.

Today, however, is a day to stay indoors as much as possible!

The Re-Farmer

New toy, and it’s a bit blustery out there!

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I had a strangely rough night last night. I wasn’t able to sleep, so when I heard my older daughter taking a break from work at about 3am, and we grabbed something to eat. Just as I settled down, I started to sneeze.

And sneeze.

And sneeze.

For the next hour, at least, I was either sneezing or fighting off sneezes. I have no idea what I was reacting to! Yes, I took antihistamines, but they made no difference.

I did finally get an hour of two of sleep, waking up as it started to get light out. I messaged with my brother and SIL a bit about tomorrow – though that may change – and meeting up at my mother’s apartment, then headed outside to do the morning routine.

The wind was brutal. We’d had a bit of snow during the night, which was actually appreciated, as the paths I wasn’t able to spread ashes over, plus the driveway were not as slippery. On the down side, the paths were also starting to fill in and drifts starting to form. Nothing to complain about, really. As the storm moved across the prairies, highways were being closed all over the place. The local highways group had people posting about poor visibility and road conditions, but they were still passable.

Once I was done, though, I had enough energy to grab some instant oatmeal for breakfast and then crashed for several hours, completely embedded by cats. I think they were cold!

We had a couple of packages we ordered that had reached the city, and my husband got a notification that one of them had arrived at our local post office. I decided to wait until the post office closed then reopened at 2pm, though, and sure enough the second package arrived from the city, too. So I headed out after the post office reopened.

Straight into a brutal wind. Conditions had definitely worsened. A drift was starting to form in front of the garage door that I had to shovel out before I could leave. The wonderful plow job on our gravel roads was being drifted over, and visibility was poor.

Thankfully, I only had to go a few miles.

One of the packages was a new office chair for my husband, to replace his broken one. He’s been using a small armchair for the past while, and it’s brutal on his back injury. Picking up the chair was not something that was going to wait!

As I write this, we are still at -15C/5F. When I got home, the wind chill was -35C/31F, but it has since dropped to -37C/-35F.

Tomorrow is supposed to be colder, and almost as windy.

Hopefully, my brother’s schedule will allow him to postpone going to my mother’s for a day!

As soon as we got the box inside, my daughter immediately started to assemble the chair for her father. While she worked on that, my husband got to check out the new “toy” he picked up, as something to keep in the truck.

Or for me to keep handy while working outside after the snow is gone.

My husband does like his unique multi-tools!

Yeah. It’s a hammer, axe, multi-tool, with holster.

The second picture shows it opened up.

We were pleasantly surprised by the quality, to be honest. That axe is sharp! The knife is really good, too, and the screwdriver/file/bottle opener is also solid. The pliers don’t seem to be as strong, but it’s not going to be seeing heavy duty work. The hammer has surprising heft to it, and is actually useable.

I didn’t spot where they opened as I quickly looked at it, but there are several screwdriver tips in the handle that fit into the top of the axe/hammer head. There’s also a magnesium rod tucked in there somewhere, with a built in whistle.

I’m going to have to grab it from my husband and look it over again!

The “snowflake” that came with it is also surprisingly strong. Each tip is a different screwdriver tip or hex key and each space is a different size wrench, plus a bottle opener. One of the tips doubles as a box cutter. There’s a hole for the key ring, but the ring is flimsy. My husband will probably add a cord to it, instead. That’s something he will probably keep handy and find more useful.

The whole thing is absolutely hilarious, adorable – and may actually be useful! A lot of these multi-tool gadgets look great, but once you try to use them, their designs are not practical at all. I look forward to trying this thing out.

Meanwhile, it looks like the worst of the weather system has passed by. Wind will still be an issue, and any new snow expected isn’t supposed to show up until night time.

We’ll see how things are for my brother. His schedule is far less flexible, so I will adjust to what works for him.

The Re-Farmer