I did the evening cat feeding today, before checking on the garden.
We’ve had so many cats disappearing, but sometimes coming back, I have been asking my daughter which ones she sees when she does the morning feeding. Sprout and her daughter Sprig, the two calicos, were ones I have not been seeing much at all, though Colby, Sprig’s brother, has become quite socialized and stays near the house.
Sprout and Sprig look very much alike; especially as Sprig got older, and can be hard to tell apart. I’m starting to think Sprout has disappeared completely, as we’re only seeing the one calico.
She is quite feral, unfortunately. Not quite as much as Sprout, in that she will sometimes come into the sun room looking for food.
*sigh*
I am not sure how to get her. We need to get that white and grey kitten that’s left, of course. That kitten is also Sprout’s, making her Colby and Sprig’s baby sister.
I’ve put the wire trap with a back door inside the catio as something to get used to, and the other one that’s the same size but doesn’t have a back door on the table under the canopy. They are just open, not set, so cats can go in and out freely. I’ve not put bait in them. I really don’t want to use those traps because we are far more likely to get a skunk or some other cat than Sprig. Sprig prefers to eat on the tray under the water bowl shelter, where there is no room for any sort of trap at all.
This is so frustrating. We were finally able to get the 6 kittens to the rescue today! Now we have another cat that’s pregnant, very late in the season. We need to get her. If she has those kittens, they will not survive the winter.
On the right and on the board in the middle are the Red Wethersfield onions that were interplanted with the bush beans in the high raised bed. The largest ones were all on the south end of the bed. The others were probably too overshadowed by the bush bean leaves to get as big.
The ones on the right are the Red Long of Tropea, which were interplanted with the caraway and along the west side of the bed with the (already harvested) turnips. On the other side of that bed, by the Daikon radish are the Red Beard bunching onions, which are looking very tall and strong.
I forgot to look for the onions that were planted near the celery, Those aren’t even visible anymore. Out of sight, out of mind!
That one tomato is a Chocolate Stripe tomato that I found fallen on the ground.
While checking other beds, I noticed some red tomatoes.
The little ones are supposed to be Blueberry tomatoes. 😄 The other, larger ones are Manitoba tomatoes. Then there’s that Chocolate Stripe tomato off to one side. They are now all set aside in the cat free zone to continue to ripen.
After harvesting the onions and the tomatoes, I checked on the summer squash and found a bit of wind damage. These are being grown vertically, but some did not get tied off high enough, yet, and one had been blown over, bending at the highest tie. So I spent a while going through all of them and securing them to their vertical posts with garden wire.
It isn’t a lot, but it felt good to be able to do at least that much in the garden!
More specifically, my daughter got them. My job was to distract Sweetie as much as I could.
While doing the morning feeding, none of the shrine feeding station bowls were filled. Just a small two-part food bowl inside the big carrier. Once that had cat soup in it, it wasn’t long before the littles were in there – though for a while, not even the fishing lure cat toy could keep Sweetie from trying to push her way in.
Then all three kittens were in and my daughter simply closed the door. They didn’t even freak out. We got the carrier inside as I messaged the rescue and sent them this picture.
We were able to leave almost immediately. After getting the carrier into the truck, my daughter ran back to get her meds while I opened the gate. She didn’t even change out of her pajamas.
They were completely quiet for the entire ride. When we got there and my daughter took the carrier out, she found the three of them mashed onto the crochet mat, one asleep, one blearily looking up at her.
Transferring them over didn’t go as well. We forgot that the carrier opens from the top again, and the rescue worker tried reaching in through the door. One of the tabbies got out – the most skittish one we almost caught before but let go before she broke her teeth biting at the carrier door. She had three dewormer syringes ready. The escapee ended up under a dresser, so she went for the others. The first one, she got a good grip on (while wearing a scratch proof glove) and was able to administer the dewormer before putting it in the kennel cage with its siblings we brought on the weekend. The second was was harder to grab, but I was able to administer the dewormer while she held it, then got it in the cage.
She had to move the dresser to get at the escapee but, of course, it ran off and into a closet, climbing up another cage like Spiderman, terrifying a mostly feral cat that was lying on top, and eventually scooting down between the side and the closet wall. The rescue worker was able to get it with the gloved hand while my daughter helped by grabbing a blanket to hold the kitten. It was very loud and upset! The rescue worker finally got a good grip and I was able to quickly administer the dewormer, then into the cage it went.
The three we brought earlier were doing very well. She’s been able to pick them up and hold them, which is huge! They were confirmed male. Today they were ready to go to a foster and probably still will, though it’ll be harder for her to get them out of the cage and into a carrier with the other three in there. They did, at least, start calming down while we talked.
We are now down to one kitten. The older singleton (confirmed female). I suspect that one will be a spay and return, but we shall see.
The main thing is, the littles are all caught! They will stay with the rescue until they are old enough to get fixed, and will get all the usual vetting and tests, before going up for adoption. Being as young as they are, they are far more likely to be adopted. Few people are willing to adopt adult cats or older kittens, no matter how well socialized. 😢
Things were all right in the morning. After taking my morning painkillers, I went out to join my daughter during the cat feeding.
We did not get any kittens. They are still very skittish, and the older cats kept pushing their way in for the cat soup, even though they got some in the other food bowls. I tried distracting Sweetie with the cat toy but she was too hungry to be distracted, and insists on eating at the shrine feeding station, where the kittens come through the chain link fence. As today was supposed to be another day or rain and potential storms, we put the carrier and bait bowl back into the catio, with the regular food bowl set to keep the door from closing by accident, and let the kittens be for now.
I had brought my walker out so, after my daughter went inside, I went around the yard and checked on the garden beds. I found both winter and summer squash that I could hand pollinate. We should have some yellow zucchini large enough to harvest soon, and some of the green scallop squash. We might get more of the Early Prolific Straightneck squash, but there are still no yellow pattypans or lemon squash. Interestingly, I think one of the squash that were thinned by transplanting might be a lemon squash. The tiniest of round, yellow female flower buds are showing up and I don’t think they are pattypans.
In the main garden area, I just had to get a picture of a monster.
The first image above is of a carrot from the Rainbow Mix that has gone to seed. It is remarkably huge and sturdy! Normally, carrots don’t go into seed until their second year, but I don’t mind having one that I can save seed from.
The second image of the slide show above shows what’s left of the Daikon radish. The flea beetles not only denuded the stems of leaves, but they even ate a lot of the pods, too! There are still pods left, but nowhere near as many as before. Enough to collect seeds from, though, if they were not too badly damaged.
Once back inside, I was feeling well enough to have breakfast before trying to lie down for a bit. When I got up again, I was able to make a lunch using some leftover brisket, with potatoes and bush beans from the garden, to make a stew.
While I was cooking, I heard some noises outside the kitchen window. My brother was leveling the ground where the tree and patio blocks had been. He had to dig up some remarkable thick roots that were buried under where some patio blocks where. He also had to remove some of the soil along the edge of where the blocks would be so that it was lower than the blocks, instead of higher. He levels a block in the corner between the house and the concrete steps so it wasn’t draining towards the house as well, and the blocks along the outside edge were sloped slightly to drain away from the house. He ended up filling our wheelbarrow completely with dirt and detritus he’d removed. Probably the heaviest load it’s ever had. Which would have been fine, except the tire turned out to be flat! I had come out to talk to him and, as he pushed the wheelbarrow from the grass onto the sidewalk, I was able to see the flat. All he could tell is that it wasn’t rolling right. He’s checked the tire before and couldn’t see a valve, so he thought it was a solid rubber tire. He did find the valve, but it had been partially pushed in from lack of air. He assured me he’s take care of it and told me to go back inside. Later on, I saw that he had also loaded all the old hot water tanks and pumps into his little trailer. They’ll be taken to the scrap yard another time.
By the time I finished cooking, the painkillers had definitely worn off. After lunch, I took them when the 6 hour alarm went off and tried to stay up longer, but eventually had to lie down again. Frustrating when it becomes difficult just sitting upright in a chair. *sigh*
I did manage to get a basement check in. I had to turn on a couple of the fans. One, aimed at the well pump and pressure tank because there was so much condensation dripping, it was creating a puddle. The other more in the new basement, more for air circulation and humidity levels. The recent rain, which is still sort of happening now, hasn’t been enough to cause problems in the basements.
I was also able to head outside and do the evening cat feeding. Some of the skunks are getting quite brazen! As I was setting up some bowls with cat milk in the kibble, specifically for the kittens (with extra to draw the adult cats away), I heard a commotion. I’d put some kibble at the back of the shrine base. A skunk was there, but one of the little tabbies was wanting that food (even though there was more) and hissing and spitting at the skunk. Which was about 5x its size!!! I scooted the skunk away, going down a path behind a willow where there’s an opening under the chain link fence they can fit through. I knew it would be coming back, so I tossed some kibble into the grass of the path, so it would have no reason to go closer and scare the kittens.
I also move the shrine feeding station bowls next to the catio, on either side of the door, with the bait bowl inside the carrier again. The bigger cats will eat the closest food, which should leave the bait bowl inside the carrier for the kittens, when they go looking for food later.
If the skunks don’t eat it first.
*sigh*
Then it was back inside, and not doing much. The painkiller either didn’t kick in, or the pain was worse and the painkiller has managed to just take the edge off. At least I can tell myself that, with how wet it is outside, I wouldn’t be getting much done out there, anyhow. It’s supposed to continue raining, off and on, until about 2am. It does look like some onions are ready to harvest, though. Something I should be able to do tomorrow, if all goes well.
Tomorrow afternoon – if we’re not delivering kittens to the rescue – my daughter and I will work on breaking down that fallen tree. I can handle a chain saw, and my daughter will be able to clear away the branches and smaller logs. Normally, the two of us together will drag the bigger logs out, but we’re both pretty broken, so I just want to cut things to size. I’m hoping to be able to get an 18′ length for the next garden bed out of this tree. The base of its trunk looks like it will match the size of the one that’s currently in place for the garden bed fairly well.
That’s pretty much it for the day.
I am looking forward to seeing the doctor, a little over a week from now, and getting those test results. If things go as expected, she’ll get me in for a hysterectomy fairly soon. If not, then I’ll be referred to specialists in the city. Who knows how long that will take.
After a draining morning, I lay down after taking my pain killers to wait for it to pass.
It didn’t, but it at least got less severe.
Somewhere past 3:00, I headed back outside with my walker. I fed the outside cats, then say with the fishing rod toy to keep Sweetie busy so the littles had a chance to eat. We have storm warnings for tonight (as I started this, I could hear thunder in the distance!), so I took the bigger carrier we had set up for the kittens to explore and put it inside the catio, setting the door mostly closed. Then I headed to the garden.
One thing I noticed over the past while is that some of the winter squash on the chain link fence are producing more female flowers! I was even able to hand pollinate a few this morning.
Most of them are these Butterneck squash. There’s at least one that looks like it’s going to wither away, but the ones I got pictures of all look pretty darn good. I also spotted a new Black Futsu female flower that was open and hand pollinated it. Why I bother, I don’t know. It’s Sept. 6 today. There is basically no season left for them to mature! Still, I want to give them all the chance they can. It should be interesting to see how big they get before it gets too cold.
We will, however, have one winter squash this year, at least.
The outer shell of the Arikara squash is getting pretty hard. I should be able to cut it and set it to cure fairly soon. All the other squash that started on this plant have died off, almost as if it pruned itself.
The yellow bush beans around the Arikara squash are producing quite nicely, and I had plenty to pick from a relatively few number of plants. I also found a single red Manitoba tomato, hiding under some leaves that I picked. Then I went to the high raised bed and picked the bush beans there…
… after I picked the two Chocolate Stripes tomatoes that were ready.
In the above photo, all the beans to the left of the tomatoes are from the later planted beans by the Arikara squash. Everything to the right of the tomatoes are from the high raised bed. The yellow beans in that bed seem to have had a second life and are suddenly producing quite a lot, again. There’s only a couple of green bean plants, and they are not at all productive.
I didn’t keep this. I got a bowl for it all, then wheeled over to my brother and SIL’s caravan and offered it to them. They were quite happy to accept. After my SIL transferred them to their own container and brought back my bowl, we were able to stay outside and chat – I just sat on my walker rather than try to climb up into the caravan. They have stairs with a hand rail now, but they came outside rather than have me hobble my way in.
Unlike my mother, with her snarky comments about the little tomatoes I brought her, it was nice when my brother and SIL quite appreciated the beans and tomatoes I brought for them! They have been growing some things on their balcony, but no beans. My SIL is thinking that, next year, she’ll try to grow enough tomatoes to do some canning. This year, they have cucumbers and cucamelons that have done quite well!
We got all caught up with the birthday visit with my mother this morning. My brother hadn’t had a chance to go into detail with my SIL yet. My mother was so all over the place, it took both of us to describe things and figure out what she was saying. Part of the challenge is that her sense of time is completely gone. There was something she’d said that my brother thought had happened recently, but I’d caught her mentioned the town she used to live in, which means it could have happened several years ago. In some things, we had to mash together things, my sister had told me my mother had said to her, compared to what my mother had told me, compared to what my mother had told my brother, and work out what was actually intended. It’s like putting together a puzzle, but half the pieces are still missing, while pieces from another puzzle show up randomly, too.
Still, we do the best we can.
I can hear that the rain has started. My SIL was very happy to have gotten the mowing done!
It would be really awesome if the weather holds long enough for us to actually get more winter squash.
The kittens are definitely more comfortable around my daughter, and were willing to come over for cat soup while she was right there, and she was able to pet them. When she tried picking them up to put in the waiting carrier, though, that was too much. These kittens are a lot more skittish than the ones we took in yesterday.
Sweetie, of course, didn’t help much!
After a while, my daughter and I talked about it and decided it would be better to wait. We made sure to leave the big cat carrier out, door open, so they could go in and out as they pleased and not find it scary. The white and grey singleton also came out, but it’s even more nervous that the littles.
We will try again tomorrow – if the weather holds. We’re supposed to get heavy rain in our area overnight and all day tomorrow. It’s supposed to be worse to the south of us, and the city is getting flash flood warnings, so we shall see.
Once inside and having breakfast, I remembered to tell my brother about the chainsaw mill. He would have seen it by now, but I wanted him to know that he was welcome to use it at any time, since it’ll be a while before I am able to. While we were chatting, I mentioned my plans to go into town to buy a birthday card and visit out mother, since I wasn’t able to do it yesterday.
He was planning to visit our mother today, too, so he offered to drive me in his car, which was very sweet of him. I had enough time to head outside again to move some hoses, as my SIL said she wanted to mow the inner yard for me, then I picked some Orange Currant tomatoes and even a few Blueberry tomatoes for my mother. I figured she make snarky comments about them being so small, but thought she would still enjoy them.
We dove out in their recently acquired electric car, and there’s a charging station almost across the street from the nursing home, so we went there to top the charge up, then walked over to the dollar store, half a block away. I found a card but decided against looking for the other stuff I had been thinking of on this trip. My brother had already brought a card last weekend, but found an actual 95th Birthday card and got it for her, too. Then we walked over to his car to fill the cards out inside.
We had brought my walker along and, by then, I felt that I was going to need it, so he got it out for me and we headed in. It was coming up on lunch time, but my mother was asleep in bed when we got there. Once she was awake enough to realize we were there for a visit, she got up and moved to her corner chair.
The visit was… draining.
My mother almost immediately went at my brother, going on about how she wanted a “good” radio – she simply will not accept that the station she wants to listen to cannot be picked up in her room, and insists the problem is the “junk” radio. My brother had not intended to tell her yet, but he ended up explaining that he did get her an internet radio, like she asked for, and had spent the last week setting it up. She can’t understand any of it, but when she gets it, she’ll only need to push a button to get a Polish radio station. It was not easy, since the one station she wants doesn’t broadcast online like most others. It took him 4 days to figure out how to get their website stream connected to the radio. It was just that one station that was an issue, but none of it was easy. The next step is to activate the new internet that was installed in her room. He tried to explain all this, but she kept interrupting him and complaining.
The rest of the visit did not get any better.
She mostly dismissed the cards we got her. She mocked the tiny tomatoes, then was wondering where her garlic was. She had asked for a bulb of garlic, which my sister had brought, but apparently it wasn’t good garlic (small?). Then she asked me if I had garlic in the garden. I told her no, it’s harvested. She glared at me, asking why. I told her, it’s September. It’s all harvested. She then went to talking about how my sister and her husband eat garlic every day, and that’s why they are so healthy, so she wants garlic.
My sister and her husband are not that healthy.
Then she went on about how she’s gained weight (she hasn’t; she has water retention and bloating) because they feed her too much and keep “pushing” snacks, and “they” put chemicals in food and that’s why she’s gaining weight and why people are getting cancer. She’s cutting our beef and pork, convinced it’s the cause of her “stomach problems”. Then she started talking about something she saw on the news (she doesn’t have a TV, so I’m guessing in one of the common rooms?), except she was clearly combing two completely different things into one, but that’s why everyone is dying of cancer. ??? Then she started on how, after she’s gone, she wants my brother, sister and I to all get along and not fight and push each other away – clearly she had imagined some sort of scenario and believes it happening or will happen, or… I don’t know, but she was making a big deal of it. Not the first time, though the first time she assumed we were behaving a particular way. Then my brother mentioned she’s used our sister for something (he didn’t even try to cover how badly she had stabbed him in the back and broke his heart in the process) and I mentioned she has specifically told our sister to keep it a secret from us, pointing out that she is the only one doing things like that.
It went over her head.
On and on it went, until someone came in with her lunch. We helped her set up with her table and tray to eat, then my brother said he and I would be going out for lunch now, leaving her to eat.
I think we were there for maybe half an hour.
My brother is a saint. I would have left much earlier. Mind you, by then the pain killers were wearing off and I had very little patience in me.
We did not go out for lunch. Neither of us had the energy for it.
Once at home, I had to pretty much lie down right away and my brother, being my brother, had many projects to work on. Later, he said that with all the manual labour he did over the next few hours, none left him as tired as that half hour or so with my mother! I’m glad we were able to go in together. If it had been just him, she would have been much worse. *sigh*
I eventually made it outside again, too, and get into the garden, but that will be in my next post.
After dropping kittens off with the rescue late this afternoon, my daughter and I drove to town so she could order a prescription refill. While that was being filled, we made a quick run to the grocery store for a few small things (taking advantage of being in town), then back to the pharmacy to pick up the medications. Then it was home for supper.
After supper, I headed outside. I got the soaking tub drained, then cleaned out the cat carriers we used for the kittens. They are ready to use again, if we want to use the two biggest ones.
The soaking tub got refilled with detergent again. Next time I drain it, it’ll be to wash the individual cat beds, blankets, etc. in the wheelbarrow, then they’ll go back into the tub for rinsing with vinegar.
Once the tub was refilled, I went to water the garden. This time, I remembered to take some pictures. Slide show below…
I knew we had one little musk melon forming but as I looked around the vines, I found three more surprisingly large ones!
The chances of them fully maturing before first frost are very low at this point. The long range forecast has changed, of course, but it still shows potential overnight lows of 3C/37F in a few weeks, then it’s supposed to warm up again.
Goooooo Super El Nińo!!! Keep that frost away! 😄😄
If we can cover things, they might still make it. I might even cover them with plastic to create greenhouse tunnels.
In the other photos of the slide show, you can see our one Caspar eggplant. You can also see a flower on the ground. There were two flowers on two different plants. I was trying to carefully cross pollinate them, but one of them broke off. Ah, well.
Last of all are the Chocolate Stripe tomatoes. They have cracks at the top like the Manitoba tomatoes are getting. That type of cracking can be caused by a few things. One is inconsistent watering, which is possible. The other is extreme temperature fluctuations. Which is far more likely!
Today’s high was 25C/77F. Our highs are supposed to stay in the 20’s over the next week, then stay in the high teens. It’s the overnight lows we need to watch out for!
Who knows. We might actually get a melon or two this year, after all!
When my daughter came in after feeding the outside cats, she told me she was able to pet ALL SIX of the little kittens. They were too interested in cat soup to run away.
We ended up going outside together to see if we could get any. My daughter was able to use the “fishing lure” toy to get the braver kittens closer to me, next to a cat carrier. It took some doing, because Sweetie kept very enthusiastically going for the lure, bowling right over kittens in the process.
The two braver ones – the ones I’ve been able to touch before – came out to play. The tuxedo, first. Once it was close enough, I was able to scoop it up and into the largest carrier that can open from the top. A while longer, and we were able to get the tabby in as well. They were not happy, but they didn’t freak out, which was encouraging!
The other kittens were more interested in playing with each other on the junk pile side of the fence, so my daughter had me sit on the old tractor tire with a carrier next to me, staying still, while she tried to lure a kitten over. Sweetie was a real problem. Even when I got another fishing lure toy to use as a distraction, she wanted that fuzzy orange lure! A kitten started to go into the opening of the carrier, following the lure, and I was able to get it the rest of the way in and close the door.
We actually ended up releasing it. It was so panicked, we were afraid it would hurt itself and break off some teeth on the door.
I let the rescue chat group know right away. I knew people had been available earlier in the week, but nothing about the weekend – forgetting that it’s a long weekend until yesterday! One person was out of town completely, others were working or had stuff scheduled.
Eventually, one of them asked if I could drop them off at her place in a beach town to the south east of us. I’ve done that before, so I said yes. They were still looking for someone to meet up with me earlier, but I let them know the kittens were all right. I had brought the carrier into the house and onto my bed. Inside cats started sniffing around immediately, which seemed to calm the kittens down.
We had already put a small container with cat soup in with them. I added a folded up puppy pad at the door and was able to add a shallow water bowl with the food bowl at the back. After a while, I salvaged a crochet project I was unable to finish because the cats kept digging it and the yarn out, no matter how well I tucked it away. It was just a flat rectangle at this stage. The last row I was working on had been undone completely, so I cut the yarn, sewed in the ends, then folded it so it fit across the middle of the carrier, between the pee pad and the food and water bowls.
Each time I reached into the carrier, I moved to pet them, and they let me. They didn’t like it, but they let me! Later, when I stuck my finger through the door, the tabby started to lick and gently chomp on it!
As time went on and we were still waiting on when we could get them to the rescue, my painkillers were starting to wear off and I had to lie down. I moved the carrier so that I could see the kittens through the carrier door. Then I found a YouTube video on my phone of kittens purring and set that up near the carrier door.
It wasn’t long after that was set up that I got a notification. The sounds stopped while I checked the message, but I could still hear purring.
That was when I let them know that the kittens were doing very well, so there was no urgency in finding someone to meet me for them earlier. We settled on dropping them off at 3:45. By the time we got that settled, I was able to take my next painkiller dose and lay down again with the purring noises going again.
I fell asleep to the sound of both recorded kittens and carrier kittens purring!
My daughter and I decided on leaving at 3, for a 3:45 drop off. At about 2:30, my daughter went out to try and get more kittens.
She put one of the kibble soup bowls into the carrier for it to have something to eat. It crawled into the bowl and stayed in it, the whole time!
She did try to get more, but we had to head out, so we settled on the three. I made sure to let the rescue group know, and that we were on the way. We took the “longer” route to the address to avoid highway construction and gravel roads. We got there early, but not by much.
The rescue lady had a cat kennel ready for them. She has several of them around her house, with one of them holding a newly trapped feral who was staring at us with frightened eyes – but did allow her to reach in and scritch it’s neck and cheek! Mostly, it was too scared to move, to be honest.
The transfer of kittens went very well. She asked some questions about their temperament. They are feral, but “friendly” feral. Not terrified feral, or angry feral. If they are calm enough, they will go to a foster in another town for socialization, vetting and eventual spays/neuters before going for adoption. If they are too feral, they will stay with her. There are no fosters available that can/will handle feral cats. She’s the only one.
We need our own Furball Farm Cat Sanctuary so badly!!!
Meanwhile, we will keep trying for the others. Sweetie is turning out to be our biggest hurdle in this! Once we get the remaining three little kittens, we’re pretty sure we’ll have an easier time of getting the white and grey singleton, and they will take that one, too. It wants to play and have company so much! The older cats would chase it away but when the little kittens started going to the junk pile, they happily played together. It will be incredibly lonely with all the littles gone. As we were driving out, my daughter said she was considering laying a blanket on the grass, with a carrier nearby, a book and some cat toys. She’s sure the white kitten will come over to check her out if she does.
Unfortunately, the skunks probably will, too!
So that is done! We are down three kittens. Chatting with the group, one of them said we need to get the mother spayed and I had to remind them that the mother has disappeared. Right now, the only females we have left that I know of are Sprout and Sprig, the two calicos. I saw Sprig today, but haven’t seen Sprout in a while. There is a long haired grey tabby the girls call Munchkin that I thought was female, but I’m not sure. There was a mostly feral long haired grey confirmed female, but it might be among the cats that have gone missing this summer. The only reason why I think Munchkin isn’t female is because it didn’t get pregnant this summer – but then, neither did Sprig. The rest are all fixed, except a couple of males that still need to be neutered. Two or three for sure, depending on whether Munchkin is male or female.
It’s been a long, hard road, over many years, and we needed so much help, but the numbers are finally down. That some are gone most likely because of coyotes is not good, but there really isn’t anything we can do about that, unless we build a big catio and shed for all the outside cats. That would keep the raccoons and skunks out of their food and water, too, but it would mean no more rodent control. Just this morning, as I was taking the carrier with the two kittens to the house, I saw Pinky crossing the yard with a big mouse in her mouth! Such a good kitty!!
I miss Adam. And Havarti. And Judgement. And Slick. And Domino…
*sigh*
Thankfully, these kittens have won the lottery, though they don’t know it yet. At this age, they will be much easier to adopt out.
We just need to get the rest of them, hopefully over the next few days! I’ll be going outside with my daughter in the mornings for the next while, as that seems to be the time when they are all hungry enough to come close to my daughter.
Well, I am not sure just how things are going, right now!
Last night, as I was going to be, I started feeling very ill. Nausea is s potential side effect with the new painkillers, so that might have been it.
Or it could have been the piece of birthday cake I’d had not long before. I may have been sighted out.
Or it could gave been both.
Either way, I had to message my daughter to help me just to get to the bathroom, which waz an extremely slow and careful walk. She got dome Pepto into me first, which seemed to work.
After I was finally stable enough to lie down, I took only 1 tablet instead of 2, for the next two doses. That didn’t quite cut the pain, but there was only mild dizziness. By the afternoon dose, I was back to 2 tablets, they kay riwn right away.
That seemed to work, because I felt well enough to get things done outside. I changed out the water in the tub all the cat beds, etc. were soaking in. That was really gross. I expect to be changing the water out at least one more time before I start using the wheelbarrow as a tub to wash individual pieces.
The kittens were looking for food around the shrine bowls, so while the tub was draining, I decided it was time to move the catio back to the inner yard. It topped up all the other kibble bowls to distract the adult cats away, then cleared and emptied the catio, including the weights on the roof to keep it from blowing over, into the wagon. The catio itself could then be walked over and got set uo where it was before.
Once everything was put back, eith fresh food and water, I went back to working at the tub nearby.
I then had to keep chasing away adult cats and skunks that were stealing the kittens’ food.
Which scared away the kittens.
*sigh*
While I was doing that, my younger daughter was doing some pruning of the lilacs by the house. We had talked about propagating the Korean Dwarf Lilac, so she went ahead and planted sone near where the sea buckthorn is, to fill gaps in the hedge. They may not take, but lilacs are much like willow or birch. You can just stick a branch in the ground, and it can grow. It’s really sun baked and dry out there, though, so they will need frequent watering for them to have any chance at all.
My daughter is dealing with a lot of her own pain, and walking with a cane again, so dhe headed in once the pruning and planting was done. After I finished refilling the soaking tub – and chasing off more skunks – I was feeling well enough to stay out and water the garden beds.
I didn’t get any pictures, but I’m seeing some Chocolate Stripe tomatoes starting to ripen. There is a single white Caspar eggplant developing. I even spotted some tiny melons developing, and one of the winter squash climbing the chain link fence is showing several female flowers, and even a few squash developing. With no season left to mature, unless that Super El Nino keeps things mild for a long time.l.
The pain killers were starting to wear off by then, so I headed back inside for a while. Just as I was sitting down with supper, my mother phoned. It was actually a pretty good call. She mostly just wanted to chat.
While we were talking about her health, my mother suddenly declared that she has a round belly, too, so maybe she has what I have.
…
I tried to explain how this could not be true. I don’t think she believed me.
*sigh*
I ended up having to cut the call short so I could have my supper, and my evening meds time was coming up. While I was eating, I updated my brother and SIL on the call … then they showed up! I wasn’t sure if they woukd make it out this weekend.
When I finished eating, I headed out to give the kittens a top up, since the cats and skunks steal their food donations quickly. I found the two bravest ones on a shelf in the catio. They ran off as I added some cat milk to the remains of kibble in the bowl, but they were soon back.
I still had to chase away Sweetie and two other adult cats, so the kittens could eat.
My brother passed by on the way to the garage, so we got to say a quick hello. He wanted to get their zero turn mower out and cutting the grass in the outer yard whike it was still light out.
I headed back inside just in time for my alarm to go off gir my evening meds. Including a full dose of the new painkillers.
I’m now in bed, in an over abundance of caution. I don’t want a repeat of last night! I’d forgotten my daily post, though, so I am doing this on my phone.
I much prefer my desktop!! 😁
I hope the night goes well.
Tomorrow, the main goals are a dump run, then a trip into town to get a birthday card and a visit with my mother. She’s turning 95 this weekend.
She is doing amazing for her age! Even with all her aches and pains, and declarations that she is dying. 😁
I did not tell her I was planning to visit while on phone with her, just in case I’m not physically up to it.
Morning was quiet overall. My poor daughter has been caning it today; the last while of taking on a lot of what I normally do during the day has not been easy on her.
Still, she was well enough to do the morning routine and, when our prescription delivery came in, to meet the driver.
I got my new meds. Just in time for my afternoon painkiller dose. I got to take new new generic Percocet instead of the T3s. I have enough to take them at the same schedule, every 6 hours, for 7 days.
So far, it seems to be working! I’m not holding my breath as other painkillers I’ve tried did work for the first while, then gradually stopped working. However, it meant I did not get that gradual pain building up and lasting for several hours.
I took advantage of that, while trying to still maintain light activity levels.
I decided it was a good time to start the very, very last “spring cleaning” of the sun room!
I moved things around to make space under the canopy tent, then brought out the cat carriers. They got dismantled and scrubbed down. Some of them have bolts with wing nuts on them that were getting rusted, so I set them in a bowl with some CLR.
Then my daughter and I went to the general store to pick up a couple of 40 pound bags of kibble, which my daughter was able to carry for me (I felt perfectly able to do it, but I’m banned) and the mail. Which included an unexpected, long thin parcel for my husband.
After we got home and unloaded, my husband presented my daughter with a new cane he’d got for her! She has a fantastic “tactical” cane that she doesn’t use because it’s too top heavy.
Also in the mail, finally, was our ambulance bill. Since they only came and treated my husband, but did not transport him anywhere, the bill was only $100, and we’ll be able to submit the receipt to my husband’s insurance for partial reimbursement. Not too shabby!
The carriers could be reassembled by then, and I brought over an old toothbrush to scrub the bolts that had been sitting in CLR. Once those were rinsed and dried off, I treated them with WD40 before using them on their respective carriers again. We now have five clean carriers ready. There’s another in the sun room but the cats knocked it off the shelf so many times, it can no longer be closed. Then there’s the huge donated one that is in the catio, with a cat bed in it, as a trap for the kittens. You can see the before and after for the cat carriers in the first to images of the slide show above.
Once the carriers were done, I got the flat sink stopper I’d picked up not long ago and started filling the old bathtub I dragged out of the junk pile. It still needs more coats of enamel paint sprayed on, but there is enough that it can be used. While I had the hose going in the tub, with some laundry detergent added, I started bringing over various cat beds, blanket and caves from the sun room. Not everything would fit, though.
You can see in the last image of the slide show above, how it is now. I added water until it reached the overflow opening, poking at everything with an old broom handle to get it submerged and soaking, then tried to “stir” it a bit.
The handle broke.
I’ll be using a garden hoe to continue, later on. For now, it’s all left to soak overnight. It’s all pretty disgusting, to be honest. I expected to change out the water and soak it in detergent a couple of times before I start to actually wash the individual pieces. I’ll most likely transfer them into the wheelbarrow individually for the final cleaning. Then I plan to give them a final soak/rinse with the 10% cleaning vinegar.
That old tub is going to be very handy.
While doing all this, I kept an eye on the kittens. They all got their evening cat feeding. The kittens their their kibble softened with cat milk. I also brought out some of the donated cat treats. Some I used by the house to distract the adult cats, while kitten treats went into the catio “trap”.
I am getting quite frustrated. I’m leaving bait for the kittens, but keep having to chase away adult cats and skunks. Which startled the kittens, so they stay away instead of coming for their treats.
They have been enjoying their new “home” in the remains of the junk pile, though. Lots to run and jump and play around.
There’re some sort of old chair cushions in there; a matching seat and back. The seat cushion was leaning at a steep angle, but several kittens still found it made a cozy bed.
Once the tub was set up and soaking, I tried sitting by the catio to “fish” for kittens. Four of them had zero interest, and they all seemed to be easily startled.
When I was ready to move on, I took the cushions from the junk pile and lay them on the ground inside the catio, opposite the big cat carrier. Hopefully, this will encourage them to sleep in the catio instead of in the junk pile.
There was a surprising amount of bush beans available to harvest! The ones planted later, around the Arikara Squash, are absolutely prolific right now.
The two red tomatoes in the photo are supposed to be Blueberry tomatoes. The other three plants of that variety all have tomatoes so dark, they’re almost black, but one plant is producing red tomatoes instead, which are ripening faster. The plants are otherwise identical looking.
There were quite a few orange currant tomatoes ready for picking, too. The most I’ve picked at one time, so far!
While in the area, I checked on the one Arikara squash that’s maturing. It’s gotten as big as I think it’s going to get, and the shell is starting to harden. I had set it on top of a brick to get it off the ground, and I picked up the squash to check that the brick wasn’t causing any damage.
It wasn’t, but I found several huge snails!
Thankfully, the squash is big enough and hard enough that they’re not interested in trying to eat it. I still flicked them away. Then I went into my stash of lumber cast offs in the garage and brought back a board to set under the squash, on top of the brick, to give it smoother support – and hopefully, the snails won’t want to climb around it!!
After that, I checked on the grapes (second photo in the slide show above). It’s really hard to find them under all the foliage, but there are a LOT of grape clusters hidden in there. They look quite ready for picking. Not this evening, though. Hopefully, they’ll still be there tomorrow and we can start picking them and maybe make some jelly or something. It’s been a while since we’ve made grape jelly. The last few years, the raccoons got to them before we did.
By then, I could tell I was reaching my limit and didn’t want to push things. Once inside, my older daughter suggested we make up some individual charcuterie platters for ourselves for supper, which was quite enjoyed.
By then, the painkillers were definitely wearing off – just in time for my evening 6 hour alarm to go off and it was time to take some more.
As I write this, it’s still a bit achy, but it does not seem to be getting worse. I’m about ready for bed, though, and it’s not even 8:30 yet!
It looks like we’re going to have some absolutely beautiful weather over the next while, including days with more rain. Daytime highs are expected to mostly be in the low to mid 20’s C/68F, with overnight temperatures staying in the teens. Our average last frost date was September 10. As of right now, the forecast for the 10th is a high of 19C/66F, and the overnight low at 13C/55F. Absolutely no danger of frost at all.
Thank you, El Nińo!
At this point, the long range forecast suggests we’ll see our first frost around the 20th or so. I’m hoping for a repeat of one of our first winters out here, were we didn’t get our first frost until November and almost had a brown Christmas!
I’d rather like to see that again – and just a mild winter, overall.
I’m getting too old for winter, and we have too many things that break down – including ourselves! – when it gets colder. 🤣😂
Now, if I could just get a few cats off my bed, I might be able to call it a night.
I’m so glad I was able to be productive today! Even if it was just a little bit.
The Re-Farmer 