Beep Beep has discovered she can climb the bird feeder, too!
At one point, a bird landed on the top of the hanging feeder.
She went for it.
She barely managed to catch herself and get back up on the platform instead of falling to the ground. :-D
The Re-Farmer
I had squirrels escorting me while doing my rounds this morning!
I was really looking forward to today, and my appointment with the dentist.
Yes. I was looking forward to seeing the dentist.
At the same time, I was dreading it.
For the past while, I’ve been having a lot of pain – especially once I lay down in bed – on the right side of my face. From what I was feeling, it was 3 teeth that were giving me trouble. One was a wisdom tooth that I seriously considered getting pulled the last time I was at the dentist. (The dentist actually remembered pulling the remains of that tooth!) Then there were two more, top and bottom, halfway along my jaw that had a lot of pain. Continue reading
Doom Guy entertained us on the bird feeder again, not long ago.
He was trying to watch all of the birds, all at once! :-D
They all seem to try for the hanging feeder. Like they refuse to accept that it will move, every time. :-D
The Re-Farmer
After our deer visitor left this morning, I went out to feed the cats. Once again, I saw the black and white dad-cat on the dresser in the sun room – and once again, he ran off as soon as he saw me. The rest of the cats were milling about as if they were starving. The girls had put food out for them last night, but the bowls were completely empty by morning. The braver of the cats were eating the food before I even finished filling the bowls!
Then I stepped back to let the shier ones get to the bowls, and watched them for a bit. There’s Rosencrantz (or Guildenstern) at the top; Butterscotch and The Outsider on either side. Big Jim and Bob next to Beep Beep and Doom Guy, then Rosencrantz and Guilden… wait…
What?
Three of them? Continue reading
We got ourselves a deer visitor this morning! A lovely young buck that has been visiting off and on.
When I got to the window to take pictures, he was right under the bird feeder and looked like he was going to jump up to try and get at the seed! I didn’t get the camera ready before he started to walk away, but he was so close, it would have been hard to get a photo of him with the telephoto lens, anyhow.
Just look at that icicle beard!
Unfortunately, we are out of deer feed right now, and getting low on bird seed, too. I won’t be able to get more until tomorrow, at the earliest. :-(
The buck was clearly looking for food, and even settled for some spruce needles!
Interesting that he has no interest in grassing on the “hay” in the main garden area. I’ve seen them go for elm and maple leaves before, but this is the firs time I’ve seen them go for spruce.
He was really yanking on that branch, too! He even pawed at the ground under there, too, looking for something to nibble on, before heading towards the crab apples.
There are still frozen apples on this tree, but they aren’t falling down, even when I try and shake the tree. Ah, well. Perhaps they will fall over the winter and become a nice deer treat.
I had to wait before I could take photos as he was walking away. He was walking with his tail up, and I really didn’t want to take photos of a big butt hole and dangly bits. :-D
After this, he slowly wandered away.
It was good to see him again. :-)
The Re-Farmer
Yes, we now have a Christmas tree up in our dining room.
But it’s not what you think! Continue reading
Heading into the sun room this morning, on the way to putting food out for the cats, I discovered not one, but two of the dad cats, running out of the room with the kittens! The black and white one was back on the dresser. I just caught a flash of the grey and white one, as he ran out the door.
They quickly took off out of sight, but that still left 8 cats to crowd around the food bowls!
Guildenstern (or Rosencrantz) had to push her way in – which she clearly didn’t want to do. Neither of the calico-torties are very assertive, at all.
Jim is now called Big Jim! He’s gotten so burly, I’ve been mistaking him for Rolando Moon more often!
Beep Beep was my escort this morning, though I was joined by Rolando Moon, later on, too. :-)
We had some blustery weather overnight, judging from the branches I was picking up this morning.
When finishing up my rounds, I got a chuckle at the many tiny paw prints in the fresh snow on the sidewalk to the main entry.
From the size of some of them, I could see we got visited by my brother’s dog again, too! :-D
As I came around back to the feeding area, I saw the third dad cat, slink away. I’d seen him earlier, going through the maple grove and then through the tall grass in the main garden area. It was my presence that had him moving away from the house, so I was glad to see he’d come back, while I was doing my rounds.
He let me get within about 8 feet of him, as I made my way back to the sun room doors to go inside, before finally slinking away.
Of the three dad cats, this one looks the most like a house cat. He’s in good shape and, while certainly not willing to go near us, doesn’t demonstrate actual fear or anxiety in the process. I wonder if he belongs to one of the neighbouring farms, and is just coming to visit?
Inside the sun room, I found Bob, already back on the swing bench.
Just look at that beauty! No longer the skinny, scrawny little kitten with a head too big for his body!
He even let me touch him, though he wasn’t too happy with me coming close. Even Doom Guy was more jumpy around me than usual. I think it was because of the heavier coat I was wearing today. The fabric of the outer shell makes a lot more noise. *L*
Bob, however, not only let me sidle up to him and touch him, he let me scritch his ears and cheeks! Not only that, but even as tense as he was, he started to purr and relax a bit. Until Doom Guy came over and disturbed him. :-D
Then I saw a bit of movement out the window, so I snuck over to the door to take a peek.
Look who peeked back!
He moved away after I took the photo, but I went inside the house after this, so I hope he came back for food soon after.
I like my cat-filled morning routine. :-D
The Re-Farmer
We are now up to three, regularly visiting, adult cats that we collectively refer to as the “dad cats.”
Not sure that’s what they actually are, but it works. :-D
It has been a chilly, blustery day today – as I write this, the temperature is at a not-to-bad -3C, but the windchill puts it at -12C! – so it was a good day to stay indoors as much as possible.
No surprise, of course, that when I went through the Old Kitchen to feed the outside cats this morning, the kittens were in a big pile on the swing bench they love so much. They started to scatter as soon as I opened the second door, which is when I noticed an extra cat, sitting on the dresser I use as a tool chest! He ran off as soon as he saw me, as he usually does. It was the black and white “dad cat.”
I’m glad we found a way to prop the doors into the sun room, just enough for the cats to get in and use it. There’s no insulation or heat in there, but it’s still better than outside!
After putting out the food and fresh water, I started heading towards the garage and noticed another cat, sitting in an area where I’d cleared a path to some Saskatoon bushes over the summer, watching me. It was the grey tabby with a bit of white we’ve started to see more often these days.
As I went by the feeding area later, I saw him again at a food bowl. He ran off, but just around the corner of the house.
I couldn’t get close enough for a decent picture. The kittens and their moms don’t seem to mind him at all – even Rolando Moon went by without hissing at him at all!
Then later this evening, after it was full dark, I glanced out my office window to see the grey and white cat peeking in at me!
He took off before I could try for a picture of him. When I looked out, I saw the food bowls were empty. I was thinking the grey and white cat might not have had any food at all, yet. I had some leftovers set aside for the outside cats and, since it’s so chilly out there, I decided to warm it up and bring it out for them.
I didn’t see him around when I got outside, but Doom Guy and The Outsider immediately came over, then both went at the warm food as soon as I put some into the first container. The Outsider even let me pet him! Though it may be he was just too interested in food to notice that I’d touched him. :-D
There was snow in their food bowls, so after I put some food into the second one, I moved it under the little shelter over the basement window (which is what the dad cat climbs on, to be able to look into my office). Then I took the bowl the kittens were eating from and moved it under, too – after prying it loose from the ground it had frozen to. Doom Guy moved over to sniff at the bowl I’d used to carry the food out, but The Outsider just stayed there, staring at the circle of snow-free grass that was under the food bowl. Like he was trying to figure out where the bowl went! :-D
So I reached over, picked him up, and moved him to where I’d put the bowl of food.
And he let me!!! Didn’t flinch or try to get away or anything. He just started eating, right away. Yay!!
Then I picked up Doom Guy and moved him over, because he was still snuffling around.
With Corvo still gone who-knows-where, we currently have 5 kittens, plus The Outsider, the two moms and Rolando Moon, here pretty much all the time. Add in the three dad cats that now visit regularly, we are up to a dozen outside cats.
It should get very interesting, if more of the cats we were feeding all last winter start showing up again!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 