I’ve been able to spend more time outside in the last few days. Aside from cleaning up the downed branches in the yard and burning them in the fire pit, this has mostly been assessing things and making decisions.

I was checking around the garden area and could clearly see where the deer were coming in at the corner.

Even with the snow gone, the path the deer made through the ditch and over the fence is clearly visible!

I was also noticing some changes. Like this.

Butterscotch is no longer roly poly! She has had her kittens.

In fact, after doing my rounds this morning, I think I figured out where she had them.

In the sun room!

I saw her pop out from under the shelter we made for them when I first came in through the old kitchen. I lifted the big blanket over the box, just a bit, to peek in, but saw nothing. I wasn’t expecting to, really, as it’s too wide open.

As I was coming back to put things away and go back into the house, I could hear a cat growling.

I figure she squeezed herself into the space between the box and the back of the swing bench.

I’m extra glad I put the food and water bowls outside as soon as I did. If all the cats were coming in and out, she would never have selected this space. With the food and water bowls outside, and the weather so much warmer, the cats have all but stopped using the sun room. We only keep the outer doors propped open because of the smell. The plan was to wait until things are warm and dry enough to empty the sun room and give it a thorough cleaning, then keeping the doors closed after that. However, if Butterscotch’s kittens are in there, I don’t want to scare her into moving them somewhere else.

Given that there are predictions for mixed snow and rain tonight, and possibly more mixed snow and rain next week, I don’t see us clearing that room out for some time. Though if we could set up food, water and a litter box in there, we could close the doors and it could be Butterscotch’s own little home, and we can work on socializing her kittens.

Hmmm… That is a definite possibility!

Meanwhile, in other areas…

I went into the barn to look around and check out the riding mower in the lean to. I’ve never looked too closely at it. The mowing deck itself has been removed and I think the one leaning on the wall belongs to it (though there is another outside the barn, without blades, of the same brand). There are two tillers, a small snow blower and two push mowers. Which means, altogether, we’ve got 4 tillers, 4 or 5 push mowers, a lawn tractor/riding mower and a snow blower lying around various places.

None of which work, of course.

Whether any can be fixed – or are even worth fixing – is something I just don’t have the knowledge to make a call on. At some point, I want to go through some of this stuff with my older brother, and see if any are worth taking into the small engine shop for repair. Or he might decide to take some and try and fix them himself. There had been 3 tillers out by the garden shed and he took one of them last year, in hopes of getting it going. It was actually his in the first place, if I remember correctly. He had also gotten a push mower going, before we even moved here, but it didn’t stay working, so he took it, too. Whether he’s had time to fix it – or if it was worth fixing – I don’t know right now. He’s had far more important things to focus on of late.

A push mower would be really useful, though. There are a few places I just don’t dare go with the riding mower, and others are too tight. There’s only so much I can do with the little weed trimmer.

I also had a chance to talk to the local fire chief about doing a controlled burn.

We won’t be doing one.

Technically, we could. No permits are needed. However, without any rain, they’re looking at calling a burn ban by the weekend. Plus, we just don’t have the equipment or people to do it safely. The areas that need to be done are out of reach of a garden hose, and we don’t have the special backpacks to carry water with us.

Frustrating.

Hopefully, we’ll start getting some rain soon, and it won’t be an issue.

The Re-Farmer