Things got rather interesting, yesterday!
A series of thunderstorms made their way through our area. Our power flickered off and on about 6 times, that I know of. The first time it happened, I was on my desktop computer, when suddenly, it was off. !! Thankfully, I wasn’t working on anything that was affected by it.
I’m rather happy that we have power bars, everywhere!! :-D
Continue readingYes!! It’s done!
My darling brother happened to need to come out here for other things, so he was able to take a look at the wiring, and we got it done.
No more exposed wires, and now the entire stove top is lit up. The light even has 3 brightness settings, so we’ll have to pick up a dimmable bulb, so there won’t be any flicker.
The fan also has a variable speed adjusting knob; the previous one had a switch for fast or slow.
Also, here is the mystery wire that perplexed us.
I had a hard time even describing this extra piece of wires. It’s just… a piece. Of wire.
Why was it there?
My brother, once he saw it, was able to tell me.
It’s an extension.
I don’t know when work was done on the old fan, but at some point, the wires from the fan no longer reached the wires from the wall, and this piece was added. It’s about 6 inches longer than was needed, too.
Meanwhile, we tested the wires to ensure hot was hot, neutral was neutral, and we had the right voltage. Going through all the safety checks and precautions took longer then hooking the wires together. We don’t cut corners with that. Then it was just a matter of attaching the ground to where it belongs, applying a bit of anti-oxidant cream (also, it was confirmed that the new range hood wires were tinned copper – thanks, 53old!) and using marrettes to twist the ends together.
It just blows me away that there was that big nest of exposed wires before, when it should have just been two connections and a ground, covered.
So glad this is done!
And we can even keep this one clean.
Ah, the things I’ve come to appreciate since moving here… :-D
The Re-Farmer
Yesterday, my darling daughters began working on replacing our old, not working right, range hood.
It’s still not done.
Here is the progress so far – and I apologize in advance; some of these progress photos are really gross!
First up, here is the new range hood that my daughter bought.
Note the placement of the light, at the front of the hood.
This is what it’s replacing.
Continue readingToday is a day of all kinds of progress.
And some not-progress.
Some progress is happening as I write this, but that will get its own post. :-D
Continue readingJust a quick update on the new kitties.
Here are a couple of photos from last night.
After cleaning their eyes, I put the new kittens into the box nest, and they cuddled right up to each other.
That grey tabby looks as woeful as Not-Slick!
I think I’m going to have a hard time telling the orange tabby apart from Beep Beep’s orange tabbies!
When Beep Beep came in, she seemed rather okay with the new addition – you can see the new grey tabby by her front paws in the above picture.
When I checked on them this morning, as expected, all the kittens were in one big pile!
The new grey tabby is in the back, and his eyes are stuck shut again. He could hear a commotion, of course, and was growling away. I did not try to go near him. We’ll have to come back a few times throughout the day to check their eyes, and wash them as needed.
There is no sign of the new orange tabby. Either it’s under the dresser, or the mama managed to get it out before the door was closed for the night. I’m going to assume for now that it’s eyes will need cleaning again, too.
Beep Beep was with the kittens overnight and when I opened the storm door for the sun room this morning, Butterscotch was outside, waiting. She seemed to want me to move the “gate”, but eventually jumped in.
While going around to put cat kibble and bird feed out, I passed Rosencrantz or Guildenstern, coming around the corner by the main entry. I was happy to see her. When I went around to put the bird feed out, I did see her other grey kitten disappear under the concrete steps, so she has gone back to him. Still no sign of the 4th kitten, though. :-(
It’s unfortunate that we’ve split the litter up like this, but it’s the only way to treat their eyes. At least we know Butterscotch and Beep Beep are willing to nurse any and all the kitties, so we don’t have to worry about the ones in the sun room going hungry, even if their mom doesn’t jump the gate to check on them. Plus, they’re big enough that they can start eating the cat kibble.
We will keep a close watch on them.
The Re-Farmer
This evening, I was able to get the other side of the first half of the gate painted, while the second half has been set up, scrubbed and washed, needing only to dry before it can be painted. It was still quite went when I went out to do my evening rounds, so that will wait until tomorrow.
One of the things I had to consider, when setting the sun room up so the moms could leave, but the babies stayed, was that other cats could get in, too.
Which Doom Guy did.
When I came through the old kitchen to check on them, he immediately ran in, only to find himself trapped when he tried to leave!
Continue readingWe had some new, furry visitors to our feeding station this morning!
This is a first for us to see raccoons! :-)
They are so fuzzy!!! Like round little bears. :-D
This morning, I also figured out a way to let the mama cats out of the sun room, while keeping the babies in.
I noticed a whiteboard I had in storage, and gave it a try. The whiteboard is too slippery for the kittens to climb, and even if they managed to climb up the jugs I shoved against it to keep it from tipping, the marker ledge should keep them from being able to climb over. The remaining question was whether or not the moms would jump over it, and if they would knock it down when jumping back.
As my daughter and I were heading out to go to town, I heard a noise and saw that Beep Beep had jumped it, without knocking it down. When I came back later, however, it seemed the Butterscotch hadn’t figured it out yet. So I just lifted her over. You can actually see her in the photo, at the old dog house, where she promptly went to eat some grass! She has since returned to the sun room, and the kitten gate is still up, so it seems to be working.
The kittens, meanwhile, were content to ignore the set up.
They had all been sprawled on that blanket until they saw me moving around. A few came to check things out, then stayed to play.
This one, however, just luxuriated…
Cutest.
Thing.
Ever!!!!
In other things, we have not been able to work on painting the gate again, yet. We had a good rain during the night, so it was still wet when we went into town. I’m hoping to get some more done this evening, once it starts to cool down a bit. At least the area that’s already painted is no longer tacky to the touch! Tomorrow, I’ll be driving my mother to a medical appointment, so if I get some painting done today, that’ll give it plenty of time to cure tomorrow. No rain is predicted overnight, so that should help, too. We’ll see how it works out.
For now, we’re just staying out of the heat!
The Re-Farmer
With today’s rain, it’s been a fairly quiet day, but I still have some fun things to share with you.
Like this adorable shot I got last night.
This little tuxedo has really taken to being handled – and climbing us like trees!
On the down side, after climbing back and forth on my shoulders, he then jumped down onto the back of the swing bench before jumping/falling down to the concrete floor. :-( That’s a long way for such a tiny kitten!
I got this shot, this morning.
Three of those 6 kittens are hers. :-D One of hers and one of Beep Beep’s were off napping on the blanket on the floor by the tool dresser. They’re all like one big litter now! :-)
The kittens have discovered that they can get into the bottom drawer of the tool dresser from underneath. They couldn’t, however, get back out again. We now keep that drawer open a few inches, so they can get out from through the top of the drawer, instead.
I have also found I can no longer open the top dresser drawer. I don’t know why, yet, as there are too many kittens around to safely move things and find out. That drawer has the tools I used most often, so I rather need to open it at some point! :-D Thankfully, the tools I use every time I work to clear the trees are kept in an open shelf above, instead, so I can at least access those.
On my way to pick up my daughter, I found the barn swallows working on their nest. They were flying around so much, I didn’t even try to take a photo, and got a couple of short videos, instead.
When I was a kid, I always saw these birds building their nests under the eaves of the barn, but I’ve never been this physically close to them before.
I’ve always enjoyed watching them. :-)
The Re-Farmer
Yesterday evening, we had someone watching us through our kitchen window.
Big ole Nicky the Nose is making himself at home! Just look at that face! Just look at that…
… eye…
I went looking at some better pictures we got of Nicky, just to see if this is normal. :-D Turns out that his right is eye, indeed, slightly smaller than the left, but not normally squished up like that. Not sure what’s going on in this picture! :-D
Meanwhile, while doing my rounds this morning, I discovered this, in the bird bath.
Yup. That’s a layer of ice on there. Not a thin one, either!
It’s June 2, and we’re still going below freezing overnight!
This is going to be rough on people’s gardens. :-(
We’re supposed to get a high of 16C (60F) today, then tomorrow, we’re supposed to hit 25C (77F), with possible thunderstorms by evening, and stay high for the next week or so.
So… the weather we typically would have been getting in April.
If we’re going to have thunderstorms on Monday, we’ll have to do something about the gates we’re working on. Not good weather for paint to cure outdoors!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 