Month: January 2022

Well, isn’t that interesting (convoy talk)

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Today has been one of those days where I haven’t been paying much attention to things outside our little cave. I’ve been using various apps to keep in the loop about the Freedom Convoy, but simply have not been able to keep on top of the hundreds of messages, posts and videos. I have had to mute most of the channels. Otherwise, my phone would be constantly singing at me with notification noises.

This evening, I finally got to sit down and try to look at some of the stuff, and figured I’d check out some of the YouTube videos that so many people have been posting.

Well, now.

First, not a lot of related videos were showing in my feed, even though quite a few channels I follow are directly involved in some way. So I did a search. I did that yesterday and found all sorts of interesting videos, some of which I shared.

Not today.

Today, about 99% of the videos that showed up in my search were from mainstream media. Since they aren’t really covering it much, most of them are also days old. After a while, I did see more independent videos show up, but they are even older than the media ones.

YouTube is messing with the search results, and keeping people from finding videos made by anyone other than our government approved media.

The mainstream media has, of course, been spreading all sorts of lies and slander about the Freedom Convoy. Our Prime Dictator came out and made a little speech, supposedly to explain why he refuses to talk to the truckers. It was a speech filled with lies, misrepresentations, and was clearly intended to create more division and hate against the truckers. The former drama teacher was over acting again, too.

One of the few politicians that has openly and unapologetically supported the Freedom Convoy from the start has been Maxime Bernier, of the PPC; the video above has his response to some of the disgusting things our Prime Dictator said. The NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, who is Sikh, also made some really vile comments denigrating the protestors as racists. Which would be a real surprise to all the Sikh truckers and supporters of the protest. In fact, the Sikh community has been one of the staunchest supporters. There have also been a lot of immigrants, some truckers, some supporters, that talk of having escaped tyrannical regimes. They are saying they are there, supporting the truckers, because they could see the same things happening here in Canada, that lead to the destruction of human rights and freedoms in their homelands. Of course, there are also the many First Nations groups that have joined the protests. It’s gotta be the most racially and ethnically diverse group of “white supremacists”, ever!

This article deals with the media lies. The Canadian Legacy Media’s Eleven Worst Spins on the #TruckersForFreedom Convoy

One of the YouTube channels I follow is The Rubin Report, and I still had to go looking to find this coverage.

Other platforms, such as Rumble, aren’t censoring videos.

The Rebel, which is completely independently funded, is one of the few larger media covering the protests. This one addresses the real problem of people infiltrating the protest to deliberately mess things up.

This is something everyone knew was going to happen. It’s a standard MO, really.

If we were to listen to the mainstream media and our own federal government, we would believe that there’s just a “fringe minority” of racist hicks that can’t be taken seriously, that are also domestic terrorists bent on violently overturning our (oh-so-saintly) government and the greatest threat our nation has ever faced.

Well, I suppose you could say it is an uprising. An uprising of courage, hope, unity, and love from ordinary Canadians, standing up against division, medical apartheid an government enforced segregation.

The Re-Farmer

Update: well, this didn’t take long. I just found this story, from The Counter Signal.

Ottawa moves to seize GoFundMe cash from Truckers

“Ottawa City Councillor Mathieu Fleury wants to seize the protesting truckers’ GoFundMe support account, which has raised upwards of $9 million, to cover the costs of policing the city — among other costs.

Fleury, who represents the city’s Rideau-Vanier Ward, publicly announced on social media that he asked the city manager and city solicitor to “immediately launch court proceedings targeting the millions of dollars in funds frozen by [GoFundMe] so Ottawa taxpayers are not left holding the bag for these protests.””

Home Early!

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We just got back from picking Nosencrantz and Butterscotch up from the vet, a couple of hours earlier than anticipated.

She looks so betrayed!

Nosencrantz looks absolutely miserable! Especially since whatever they used in her ears has a red tinge to it, making the inside of her ears look bloody as well as oily. 😀

I got a call from the cat lady about them, first. She still keeps calling my cell phone instead of our land line, which worked out this time, because the vet called while we were talking! I couldn’t answer a second phone, so I let it go to machine, and we both got to listen to the message being left. 😀

The cats were just waking up from surgery, and were doing well, so they were good to be picked up between 2:30 and 3 instead of between 4 and 5. The cat lady informed us that they also had fleas, which was a surprise. We’ve never seen fleas on the outside cats, but of course, that doesn’t mean much, since most of them don’t let us look too close. She asked us to keep an eye out on the other outside cats for things like bald patches, and to let her know; she would come to our place and treat them for fleas herself.

I don’t see that happening.

Before we got off the phone, I asked how Cabbages was doing. I was so happy to hear that she is starting to jump around in the kennel they are keeping her in, and that she has gained almost a pound. This morning, the dry bowl was empty, which means she’s been eating on her own – and she really loves roasted drumsticks best!

I am so thankful for the cat lady and her vet. Cabbages would not be alive right now, if not for them.

If you would like to read more about Cabbages and our fundraiser to surprise-reimburse her for vet expenses, click here. Or, you can go straight to the fundraiser page here.

When it was time to pick up Butterscotch and Nosencrantz, my daughter went in to get them and got more information.

Those fleas the cats had?

It was one flea.

On Nosencrantz.

That’s all they saw.

The tech was a bit concerned, saying she’d heard something about the cats going back outside. She was GREATLY relieved when my daughter explained we had a room set up for them to recover in. She was equally relieved to know that they did not go inside the house, either. Otherwise, we’d be having to treat the remaining 15 cats for fleas and ear mites – and treat the entire house for fleas, too!

I am so glad to have that sun room to use as a buffer zone!

Because of the ear mites and the flea, Nosencrantz needs to stay in the sun room for at least three days before we can consider bringing her indoors. That will give her time to get used to using a litter box, too. We are to keep a close eye on her for fleas and ear mites. The de-worming pill she got should also take care of those, but if it still seems to be an issue, we can come back and get another pill.

Butterscotch had a surprise for the vet during surgery. As they removed her uterus, they found it was “tattery and falling apart.” Yes, that’s an exact quote!!!

No wonder she was such an unhappy brood mother!

Apparently this is a reflection of age. We don’t know how old Butterscotch is. Just that she is more than 7 years old.

Everything else seemed to be fine, but we have been asked to keep an eye on her. In particular, on her gums. If they start looking white and anemic, we are to bring her back.

Not that she’s going to make that easy for us. As soon as we let her out of the carrier at home, she disappeared behind the swing bench. We can’t get at her without moving a lot of stuff. We’ll be coming in regularly to check on them, of course.

Butterscotch will be in the sun room for at least 7 days. Preferably 10, before going back outside.

If she stays on pattern, once she’s outside, she’s going to be avoiding us for at least a couple of months, so the longer we can keep her indoors to monitor her, the better.

It will be a while before her belly fur grows back, so if it gets cold again after she’s outside, we’re supposed to try and bring her back in again. Ha! I doubt she’d let us!

We still haven’t seen the surgical sites on either of them. Butterscotch disappeared as soon as the carrier was opened. Nosencrantz had to be poured out of the soft sided carrier; she would not leave on her own! She then immediately went under the heat bulb. She had a bandage for the IV on her leg that she was trying to shake off. We were told it could be taken off after half an hour, which had passed in the time it took to get them home, so I did manage to get that off. She didn’t make it easy, though at least she didn’t try to run away.

We will have to visit them frequently over the next while. That will be mostly on the girls, since tomorrow I’ll be going to town to finally get a much needed oil change for the van, and will most likely be heading to the city to do our Costco trip the day after.

Hopefully.

Our storm warnings have become blizzard warnings, but for the south of the province. We’ve seen no sign of the system in our area, yet. It still doesn’t look like we’ll be getting much snow, but the main concern will be high winds. From the weather radar, it looks like the most severe weather we’ll be getting won’t happen until 8 or 9pm tonight, with blowing snow tomorrow, plus several colder days.

Whatever ends up hitting us, I’m glad we were able to get the cats done first.

The Re-Farmer

Upside down?

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Okay, I don’t know what happened with WordPress, but I didn’t get a message left through the Contact page a couple of weeks ago until the morning.

Thank you, Matt Jones of the Songbird Jones for reaching out and sharing this adorable video.

What fun!!!

Also, it turns out we’ve been spinning our Tennessee Dancing Gourds upside down! 😀

The Re-Farmer

Well, they’re in

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This morning, we got Butterscotch and Nosencrantz in to the vet.

There’s a storm on the way that’s supposed to start with sleet, then 6-10cm (2-4in) of snow. It was supposed to start about 8am, and drop off time was 8:20, so we headed out early, just in case. Not that these forecasts are accurate for where we are, most of the time, but why take a chance?

When I came into the sun room, I found Butterscotch and Nosencrantz had been using the swing bench, completely ignoring the beds we made for them, and even the space under the heater bulb. Clearly, it never got cold enough for them to give up those soft cushions! 😀

Butterscotch was not a happy camper when I put her in the carrier! I’m actually surprised she let me put her in so easily, considering she’s had this ride before, to get stitches on a gash we found on one of her back legs.

Nosencrantz was much, much calmer about going into the soft sided carrier. She is a much more easy going cat, and I think she will transition into an indoor cat very easily.

Once they were safely tucked away, I could quickly take care of the outside cats.

It’s been a while since this was done while it’s still dark out!

Tuxedo Mask is looking at the water, and the water is looking back! 😀

Once the critters were taken care of, my younger daughter and I headed out. We got to the clinic quite early, but they were okay with an early drop off. We’re expecting a pick up between 4 and 5pm, but they will phone us if the cats are ready earlier.

Once at home, I finished my rounds before heading back in. Things are still looking good out there, and we’re only at -12C/10F. We are expected to reach a high of -3C/27F by late this evening. Looking at the weather radar, the Alberta Clipper heading our way looks like it has already dissipated a fair bit. We should get bit of snow this afternoon, but it will likely have passed over us by the time we have to go pick up the cats. The rest of the system is looking like it will hit us in the evening and overnight. Where we are, I don’t think we’ll get any sleet at all, but who knows. We tend to have a strange climactic bubble over us that seems to push away a lot of these systems. I think it’s part of the lake effect where we are.

As long as we can get the kitties safely home today, we’re good with whatever the weather throws at us. 🙂

The Re-Farmer

More convoy talk

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A lot of people are following this story, so I figured I’d make a separate post to talk about the Freedom Convoy.

To start, I just have to share this news conference, from Keean Bexte of The Counter Signal. I absolutely recommend watching the whole thing.

As of this writing, the GoFundMe is over $8.8 million. If you listen to the interview above, they say they have the resources to stay in place for several years, if necessary.

Years.

And convoys are still arriving. There are so many convoys out there right now, they’ve lost track.

Meanwhile, truckers that weren’t able to join the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa have been holding their own protests at their provincial legislatures and at Canada/US border crossings.

There are people I know who are there in Ottawa, including neighbours, and I follow many others who are there. So I’m getting a lot of uncensored, first hand commentary on what’s going on – though it’s so huge, even that is barely touching the surface. The atmosphere remains incredibly positive, uplifting and united.

Our mainstream media, of course, isn’t reporting that.

One of the things people are suddenly clutching their pearls over is that protestors *gasp* draped Canadian Flags on a statue of Terry Fox, along with a paper sign saying “Mandate Freedom”. Terry Fox is a major Canadian hero. They are claiming the statue was “defaced”.

Seriously. They are actually saying that the statue was being defaced by the Canadian flag.

There have been other reports focusing on portraying the protestors in the most negative light. In one of them, a horde of protestors supposedly pushed their way into the soup kitchen of a homeless shelter, demanding food. The shelter organizers claim they were able to diffuse the situation by giving them soup.

To say that doesn’t pass the smell test is a massive understatement. There has been so much food, and other supplies, already donated to the convoy that people who approached truckers, intending to donate food, instead found themselves being offered food from the truckers! There is more than enough food for everyone. No one actually part of the protest has any reason to go to a homeless shelter for food, nor would they “demand” food from a homeless shelter.

An exception to that statement just showed up in one of my groups. If you can read the screen cap below, there are truckers on an isolated part of the highway, barricaded by the police.

So any troubles truckers are having to get food is outside the city, and deliberate. From the timestamp, this is was posted 2 hours ago, from the time I’m writing this.

While I have no doubt the incident at the homeless shelter happened, there is no way this was done by genuine protestors in Ottawa. Quite a few people have been outed for inserting themselves as if they were part of the protest, while doing things like carrying Nazi flags.

There has been an interesting thing going on. Communications are being blocked. Anyone could download the Zello app and listen to chatter on the CBs. There is no longer a signal. I’ve tried to listen in myself, but it’s dead. People have talked about other communication troubles, widespread enough to suggest they are being blocked externally.

Our media’s representation (and lack of it) of the Freedom Convoy is even being blasted by other countries, as in the video above.

You know things are bad in Canada in regards to the restrictions, when they are commenting on how extreme it is, in Australia.

How the media is handling this was the topic of conversation with Viva & Barnes. This is an excerpt of their regular livestream from a few days ago.

Viva and Barnes are both lawyers, so they provide some very interesting perspectives.

Most people know better than to listen to our own mainstream media, not to mention most of our politicians. However, there are still those who swallow the narrative, hook, line and sinker. They have gleefully accepted the notion that the truckers are white supremacists, Russian operatives, or whatever favorite derogatory narrative fits their preconceived notions, all on the edge of violence, and no amount of first hand evidence will change their mind. It’s bizarre to see, but they are most definitely in the minority. You can easily tell the difference between those who support the truckers and those who don’t. Supporters are overflowing with excitement, passion, love, hope and joy, and it’s infectious. The detractors are angry, condescending, insulting and dismissive. Mostly, though, they are contemptuous of people they clearly see as beneath them, and unworthy of being viewed as even human. It would be an interesting psychological study to look into how their views of humanity developed into what they are now. It is so opposite from what is happening across the country right now.

For many years, my biggest frustration with my fellow Canadians has been apathy. We’re so busy being “nice” and “polite”, it’s been destroying our country. With my own family having escaped the evils of both Nazism and Communism, I could see the road we were going down, and it was incredibly alarming. It is one of the reasons I am so thankful that we were able to return here to my family farm, and escape the city. Now, for the first time in my life, I see that something has broken. Something has snapped. A dam has broken, and there is no stopping the waters pouring through. Canadians have been pushed to far, and the apathy has been swept away.

Our country will be a completely different place, when this is over.

The Re-Farmer

Our 2022 garden: preparing to start seeds indoors

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Last year, we converted two unused aquariums into greenhouses, where we hoped to protect our seed starts from the cats.

It mostly succeeded.

Today, I prepped the tanks for this year’s seeds.

The small tank – a 20 gallon tank – was a real problem with the cats last year.

Even when we pur the original hard cover back on at the end of the season, using the space inside to store the light, etc., the cats still got into it!

The foil around the back and sides were to provide reflective light for the seedlings. As you can see, the cats have torn up the foil, and even left scratches in the rigid insulation at the back!

Last year, we had tried using the lid that came with the tank at first, but the cats would reach through the opening for the water filter in the back, even if it meant fighting past whatever we put to block the opening. They managed to reach in and pull up the seed trays, anyhow. Having to block everything meant no air circulation, so what the cats didn’t destroy, mold did it’s damage. I finally rigged a window screen and that worked, though it was far too late to save the onions we’d tried to start in there at the time.

This tank will be for onions again. After seeing that onion seeds can be planted very close together, and they don’t really get transplant shock, I’m hoping to be able to get all 5 varieties of onions we have in hear.

The problem is the size and shape of the tank is too small to fit any of the commercial seed starting trays we’ve been using. I want to be able to water the planting trays from below, which meant having to find something to use as a tray for the water.

I decided to try aluminum oven lines. They are pliable enough to bend to size, and strong enough that I could fold corners without it tearing. It’s not deep, but it doesn’t need to be.

There’s still quite a bit of space left. If needed, I can fold up another tray and overlap them. I’ll just have to make sure they are attached to each other with a water tight seal. Or we can just use the doubled Red Solo cups again, and not need to have a tray under them at all.

Then the screen window was brought back into action as a cover. A pair of 5 pound hand weights get added to the back, in case a cat walks onto the overhang in front. The metal screen is strong enough to hold their weights. The heavier cats don’t try to go up there, just the tiny ones, so that has worked out. If necessary, we have more weight we can put on it. At some point, I want to build a screened cover to fit, but that’s not an urgent thing.

Since we can’t change the height of the light fixture, the egg cartons are being used to bring the seedling trays closer to the light, and can be taken out to lower the base as needed.

One thing we found last year is that this room is pretty cold, which is why we added the insulation around the back and sides. It was still difficult to keep it warm enough for the squash and gourds we had in there. Onions are a cool weather crop, so they should be fine in here, as far as the temperature goes.

Then there was the big tank to do.

I had to take out the biggest pot with an aloe vera in it to make space for the boxes that are being used to raise the seedling tray closer to the light. Previously, the boxes were under that sheet of insulation at the base to create a raised floor, but with the plants still in there, we can’t do that this time.

This is where we will be starting the luffa, and probably a few other gourds, at the same time as the onions. They will need the heat mat we got for under the seed trays, which is why they have to go in this tank. The mat won’t fit in the small tank. Right now, the mat is under all the trays and pots, so the weight can flatten it out a bit. There’s just enough room left to hold the curing Tennessee Dancing gourds.

At some point, we’re going to have to take the other aloe vera and my daughter’s orchids out. We’ll need the space for the tomatoes, eggplant and peppers, which are the next earliest seeds we need to start. After that, we will need space for the winter and summer squash. Hopefully, by the time they need to be started, we can start moving the onions into the sun room. The orchids (you can see one has started to bloom again!) are here because it was too cold for them to hang at the window in winter. The aloe is there to keep the cats from digging in the pots.

Which happened with the one pot I did take out, while I was setting things up in here! I caught Nicco, inside the barriers I put around the aloe vera. She’s so long and skinny, she snaked her way through the gaps! The little beast!

We had another, larger pot with an aloe vera in it in. It had been okay for months but, a few days ago, we came out to find the pot all dug up, and the only remains of the plant in it were a couple of leaf tips. We never found the rest of the aloe, and have no idea what happened to it! I’m sure we’ll find it, desiccated, under the couch or in a corner somewhere, months from now. 😀

As you can imagine, I’m not too keen on taking the plants out of the tank. They’re doing very well in there! But we won’t have a choice.

We have many things we need to start indoors, but a lot of them will have only a few seeds per packet used. Particularly with the squash and gourds. For the tomatoes, the paste tomatoes are the only ones we will be planting a lot of, since those are determinates being grown specifically for canning. The others are indeterminates and will be more for fresh eating, so we won’t need more than a few plants of each. We have enough varieties that, in the end, there should still be quite a few to transplant in the spring.

The other major thing we will need to start indoors will be the kulli corn, but those won’t need to be started until about the middle of May, at which point the sun room will be warm enough to use.

We are expanding the garden a lot this year, and will be expanding it more again, next year. I expect to be expanding it every year for quite some time. Which means that we will be needing lots of room to start seeds indoors every year. Until we are at a point when we can get a greenhouse or polytunnel, a goal of mine is to set up a corner in the sun room for starting seeds. We’d need grow lights, so that we wouldn’t have to constantly turn the trays for even sunlight, and we would need a heater sufficient to keep the room – or at least that corner – warm enough for germination. Or use more heat mats, but there is no outlet in that room. We are using an outlet in the old kitchen, with an extension cord running through a window to a power bar, right now. So warming the room would be more practical than using heat mats.

It’s funny. As we work on what we are doing this year, my mind is already on what will need to be done next year.

And the year after.

And the year after that…

As we work on things, we get a better idea of what plans we have will work, what needs to be modified, what needs to be re-priorities, or dropped entirely.

I don’t think we’ll ever reach the end of that process. Which is good, because figuring it all out is a bit part of the fun!

The Re-Farmer

Quick Cabbages and kitty update

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I just wanted to make a quick update post, before writing the post I intended to. 😀

I have been in contact with the cat lady. I let her know that Butterscotch and Nosencrantz are snagged for their trip to the vet tomorrow. I had gone to spend some time with them, just before I contected her. They were both loafed on the swing bench and, to my surprise, Butterscotch was all over me, purring her heart out, wanting pets and skritches. So much so, she was bowling right over Nosencrantz, who was looking pretty stunned. 😀

I was able to give Nosencrantz some attention. This is the first time we’ve been able to do more than just pet her and occasionally pick her up, outside. I was noticing her behaviour while skritching her ears and gave them a closer look.

She has ear mites.

*sigh*

It’s not a surprise, but with all the yard cats we’ve brought inside, we’ve never seen ear mites before. We have been very fortunate, that way. I called the vet clinic to let them know, and it turns out treatment for ear mites is on the list, along with deworming and vaccinations. All of that, plus getting them fixed, for only $75 a cat!! Oh, how I appreciate connecting with this organization. After all this is done, I plan to continue donating to them, as we are able.

We’ve got these two booked for tomorrow, then Beep Beep and Fenrir on Feb. 7. Talking with the cat lady, we confirmed Feb. 23 for two more inside cats for adoption; we will need to decide which ones go first.

She also passed on the e-transfer information, which is to the organization that is covering the rest of the vet bill. Since my husband’s disability payment came in early, I was able to make a payment in advance. I can make payments as I am able, as long as it’s paid off by the end of the year. She has a budget from this organization, and I know any payments made allows her to have more budget to help more cats, so I was happy to make a payment now. That, and I don’t like unresolved line items in my budget.

The payment for my PAL is driving me nuts. I have no idea when my license will be processed and the payment will come out. All I know it that is should be within 4 months, and I’ve got about 3 more months to go.

Anyhow.

She also updated me a little about Cabbages. She is eating roast beef!

She sent pictures, which I am not asking permission to use right now, but the difference in her is amazing! She has quite clearly regained some weight. In one of the pictures, she was eating shredded pieces of beef. The last pictures we saw, she was eating meat mush. So that is another encouraging sign!

Cabbages and Turmeric

The photo above was taken just after New Year’s. According to the vet, she would have been already starting to get sick, but we saw no signs of that at the time. She’s isn’t back to how she looked then, but being such a little cat to begin with, even this little weight gain makes for a very dramatic difference.

She is set to visit the vet again, soon. I really look forward to hearing what he has to say!!

If you would like to read more about Cabbages and our fundraiser to surprise-reimburse her for vet expenses, click here. Or, you can go straight to the fundraiser page here.

I am so very happy and encouraged by how she is doing. What a fighter!

The Re-Farmer

Snagged some kitties and, can you see them?

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This morning, my morning rounds included snagging outside cats.

Not these ones.

The heat bulb inside the cat’s house is clearly working!

Nosencrantz was easy. When I go to fill the kibble tray under the shrine, she always goes to eat there, instead of the kibble house. The tray is there because Rosencrantz had Nosencrantz and Tosencrantz in the junk pile on the other side of the fence. We wanted to make sure they got some food and didn’t have to push their way through other cats at the kibble house to get food there. Nosencrantz still prefers to eat at her own personal kibble tray. 🙂

Butterscotch often joins her there, but not this morning.

She’s in the corner, on the left. After I finished with the food and water, she wasn’t there anymore. I finally found her eating at the kibble tray on the outside of the kibble house.

She is why we had to make sure to snag them early in the day. Nosencrantz hangs around but, after breakfast, Butterscotch will take off and we might not see her again until the next morning.

When I picked her up, she was pretty good with that and enjoyed her ear skritches.

Then I started walking to the sun room.

Oh, she did not like that!

I managed to hang on to her and get her inside, but she immediately started trying to get out. Nosencrantz was already settled and eating, but Butterscotch started jumping up the door to reach the window. I had both outer doors closed, and we’ll have to be careful to keep them that way. When we turned the sun room into a maternity ward a couple of years ago, bringing a very pregnant Beep Beep and Butterscotch in to have their kittens where we could socialize them, we still had the old, broken storm door on there. It had a screened window that couldn’t be closed. No matter how many times we patched that screen up, she would tear her way through.

I’m sure she remembers being able to get through the closed door.

I left them be while I finished my rounds, making sure to message my family that they were there, and Butterscotch wasn’t happy. My husband came in to visit with them for a bit, where he found Butterscotch somewhat settled on a pillow. He was able to pet Nosencrantz, but that was it.

When I got back, she was prowling around. She even was standing on her hind legs, looking at the highest shelves we stuffed with gardening supplies, trying to see if she could jump up there.

We will need to check on them a few times and make sure they are doing well and getting along, then to take away the food and water bowls when it’s time for them to fast.

We have 2 carriers to bring them to the vet tomorrow morning. We’ll have to make sure Butterscotch goes into the hard sided one, because she’ll be able to tear her way out of the soft sided one. Thank you again, M, for gifting the kitties with that hard side carrier!

After finishing my rounds, I went through the trail cam files and was very amused by some files on the sign cam – aside from many files of the roads being cleared. They broke out the big plow, that’s higher off the ground and has a MUCH bigger front plow attachment. The snow was too deep to see clearly, but I’m sure the side plow attachment was quite a bit bigger, too. Beautiful machine!

The deer much prefer to use the nice, clear roads to move around!

I just had to put in the arrow to show where the second deer is. This is the mother and her little one we see outside our living room window all the time. Her little one is almost fully grown now, but still small enough that only it’s ears showed above the snow piled up on the sides of the road!!

The date and time on about half the files from this camera were completely wrong. It got so cold, the batteries “died” enough that the camera reset itself to the default time and date. When it warmed up enough that the batteries started working again, all the files after that started from midnight, Jan 1, 2020. LOL There were also a lot of black files, because there wasn’t enough power for the infrared flash.

It’s supposed to stay warm enough over the next while, that this should not be a problem.

I just got a phone call while I was writing this. The vet clinic was confirming tomorrow’s appointment for Butterscotch and Nosencrantz. Drop off time is 8:20, and no food after 8pm tonight. She did say water was okay. I double checked, because the cat lady had said no food or water. Which is good. I won’t want to be fussing with the heated water bowl, if I don’t have to.

We will be in touch with the cat lady tonight; she was planning to call us to follow up on these two. I look forward to hearing how Cabbages is doing, too. The fact that we haven’t heard from her means that Cabbages has not taken a turn for the worse, at least.

If you would like to read more about Cabbages and our fundraiser to surprise-reimburse her for vet expenses, click here. Or, you can go straight to the fundraiser page here.

Today’s focus will be to keep an eye on Butterscotch in particular, and try and keep her calm.

The last time we tried to bring her indoors was when we set her and Beep Beep up in the basement to have their kittens. When we had no choice was to send her back outside, with Beep Beep adopting her last, surviving kitten, it took months before Butterscotch would let us come near her again. I expect, after she is recovered and we can let her out again, it will be at least that long before she trusts us enough to pet her again. But it will be worth it. I get the impression she is so done with the whole “mother” thing! I’m sure she’ll forgive us. 😉

Eventually.

The Re-Farmer

As set up as can be, and fundraiser update

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Well, we’ve been doing as much as we can in the sun room for now. It’s as ready as we’ll be able to get it, for Butterscotch and Nosencrantz’s recovery period.

We were able to tape up the wire on the old heated water bowl, so it can now be safely used again. The wire itself is not damaged; just the outside was cracked, right at the bowl. Thankfully, we’ve got a tape that can handle that tight of an area. If it hadn’t worked, we have a silicon sealant we would have used.

The main concern we have is with Butterscotch. We’ve used the sun room as a maternity ward before, for Butterscotch and Beep Beep to give birth in. Beep Beep handled it well, but Butterscotch tore her way through the old door’s screen to escape, no matter how many times we patched it up. She was more than content to leave Beep Beep to take care of both litters and probably wouldn’t have come back, if she hadn’t needed to nurse. She is not going to be happy in here. I do hope that, at least for the first day or two after surgery, she will be too drugged up to go too wild. It’s certainly going to make it interesting to go through here to get kibble and seed. Most likely, we’ll put a carrier in with her, and close her up until I’m done going in and out.

As we expect Butterscotch to basically tear the place apart while in there, my daughter and I bagged up the sunflowers heads, and they are now stored in the old kitchen. We’ve packed the top shelves against the window with as much gardening supplies as we could jam in, then made beds on the two bottom shelves. Then we tried to make the rest of the shelves and surfaces as impervious to destruction as we could.

I picked up a new litter pan for the sun room, since we’re using it for yard cat recovery so often. It’s set up under the swing bench. The heat bulb is ready to go, with scrap pieces of rigid insulation as walls, because there will be a cold draft from those windows, and more on the floor so they can eat and drink with their little toe beans kept off the cold concrete.

The plan is for Butterscotch and Nosencrantz to be brought in tomorrow, after we do the morning rounds. They have even been staying together when I put the kibble out, so they will be easy to catch at that time. They will have their own food and water until evening, at which point they will be put on a fast until after their surgery.

While organizing the space as best we could, one of the concerns is that, in her displeasure of being trapped in the sun room, Butterscotch might start attacking Nosencrantz. Since Butterscotch is not ever going to be an indoor cat and is not up for adoption, she has to stay in the sun room during recovery.

There is no such requirement for Nosencrantz. She will be adopted out. After they are fixed, vaccinated and de-wormed, and the non-adoptable indoor cats are done, we will start getting the adoptable indoor cats done near the end of February. We will bring them in to the vet in the morning, then the cat lady will pick them up in the evening and take them to the fosters for recovery before going to their forever homes. Then we will start working on getting the outside cats caught and done. They, too, will be taken to the vet in the morning, then the cat lady will pick them up in the evening.

It just doesn’t make sense to send Nosencrantz back outdoors after recovery, if we’re going to have to catch her again for the cat lady to take. Plus, if we bring her inside right after the surgery, there is no chance of Butterscotch going after her. This will also give us a chance to socialise her more, before the cat lady is ready to pick her up.

The next few months are going to be pretty cat crazy!

Speaking of the cat lady, I am incredibly thankful that there are already some fundraiser donations!! You can read about the fundraiser here or, if you wish, go directly to the donation page here. It just blows me away that she has been so willing to take on the expenses for Cabbages vet care, and going above and beyond in treating her. She even sent pictures (which I won’t ask permission to share right now; this fundraiser is a surprise, and I don’t want her to know about this blog, yet. 😀 ), and Cabbages was eating out of a bowl and looking so much more alert.

I have not heard any news today, yet, which tells me that the recovery continues. It’s still “no news is good news” right now. Cabbages is being lavished with care and attention, and I have full confidence and trust in the cat lady, to do what’s right by her, however things go.

I am so thankful that we were connected with her when we did. The timing was downright providential!

The Re-Farmer

Happy Freedom Day!

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What a difference between this winter and last winter!

Though Chadiccus doesn’t know that, since it’s his first winter.

I’m sure the older cats are appreciating it, though!

Last year, we could barely go anywhere because it was too cold for our vehicles. At one point, we even had to ask my older brother to do some shopping in the city for us, because we couldn’t use our own van, or even my mother’s car. They started but, my goodness, the noises the engines made!

This winter, we’ve been able to head out as often as we needed – or wanted – to. I think I’ve gone somewhere almost every day this week!

With Butterscotch and Nosencrantz being dropped off at the vet on Monday, the earliest we expected to be able to do our Costco trip to the city would have been Tuesday, so I decided to pop into town after doing the morning rounds and pick up a few things we figured we’d need. It was disappointing to walk around the grocery store and being the only person open faced again, but not surprising for this town. At least I don’t get harassed in this grocery store. When I was done, I made a quick stop at the garage to finally book a much needed oil change. I kept forgetting to phone. Not a single sign on the door for the illegal restrictions. Gosh, it was so wonderful to see a beautiful, open face. It’s amazing how much removing people’s faces causes stress and anxiety that isn’t even noticed until it isn’t there. Anyhow, with the oil change booked, that makes Wednesday the earliest we’ll be able to head into the city, so I’m extra glad I made a small trip, today.

Today is Freedom Day. In support of the Freedom Convoy, all businesses have been asked to open fully, without discrimination or segregation. The main convoy has reached Ottawa, though it may well take days for them all to stream in. I’ve heard there are six convoys in total, coming in from different directions. Our Prime Dictator and his family have apparently been whisked away somewhere, for their “safety”, while the media continues to prime viewers to expect violence. As has happened before Antifa riots, people have reporting seeing trucks unloading piles of bricks in the area, while others are reporting finding piles of bricks already in place. Whistleblowers within the federal government have warned of paid agitators. Within the convoy groups, those who have reporting finding these bricks are being encouraged to report them to the police, and the constant thread is to encourage people on site to not allow themselves to be goaded into doing anything stupid. Considering that the overwhelming atmosphere among the Freedom Convoy supports is more like a massive, joyful, exuberant celebration, it would be pretty easy to spot the agitators.

Support continues to be overwhelming, and overwhelmingly positive. The GoFundMe now exceeds $8million, and armies of people are cooking, baking and donating food and beverages. Businesses that used to sell maybe 4 or 5 Canadian flags in a year, have been selling as many as 150 in a day – if they have any left to sell at all, anymore. Farmers in the area have plowed snow clear on their fields for truckers to park their rigs and get some sleep. Support flows in from around the world, with many forming convoys of their own.

It’s absolutely amazing.

Now we just wait and see how our governments respond. Whatever happens, this is big enough to affect even us, in our little hidden pocket of the world.

The Re-Farmer