Oh, cool!

Just as I started writing this, I caught some movement on the security camera live feed. There is currently a deer slowly making it’s way down our driveway.

Contributing to this…

While heading to the driveway cam while doing my morning rounds, I found the driveway filled with deer tracks in the fresh snow.

Right up until the gate.

Just before the gate, the tracks started to disappear, and by the time I reached the gate itself, they were completely gone, covered with windswept snow. What a difference that spruce grove makes!

The outside cats were happy to see me. Their trays were completely empty. Even in the sun room. The heated water bowl was completely dry, and the food containers scattered.

I don’t know how much is the cats and how much might be from the skunk I now see fairly regularly on the security camera, but every morning, the sun room is in disarray. I am inclined to think it’s the cats, because I don’t think the skunks can get up onto the counter shelf, under the bathroom window. We keep all sorts of things on there; too many things, but they’re handy there. One of the things I had on there was an unopened 3 pack of suet for the feeder. Not only did they manage to open up the outside packaging, but the shrink wrap on all three blocks has been torn off, and the suet looks clawed up and chewed on.

So we’re going to have to reorganize that shelf, and find some way to seal up the suet blocks, while still keeping them handy.

They also got into the two new bags of kibble that were sitting on the swing bench. Thankfully, the kibble bin was mostly empty, so I was able to fit both 11kg/24lb bags into the bin.

There was one mystery this morning, though.

With the leaks in the ceiling, I had placed a scrap piece of rigid insulation on top of the feed bin lids. The plastic cracks in the bitter cold, so there are holes in the lids, and I didn’t want to chance water getting into the food. When I go into the bins, I set the sheet aside, but make sure to put it back when I’m done.

It’s gone.

I have no idea where it could be. Since the doors are propped partially open in such a way that they cannot be opened wider – the cats have to squeeze and snake their way around the door frame to get in – and they were still in position, there is no way it got dragged outside. I can see it being pulled out if a cat was digging to get at the bins, but it should have just fallen to the floor in front of the shelf. Even if it landed on another cat or something and got knocked further, there really isn’t a lot of places it could be. But it’s gone! It should be interesting to see where we find it, when we do the clean up later today.

If we find it. 😉

I’m not really looking forward to the job. Partly because I’m still quite tired from yesterday. These trips to the city are really draining, even when they go well. Just being around so many people sucks the energy right out of me.

So yes, there’s that. Another part of it, however, is definitely the weather. Winter is just dragging on and on. We were supposed to be only a degree or so colder than yesterday, when it was actually warm enough to rain (the trail cams both had a layer of ice covering parts of them!). Even as I write this, the forecast it still saying we will be reaching a high of -1C/30F, but it’s noon as I write this, and we’re still at -5C/23F, with a wind chill of -13C/9F. The average high for today, over the past 30 years, is 5C/41F. Though I suppose I should be glad we’re nowhere near the 30 year record cold for today, which is -18C/-0.4F That was set in 2018, which was our first spring here. The record high for today was 15C/59F, set in 2010. In 2001, there was a record snowfall of 77.5mm, or about 3 inches. So we don’t have much to complain about, really but, gosh, it really starts to drag on a body. Especially when it’s so overcast, too. It’s all I can do to stay awake right now.

Another change in the 5 day forecast has happened. Friday (the day after tomorrow) was expected to reach 5C/41F, but now it’s saying we should be reaching 7C/45F.

Considering how often we’ve ended up colder than predicted, I won’t be holding my breath on that.

I’m now seriously considering finding a way to set up a heater in the sun room to use overnight, so we can move our seedlings in there. The overnight temperatures are still too low for seedlings, but we need to start the next batch soon, and there is going to be a lot more that need starting this time. We need the space.

Meanwhile, I’m just feeling so…

Tired.

The Re-Farmer