Today started off as an open day. No appointments, no running around planned… It was a day to catch up on things around home.
Which is mostly what happened!
My day started off sluggishly. With thunderstorms on the forecast, I got up and fed the outside cats before any potential storms, then went back to bed.
Well. I tried to. I finally gave up.
There was one errand that did have to be done, though. We were running out of kibble for the outside cats. I was considering where to go to get enough to last a week that would be in budget, and was thinking a trip to the feed store in my mother’s town might be in order. It was either that, or Walmart, but it’s not worth the cost of gas to get just a bag or two of kibble.
While I was checking Facebook while having breakfast, I caught a share from livestock supply store I follow, even though I’ve never been to that store. They are just outside the town to the North of us, and I’ve simply never had cause to find them. From the photos shared, they just got new pet inventory.
Including 40 pound bags of cat food.
In two different brands we haven’t seen before.
I decided to give them a try, heading out in the early afternoon. After finding the place, I asked about the kibble and got prices, then checked the rest of the store out.
I will most definitely be going back there for other things in the future!
Of the two brands of cat food, I chose the less expensive one, though even the more premium brand was a slightly lower price that the 40 pound bags I was getting at the feed store in my mother’s town. While looking around I noticed they have live traps of various sizes. They had the size for cats that I was looking at in Canadian Tire – at a better price, too! The rescue was going to lend us a trap, but I think the last person they lent it to is still ghosting them.
On the way back, I stopped at the post office, expecting some packages for my husband. Nothing was there, though. I just looked up the orders and they changed from arriving by 8pm today, to “now expected by September 26”.
Ah… I see why now. They’re being sent by Purolator, not the mail. They’re apparently in the city, but delayed “due to external factors”, whatever that means!
After I got home, I made a point of giving the outside cats a light feeding with the new brand of cat food, to see how they like it.
They all but inhaled it!
I guess this will be a brand we’ll get more often! The only down side is that this town is in the opposite direction of anywhere we normally go. So we’ll still be getting kibble at the feed store in my mother’s town, but special trips to this place for kibble will also happen.
While considering my issues with the cat isolation shelter and the materials I wanted, in contrast to the materials I have, I remembered something.
I do have clear plastic.
We found two of what looked like some sort of sliding door to me, in the barn. We’d brought them to the house, cleaned off years of dust, then put them in the basement. When we were still letting the cats down there, we kept the “bar” area closed off for the breakable stuff, and used one of these as a door to the entry.
I decided to bring one of them over to the cat isolation shelter and see.
I don’t know if it’s Plexiglass or Lexan or what. What I do know is, it’s big enough to cover the top front of the isolation shelter – and there should be enough left over that I might be able to cover a section on each side, too. Perhaps not as a sliding door, as I had been considering, but at least as a window on each side.
I’m really loathe to cut take the frame off and cut it up, though. It’s really well constructed.
I decided to think on it while working on the catio hammock.
I brought out a black plastic mesh, measured and cut it to size, then used steel strapping to secure it in place.
Syndol approves!
Once that was done, I had a nice piece of left over mesh.
The Crespo squash that’s hanging inside the bean trellis and breaking the cross piece with its weight needs a hammock.
So I threaded some ties along two sides of the leftover piece, and set it up.
The ties are attached to the metal supports on the A frame trellis. I tried to lift the squash up at least a bit, in the process, so get some of the stress off the broken cross piece. I used Mason’s line as ties, as it was thin enough to thread through the mesh. It’s strong, but that squash is going to get heavier. I may need to supplement them.
We’ve got some cool nights coming, so it was time to get the eggplant and hot pepper bed set up. I picked up clear table vinyl table protectors for the job. I got two for the garden and two for our dining table.
It’s a good thing I had four, because I needed them all.
The bed is 9′ long and 3′ wide, so I needed a minimum of 24′, plus overlap. I thought I could get away with three of them, but that only gave me about 20′
In the end, I decided to use some clear Gorilla tape I picked up, and connect the sheets in pairs.
The kittens were very interested in what I was doing!
The wind made laying them out so the ends to be taped together were on the sidewalk, and all nice and even, quite a challenge! I got it done, though.
While I was working on this, I started getting messages from my SIL.
She and my brother were going to make a trip out to drop stuff off today! They had a small trailer to haul out, and were going to load up as much other stuff as they could in the process. I was surprised that they would make the trip out after my brother got off work, given how quickly things are starting to get dark, but they still have a lot they need to bring out here. She kept me up to date on their progress, as she was able, while I continued with the preparing the vinul.
Once the pairs were taped together, it was time to wrap the box frame over the eggplants and peppers.
When we had it wrapped before, we made a point of covering the length first, and having the overlap at the ends. I recall the wind really seemed to catch on those ends. This time, I decided to centre the vinyl sheets at the ends, and have the overlap in the middle of the long sides.
The box frame has a wire topped frame on top, and I was able to use that to hold the top of the vinyl in place, wrapping the excess over the top of the box frame and into the middle. The wire topped frame, however, isn’t secured in the center, and it starting to twist and bow out. We’ll need to set a line across and pull it in, but not today.
After the vinyl was in position, I used paracord to secure it to the box frame around the top. That one I made very tight, since it needs to not move at all. I added more paracord around the bottom and the middle, to keep the wind from blowing it around. Those are snug, but we will still be able to move the vinyl to reach into the bed, then tuck it back under the paracord again when we’re done.
The only problem is that the box frame has a cross piece in the middle. With the excess vinyl sitting on top of it, I could see the wind was going to be a problem. In the end, I ended up just using more clear Gorilla tape to secure the vinyl to itself on the inside. Hopefully, that will work!
With my brother and SIL on the way, when that was done, I went to open the gate for them. I think took advantage of the situation, grabbed a pair of loppers and the wagon, and headed to the end of the driveway.
If you click through to the second photo in the above slideshow, you can see my first wagon load. That’s all poplar saplings, spreading through roots. They were starting to obstruct visibility as we leave, making it hard to see if any vehicles are on the road, coming towards us.
I did three wagon loads like that!
While I was working on that, my SIL kept me updated. Then ended up driving into a storm with the rain coming down so hard, they had to pull over. When the could finally start driving again, they stopped at a gas station in town along the way to check on things before continuing on.
They still hadn’t arrived when I finished my third wagon load of saplings. At that point, it was getting hard to see the stems I was trying to cut!
My brother may have driven through torrential rain, but we got nothing all day, save a few spatters now and then.
After tossing the saplings on the burn pile and putting things away, I realized I hadn’t taken a picture of the wrapped garden. If you click through to the last image in the slideshow, you can see how that looks. Should we expect to get an actual frost, we can toss a cover on the wire frame on top. For now, the vinyl will act as a sort of greenhouse, keeping them warmer as our daytime temperatures start to drop. The open top should keep it from getting too hot. This bed has the only plants we have that like things quite a bit warmer, even during the day.
The real test will be how it holds up in high winds.
With my brother soon to arrive, and a smattering of rain starting, I headed into the garage to see what I could do on the isolation shelter.
I cut lengths of wood lath to use to secure the mesh on the bottom level, against the frame. I was just putting the last nail into the front section when they arrived.
It was pitch black out by then, and I ended up using the flashlight on my phone to help them see to open up the back of the trailer and unload the piece of equipment that was on it. That went into the barn, while the trailer itself got parked to the side.
Then they back the truck up to the barn and we unloaded it, assembly line style. That sure made things go very quickly!
They even had a couple of things they knew I could use in there, and I was very grateful for them! Those went into the garage.
We worked quickly to unload, and then they had to leave right away. They had a long drive home, and my brother still has to get up for work tomorrow. His job has him working with people in time zones around the world, so sometimes the hours get very unusual!
Before they got home, though, I got another message from them. They forgot their wooden ramp on the ground, that they were supposed to take home with them. My brother was concerned it would get rained on, so I went back out to put it in the garage.
It’s 16C/61F out there right now, and absolutely gorgeous. I’d be sleeping outside right now, if we had the set up for it!
Meanwhile, in the middle of all this, I got a voicemail message from home care about my mother. For some reason, they called my cell phone number. I was in the garage at the time, so my phone never rang. I started listening to the message as I went into the house, and promptly lost the signal. I had to go back outside to listen to the full message!
My mother was getting her first home care visit at suppertime, to help her with her medications. They will be coming in the morning and at supper, then one more time for her before-bed medications. The person calling me wanted to make sure to tell us that they wouldn’t have someone available for a supper and before bed visit this Sunday.
So I made sure to call my mother right away. It turns out they had called her, too, but didn’t mention to her about the day they wouldn’t be able to come. As we talked about her meds and the times, she started to get mixed up with things, and confused. I’m so glad we were able to get her to allow home care to come in to help with her meds!
The next thing will be the meal prep visits. Those are supposed to be every two weeks for bulk cooking. We’ll have to have some idea of what they can and can’t do for that, and plan my mother’s grocery shopping accordingly. Usually, I’ve been helping her with her groceries every week or so – sometimes, my sister is able to do it for her. With the bulk cooking every two weeks, that will change things, but I don’t know how, yet.
We’ll figure it out.
Meanwhile, I am now scheduled to go to her place tomorrow. She’s need to go to the bank this time – the one thing I can’t do for her – so she’s going to have to climb in and out of our truck.
I’m still amazed that she can do it. When we got the truck, I thought for sure, it wasn’t going to happen. With her car out of commission right now, we don’t have much choice. We do have a foot stool for her, and I have to give her a bit of a boost, and she manages it!
Still, it’s something we want to do as little as possible!
With that in mind, it’s time for me to finish this up and get to bed. It’s coming up on midnight right now!
Until next time, I hope you have a fabulous day! Or night. Whatever time it happens to be for you as you read this. 😁😁
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 
Dispatches from squiishyland!
LikeLiked by 1 person