Today’s high was just a bit above zero, so it was pretty much a completely indoor day. I spent most of it working on a crochet experiment that, in the end, I was quite happy with, even though I had to modify my plans because I was running out of the yarn I was using.

I did get outside at least a little bit, though, to get a meter reading. As I went to the pole in the outer yard, I spotted a cat toy from the isolation shelter I’d forgotten about. I’d washed it with the others on the sidewalk, but never noticed it was missing. It’s a round pink ball that lights up when it bounces. I grabbed it and tossed it back into the inner yard and Midnight, who had been following me, ran after it like a puppy playing fetch! He was quite hilarious.

I got my reading and started back to the house when I saw it in the grass and decided to toss it towards the sun room door and kibble house set up. As soon as I threw it, there was an absolute stampede of 5 cats, thundering after it! I don’t even know where they all came from. They just exploded after it! It was so funny!

On another note, I heard from my brother and SIL today. They were on their way to my mother’s with a new wheelchair for her. She has the one that was my late father’s and she wanted a new one. My brother had talked to her about what she wanted and ordered one from Amazon, and they wanted to get it to her as quickly as possible.

She hated it.

My brother, thoughtfully, took video of her trying it out and was able to send it to me after they got home – with the new wheelchair that they’ll be returning. On seeing the video, I understand why she wasn’t happy. She couldn’t use the armrests at all! It’s made for a smaller person. My mother is pretty tiny, but overweight, and it just wasn’t right for her. She needs a bariatric wheelchair. Not because of her the number on the scale – as I said, she is tiny, so “overweight” for her is still below the weight limits of non-bariatric chairs – but for the dimensions.

Then, in the video, she started talking about her current wheelchair. My late father’s wheelchair.

She is absolutely convinced it’s not the same chair. Someone “traded” it (something she accused my father of doing for as long as I can remember). She thinks someone took the chair at one of the TCUs she was in before finally getting to the nursing home and replaced it with an inferior one.

That chair had been stored here for some time. I brought it to my mother. Before I did, I cleaned it, oiled the moving parts and conditioned the vinyl. One of the foot rests had been stuck and I had to fight with it, and some WD40, to get it moving again. I recognize that chair very well. It has not been changed.

I now regret removing my late father’s name tag that had his picture on it, that the nursing home put on it while he was there.

I ended up sending a link to my brother for a bariatric chair in a style that would suit my mother better – and suggested getting anything but black (which would be hard to find), so the chances she’d believe someone switched chairs on her would be almost nil. We’ll see how it works out. He’ll have to return the chair and get his money back, and I don’t know if he’ll be able to order a bariatric one before then. Those things are not cheap!

On another note, I was rather taken aback by my mother’s appearance. Her face was quite grey, and she has dark circles around her eyes.

As I was writing this, I checked the sun room critter cam and noticed both a skunk and a raccoon in the sun room. I headed out to chase them away, and found not one, but two giant, fluffy raccoons (they have their winter fur and look massive, this time of year). As I chased them out, I noticed a cat bed had fallen off a shelf and went to put it back. Gouda and Fluffy had been snuggling in another cat bed and came out for pets. I got to give Fluffy some thorough pets.

It wasn’t fluffy. It was the one the girls call Lady Grey. She looks like Fluffy, but has a white chest. She had always been one of the more feral cats, but the girls have been working on her. She kept looking like she wanted to run away, but still let me pet her! That is just huge!

Now, we’re not 100% sure she is a she, with all that long fur hiding things, but the girls are convinced she’s female. If she is now allowing pets, even when it’s not feeding time, we should be able to finally get her spayed!

Or neutered, if Lady Grey turns out to be Lord Grey.

Anyhow…

That’s how today went. Rather quiet. We’re supposed to get a fair bit warmer over the next few days, so I hope to get more stuff down outside.

I know I’ve said this quite a few times already, but I am so appreciating this mild weather we are having this year. It’s allowing us to slowly get things done out there, as we are physically able to.

Next year, I suspect, is going to be a lot more productive in comparison!

The Re-Farmer