Author: Re-Farmer

How cold did it get last night?

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Cold enough for this.

This is the indoor heated water bowl!

I’d refilled it last night, which is the only reason there’s any water in it at all this morning. The outside heated water bowl stopped working, so this is their only liquid water right now. As it gets colder, the “steam” from evaporation freezes on the sides as the water level goes down.

All the kibble bowls outside were still full this morning. The cats stayed inside the sun room, rather than going into the cold to eat. Not even the racoons came out to eat their kibble! Checking the critter cam at one point, I actually saw Sprout in there. Sprout almost never comes near the house and prefers to eat at the bowls under the shrine. I didn’t even put kibble at the shrine bowls last night. I want the cats to come to the shelters by the house!

Our inner main entry door also had frost built up at the bottom and all along the hinge side, and the three decorative windows have a rather thick layer of ice on them. I know we were supposed to hit a wind chill of -35C/-31F last night, but I think that actual temperature wasn’t too far from that.

This morning, when I headed outside, it was -28C/-18F with a wind chill of -31C/-24F. I didn’t bother to switch out the trail cam cards, but I did clear the snow off the front steps, and the concrete sidewalk blocks that make up our little patio under the kitchen window, and the path to the chain link fence gate. Yes, I was wearing my down filled coat, but that small amount of shoveling was all I was up to doing this morning! The winds last night were high enough that the path to the compost heap and most of the path to the outhouse and back door of the garage were completely filled in. You can’t even tell where the paths were, it’s been blown so smooth!

As I write this, we’ve warmed up to -21C/-6F, with a wind chill of -28C/-18F. By all reports, the roads are clear and free of ice. I even saw the plow go past our driveway while I was outside, feeding the yard cats for the evening. Our expected high today is supposed to be -16C/3F, though not until well into the afternoon.

So there’s no real reason for me to NOT go into the city today and do our first stock up shop at Costco, except…

Tomorrow, we’re supposed to have a high of -9C/16F, and Friday, we’re supposed to actually reach 1C/34F! At which point, I’m thinking, why do all that driving around in the cold, when it’s going to be so warm, tomorrow? If the conditions were expected to stay cold for the next few days, or if we were actually running out of stuff, rather than just running low, I’d make the trip, but there’s really no need, if it can be delayed another day.

After talking about it with my daughters, my older daughter asked if a short trip were an option, which I don’t mind doing in the afternoon. I’m not too concerned about the truck not having a plug for the block heater, since it’s in the garage, but I’d still prefer not to drive at temperatures below -20C/-4F, if I can avoid it.

So she’s springing for a Dairy Queen trip for supper tonight. 😄

I’m good with that!

The Re-Farmer

Change in plans

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Today is turning out to be an unpleasant day, so here is a picture of green growing things, instead!

The eggplants and hot peppers are just starting to show their true leaves.  With just their seed leaves, they all look pretty identical.  The only real difference is the stem colour on the peppers.

They are so pretty!  A real boost to the mood.  Especially on days like today.

For me, I think the shoveling I did finally caught up to me.  Not in muscle pain or stiffness  – I’m pretty used to that every morning.  No, it hit me in the innards. 

Upon my third run to the bathroom, I was definitely reconsidering going to the city today for our first stock up shop.  That would mean about an hour plus of driving, with only one place en route with access to public washrooms, before reaching the city.  As it was, I had to get the girls to take care of feeding the outside cats.

Then I checked the weather.

Wind chills of -31C??  Blowing snow advisory?

Then I checked my highway conditions groups.  Some people even posted video they took, as passengers, while on the highway. 

Nope.  Not going to the city today!

I even got a message from my SIL saying she hoped I was staying home.  I’d told her I was going to Costco today, which is relatively short drive from their place, asking if she were up to meeting for lunch.  She already had plans to do ice fishing on one of the lakes, so that was a no go.

She canceled her fishing trip.  Yes, it would have been in a fishing shack, but – aside from the drive itself – the exposure to winds on the lake ice was just not worth the risk for maybe a fish or two.

So today is a day to hunker down, stay warm, and out of that wind!

I’m starting to really hate wind.

The Re-Farmer

Seed tray purchase is in!

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Recently, I saw this video from Gardening in Canada.

I liked what I saw with the seed starting kit, and her review of it. The main thing being, each tray has its own grow light, and we have lighting issues. The price was in the Cdn$30 range, which isn’t much more than getting a seed starting greenhouse kit, with the 72 pellets and dome, making it well worth picking up. So I logged into my husband’s Amazon Prime account and put it on my own wish list. I was planning to get it on our March budget, and the first disability pay was coming in soon, so I put it in the cart, too.

What I didn’t expect was for my husband to place an order before the end of the month! He saw it in the card, and included it with his own order.

It came in today.

Here are the contents.

As you can see, the cats were very interested, too!

At the top, under Cheddar, are the 5 green base trays for bottom watering and the 5 clear growing cells. Next to Soot Sprite are the tall cloche lids, each with an indentation for the lights and openings to allow moisture to escape.

Bottom left are a pair of tiny little garden gloves. Okay, tiny for me and my wide, simian hands! On top of the gloves are the label markers. Above them are a pair of very interesting looking tools!

Bottom right are the LED lights, tops and bottoms showing. Once inserted into the covers, they can be turned to cover or uncover the openings and control moisture levels. There’s the instruction sheet, and finally the cable to power the lights.

It was the cable that I was unsure of, and this is why.

It’s USB, with octopus cables for each of the lights.

We are going to not only need an adapter to plug this in, but an extension cable. A long one. There are no outlets anywhere near where we can set these up, and the one power bar we have with USB slots on it, both are being used for phone different chargers.

I’m pretty sure we already have both the extension cable and spare adapters. I’ll have to check with my husband, as he tends to have things like that with his computer stuff.

The one surprise for me is that I somehow expected the trays to be bigger. I don’t know why, since I saw them being handled in the video.

We don’t need to start seeds again until after mid March, so we have time to arrange a set up for the trays in the cat free zone, then work out getting power to that USB cable.

I’m quite looking forward to testing these out!

The Re-Farmer

Got some snow.

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I was keeping an eye on the local highway conditions groups last night, and apparently things were pretty bad. We didn’t get a large amount of snow, but the high winds made the biggest difference.

It was all over by this morning, though.

I got this shot as I was coming back inside, and they were all done with breakfast. This bunch is directly under the heat lamp. The mostly black one is friendly, and the orange one allows pets most of the time. The tabby with his head tucked allows pets at feeding time, but that’s it. The other tabby runs off. The tuxedo on the left is at that “hey! I think I actually like this… maybe?” stage of discovering pets.

I love that black strip on his nose.

Once again, it seems the racoons visited during the night. The water bowl in the sun room was dry, even though I’d refilled it during the evening feeding, and I had to clean dirt off the bottom before I could refill it.

After their food and water was done, I started shoveling.

And shoveling.

And shoveling some more!

Fair warning, there is a photo of a wound later on.

I was able to clear the cat shelters and the cat paths to the food bowls under the shrine, and to the corner of the storage house, where they go in and out of the “basement”. The cats get SO excited when their paths are clear! It’s hilarious to watch them running around and playing in the paths. I then made sure to clear the sidewalk to the gate in the chain link fence wide enough for my husband’s walker walker. The snow was still light and fluffy, though, so I kept going and cleared the area I back up into, to unload the truck. The rest of the driving area will wait for the snow blower, though.

Then, because I actually enjoy shoveling snow, I kept going and cleared paths to the burn barrel and electricity meter, before continuing to the garage. The path to the garage needs to be wide enough for my husband’s walker, plus I cleared enough in front of the driveway that we can open the side doors where little Spewie is stored. The snow isn’t deep enough that clearing the driveway and yard is a necessity, but we’re supposed to get more snow later in the week, so it’s more to keep things from accumulating.

It’s stuff like this that’s the problem, though.

That’s a whole lot of ice under the snow!

This is the path to the garage where it crosses the “driveway” to the inner yard. That area is lower and collects water, so when we had our nice, warm days with all the snow melting, the moat around the garage started to form. A couple of days ago, we reached a high of 6C/43F, only to have a high of -11C/12F yesterday. This morning, while I was shoveling, we were at a very mild -7C/19F, which was perfect for shoveling – as long as I was out of the wind. However, I kept hitting patches like this, which can be quite dangerous to find unexpectedly. In the inner yard alone, around the cat shelters, I almost slipped a few times.

I was still shoveling in the inner yard when I suddenly noticed this.

I have no idea where I got this, but by the time I noticed it, enough time had passed that it had stopped bleeding. My cuff kept sliding over it while I was shoveling, which is why it looks so horrible!

I just kept shoveling, though. No point in stopping when it wasn’t bleeding anymore, and didn’t hurt at all. Once I was inside, my daughter was handy, so after I washed the blood off, she got the wound all cleaned up and bandaged for me. The wound was actually a lot bigger than I expected, and it’s a couple of scratches, not just one.

I keep going through what I did before I started shoveling, trying to figure out where or how I could have gotten this, and I’m still drawing a blank!

Ah, well.

The paths to the compost pile, outhouse and the back door of the garage still need to be done, but I stopped for a while and finished my rounds instead. My daughter, sweetheart that she is, made breakfast for me after tending my wound. The more time goes by, the stiffer my body is getting, from the shoveling. 🫤 Time for some more painkillers, I think!

Tomorrow, I’m expecting to do our Costco shopping, so if we’re going to get the rest of the driving area in the inner yard done, it’s going to have to be today. Unless the girls do it while I’m gone tomorrow, but tomorrow is supposed to get much colder again. Current forecast is for a high of -5C/23F today, but a high of -18C/~-1F tomorrow. We’re also expected to be getting some light snow from about 4pm tonight until 4am tomorrow morning.

Oh, wow! I’m just looking at our record highs and lows for today. The record high is 5C/41F in 1999, but the record low for today is -34C/-29F, set back in 1962! The average high for this time of year is a nice and mild -7C/19F.

A few more days and we’re into March. The time feels like it is really flying by, this winter! Maybe it’s because my brain is constantly thinking ahead, to what we need and want to do, once spring arrives.

The next few days are going to be really busy ones, with our stock up shopping and other end of month errands, so I’m going to appreciate having one more quiet day, with no running around involved – and no crowds of people!

The Re-Farmer

Raised bed considerations

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For us, building our raised beds is a matter of using what materials we can get without having to buy anything. We’re scrounging and salvaging whatever we can.

If, however, you are in a position to actually purchase raised beds, there are a lot of options, kits and companies out there to choose from.

Gardening in Canada covers some of the things to think about – and a few things I didn’t think about at all, since they’re pretty irrelevant to our situation. This video is well worth a watch.

After we’ve built more of our raised beds, I think I might do a video about them. Everyone has their own very individual situations to consider. Perhaps it might be useful to people if I go through my thought processes as to why we made the choices we did, and apply that process to their own situation.

What do you think? Should I make such a video?

The Re-Farmer

A day of rest, and possible adoption news

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I try to keep Sundays as my day of rest, but that doesn’t always work out. Today, I finally did, though not from much choice! 😄

I was awakened early by hungry cats, so I went ahead and did my morning rounds early, too.

The outside cats get rather confused when I come out that early! The sun was barely up. I got a head count of 28 or 29, though.

Also, I can tell when the racoons have gotten in. Now only is the garbage can typically knocked over, but they leave the water bowl absolutely filthy! Ew.

As I was heading back in, these four posed beautifully for me. When I moved to pet them, after taking this picture, the tuxedo with his back to me took off. Syndol, of course, wanted aaaaalllll the pets and pushed the orange and white away to get them. 😄 I tried to pet the tuxedo with more white on its chest. He wouldn’t let me, but he didn’t run away, either. As I pet Syndol, he sniffed my hand – then started giving me kisses!! It was so sweet!

Once back inside, I uploaded and went through the trail cam files. No computer troubles! Yay! I did have a surprise, though. The gate cam is set to take one still image, then a 10 second video. I was going through the stills when I saw a great big racoon near the gate, but the next image… what the heck was that? Something looked to be jumping through the bottom bars of the gate, but I could not tell what it was.

Then I checked the video.

It was a fox!

We know we have foxes around, but very rarely see them. I think we saw a fox crossing the outer yard once, our first summer here? I only vaguely remember.

So… now I’m wondering if we’re feeding foxes in the kibble house, too!

One of these days, I’d love to set up a critter cam facing into the cat shelter area, just to see what visitors we get! Any camera there would have its motion sensor constantly triggered, so I’d be looking for something NOT on batteries.

Maybe some day.

Anyhow.

After going through the files, I tried to get other stuff done on the computer, but was falling asleep at my keyboard, so I finally gave up and tried for a nap. After fighting the cats for space on my bed, they converged on me as soon as I was lying down. Potato Beetle was really cuddly! He kept shoving his face into my hands, and ended up sleeping curled up around the top of my head, with his face snuggled up against my forehead. It was so sweet!

I’m happy to say that, at some point, PBC joined the pile and napped with me, too! She’s getting quite socialized. She still gets a bit standoffish, but likes pets, purrs lots, and cuddles with the other cats.

Speaking of cats.

I heard from the Cat Lady last night. She has someone that’s looking to adopt. It’s an older person who is healthy and living on her own, but is lonely. So she’s looking for a calm and affectionate cat. Given her age, her family has already said that they will take care of the cat when she passes, but that’s unlikely to happen soon. The Cat Lady told her about Ginger, but asked if we had others that might fit the bill. So we sent her pictures and told her about several others, including Cheddar and Potato Beetle. Ginger would still be top of the list. She asked about PBC, but while she’d be great to adopt out, I don’t think she’d be appropriate for someone that’s elderly.

So that information has been passed on. It would be good for Ginger to be away from so many cats, and to have his very own human. Things like his needing help to clean his ears, since he can’t do the ear on the side of his missing leg – something Toni manages to not have a problem with! – have been mentioned. If he gets picked, he will first stay with the Cat Lady as he gets vet checked and shots, etc. first. With our history with cats, that makes me nervous. The vets always seem to find some hidden but major health problem! Okay, so it hasn’t been all of them, but enough to be rather alarming. Not that Ginger has shown any signs of health problems, but then, neither did some others that got adopted out.

Gosh, I feel teary just thinking about giving up Ginger! He’s so sweet. It’s better for him, though.

I just have to keep telling myself that.

So we’ll see how that goes. For all I know, the Cat Lady might have other cats that would be a better fit with this potential adoptee. Whatever happens, happens!

The Re-Farmer

Our 2024 garden: teeny tiny thyme

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We have sproooots!

The German Winter Thyme has sprouted.  Gosh, they are so tiny!  I actually had to wait a day before I could get a picture where they could be seen for what they are.

I expect the oregano to sprout next – unless we have problems like last year.  It will be a while longer before I expect to see the peppers sprouting.

We made the living room a cat free zone to protect our house plants.  It has a huge east facing window and gets lots of light for a brief period in the morning.  After that, it’s a pretty dark room.  It’s not too bad for the plants near the window, but our huge jade tree… well… one of them… is against a wall in the middle of the room.  We have another that’s gotten just as big, but with needing the window for seedlings, it’s off to one end of the shelf it’s on, and no longer in front of the window.  The only light it gets is from the shop lights I have over where the seedlings and small plants are. 

Then there are the aloe Vera.  They’re on plant shelf near the older jade tree, which puts them pretty low down. 

The old jade tree is not doing well.  I regularly rotate the pot, so all sides eventually get light – not easy to do, with such big branches, so close to the wall!  Unfortunately, I can see the leaves are getting thinner and less succulent, and a lot of leaves are simply shriveled up.  It does get adequate moisture, and is in a self watering pot.  It’s just not thriving in this location.

There is no room for it, anywhere else. 

What we need is a light fixture along that back wall.  When we moved here, there was a light fixture in the corner where the big aquarium greenhouse is now.  It reaches floor to ceiling, held in place with pressure, and has 3 lights that could have their directions adjusted.  It’s in the storage shed now.  If that thing still works, we could set it up with standard bulb sized grow lights, near the Jade tree.  Those types of grow bulbs are more affordable, anyhow. 

Looks like I need to trek through the snow and see what I can find in the storage shed.  I hate going in there, though.  Every time I do, I’m afraid a cat might sneak in behind me and accidentally get closed in.  That shed is so full of my parents’ stuff, we can’t even access most of it, anymore.  Lots of places for a cat to hide!

I should grab a daughter to go with me and stand guard!

The Re-Farmer

Why use seed starting mix?

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This is the time of year many are starting their seeds indoors, and there are many growing mediums available. Some swear by ordinary garden soil, straight compost or the compressed pellets of peat or coconut coir – though I hear many in my local gardening groups with a definite hate on for the pellets!! Then there’s potting soil and seed starting mixes.

What to choose? Let a soil scientist explain!

I currently have two different brands of seed starting mix, because those were the ones available at the time I was there to buy them. So far, I don’t see any difference between them.

Good grief!

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I had a much interrupted night, so I asked the girls to feed the outside cats.  I’m supposed to be trying to get sleep right now, but the interruptions continue! 

While a daughter was outside, feeding cats, I checked the weather.  Good grief!

Twenty below zero, with a windchill of -27C!!!

And my daughter hadn’t bothered to put on a coat!

She informed me that she was able to pet the super fluffy little tabby.

Today, our high is supposed to be -10C.  Tomorrow, we’re supposed to reach 5C! 

The critters outside must be so confused.

Speaking of critters, the raccoons are showing up in the sun room at night, more often.  I chased at least 4 out last night!

Anyhow.

I don’t think I’ll be getting that sleep I need.  The interruptions just aren’t slowing down!  I’m going to be a useless wreck, today. 🙁

The Re-Farmer

More computer frustration (updated)

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But first, the pleasant stuff.  Like this adorable beast.

No name here just can’t get enough attention!

This morning, I counted only 20 yard cats while I was feeding them. 

This coukd have something to do with it.

The high forecast for today actually changed, increasing from 1C to 2C, within an hour.  The forecasts are all over the place!  It’s already 1C as I write this, but -10C tomorrow, followed by 4C the day after?

Well, we’ll see what we actually get.

Meanwhile, I’m struggling with my computer again.  At first, while trying to upload the trail cam files, it seemed to be the same problem.  This time, I just left Windows Explorer to do its thing, and moved onto something else for a minute or so, and UT would work itself through.  It was just being incredibly slow.  I checked my RAM and CPU status, but there wasn’t anything taking up massive resources to explain it.  Eventually, though, it sorted itself out and everything worked fine again.  I was even able to go through the back up data on the external hard drive and continue setting the new computer up with it. 

It wasn’t Windows Explorer I was having troubles with.  I’ve been using Firefox as my browser, but today, it simply stopped loading pages.  I checked around and discovered my computer was unloading a couple of gigs to One Drive!  All the changes I’d just made were being uploaded.  I thought I’d turned off permissions for that.

So I spent some time shutting that, and other things I found, off.

Firefox still wouldn’t load anything.

Looking around some more, I saw it had an update.  So I updated it and tried again.

It still won’t load.

The problem isn’t the internet connection, as other things connected are working fine.  It’s just Firefox.  In fact, I’m using my phone to make this post, while trying to get something – anything! – to load.

At this point, I think I’ll have to try MS Edge and maybe use it to download another browser.   Assuming Edge works at all.

What a pain.

The Re-Farmer

Update: Well, it worked. I was able to us MS Edge and ended up downloading Opera. It works fine. I still have no idea why Firefox just stopped working!

Now I have to input all my passwords and bookmarks again. *sigh*