Author: Re-Farmer

They do make life interesting!

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Today is looking to be a slightly warmer, hopefully drier, day. One of my goals is to finally get some outside work done that had to be delayed. We shall see how that works out.

Yesterday evening, I was able to spend some time with the kittens.

That was an adventure!

They’ve taken to launching themselves at my legs as I walk past them, so in the space of a few steps, I’ll find myself with 2 or 3 kittens hanging off my pant legs. Then they’ll start climbing! :-D

These kittens are thoroughly socialized. :-D

Once I settle at my work table, they are all over me. Then things like this happen.

Turmeric settled right into my elbow and was ready for a nap!

Mostly, though, they were clambering all over me, but eventually I was able to get out my carving supplies and continue on my practice spoon.

They love the protective glove.

Saffron and Leyendecker were particularly cuddly.

Generally, though, I am able to continue carving while they clamber around me without too much trouble. Sometimes, it can be a problem. At one point, I had a kitten on my shoulder, eating my hair and tackling my ear. Another jumped up and they started to tussle. One fell off, but managed not to fall to the floor by dangling on a single claw.

From my ear.

Thankfully, kittens are very light. It didn’t even bleed. Having a kitten swinging off the side of my head was still rather uncomfortable! I didn’t even really do anything about it right away, since I had a spoon in one hand, and a knife in the other.

Eventually, though, I paused for kitten cuddles, which is when Beep Beep decided to get in on the action, by jumping directly on her kittens.

They retaliated by immediately starting to nurse. :-D

Just look at Saffron’s face!!!

I’m happy to say that, in the middle of all this, I did get some decent progress on the spoon. I’m slowly managing to get the bowl deeper and the handle in the rounded, swooping shape that I want. I also started cutting details into the morel at the end. Thankfully, the “holes” in morals are very random in shape and location, so I can put them wherever I feel they will create the overall shape that I’m after. Because the spoon blank already had a handle rough shaped out the way it did, the mushroom was very flat on two sides. As I cut in the details, it’s starting to look rounder, and more like an actual morel.

I plan to cheat, though.

The holes I’m making are pretty ragged on the inside, partly due to the small spaces I’m trying to work a knife tip into. There’s no way sandpaper can be used to smooth it out, so once the details are all roughed out, I plan to use a Dremel to smooth things out inside the holes. The last thing I plan to do, before oiling the wood, is take a lighter to the cap of the mushroom, to darken it like the real thing.

It’s slow going, but I’m rather pleased with how it’s turning out so far.

Later in the evening, while my daughter and I were chatting, she had a chance to cuddle with Keith.

What a face! :-D

Meanwhile…

When tending the kittens this morning, they were just as eager to climb me.

With the kittens now waiting at the top of the stairs before we can even open the door, and the upstairs cats trying to get down, all while I’m juggling things like a pitcher of water and a bucket of cat litter, my daughter has been trying to come down and help whenever she can. That usually involves using a spray bottle to keep the adult cats away, while I struggle down the stairs, trying not to step on kittens. Sometimes, she even manages to get down the stairs right after me, though this morning we had to close the door first, and she couldn’t come down until I was able to come back and carry away the 3 kittens that were on the top step, waiting for her. :-D

Having her there did mean she could get this picture for me. :-D

While walking across the basement, I had a couple of kittens making their flying leaps at my legs and hanging on while I walk, like I’m some sort of carnival ride. At one point, I had a kitten on each leg, and another hanging off my butt. :-D I believe that was Saffron, who made her way up to my head, soon followed by Leyendecker, attacking her tail. :-D

Once I got outside to do my rounds, I had Junk Pile cat and Rolando Moon already waiting for me.

I think Rolando spent the night in the tree outside our kitchen! The other cats are really after her, for some reason. :-(

Butterscotch and Rosencrantz were already quick to show up for food. Once I started going around the yard, much to my surprise, it was Rolando that followed along.

Butterscotch did start to head my way, but as soon as Rolando spotted her, she started growling. Which is what is happening in the photo above.

Rolando can be pretty mean herself! I’d be petting her and she’d be all happy with it, then suddenly turn and attack my hand. Even when I paused to do some weeding in the garden, she came over, just to attack my hand!

Nasty girl.

Ah, cats. We have way too many of them, but they do make life fun!

If sometimes painful, too. :-D

The Re-Farmer

Growth

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So the series of severe storms that looked like they were going to head right over us… didn’t. They passed to the East of us, instead, though we did get some nice rain.

I’m good with that.

I headed out to check on things this evening, and was greeted by a Rolando Moon!

She seemed quite happy to see me and let me pet her in the tree. Right up until she decided to grab my hand with her paws and try to bite me.

Ah, Rolando. She doesn’t change. :-D

I took the opportunity to take the grass clippings I’d left beside the carrots and beets and use it to mulch in between the plots. Creamsicle joined me and did his rolling around thing to get me to pet him. Unfortunately, he decided to roll around on the baby beets! What a bad boy. :-D

I completely forgot to take any pictures, though, as I started to hear growling from Rolando Moon in the tree. It took me a while to see which cat was after her and, much to my surprise, it was Butterscotch! A quick spritz with the hose got her away, but then Creamsicle went after her!

Creamsicle got a thorough soaking before he took off!

Other things have gotten a good soaking, and are thriving for it. Like my mother’s lilies.

The flowers are so big, they’re starting fall over!

The maple grove is looking absolutely lush.

When we first moved here, this area was full of tall crab grass, like you can see in the background, broken branches and dead trees. Once the big stuff was cleared away, all I had at the time to cut the grass was the weed trimmer. Under the grass, it was pretty sparse, and mostly covered with dead leaves.

Last summer I was finally able to mow in here and, again, it was pretty sparse with lots of dead leaves. Some new growth was starting to show in patches, but not much. I had to be careful mowing in there, as so much debris was being thrown out and blown around – usually right back at me! :-D

Now… well, you can see it’s changed quite a bit!

I don’t know about the shorter plants; I think they’re a flower, but I’m not sure. Sprinkled throughout are taller ones that I know a flowers. You can’t really tell them apart in the picture, though!

While there, I noticed some other new growth.

Willow is just amazing. This tree is full of rot and dying. This section of it broke in a blizzard last October (you can read about it here). Yet now, this almost completely rotted out section is throwing out new growth! There are small bunches of branches like this in several places. (Read most about the storm damage here, and here, and how it was before, here.)

It is not the only storm damaged tree that is showing new growth.

The elm tree in front of the kitchen had lost a couple of large branches, including one that had broken, but still needed to be cut. (Click here to see the clean up process.) When I cut loose the broken part, the remains of the branch, free of the weight, sprung up much higher than it was before.

It’s hard to see, but that arrow is pointing to the cut end of the branch.

It had no smaller branches around there at all when it was cut. Now, it’s absolutely bushy!

It’s amazing how resilient some trees can be.

The Re-Farmer

Gotta be quick!

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Taking advantage of a break to quickly post!

My attempts at getting kitten pictures has been a failure today. Those little buggers move fast! :-D

So do flowers, actually. At least with the winds we had when I was doing my rounds this morning!

These delicate little wildflowers have burst into bloom now. It’s interesting how there always seems to be some wildflower blooming, one after the others.

These wild roses are almost completely engulfed by the spirea!

One of our goals is to pull up most, if not all, of the spirea from here. The junk pile, in general, needs to be cleared so we can get access to it and start cleaning it up. I’m hoping the wood pile that makes up the bulk of it will still have some salvageable wood in there. One of the things I want to build is a box to put our garbage bags into, so the animals can’t tear them apart.

I noticed in the area around the stone cross, which had been full of spirea, now has what looks like flowers coming up. If they are what I think they are, they won’t bloom for a while yet, but I’m seeing them pop up all over, in areas that have been cleared up. Especially where I’ve also been able to finally mow. It seems once the grass (or, in this area, the spirea) was no longer the dominant plant, all sorts of greenery is now able to grow. When I get to mowing in the maple grove, there are some paths I plan to deliberately leave alone, just to see what is there.

After my morning rounds, I got back outside as quick as I could, to finish mowing around the old garden area.

I was almost done when I ran out of gas, so I took a quick rest and hydration break. The Potato Beetle came over for cuddles. I’m rather surprised, considering how covered in bug spray I was!

I’m happy to say, I managed to finish the old garden area, including the section I hadn’t been able to get to at all, yet. After this, I can start going into the maple grove.

But not today.

For the last half hour or so of mowing, there was a whole lot of thundering happening, so I was really happy to get that last bit finished before putting away the mower.

Since then, we have had a quick storm pass by, with a heavy downpour. We also lost internet for a while, and then we momentarily lost power. Just enough to cause the computers to restart, and the security camera to reset its position.

I love power bars.

Looking at the weather radar, we seem to be in the path of several small but severe thunderstorms for the rest of the day.

Which means it’s time to quickly get caught up, then shut down the computer, in case we lose power again. No doubt, once the winds pick up again, we’ll lose internet again.

It’s going to be an interesting day!

The Re-Farmer

Found the problem!

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While putting away the push mower yesterday, I was going to take the time to start up the riding mower and see what I could see. I always push the mower out of the garage before starting it, but I never got it all the way out. I could hear a different sound, like something was dragging underneath. I pushed it forward again, and it was still there.

I did not notice the sound when I pushed the mower to the garage, but there were plenty of other noises that would have drowned it out.

So I let it be for now.

This morning, I found an email from my brother. He had emailed me an electronic copy of the user’s manual. Having looked over it first, he wrote that – based on my description of what happened – he figured the drive chain either broke or fell off, then asked if I could get photos from above and below.

As soon as I read “drive chain”, I knew that was what I was hearing.

When I finished my rounds, I went in to try and get some photos. There’s nothing to see from above, and from below, it was a matter of sticking my phone under, and various angles, and using voice commands to take pictures. I’m not able bodied enough to get onto the ground to see. After the first few pictures, though, I could figure out where I needed to concentrate on.

Yup. There it was.

The manual had information about how the chain can become loose over time, and how to tighten it.

Which we have no way of doing.

I mean, theoretically, someone could get down on the ground and do it by feel, but if I’m going to do something like that, I want to be able to see. Not just the chain, but to know if there are other potential problems under there.

One of the things we’re going to need to build is a platform we can roll the mower up onto, so we can get under to work on it. We could certainly use various things we have to lift it, but there’s safety to take into account, too. Whatever we use has to be able to hold the weight and keep things from rolling around. We do have jack stands that could be used, but… well, my late brother was killed when the car he was working under, fell on him after a jack stand failed. So, I’m a little more paranoid about such things these days. :-/

I’ve already told my brother he’s not allowed to come fix it. LOL He’s got so much going on, I don’t want to be another burden for him.

So it will wait until we can take it in to the shop as I was already planning to do, later in the month.

At least the chain does not look broken, and it seems like it will be a relatively easy fix.

The Re-Farmer

Morning roundup, and I’m a tree!

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After the heat we’ve had for the past while, it actually got remarkably chilly last night.

It was great!

I had some concern about how it got for the kittens, but the basement is pretty good at remaining a constant temperature.

This morning, I took one of the long boxes that held pieces of my new bed frame and lay it out on the floor for the kittens to play in.

They just loved it!

Leyendecker, however, got distracted by something that was apparently much more interesting.

Me.

He climbed me like a tree! All the way up to my head, where he began to tackle my ear and try to eat my hair.

What a silly boy!

The outside cats were eagerly awaiting me when I got outside. Their food bowls had been completely cleaned out. By them, or other animals, I’m not sure.

Butterscotch allowed my daughter to check her out yesterday, and it seems she is pregnant again. Considering how it went when we tried to bring her in before, that is just not something we can do again.

I’m happy to say that, when both Butterscotch and Creamsicle joined me while checking out my mother’s flowers, there was NO fighting, at all.

When checking out the squash beds, I’d found a pleasant little surprise.

Some pumpkins are sprouting!

These two hills had 3 seeds each planted in them. The other one had 5 seeds in the package, but so far, none have sprouted.

Most of the more recently transplanted squash are noticeably growing bigger, though they have also gotten pretty yellow. One of the possible reasons I’ve seen is a lack of iron. Which means we likely should supplement the soil with bloodmeal. I just haven’t been able to find any!

More potatoes are starting to show up through the straw mulch. When mowing last night, I moved out the wooden frames that were around the beds. They are no longer needed, and taking them out makes it easier to mow around the beds. I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish the mowing today; we might be getting showers this afternoon.

This evening, we’re planning to get all wild and crazy. Father’s Day and my daughter’s birthday fall on the same day this year. Knowing how busy things are likely to be on Sunday, we’ve decided to celebrate today. Our favorite Chinese restaurant is open again, so we’re planning on ordering a whole lot of take-out!

It’s going to be such a treat!! :-D

The Re-Farmer

Didn’t Make It

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One of the things I’ve been keeping an eye on has been the grape vine I accidentally cut, then hoped to root.

It didn’t make it.

The rest of it seems to be doing just fine, though.

Just look at those adorable baby grapes! :-)

Things have cooled down quite a bit, after we got some rains. It would be absolutely fantastic out there, if it weren’t for the insane amount of mosquitoes. Unfortunately, the same weather that cooled things down is ideal for them.

I don’t know if things will dry up enough to continue some of the projects that need to be done outdoors, but if it does, I’ll have to make sure to absolutely engulf myself in bug spray!!

The Re-Farmer

Mourning roundup – and what a nasty boy!

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The morning rounds, as usual, started with a visit to the kitties.

I fully expected to find a couple at the top of the stairs, as has been the usual thing lately.

Nope. Just Beep Beep.

The other usual thing is to go down the stairs and find the kittens not already on the stairs, coming sleepily out from under the platform bed frame, where they’ve created a nest.

Not this morning!

Beep Beep jumped into the pile faster than I could get my phone out for a picture, but all the kittens had been on the chair, curled up in a furry mass, sleeping!

The outdoor part of my morning rounds went rather quickly, because I was being eaten by mosquitoes! Every time I paused to take a picture, I would be attached by clouds of them!

The first of my mother’s poppies has opened up.

The dwarf lilac by the house is just a riot of flowers!

This other variety of lilac, planted by the chain link fence, doesn’t have a lot of flowers, but the few clusters is does have are starting to open.

When feeding the outside cats, I saw some faces that have not been around as much, lately.

Junk Pile cat has been hanging around, even if I only see him in passing, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen Butterscotch. I was happy to see Rosencrantz show up.

While checking the garden plots and switching memory cards on the trail cams, I got some company.

Creamsicle came to join me and wanted attention. :-)

Butterscotch came along this time, too.

Then this happened!!!

Her boy went into a full-on attack! I couldn’t believe it! He wouldn’t stop, either. I broke them up several times, until I just couldn’t catch up with them. Each time, Butterscotch would run off, and Creamsicle would run right after her and attack as soon as he reached her!

What a terrible son!

I am not impressed.

The Re-Farmer

Yes, I got kitten pictures for you!

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I just couldn’t let a day go buy without kitten pictures, could I?

Well, yes, I could, but I don’t want to. :-)

Our scorcher of a day was finally cooled down by a lovely rainfall – storms will once again go right past us, it looks like – so no chance to make use of the new mower.

*sadness*

;-)

So I decided it was a good time to once again do some practice carving on the spoon blank that came with my carving kit.

Which meant spending lots of time with adorable little furballs with sharp, sharp claws.

They were determined to use me as a bed, after using me as a jungle gym.

Even Beep Beep got in on the action, clambering over her babies, then lying on her back, going from laying with her head in my elbow to licking my nose enthusiastically! :-D

Apparently, I tasted good today, because all the kittens were after my arms and fingers. It might have something to do with the ham I had with lunch before coming downstairs.

It was pretty rough and tumble, with Beep Beep moving around and pushing her own kittens around before giving up and moving on.

Eventually, a daughter was able to come and rescue me.

Big Rig REALLY liked that glove.

Yes, one is missing. Nicco snuggled with Beep Beep on another chair until Beep Beep took off.

Once the kittens were extricated, I went back to trying to carve, only to have them return. Which was okay. I can continue to carve with a couple of kittens on the table in front of me.

Yeah, my arm is a mess! When Beep Beep was shifting around, she pushed Big Rig off my arm. She grabbed my arm as she fell and was dangling there for a while before she was able to scramble up.

Yes, it is all cleaned up and treated with antibiotic cream.

Saffron is just adorable! Turmeric was content on my lap for a while.

It didn’t last, of course.

They certainly do make things interesting!!

I did, at least, get some progress on that spoon! :-D

Unfortunately, there was other damage.

From the other cats.

At one point, I had two kittens in my arms and three on my head and shoulders, when we heard a loud crash above us. The three kittens exploded off my shoulders to the ground. The two in my arms, thankfully, didn’t panic like that.

Which reminds me. I need to get my husband to check my shoulders for wounds.

Later, as my daughters were on their way from the second floor to rescue me, they found the cause.

One of the cats had knocked over a plant pot with a substantial jade tree in it.

I am not impressed.

After seeing how the jade tree recovered after our move, however, I would not be surprised to see now branches and leaves growing out of that stem.

Assuming the cats don’t destroy it completely, before then. :-(

The Re-Farmer

A wild morning – but I have my new “toy”!

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Wouldn’t you know it, since I was planning on heading out early, I ended up not being able to sleep at all last night.

Which is why I was awake when the edges of the predicted storms passed us by. At about 5am, the winds picked up like crazy, there was some rain and quite a light show, but that was it. We did lose internet a few times, too.

In the end, I managed about an hour of sleep before I quickly did my morning rounds. No time for kitty pictures. Sorry!

The first thing I saw when I stepped outside was this…

One of the dead branches from an elm finally came down.

Aside from the usual small, mostly willow, branches scattered about the yard, there was only one other larger branch that came down.

This is such a huge improvement from our first summer out here!

My mothers flowers seemed to really like the rain. The patch of lilies is starting to open up now. :-)

Such a cheerful colour!

After I rushed through the morning routine, I headed out to a small city, somewhat closer than the city we usually go to, for our monthly shopping. After doing some searching online of the several hardware stores we could go to, including the local ones, I ended up settling on Canadian Tire. Thanks to Father’s Day sales and the incredible generosity of a friend (you know who you are! You’re the best!!), I was able to afford a higher end machine that we otherwise would have.

I made a point of getting a photo of my screen, so I could show an employee exactly what I was after, if needed. It was needed! There was no display model I was after, so the employee went to their storage area to bring it out for me on a flat cart.

When I bought our electric snow blower, I got their last one in stock, and just wheeled it out of the store. Somehow, I expected to do that same today, but nope! It was in a rather large box. :-D

While checking out, the cashier said she would call someone to help me load it into the van. She ended up paging someone several times. The box wasn’t really that heavy, so I was considering just letting her know I’d do it myself, when a guy showed up. As he was loading it into the van, he asked if I had oil.

I did, but I asked if there was a specific kind of oil I should have.

It turns out, I don’t have it. So I was really glad I ended up with this guy helping out. He also just happened to be a mechanic, and was soon telling me about which oils I could use, and which was the one he used and recommended himself. All my other machines, including the van, use 5W30, which he said would be a bit thin. For this machine, he recommended 30. Which I didn’t even realize was a thing. I ended up going back into the store after him and he found some for me. Once again, I was glad, because 1) it was at the opposite end of the store from the lawnmower sections and 2) I’m short. He was able to reach it more me. :-D

Once at home, it was assembly time!

Here are all the parts and pieces. :-D

All done, and filled with oil and fuel!

Among the things I discovered as I went through the owners manual before starting it, was that it has no prime pump, which is awesome. When I was ready to test it out, I discovered it is also raised and lowered by a lever at one wheel, instead of a lever at each wheel. So much easier!

The mower started with the first pull, and I barely even had to strain! With the heat (it’s currently 30C/89F, feeling like 36C/96F) right now, I did just a quick couple of passes.

It runs like a dream!!! I am so happy!

Then I put it away, because while it’s already 30C right now, we haven’t reached the high of the day, yet!

We have more thunderstorms predicted tonight, but I’m hoping to have a cooler break this evening, where I can put the new mower through it’s paces.

I am so looking forward to using this thing!!!

The Re-Farmer