Critters

Iced

/ Re-Farmer / 5 Comments

We are still in a polar vortex induced cold spell right now. I delayed doing my rounds outside until it had warmed up to -32C/-25.6F

I skipped switching out the memory cards in the trail cams again! Just the extra time to refill both bird feeders this morning was pushing it.

The heated water bowl was covered over even more than it was yesterday. Not just in frosted surface area, either.

This is after pouring off the old water. That’s a pretty solid layer of ice, left behind! Yesterday, it was more frost than ice.

The other water bowls were, of course, frozen solid. I had to do a fair amount of kicking to get them loose from the snow. When fresh water is added, the metal warms up enough to melt the snow around it, creating bowl-shaped pockets of ice that hold them in place.

Another reason why using old, broken frying pans make excellent water bowls. They can handle being kicked around, then bashed against things to knock the ice out. I used to use a wooden hand rail by the sun room to bash them against, but I didn’t like how much I was damaging the wood, so now I’m bashing them on the saw horses I’ve stored nearby. They’re old and damaged already, and I need to build new ones, so I don’t care if they get more beat up. :-D

Creamsicle Jr. didn’t move from his spot the entire time I was there! He’s under the terrarium bulb, but with the dusk-dawn light sensor, I don’t think it was actually on at the time. I don’t see the red glow of the indicator light, which would visible about 6-8 inches under the outlet.

I did get joined by Ginger, but he was the only cat I saw outside, braving the cold!

With our main entry door falling off it’s hinges, I’ve been going through the sun room to go outside. Which means going through the old kitchen, which is unheated and probably not insulated; at least not by any modern standards. We go into there as little as possible in the winter.

The old kitchen is where we had our crab apple cider vinegar fermenting, and where I now have the mother stored.

It’s almost frozen solid! You can’t even see the mother, which is in the middle of the jar, immersed in vinegar.

I have no idea if this will kill the mother or not.

Does anyone know?

When I was a kid, this room never really got cold, since the wood burning stove was kept going almost constantly, as much to help heat the house as for cooking, so lack of insulation was never really an issue. The old kitchen is an add-on to the original log part of the house, though I don’t know when it was added on. I only know it was already there when my parents bought the property.

The forecasts say we’ll have one more day of this bitter cold, though it will be a bit warmer tomorrow. Today’s high is predicted to be -25C/-13F, with a wind chill of -31C/-23.8F. Tomorrow’s high is supposed to be -21C/-5.8F with a wind chill of -28C/-18F. After that, we’re supposed to keep warming up for the next week. Check this out!

It’s like temperature whiplash!

Time to think of warmer things. Like gardening. I think I’ve figured out a way to raise our seed trays up closer to the light in the fish tank greenhouse. If it works, I might not need to line the sides with foil.

But first, another cup of hot tea!

The Re-Farmer

A good day for a hot cup of tea!

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Ah, how looks can be deceiving!

Outside my window, the sky is clear, the sun shines brightly, and not a twig or branch in my view is moving from anything other than birds landing on them.

As I write this, our temperature has warmed up to -24C/-11.2F, with a wind chill of -34C/-29.2F When I headed outside to do my rounds this morning, it was -25C/-13F with a wind chill of -38C/-36F.

At those temperatures, even the heated water bowl starts to freeze over! There’s actually a layer of ice forming under the frosted areas that you can just barely see.

Nutmeg was content to watch me from the comfort of their shelter!

I am so thankful my brother went through all that effort to bring their old dog house for us to use. It’s working out so well for the cats!

The cats that did come out into the cold were much more interested in the fresh warm water than the fresh food! The cat equivalent of a hot cup of tea on a cold day. :-D

When switching out the memory cards in the trail cams, I of course had to warm up the new camera with my hands, just to be able to see the screen. I wanted to see how it would take the micro disc my husband gave me.

Alas. I still got the “incompatible” message and had to format it in the camera, even though I made sure to format it on my computer. The card may be the same brand as the other one, but I guess it’s not an “ultra”. At some point, I’ll just have to buy another one of the card that works without having be formatted every time. At least I know what’s going on, now, and what I need to do to be able to see the screen.

At some point, the other camera is going to need to be replaced, too, so we’re already doing research on cameras more like the new one, but better able to handle the cold. We should have plenty of time, but I’d like to get one before it’s needed. I can’t complain about what we have. It’s still an excellent camera for the price, and I really appreciate some of the features it has, and the faster processing speed.

And now, it is time for another cup of tea… :-)

The Re-Farmer

There are those who prefer the cold!

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What a difference between yesterday and today!

I took advantage of yesterday’s warmth with a trip into town. At one point, on the way back, I was driving through precipitation that couldn’t make up it’s mind if it was snow or rain! LOL We actually hit 3C/37.4F, which was a couple of degrees warmer than forecast.

Then the temperatures plummeted overnight. While the actual temperatures remained above -20C/-4F, the wind chills brought things down colder than -30C/-22F Apparently, there was even a storm last night, though it seemed to be well to the south of where we are. We got hit with high winds, mostly.

As I write this, we are at -17C/1.4F with a wind chill of -28C/-18.4F

While I was doing the cat stuff outside, most of them just stayed in the cat shelter and watched me though the windows. They still had lots of food in the kibble house, but I also toss some inside the entry of the cat house, where I have another food bowl. I don’t put much in there, since I don’t want to encourage other critters going in there. That food bowl was empty.

Some of the cats did come out for some warm water; the heated water bowl does the job, but when it’s cold like this, I like to give them water that is actually warm, and they really seem to appreciate it.

Then they all just disappeared! Not into the cat house, but running off around it, with some running under the storage house.

I discovered why when I turned around as saw we had a visitor!

My younger brother’s dog had come for a visit!

He just thrives in these temperatures! The colder it is, the more he loves it.

They have yard cats too, of course, so when he comes here, he expects to be able to come right up to ours and play! Butterscotch and Rolando Moon (and Beep Beep, if she were still outside) are more familiar with him, as he used to visit my late father all the time, but the other cats where born after we moved here, and the sudden appearance of a fluffy giant is rather frightening for them! Meanwhile, he just wants to play. :-D

As I was finishing my rounds, I managed to get him to follow me down the driveway and start heading home, but as I came back, he was suddenly bounding beside me, leaping and jumping in the snow, trying to get me to play with him!

Unfortunately, the winds made staying outside any longer than I had to, out of the question.

My goodness. I just glanced at my weather icon on my computer and noticed we’ve already started to drop in temperature. Looking out my window, it’s a clear and sunny day and looks like it should be quite pleasant out there, but we’re now -18C/-0.4F, with the wind chill down to -31C/-23.8F We’ve already hit the high of the day, and it is expected to keep slowly dropping from now on until tomorrow. We’ll have one more mild day tomorrow, then temperatures are supposed to plummet for a few days before getting mild again. With concerns over the vehicles, we plan any outings around the forecasts, which means quick run to check the mail and pick up more bird seed and deer feed will be done tomorrow.

Unlike our furry visitor, we do NOT thrive in this cold, and neither do the vehicles! :-D

The Re-Farmer

It’s a fluffy day today!

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The temperatures have gone up quite a bit today, and the outside cats are quite appreciating it!

I was very happy to see Rosencrantz this morning! I haven’t seen her in a couple of weeks.

Butterscotch also made an appearance this morning. I didn’t see her yesterday.

Her babies were just loving the new snow, running around a chasing each other in it. :-)

Butterscotch, however, would not come anywhere near me this morning, so I wasn’t able to check her wound at all. She seemed to be moving around fine, though, so that’s a good sign.

Nostildamus made up for her lack of interest, wanting all sorts of pets and attention!

He has such soft fur.

Today was a day when everything looked soft and fluffy. Even the trees.

The warmer temperatures brought with them the softest, fluffiest of snow. We got about 2 inches of it by this morning; two inches of mostly air!

The Potato Beetle is not amused. The kittens might be enjoying the snow of their first winter, but the adult cats seem much more ticked off about the whole thing! :-D

We’re supposed to drop to more normal, chilly temperatures after today, so I think I will take advantage of the day and make a trip into town to pick up a few things we are starting to running low on.

Just glancing at my weather icon on my toolbar as I write this, and see that we have reached 0C! (32F) The wind chill is at -6C/21F, which is still quite balmy! A wonderful day to get outside. :-)

The Re-Farmer

Count ’em, plus a preview

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There are eight cats in this picture.

Can you spot them all? :-D

These guys sure do make my mornings!

I also have a preview to share.

I experimented with the no-knead, overnight dough recipe I’d made before, using the old dough bread baby from my Babcia’s bread experiment.

I didn’t take any process photos this time, since I was winging it. The “overnight” dough became an “over day” dough, for starters! :-D

Instead of making a pair of loaves, I made one giant loaf in a parchment paper lined lasagna pan.

As I was spreading the dough out as evenly as I could, I found myself thinking it was looking a bit like a focaccia. Too bad we’re out of olive oil.

Then I remembered… we still have some fake truffle oil (the only kind we can find, or afford!) left.

I ended up drizzling the top with the fake truffle oil, spreading the oil around evenly, then stabbing the dough with my fingers to make lots of little holes, which also helped even the dough out in the pan more, before sprinkling on some coarse salt and dried parsley.

Of course, it wasn’t real a focaccia recipe, and it rose quite a bit. This is how it turned out.

This turned out to be, hands down, the best bread I have ever baked! Definitely a winner!!

I think the next time I try this, I’ll use a baking sheet instead of the lasagna pan, to make a thinner bread. Mostly, because I think it’ll be easier to slice than this was, but it’ll also give a larger surface for the oil and salt crust. The texture and flavour it gave was amazing!

Next time, I will definitely take process shots and share the details here!

The Re-Farmer

Stubborn kitty, and a milestone!

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Once again, Butterscotch simply would NOT let me check her out. I barely even got to pet her, never mind check her wound!

I did manage to accidentally get a picture of a perfect snowflake on her ear, though!

Doesn’t she look so elegant and calm here?

The photo lies! :-D

The best I could get was a glance of her wound as she walked away from me, and I saw nothing out of the ordinary, so I hope that means everything is healing well. She doesn’t seem to be favoring the leg, except I think where the fur is shaved off is cold. I’ve seen her coming out of the shelf shelter we made, which has rigid insulation lining the empty bottom shelves, and more rigid insulation to block the wind and snow. She can sit in there and her bald spot will be nice and warm.

She does not go into the cat shelter. I don’t know where her hiding place is, but it is not in the inner yard. I think it’s somewhere in one of the collapsing sheds in the outer yard. :-/

Seeing two of her kittens peaking at me from between the kibble house and cat house was adorable.

I missed Nostrildamus going into the cat house; you can just barely see his tail tip through the strips of carpet. :-)

Rolando Moon is such a loaf! She is quite prepared to drive away any kitties that dare come close!

In other things, this blog hit a milestone yesterday.

We reached 500 followers!

It was rather funny when I got the notification from WordPress. In the time it took me to actually look at it, the number had gone back down to 499. Then it jumped up over 500 by the end of the day and stayed there.

This is really amazing to me. One thing that always surprises me is that anyone is finding it in the first place! That anyone is actually interested in our crazy little corner of the world is greatly appreciated, and I’ve been getting to know some really amazing people in the process. You guys are awesome! :-)

To all our new followers, thank you so much for joining us for the ride. Welcome! :-)

The Re-Farmer

Morning kitties, and apparently we had a storm

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I just had to pause for a picture when I saw these guys, watching me when I came outside this morning.

These guys know well enough to stay out of the wind, even if they can see fresh food and water is about to be dispensed! :-D

Except this little Spice Boy, who has a thing for drinking out of the water jug. He prefers this over drinking from a bowl! :-D

Also, those bulk sized Orville Redenbacher popcorn containers are the handiest things. The plastic is really strong, and they are a very useful size. We’ve got some with the bottoms cut off and the lids in place, that I use to scoop and carry critter feed. I used to use a metal pitcher for their water, but this holds a lot more water, and the handle design is easier to carry with one hand and not slosh while opening and closing doors. Used to put them in recycling, but now I keep them because they’re so useful!

As I was finishing up my rounds, Butterscotch made an appearance, and even let me carry her!

Well, sort of carry her. :-D

She still moves around too much for me to get a good look at her wound, but from what I can glimpse, it’s still looking good. Understandably, she seems uncomfortable sitting in the snow, as much from the lack of fur around it as for the wound itself!

We’ve got another relatively mild day today, though winds are certainly making it chillier. We were supposed to get snow this afternoon, but a storm passed through to the south of us, last night. We got light snow and winds, in our area. Now, it’s just winds. I’m good with that. We need to make a trip to the pharmacy this afternoon, which is when the weather was originally predicted to hit us. We’ll just have to watch out for ice, high winds and deer, and not the edges of a snow storm, too! :-D

I am soooo appreciating our mild winter. The last 3 since we moved here got so brutally cold. We’ll be getting colder next week, according to the long range forecasts, but it’s more of a normal cold than what we had in previous years.

I have no doubt the wild critters are appreciating it, too! Much better chances of survival. With Butterscotch having a little of kittens so late in the season, it is a relief for them and their safety, too.

Life is good.

The Re-Farmer

Stubborn Kitty!

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After getting Butterscotch’s wound stitched, and keeping her in the house overnight, we’ve been keeping an eye on her to make sure she is doing okay. As much as possible, anyhow.

She is not making it easy!

I had to zoom in, just to get a picture of her NOT letting me come close, this morning. :-D You can sort of see her skinny chicken leg, where the fur has been shaved off on the inside of her right leg. Her tail hides most of it.

She did eventually come over for some pets, though.

She will take attention on her own terms, thankyouverymuch!!

With her constant moving, it was hard to get a look. I had to giggle at myself, “chasing” a cat around, trying to look under her butt.

She seems to be moving around normally, and not favoring the leg more than the other, so that’s good sign that she is not in pain and the injury is healing up.

Other cats were much more friendly.

Nosey is such a sweet cat!

Interesting thing about him is that he wouldn’t come near us for the longest time. He sister would let us come near, which is how we were finally able to snag her and bring her inside before she could get pregnant. Once his sister was no longer around, he became much more willing to let us near, and now he’s one of the friendliest of yard cats!

There was only one problem, though. I had a crowd of cats following me as I did my rounds, which is usual when it’s wonderfully mild as it is today. Butterscotch tends to pick fights with the other cats, but this morning, after she hissed at Potato Beetle when he got too close, he actually went at her! As I moved to break it up, Butterscotch ran off, but Potato stayed, intently sniffing at the snow. Some of her kittens came by, and they started sniffing the snow, too.

When I got close enough, I could could see fresh urine in the snow, and they were very interested in it! My guess is, with the antibiotics and other medications she was given, it smells very different.

Butterscotch, meanwhile, did not go far!

There she is, with her baby. :-D

I love how the cats peek under the garage door like that!

As much as I was able to see of Butterscotch’s wound, it looks like everything is going well. Which is a relief. There is concern of her getting aggressive with the other outside cats, but that would be much more of a problem inside than outside. :-/ Ah, well. She’s a hardy cat and has probably survived far worse, before we even moved out here!

The Re-Farmer

Back outside: Butterscotch recovery update

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We ended up keeping Butterscotch indoors, overnight. After 2 hours in the carrier, she was certainly more active and alert after the anesthetic wore off, but she was totally cracked out! We did not feel it would be safe for her to be outside, yet.

She got the basement all to herself for the night. The inside cats were most upset over the closed door! :-D

This morning, my daughter got her into the carrier again (after checking her out) and I took her outside and let her go.

I could tell she was feeling better. As soon as one of her kittens came up to her, she batted him upside the head!

As you can tell, he wasn’t too bothered by that. :-D

Her wound looks good, and she did not seem to be favoring the leg as she walked around. She was soon in the kibble house, having a snack.

When I first let her out of the carrier, she was all about getting the pets, but after that, she wouldn’t let me near her!

After bringing the cat carrier back in, the inside cats were all over it, sniffing away. We’d put a small, soft crocheted mat inside for a bed, and I took it out and put it back into the box bed it’s normally in. Before long, I found Cabbages and Nicco – both Butterscotch babies – obsessed with sniffing it!

My daughters had started to talk about the possibility of trying to keep Butterscotch indoors, but she is much happier outside, and I think even the inside cats were pretty disturbed by her presence. Except Beep Beep, who simply ignored her! :-D

The Re-Farmer

Groggy Kittie

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Well, Butterscotch is home!

Just look at those pupils!!!

She is still recovering from the anesthetic, so we’ve been told to keep her in the carrier for a couple of hours. She is on a 24 hour painkiller, the sutures will dissolve on their own in 3 weeks, and she has the 14 day antibiotic. We’ve been told what to watch out for, but they did everything they could to prepare her for being outdoors as she recovers.

For now, she is in the carrier behind me. We had to ban all the cats from the room, except Beep Beep, who is sleeping and has no curiosity about her “sister” in the carrier. (For all I know, they may be sisters. Or mother and daughter. Or no relation at all! LOL) As we supervised, a parade of cats came by to sniff at the carrier, from all sides, and the top! Which was fine when they were just sniffing. Nicco came to see her mom, but Cabbages had no interest and ran away from the crowd. It was when cats started hissing at Butterscotch that we had to put a stop to it and send them away.

After a couple of hours in the carrier, if she seems alert enough, we will gently transition her back outside.

I suspect she will be quite eager to get away again!

The Re-Farmer