When we rigged up the shelf outside the sun room to be a cat shelter, there were a few things I identified as potential problems. The tarp is staple gunned in place, for example, and I could see those giving out easily.
What I never imagined happening, however, is what I found this morning.
Continue readingMy husband had some packages to pick up in today’s mail, so I made a quick trip in to pick them up.
I was expecting 2, maybe 3, boxes.
There was 5! LOL The clerk helped me carry them to my van. :-D
When I got home, I was surprised to find my name on one of them.
A dear friend had sent me a surprise!
No more trying to keep the cats’ water from freezing with a light bulb! :-D
Of course, I had to set it up right away.
The cats were quick to show their appreciation.
It took Doom Guy a minute to realize there was water in the new bowl. The warm water I had put out this morning was already starting to freeze!
My husband had actually ordered one, too – in fact, it might be in one of the other boxes I picked up! So we’ll have two. :-)
I have the best friends!
The Re-Farmer
This afternoon, I found myself falling asleep at my desk and realized I needed to nap if I was going to do any driving later on.
Upon reaching my bed, however, I found my intentions blocked.
Continue readingSomething very disorienting happened today.
There was a knock at the door.
Which is one of those things that is so unexpected, it takes a moment for my brain to clue in and say, “oh… there’s a person at the door.” :-D
Turns out, it was the guy delivering the straw bale we had ordered. He had to leave the tractor in the driveway, hop the locked gate, and come knocking.
There’s a reason I asked for a call first! :-D The guy delivering the bale was not the guy I bought it from, so he probably didn’t have my number. Not that he could have called us from his tractor, anyhow. ;-)
I was really happy to see him, that’s for sure! It’s been snowing off and on, and the temperatures are dropping, so I really wanted to get that septic tank covered!
This time, I asked him to drop it off in the old garden area. You can see that the bale has been sitting for a year! After unwrapping it, I started trying to pull the straw down near that dark area, and found it half frozen and very wet.
Which is great, because the wet straw that’s already starting to decompose went straight onto the garden area, and some of the compost, right away. I even found a worm in it. LOL
This is where our septic tank is. Our system is very different from what is usual; instead of a gravity based system, ours has a smaller tank and pumps. There are pipes leading from the basement to the left of the tank in this photo. The tank has two chambers. Everything goes into the first chamber, then when it fills with liquid, there is an overflow chamber. When that fills, the liquid is pumped to a field out by the barn. The pipe for the outflow runs under the old kitchen, which is behind the septic lid in the photo.
All of these pipes are buried deep and, theoretically, we could go without covering any of this at all, but it’s not something we want to take a chance with. An extreme winter could freeze the ground far enough that the pipes would freeze, and if that happened, it could get really nasty in our basement! It would also cost many thousands of dollars to get it fixed. So spending $25 on a bale and covering it is really cheap insurance! ;-)
Here is now it looks now! I added extra along the old kitchen foundation, just for a bit of extra insulation.
I’m leaving the tools with the bale for now, as we’ll be using it to insulate the old dog houses, probably in a couple of days.
While working on this, I had several very curious kitties checking things out. I expect the bale will also serve throughout the winter to keep little paws warm, and for burrowed nests, as well. :-) They were already quite keen on getting into it.
When I was done, I got a selfie with Susan.
She was not co-operative. LOL
Another thing off the list of things to get done before winter! :-)
The Re-Farmer
I saw this when checking our trail cam files this morning. :-) (It’s just in the first couple of seconds of the video, so don’t feel you need to watch all of it. :-D
What a beauty!
With the timing of things for my daughter’s Sunday shifts, I haven’t been able to continue our search for a new church to attend, but I do try to take advantage of her short shift to make Sunday a day of rest.
Oh, to be a cat, some days!
This was actually taken on Saturday. From left to right, we’ve got Creamsicle, Potato Beetle, Doom Guy, Two-Face, and even Pump Shack and Junk Pile kittens! All packed in like sardines, keeping warm and cozy.
Things were not so warm and cozy at the beach in town, yesterday!
I didn’t stay out for long; I hadn’t brought gloves, and it was really quite chilly!
This guys seemed to handle it well.
No rest for them! The geese need to eat as much as possible in between their migratory flights.
I’m finding I really enjoy these few hours in town, once a week. It’s a good time to recharge.
The Re-Farmer
As the weather has gotten colder, seasonal changes are happening to our morning routine. With the outside taps now closed for the winter, and water starting to freeze, we are back to bringing out a pitcher of warm water to refill the cat bowls outside.
With the bird bath now moved next to the bird feeder (which I was able to give a good scrub down before winter – after knocking the ice out!), adding warm water to there is now part of the routine. Who knows. Even the deer might be able to use it over the winter. It doesn’t hold a lot of water, but we can refill it as needed.
This morning, the cats were wildly curious about what I was doing at the feeding station, and I had cats jumping up into the bird bath before I could finish emptying the pitcher!
Continue readingThe winds picked up well before the blizzard hit, and the pool noodle bumpers I’d made for the main gate were being blown away. On my way in and out, I grabbed them and quickly tossed them into the van.
As my daughters and I were heading out together, they noted the pieces in the van…
… and a passenger!
It was getting so chilly, the poor little bumble bee was slow and sluggish – but in the relative warmth of the van, she was starting to perk up!
My daughter released it near where the pieces were found. Bumble bees nest in the ground, so we are hoping it had a nest somewhere near there that it could tuck into for the winter!
Happy Thanksgiving Day!
I had lots of kitties greeting me when I went out to feed them. Much to my amazement, one of the cats that came running, and even let me pet her, was Rosencrantz!!
Then, after I topped up the inside food, I realized that one of the cats eating was Guildendstern!
Continue reading
The Re-Farmer 