Kitten Rescue!

October 24, 2018October 24, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

Doom Guy and Beep Beep kept me company while I was cleaning up around the garage and fence line this afternoon. When I got to where I had to figure out some way to lift the post hole pounder, to free up the bikes under it, I went into the lean to on this side of the garage, to find something to help.

Since I was going in and out of it, I left the door open.

Of course, the cats went in to check it out. This is the only part of the garage they can’t squeeze their way into, so it was all new to them!

While working on the junk pile, I could hear meowing from the garage. I went in to see, and from the direction of the sound, figured Doom Guy was exploring under the counter. After a while, though, the meowing started to sound decidedly distressed.

So I went back to look again.

Which is when I discovered Doom Guy was trapped behind the counter.

The counter has open space under it, but it also had a back to it. Above the counter are boards covering the wall joists; likely to prevent things from falling off the back of the counter, where they could not be retrieved.

Doom Guy was somewhere in the wall joists!

Now, while we’ve been using this lean to for storing the riding mower, and a few other things, we were not going to start sorting and cleaning up the garage any time soon. So stuff that’s in there have been there for years.

Lots of stuff.

I ended up getting one of my daughters to come and help me. She came into the garage, just in time to see the top of Doom Guy’s head, before he fell back down again. He could climb to the top, but couldn’t get over the edge of the board.

So we cleared the end of the counter, my daughter climbed on top of it, and ripped the board that was there off completely.

The blue on the left is another section of board, blocking the space.

This is some of the stuff that was on the counter.

The shadow is Beep Beep’s tail. :-D

The wooden things on the ground are shelves, filled with nuts, bolts and other small items. All metal.

I’m glad the two parts were separate, because it took two of us lift each of them off!

The noise and bustle we made spooked Doom Guy into squeezing over to another space. I could only see him by using my phone!

We even put some cat treats at the top, to tempt him to climb up again.

At one point, I could hear him purring!

I even managed to move the counter away from the wall by a couple of inches. It couldn’t be moved too far, as that end is resting on a bit of concrete foundation. It would fall right off, if moved too far.

We left the garage to give Doom Guy some quiet, so he would try and climb again. After a while, my daughter came back. We could hear some scrambling, so she hopped onto the counter. As soon as he was close enough, she grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pulled him the rest of the way out!

He was just covered in dirt and cobwebs!

He does not look happy. :-D

When he got down to the ground, she tried to give him treats there, but he was more interested in attention.

So his mom ate them.

My daughter took the treat container and, shaking it to make some noise, tried to tempt him away from the garage. Instead, he kept sniffing the spot where the treats his mother ate had been. So I picked him up and took him to my daughter, who got him over to the house.

I’m glad we were able to get him out of there. For a while, I was seriously considering cutting a hole in the wall, from the outside!

I haven’t put anything back on the counter, yet. A lot of what’s there might just get thrown out (why are there so many empty tool and tool accessory cases?). At the very least, I want to clean the end of the counter before putting the shelves back – and getting rid of all the dead Asian Lady Beetles that fell out when the board got pulled off!

I supposed the board should be put back. Maybe not nailed and glued in place again, though!

While fussing with things on the counter later on, though, something caught my eye, in between some pieces and parts, boxes and cases.

Was that a glass?

With liquid in it?

What on earth?

Oil.

Dirty oil.

Why is that there?

How long has it been there?

We’re going to have our work cut out for us, when we finally get to cleaning the garage.

Hopefully, no more kittens will need to be rescued!

The Re-Farmer

Something fishy going on!

October 23, 2018October 23, 2018 / Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Today was very much a kitchen day for me. We roasted three chickens yesterday, ate most of one for supper, then I de-boned all three, saving the bones and skin to make a stock.

Since I was tending the stock for so many hours (which will be a separate post), I took advantage of the time and started working on cleaning the kitchen. You know, the pull out the microwave, clear everything off the counters, wash the knife blocks, kind of cleaning.

Our 20 gallon fish tank is in the kitchen, and I decided to do a complete water change on that. Which meant taking the plants, and our three lonely fish, out completely.

That is the last neon tetra of the 10 I bought, last year. :-( The algae eaters were sold to me as Siamese algae eaters, but that’s not what they are at all. I believe these ones are Chinese algae eaters. We had a pair or Siamese algae eaters when we moved, but when we found we couldn’t set up our 90 gallon tank right away, I quickly picked up the 20 gallon tank we are using now, and transferred our plants and fish. Sadly, the Siamese algae eaters did not survive. They survived the drive over, but in the time it took to get the small tank, I think their water just got too cold. I do want to pick up more; they eat a different kind of algae than the other types of algae eaters. Plus, I want to get more neon tetras again.

My goal had been to set up the 90 gallon tank with enough plants to not need to use an aerator at all. With the number of plants I have now, we are able to do that with the 20 gallon tank. I do have the portable aerator, just in case, but haven’t needed it in months.

Unfortunately, a piece broke when I was disassembling the filter for our 90 gallon tank in preparation for the move. It’s a connector for a hose. I figured I could just pick up a new part after the move, but no one carries the brand out here. It’s not even available on their website. I can do without an aerator (though we do have one), but not without a filter. A filtration system for that size of tank is not cheap, so it’s not like we’ll be able to replace it anytime soon.

So the big tank, on its stand, sits in the corner of the living room, taking up space. :-( My older daughter and I were talking about what to do with it. We might just put a board across the top, then cover it with a cloth, so it looks better. :-/ I’m sure there’s a piece of plywood we could use, somewhere around here! :-D

Meanwhile, our little fishies are now back in their home, with fresh water and re-arranged decor. :-D

The Re-Farmer

He’s back!

October 22, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

One of the dad cats showed up again this morning, cooperatively posing for me outside our living room window, so I could get some photos! :-)

Dad cat is looking a little rough around the edges!

While he seems to be coming around more regularly, yesterday I saw – and heard! – him being driven away by Rolando Moon. Who can be just as mean to the other cats, too, we’ve noticed!

I think we are slowly but surely getting The Outsider used to us, faster than the other kittens! Yesterday, my younger daughter was using a stick to play with him (her?), and even managed to pet him briefly.

I played with her a bit, too, and she was willing to come close to my feet, but then seemed to realize how close she was and would run off a bit. Then come back again, to play with the end of the stick.

While all the kittens and their moms seem to have accepted him as one of their own, he and Doom Guy are getting to be quite the pair! I wasn’t able to get any good photos, but they snuggle up in the sun room, regularly. Earlier today, while taking something out of the freezer, I looked out the window to the swing bench. Much to my surprise, there were no kittens on it. Then I found the two of them. They were on the old dresser I use to hold the tools, snuggled up and looking out the window. That space is normally covered with bags of cat food, but we’re on the last bag right now, so it’s available.

I think, from now through the winter, we’re going to have to start buying 4 big bags of cat food a month, instead of the 3 we did last year. We could get away with 2 in the summer, so I would have an extra bag left over from month to month, but this month we’ve already gone through 3 and are into the 4th – though some of that was due to the cats dumping the bucket onto the floor and eating it all night!

Cat kibble in bulk. Bird seed. Deer feed.

Not quite what we were expecting to be doing, when we first moved out here!

Hard to believe, in just a few days, it’ll be a year since my husband and younger daughter flew out.

It’s been quite a year!

The Re-farmer

Gotta be careful!

October 20, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

Seeing our furry visitors, it reminded me that, when I was out in the yard earlier in the day, I had noticed the cat kibble was almost gone. So I decided to top it up for the night.

We keep the kibble in the Old Kitchen now, so those were the doors I went through. The kittens were on the swing bench – 6 of them! They seemed to know I had food with me, which made their responses to me rather funny. There’s Doom Guy, who comes right up to me. The cautious ones, like Jim and Bob, sortof hang around, but are still not comfortable with me coming close, even with a bowl of food. Then there are the super shy ones, who are clearly torn between wanting the food they can see I have, and wanting to run away from me, at the same time!

As I went for the outer doors, however, they all dashed ahead of me and started for the bowls outside.

Just to be cautious, I looked around, and sure enough, there was our Pepe Le Pew, hanging out by the steps of the clothes line platform. Making himself look big at me!

So I put the food out for the cats, then got some video.

Just so you know, I am NOT really that close to him. This is zoomed in a bit.

Getting back through the sun room took a little more time than usual. ;-)

The Re-Farmer

Furry visitors

October 20, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

I got called over to check out the skunk, from the living room window.

When I got to the camera, I could tell something had his attention.

Oh, that’s what it was…

Checking each other out!

Then I saw the other one…

And my husband kindly shut off the TV so the camera could focus beyond the reflection. :-D

The skunk continued around the back of the house, closely watched by the deer. The deer hung out under the crab apple tree until something else startled them.

So beautiful.

The Re-Farmer

What we see…

October 19, 2018October 18, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

This is what we see, in varying configurations of floofs, when we look out our bathroom window. :-D

The Re-Farmer

Standoff!

October 18, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 3 Comments

While working in my office this morning, our Mama cat started getting all agitated, and going up to the window. That’s when I realized I was hearing a low growling noise from outside.

This is what we saw.

It’s a dad-cat standoff!

No wonder our Mama wasn’t happy!

I’ve never seen this cat before, though I think the girls have.

This is the one that showed up in the sun room, one day. :-D

It should be interesting to see how things pan out with these two, over the winter!

The Re-Farmer

Birdwatching…

October 18, 2018October 16, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

Heading over to my crochet corner, I noticed something odd on the bird feeder.

At first, I thought it was Butterscotch.

Then it looked at me.

Why, hello, Rosencrantz…

or Guildenstern.

All the birds were on the ground while she was up there, and she was VERY interested in watching them.

Guildenstern (or Rosencrantz) wasn’t quite sure what to make of me. Normally, she runs off as soon as any of us comes near. Which means this is probably the best look at her I’ve ever gotten!

Of course, as soon as she was on the ground, all the birds were on the feeder. :-D

Such a pretty kitty!

The Re-Farmer

They are watching me

October 18, 2018October 18, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

After coming back from checking the new Christmas lights I’d added to our fence line yesterday, I noticed the outside cat food bowls were empty. I went through the Old Kitchen to take care of that, and disturbed the pile of kittens, sleeping on the swing bench.

This is what I saw when I opened the door to the sun room, plus The Outsider, who jumped down when I opened the other door to get the photo.

It occurs to me that I have not seen Corvo for some time. Also, it’s been quite a while since I’ve both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at the same time.

It’s getting cold enough that, along with the food, we’ve started to put warm water out for them, too. They seem to be liking that!

We’re going from highs of barely above freezing, to 16C tomorrow, then right back down again. One last day to get that last of things finished up and put way outside. I don’t expect we’ll get another warm day like that again until next year.

I wonder how many of the cats we had over last winter will come back this winter?

The Re-Farmer