Junk pile babies!

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I had a much more pleasant surprise this morning, besides finding myself face to face with a wasps nest.

While walking past the junk pile, I suddenly saw a white, orange and black face looking at me!

I quickly grabbed my phone to take a picture, but by the time I looked back…

There was an orange face staring at me.

A playful little orange baby that did not run and hide from me.

Then Butterscotch came over and let me pet her before jumping up on the junk pile herself. I got to pet her some more before she moved further away.

There is the little calico beauty!

So adorable!

Oh? Is that orange movement behind the calico?

Why, yes it is! Hello, orange baby!

The babies ignored me and started going for Butterscotch and climbing to the top of the pile.

I just switched to video when another orange baby showed up?

They are so big and fluffy!!! They would be quite a bit younger than the other kittens, and yet they’re not that much smaller!

Oh? Did I hear something scrabbling around in the junk pile?

Number four!

They just hung around at the top and played while I stood just a few feet away. I got closer to these guys than with any of the other kittens, except Little Braveheart.

Just look at the smug expression on Butterscotch’s face! She’s all like “see… I don’t kill ALL my babies. I’m a good mama… when I’m outside!”

Going past the junk pile later, I saw the calico and an orange baby playing at the top. With Mom not there, they ran off when they saw me.

That makes 3 litters of yard cats. I’ve only seen one of Rosencrantz’s 3 babies lately, so that makes a total of 8, for sure. Possibly 10.

It’s a good thing Beep Beep is content to stay indoors. Otherwise, there would probably be another litter on the way!

The Re-Farmer

Yikes!

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This morning I went to get a meter reading to submit to the electric company.

Being rather short, I tend to see more glare on the cover than the numbers themselves. My solution has been to hold my phone up and take several pictures. The display cycles, with a short blank period in between, but after taking 3 or 4 shots, I can be pretty sure at least one of them has the reading in it.

What this means is that I’m fiddling with my phone to open the camera as I walk up to the power pole.

I really should pay more attention.

After I took the pictures, I looked down and found myself staring at this, maybe a foot and a half away from my face.

There were no wasps flying around, so I took pictures.

Because I’m like that. :-D

But why were no wasps flying around?

I think this is part of my answer. These are not the aggressive yellow and black wasps. I couldn’t see much, but they look a lot like the docile bald faced hornets in the Chinese elm trees.

From what I could see, they wasps were not so much “docile” as “sluggish”. It was a bit cooler this morning, so maybe they just weren’t warmed up yet.

We are actually going to leave this nest. We go to the post once a month to get a reading, and since I’m using a camera to see the numbers anyhow, we don’t disturb them in the process. In the winter, after they die off, we can carefully remove the nest. Who knows. We might Ebay it or something. There is apparently quite the demand for the nests!

I just wish I’d noticed it before I took the meter reading. It would have been much easier on my heart! :-D

The Re-Farmer

First sunflower!

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No, none of our giant sunflowers are blooming, yet. In fact, we didn’t even plant these ones.

Bird seed and deer feed we’ve been leaving at one end of a flower garden have been sprouting. Much of it is in the grass and gets mowed, but right under the platform feeder, we’re letting them grow.

I was surprised to see a sunflower blooming this morning. They are all really quite small plants! From the seeds I’ve seen in the mixes, I expected them to grow much larger.

Another sunflower will be blooming soon! The oats beside it are from the deer feed.

Then there’s whatever this is. Millet, maybe? I don’t know.

There are some other plants that I find myself looking at and wondering; is that from the bird seed? Or is it a weed? :-D

For now, I’m leaving them. We’ll find out soon enough!

The Re-Farmer

What shall I do with you, today?

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Zucchini and sunburst squash I gathered this morning.

Yesterday, I made a sort of hash, first browning potatoes, cubed small, in butter, then adding leek and frying until softened. I cubed sunburst squash, a green zucchini and a grey squash (the lighter coloured, kinda striped, kind of zucchini; our grocery stores label them as grey squash). Once those were cooked until soft, I added seasonings and maybe half a cup of whipping cream. It turned out awesome!

I’m out of cream, though, so I think I’ll just pan fry them in butter with leek.

The Re-Farmer

Full bloom

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A patch of my mother’s flowers that she still constantly asks about is now in full bloom.

These are all about 3 feet tall. Can you make out the two markers hidden in them? That’s where the haskap berries are planted. The flowers are actually cleared away from around them, and they’re still hard to see! :-D

Does anyone know what these are called? I’ve tried using Google Lens on my phone, but the possibilities it offers up have included things like a type of coneflower, and even dandelions!

These pictures were taken yesterday, with the top one taken just as it was starting to rain. By the time I was out again and took the second one, it was bright and sunny again. For all the thunder and winds, we didn’t get much rain at all. More than we have in a while, to be sure, but it’s a good thing I needed to empty the patched rain barrel by the garden, because I still needed to water the squash beds.

I would really like to know what it is about where we live that pushes storm systems away. Watching the weather radar, the storm did not miss us. It passed right over. My mother told me they had a solid downpour at her place, yet we had only a light rainfall.

Microclimates can be strange and perplexing things!

The Re-Farmer

Garden rain barrel, follow up

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This morning, I was a bit late doing the outside part of my morning rounds, having taken the time to finish the second hoop to cover the rain barrel by the sun room.

On checking the rain barrel by the garden, it seemed to be okay, but I did find a very minor leak from one of the larger cracks.

Then I noticed this, beside it.

It’s a bubble of water! The Plasti Dip on the outside it still holding it, but it won’t take long for it to give out.

So I need to empty the barrel, then add more sealant after cleaning and drying it.

I’m out of Plasti Dip, but I did finally find the silicone sealant we’d used to fill the holes in the wall from when the satellite dishes were moved from the side of the house to the roof of the sun room. It’s designed for exterior use, and is what I’d wanted to use at first. So that is what I will use on the inside of the barrel.

For now, though, I think I’m going to shut down the computer as we hunker down. Storms are coming through, and look like they’ll actually hit us this time. So I am expecting to lose our internet completely at some point, and probably at least some power flickers.

The rain is going to be wonderful. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a solid rain.

The Re-Farmer

Ripening

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The grapes are looking so great!

Our first summer here, when we found the grapes among the overgrown spirea, the ripe grapes were barely bigger than the seeds. I was still excited, because… we had grapes! And they made great jelly (this from someone who does NOT like jams and jellies), and still tasted great, straight from the vine.

This year, they look massive in comparison. I am really looking forward to seeing how they are when fully ripe!!

The Re-Farmer

Just One

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This year, I’ve been allowing various things to come up in between the sidewalk blocks by the sun room, instead of taking the weed trimmer to them, to see what is there.

Quite a lot of flowers have come up through the cracks and crevices between the rain barrel and the clothes line platform. Most of them are either the purple bell shaped flowers we’ve got all over the place this year, or a taller plant with bright orange-yellow flowers.

Then, there is this one.

And it is just one. A single stalk with a single flower! I can’t see any other part of the plant.

I don’t know what this is, other than something from the allium family.

What a beautiful little surprise. :-)

The Re-Farmer

So many kitties!

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While I was outside this evening, I found Junk Pile and all three of her kittens, playing in front of the storage house.

When I had the chance, I tried to see if I could get one of them to come close.

It almost worked.

Almost, but not quite! This was as close as little Braveheart would get!

It’s hard to see, but there’s a kitten behind the grapevines in the background. :-)

They love playing on those stairs!

I’ve been keeping that insulator on the steps filled with water lately. Junk Pile and her kittens seem to prefer drinking out of that, over the wider, shallower container by the food dish.

I would love to have stayed longer to try and play with them, but I was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes!

Meanwhile, I had this on my bed…

At first, it was David, Cheddar and Big Rig, but then Keith pushed his way in between and settled in, too!

Gosh, they’re funny.

The Re-Farmer

Garden rain barrel, done!

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This morning, I emptied the can of Plasit Dip on the cracks in the rain barrel.

Yesterday, I found a couple of hoola hoops at a dollar store in town, and this afternoon, I dug out the role of window screen mesh we found while cleaning out the basement. I hadn’t quite figured out how I was going to attach the mesh to the hoops, and decided to just sew it on. The only problem with that was holding the mesh in place, so I ended up applying the WeldBond glue I’ve got to the hoop, then laying the mesh I’d cut to size on top of it.

Made a real mess on my hands, pressing it into place, but thankfully, the glue washes off easily.

After it had set long enough, I then just sewed the mesh on with a needle and thread.

It’s a bit on the light side and I want to figure out how to add weight to it. With the screen directly on the top of the barrel, any weight on the hoop could potentially tear the screen. I’ll probably just put a board across the top.

Here are the areas I sprayed with the Plasti Dip, both inside and out. I even sprayed areas that I wasn’t sure was cracked, or just a deep scratch, just in case.

That big crack at the top? It’s actually sealed. I didn’t think it would work, but with enough layers, it filled the gap! Most of the seal on that one is on the inside layers.

After giving the inside of the barrel a quick rinse, it was time to fill it and test out the seal.

As of tonight, it is completely waterproof. When I do my rounds in the morning, I’ll see if it held up through the night.

I’ll also be able to water the garden using water that has had a chance to warm up, instead of ice cold well water. :-D

The second hoop is currently sitting in the basement with the mesh and some glue. Tomorrow, I’ll use needle and thread to attach the screen securely, then put it over the rain barrel by the sun room. It’ll be nice to use the water from there, and not have my watering can’s head get clogged up with leaves and other debris. :-)

It took a while to get the garden rain barrel to the point it could be filled, but I think it was worth it to keep adding more layers to the cracks, with lots of time in between to cure.

It may not be pretty, but it’ll do the job! And that’s all that matters. :-)

The Re-Farmer