Here is another photo from late April. Our summer birds were starting to come back in quite a rush by then.
We were still putting out the deer fix mix at this point. The deer were already coming by less frequently. Now that we’re in May, we hardly see them at all. There is still evidence that they are coming by – and sometimes I see them going through the driveway gate, on the trail cam. Right now, we are getting massive crowds of these fox sparrows.
Today we were able to head out and do some more aggressive yard work, and I am happy as a clam!
I decided to start on an area in the South yard that we had already started to mulch with leaves in the fall.
Here are the before pictures.
This is the bed that runs between the people gate and the vehicle gate.
I even considered mulching all the way to the fence, as it’s difficult to mow in there, but decided against it for now.
My mother planted some bright yellow flowers in here that self-seed. They did rather well last year, but I was pulling a lot of Virginia creeper out of it, near the Chinese elm. Also, being self seeding, the flowers are sort of spreading in an uncontrolled way.
Here is what it looks like now.
On this end, my mother’s yellow flowers did rather poorly. The Korean lilac shaded it too much, blocking both sun and what little rain we had. It was being taken over by crab grass.
I’m pretty sure that maple is self seeded.
I could see the flowers were already starting to come up, and I think they will find their way through the mulch. If they can do that, however, the Virginia creeper will do so, just as enthusiastically. With the mulch in place, they should be easier to pull up.
We put a big dent in the pile of wood chips in the process! This was before…
This is what it looks like now.
The next area I plan to use these on is on the other side of the sidewalk, between another Chinese elm and the willow that got trimmed. There are white lilacs there that I’d cleaned up around and pruned last year; while there is some kind of greenery growing near the base of the Chinese elm, there were no other flowers or anything. We should be able to finish off the pile of chips in that area. Anything left on the ground where the pile is now will be raked out as mulch, right where it is.
I also got an after picture of the maples removed from overhanging the roof. This is the before photo I had posted previously…
This is what it looks like, now.
That one tree in there that’s leaning waaayyyy over is just funny!
I’m hoping to get that junk around that old shed hauled out of the yard this summer. First, though, we need to get the straw bale used up. It’s rather in the way, where it is now.
I’m so happy to be able to get out and start on all this again! :-D
The Re-Farmer
I’ve got wormy baby pictures for you!
Butterscotch’s babies have been easier to get pictures of; they are old enough that Butterscotch will come out more often.
This is the first picture I’ve been able to get of Beep Beep’s babies, without having to try and get around Mom.
I admit, I did quite a double take when I uploaded the photo and saw that one kitten’s nose.
No. It is not blood or a wound. It is just skin and fur colouration.
*phew*
This next picture was actually taken the evening we had the trees taken down.
I saw Rosencrantz looking very agitated, so I had to check on them.
Note that there is only three in the picture.
I took this next photo, the next morning, while putting the cat kibble out.
Alas. They are gone. :-(
I admit to being part of the problem; while I tried to keep my distance, she was not happy with anyone coming near the dog house. All the noise and activity while the trees were being cleared – especially when they moved the equipment into the south yard – was just too much for her.
I think they are now under the storage house. I’m hoping she found something to serve as a cat cave, because it’s mostly open under there.
It may be weeks before we see this litter again. :-(
Ah, well. Such is life.
Speaking of which…
Our other outside cats have all but disappeared, too! I saw Bob last night, but have seen Doom Guy only in passing (as I write this, I can see him way up on a tree branch). I haven’t seen Big Jim or Rolando Moon in days. In fact, we’ve been seeing the visiting toms more than our own resident cats of late.
I get that, now that the weather is better, the young males in particular will be wanting to explore. It’s just that a lot of the cats we were feeding last winter did the same, and most have not returned.
So while we now have 12 new kittens, we have less adult cats outside. Next year, we can expect much the same to happen again; some will stay, some will disappear.
I’ll just have to keep taking lots of pictures. :-)
The Re-Farmer
Photo heavy post ahead. :-D
It’s about 6 months later than we meant to have it done, but done it is! The trees are now clear from the power lines and the roof.
I was really, really excited to see the chipper they brought in.
Continue readingMy critter of the day photo is late today; I have a whole bunch of photos from the living room camera to go through, but had my computer off until just a little while ago. Just as a precautionary measure. The arborist was in to clear the trees today! I am so thrilled! I’ll be posting photos from that later on. I have lots to go through!
Until then, enjoy the wonderfully maternal Beep Beep and her little wormy babies.
Proud mama!
This morning, I was able to get images of all three litters of kittens!
In the sun room, it was easier to get video than still shots.
All of Butterscotch’s babies have their eyes open now.
You can even hear Butterscotch purring as I took the video! The shake at the end there was her finally pushing her way under my hand to get to her kittens. :-)
Beep Beep seemed really happy to see me. I gave them both treats, right next to them, so they wouldn’t have to leave their babies to eat them. Butterscotch came out anyways, but she is not as into the treats as much as Beep Beep, who started looking for more! :-)
I was so happy to hear Beep Beep purring away as I pet her – and even got to touch one her kittens!
While putting food out for the cats outside, I checked on Rosencrantz as well. She ran off when I came close to the old dog house, so when I put the kibble out, I put some right outside the opening.
It’s not as easy to get pictures of these ones. :-D
By the time I came back from putting the bird seed out, she was happily eating the cat food by her kittens, instead of the food by the house, so I think she appreciated the gesture. :-)
We’re just overflowing with babies! :-D
The Re-Farmer
I swung by the beach this morning, after dropping my daughter off at work. The last time I was there, the water was free of ice.
It isn’t, anymore. It’s harder to tell in the photo above, but there is ice covering the water in the distance.
The lake narrows a bit in this area; enough that we can just see the far side (visible in the top and bottom photos). It extends a considerable distance to the north, and the ice is being blown south.
It was moving so fast, I could see the ice coming closer to the beach, even in the short time I was there. You can even see how much closer it came between this photo, and the one at the top, which were taken less than a minute apart.
For a lake as large as this one, it will take a long time for the ice to clear on all of it.
The Re-Farmer
A photo from late April, of big Jim, just chillin’ in the sun. :-)
I have since moved this old bench, which I had found in, and dragged out of, the underbrush.
On a hunch, I decided to check on the mamas in the sun room just a moment ago.
The new box nest did the trick.
We have four more kittens.
I didn’t have my phone at first, so I missed getting a picture of all of them while Beep Beep came out to eat the treats I brought for them. When I came back, I could only see these two. I wasn’t going to disturb her any more than this, just to get pictures.
She was quite content for me to lift up the blanket and check on her.
What a difference from last year. Both of them kept moving their babies after we figured out where they were, until the kittens were too big and mobile to do it anymore. Now, they are good with me reaching right in and petting them (and, in the case of Butterscotch right now, her babies, too).
That makes 12 kittens in total, unless there is another litter somewhere we don’t know about.
Oh, my melting heart!
The Re-Farmer
My daughter had a short shift today, so once again I stayed in town. I had no errands to run, so it was a good opportunity to play some Pokemon Go. ;-)
One of my regular stops is at a Pokemon gym by the beach, right where access to the ice road is. I saw some vehicles already there as I drove up that seemed out of place, now that there is no ice on the lake.
There were vehicles on the sand.
One turned out to be a little pickup truck, stuck in the sand, and the other a tow truck, there to pull it out.
I waited until they were done and gone before going down to the water.
Today was barely above freezing temperatures, with a wicked wind, so I did not stay out long!
On the way back, I could see this.
You can see how far out the pickup truck had driven onto the beach before the driver decided to back up, then got stuck. It’s back end had sunk right down to the undercarriage.
I can’t for the life of me figure out why someone would do that at all, never mind trying to drive on sand with an ordinary vehicle.
I see strange things while playing Pokemon Go at times! :-D
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 