Blowing in

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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.

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It isn’t, anymore. It’s harder to tell in the photo above, but there is ice covering the water in the distance.

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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.

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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

Four more

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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

At the Beach

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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.

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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.

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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

Looks okay

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Just got back from checking on Butterscotch and her kittens.

When I first came in, she and her babies were all cuddled up, and I wasn’t going to disturb her.

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She came out while I was paying attention to Beep Beep, though, so I took advantage of the situation.

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Morning kittens… is this a problem?

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Part of my morning rounds now includes checking on kittens and mamas. I am happy to say that Rosencrantz is showing no signs of wanting to move her kittens anywhere. When I check on her, I stand to the side of the dog house, stick my phone camera into an opening, and try and see through the screen. This morning, Rosencrantz ran out, but she did not go far. I snapped a quick picture, then stepped aside, calling to her a bit. She was comfortable enough to go back in to her kittens.

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I still have some hope of being able to bring Rosencrantz and her babies into the “maternity ward.”

While visiting with Butterscotch and Beep Beep earlier, they both went into the old kitchen while I topped up their food and water and grabbed the bird and deer feed. Butterscotch even let me pick her up and cuddle her for a bit, before she went back to her kittens, but I’d managed to get a quick picture while she was out.

I am now kind of concerned. And confused. (slight graphic warning)

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Critter of the Day: windy!

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We haven’t seen much of the squirrels for months, but they seem to be back now. This photo was taken and a particularly windy day in April.

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The blowing wind reveals the different layers of colour in the squirrels fur. Hard to believe how dark it is under those red tips.

Clean Up: grape vines – a discovery

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It was a pleasant evening tonight, and I decided to take a walk around the yard, to enjoy the longer daylight.

I go distracted and ended up clearing and trellising the grape vine. Well. A temporary trellis, as least.

I also made a discovery.

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I see you!

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The girls and I made a trip into the city today, and when we got back, I made sure to visit the mamas and kittens in the sun room.

Two of the kittens have their eyes open! The orange and white tabby does not, and I couldn’t see the face of the tuxedo to tell one way or the other.

They are so adorable!!!

In other news, we are finally ready to get the trees done. All of them, not just a half-job. I made the call this morning, and they will come out within the next two weeks.

So two live trees that are putting the house as risk and one dead tree that is a risk of falling onto the power lines will come down completely. Then the power lines will be cleared of branches the whole way. They will be bringing a chipper to do the small stuff, and we will be keeping the wood (there was the option of them taking the wood away, if we wanted).

We’re thinking about what the next big job (money wise, at least) should be a priority. It will mostly likely be to rent a heavy duty chipper for a week, and clear out the piles of branches all over the place. Getting a quote to get the driveway done with fresh gravel is also on the list, but as much as it could use it now, this will likely be a next year thing.

Little by little, we’re getting the job done!

The Re-Farmer