While it might be hard to get photos of them as they do their upside down thing, the nuthatches otherwise seem rather okay with posing for the camera. Right side up, at least. :-)
The Re-Farmer
Caught ’em
I have finally uploaded the photos from the DSLR today, and some of them even turned out!
And some, I’m just going to make do with the best I got. :-D
The first, is the deer we saw yesterday morning.
This morning, my husband saw two of them, grazing near where we had been leaving feed for them last winter. We’ve started to pick up deer feed instead of the mixed bird seed we tried over the summer (the birds don’t seem to like it as much as the deer feed!) and will start leaving small amounts out for the deer over the next while.
When I told my mother about the deer coming to eat the apples on the ground, she was quite happy. It was not something they used to do, and she’s glad they feel comfortable coming here, now. :-)
One of the things I’ve mentioned before about the birds, is seeing the nuthatches going along upside down. I’ve been trying to get a photo for months. Yesterday, I finally caught one upside down …
I’d say this is the best photo I’ve managed to get, but I think it’s the ONLY photo I’ve managed to get!
They move fast! :-D
I found some other ones I’m happy with that I will post over the next few days. I hope you enjoy them, too.
The Re-Farmer
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Hello, down there
The larger of the orange tabbies now has a name.
Meet Jim.
I’m told there’s a tangential story behind this name. I don’t know what it is. :-D
Jim wasn’t too keen on me coming closer to get his photo, and kept moving around. From here, though, you can see the “platform” the cats like to sit on, to look into the kitchen. This is where this tree had been cut down before. There are also places where I can see larger branches had been cut down, too. And yet, in a remarkably short time, when it comes to growth speed of trees, it is once again overhanging the roof.
Which is why we have decided that it’s going to need to come down completely, to protect the house.
While that will solve one serious problem, taking it down is also going to loose a lot of the shade it provides, which is why it was planted there in the first place.
It also means taking away one of the cats’ favorite spots.
I’m still entertaining the thought of leaving a trunk tall enough to make it a table.
The Re-Farmer
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First Snow
My first market since moving out here – an outdoor market – and this is what we woke up to.
The forecasts were for rain, not snow!
I am so glad we packed the van up yesterday!
While getting ready this morning, I spotted some movement out the living room window, and saw a deer! It was under the apple tree in the above picture, grazing a bit. As I watched (and tried to take photos with the DSLR and the zoom lens; I haven’t uploaded those yet), I saw that it wasn’t just grazing, but looking for fallen apples.
Which confirms why we have no apples on the ground for long. :-)
Before we headed out, my nephew arrived with a friend and a trailer.
Not a trailer for the tractor. Nope.
A trailer for this.
It was the smallest tank he and his friend had access to. It’s water, for the radiator.
They weren’t going to tow it. He was going to drive it. They would just top up the water every few miles.
He was estimating it’ll take him about 10 hours to drive the 100 km back to his place.
At the time we left, however, they still hadn’t been able to start it. They were going to try pull starting it on the road, after we left. It was gone when we came back, so I figured they got it going. Looking at the time right now, he’s probably still about an hour from home! I later saw a photo he’d sent my brother, taken from inside the cockpit, while driving on the gravel road.
Ah, youth! :-D
Meanwhile, the market went on as planned, in the snow. Which, thankfully, did melt away, but it never got warmer than 6C. Much to my surprise, not only did we get a decent number of people coming to the market, but I ended up making my best sales day, since I first started selling my crochet at markets! I made a nice dent in my old inventory, so I will be working on new stuff over the winter. I had several people asking me about other markets I might be in. When I explained I’d only been back for less than a year and this was my first one – and only of the year – I got lots of encouragement to try others in the area. Apparently, no one else does stuff like I’ve got available. Which is interesting, since I sold mostly hats in various styles, with some moebius wraps and high visibility items, made using reflective yarn, thrown in.
My younger daughter came along to help out, (she’s such a sweetheart!!) and she was even able to take part in a Pokemon Go Community Day event. We were in a park on the side of a highway, yet there were still three Pokemon stops in walking distance. Two of them, churches. :-D
I really didn’t know what to expect with this market. There was everything from honey, jams and jellies, to garage sale type stuff, to a freezer full of roasting chickens, to a riding mower and heavy tools. I was really tempted by the earth drill, but I already have a post hole digger that will do what I need. There was even an antique wooden bed frame. Oh, and a Hutterite family had two trailers of stuff in the parking lot; they couldn’t get into the area the other vendors were set up. It is completely surrounded by trees, too close together to drive a vehicle through. We got at least some shelter. This family was in the full brunt of the wind, though they had their own trailers that provided a bit of shelter. I never did get a chance to see what they had, but the family members I spoke to said they did well. I think everyone did rather well.
All in all, it was a good – if chilly! – day.
The Re-Farmer
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How long had this been here?
While walking through the yard with my brother and nephew, we reached the garage, and my nephew noticed this.
Best guess, it’s been hanging there since this side of the garage itself was painted.
I have no idea when this side section was added to the garage, since it happened during my years living in another province. I don’t even know which time I lived out of province it got added on! Suffice to say, probably a couple of decades.
Yeah. It’s still there. At this point, it’s just entertaining. :-D
The Re-Farmer
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To Market We Go
Today, we packed up the van in preparation for a market tomorrow.
It’ll be the first market I’ve done in about 2 years, but I still have my inventory. There’s even a few new pieces in there.
Two bins of inventory, a bin of display and set up items, a bin of hangers, plus three heads to display some hats, 2 small tables (my usual big table is being used in my office as a crafting table cat bed), grid wall, tent, and containers for things like pens, markers, tags, Square reader, and even a box of miniature paintings done by my older daughter. Plus, her tent that I am borrowing, and a couple of chairs. The market will be running for 6 hours, so I will also want to decide on which projects to bring with me to work on in between customers.
I hope it goes well. It feels rather appropriate that my first market in this province is also the first market for this neighboring hamlet.
The Re-Farmer
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Tree ‘shrooms
Well, that was faster than I expected
I had sent photos of the clean up I had done yesterday, to my family. When my brother was out here, working on the tractor, he went into the barn to look around, and found something to use to replace the plastic jug I’d put over the outlet on the fence post.
It worked.
I’ll just have to find something to affix it in a way that will keep it from falling off in inclement weather, but will also allow me to move it easily, to access the plugs.
It never occurred to me to look in the barn; with our focus being on the inner yard, we just don’t go into the barn or out buildings very often.
The Re-Farmer
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Moving Day
There are a couple of old tractors in the outer yard. My late father gave one of them to my nephew. Today, he and my brother came over to try and get it to his place.
The first challenge: getting it out of where it had settled.
They were trying to pull it out with a tow cable, as well as a jack, and whatever they could find for traction. Oh, and take the wasp nest out of the tire rim. !! At one point, as they turned on the tow cable to pull on it a bit, his SUV instead started getting pulled backwards!
They were working on it when I left to visit with my mother. When I came back, several hours later, they were still at it!
But, they did get it out.
Not too shabby, for something that has been sitting for an estimated 25 years!
The plan was to tow it back, but there was a problem with that. It turns out it has hydraulic steering. Which means it needs to be running, in order to steer.
So they had to drive to town to pick up various things needed and, amazingly, they got it started. Then they had to figure out how to shut it off, because turning the key didn’t work. Eventually, my nephew found the choke and was able to turn it off.
What they also discovered, however, was that the coolant was pouring through the manifold. With it running, they might have been able to drive it back (which would have taken all day, because it can only go about 20 miles per hour, max!), but not with it the coolant pouring right out. They’d have to stop and fill it every couple of miles, except they wouldn’t be able to stop, so they were talking about somehow rigging a tank and a hose up, so it could be continually filled…
!!!
Long story short, it didn’t leave today. At some point, my nephew will come back with a trailer. Getting a hold of one that can handle this tractor is a whole other issue!! He just wants to get it to his place before winter sets in, at least.
So, for now, it sits in its new spot.
As for the old spot…
There is a rock pile nearby, so they used what they could find to fill the holes, along with the boards they were using for traction. Eventually, I’ll get some dirt to fill the holes. I wouldn’t want a cow to break its leg or something, if they get through the fence again.
The cows did hang around, watching the goings on, for quite a while! :-D
I’m still amazed they actually got it running. It even had clean oil in it, and good oil pressure! I think my late brother had started working on it a while back, but that would have been about 10 years ago, maybe more.
They don’t make them like this, anymore!
The Re-Farmer
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Whatcha doin’ in there?
My view out the kitchen window, this morning.
He is starting to look so grown up! :-D
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 