Exhausted

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I am so very tired right now, and in a lot of pain.

It was a very good day, though!

One of my goals for the day was to work on the donated cat shelter, which I did get to work on a little bit!

Before I got started, I received a message from my SIL. They, and the guy with the triple axle trailer they hired, were on their way!

I’ll cover the shelter progress, first.

The very first thing I did was remove the last roof panel, then flip the whole thing on its side, to start reinforcing the corners.

In the first photo of the slideshow, you can see how the corners were done. The shelter is upside down in that photo. I added the angled brackets to the inside of each corner. I found I had the flat L shaped plates left over from when my daughter and I reinforced the raised bed covers, and they were perfect for further reinforcement of the corners at the base.

I want to add angled brackets to the inside of the top corners, too, but I’m too broken to go inside the catio to reach. I’ll have to get a daughter to do that for me.

While moving it around, I found that there was some damage from when it fell out of the truck while they brought it to us. In the second photo, you can see where a part of the frame had cracked. Ideally, I would have reinforced it with a metal plate, but I couldn’t find anything I could use, so I went through my scrap wood. I eventually found a piece that would work, and attached it with a combination of wood glue and 1 1/2 inch screws. Part of the piece of wood sticks out beyond the frame piece, but I can saw that off later.

The mesh on the back of the shelter had two holes in it, which were the openings that allowed cats to get into it from a basement window. There were also the remains of a couple of long screws that were used to attach it to the house. The heads were deep in the wood, so it was easier to just break off the pointed ends. Then I used wire cutters on the mesh, just a bit beyond the largest hole.

The mesh is held in place with staples, and I used pliers to pull those out. Quite a few of them were so rusted, they broke off, instead. The wire mesh was pretty rested out in some places, too.

Once the section of mesh was removed, I measured how much new mesh I would need. There was a corner of the mesh rusted out as well, so I want the new wire to wrap around the frame far enough to cover the hole. In total, 6′ of mesh would do.

The rolls I got are only 5′ long.

I don’t want to be cobbling together lengths of mesh from the two rolls. Not only would that leave me with almost nothing to use on the isolation shelter, but any sort of overlap creates a potential escape point, or a weak spot the racoons could get through. The rolls of hardware cloth that I got are wide enough that there will be a decent amount of overlap, horizontally. I don’t want to also have overlap, vertically.

Which means, I need to find longer rolls of hardware cloth, and that starts to get expensive.

*sigh*

So for now, the repairs need to wait.

Meanwhile, back to the load that came this morning!

It took them about an hour to get here, and the hired guy arrived first.

There were two tractors on his trailer. One was a small tractor with a front end loader. The other was a McCormick that looked very, very familiar.

Yes, it was the one I remembered from my childhood! When I asked about it, I was told that something had broken down on it and my dad told my brother, if he could fix it, he could keep it.

He fixed it, and it’s been working ever since.

The McCormick was very carefully loaded directly over those triple axles!

My brother and his wife had their trailer loaded, too, but the first order of business was to unload the tractors. The front end loader, which had its bucket resting on the gooseneck of the trailer, had to be pushed forward first, then the McCormick pushed towards the front of the trailer, until the fold out ramps were clear. Once that was done, it was a relatively easy thing for my brother to drive it off. The tractor with the front end loaded took a bit more work, though. Partly because it turns out there’s a trick to getting it started and staying running. It also needed to be driven off in reverse, which got tricky over those ramps!

Once that was done and the tractors parked by a shed near the barn, my brother’s trailer needed to be unloaded. One of the things they unloaded was a snow blower attachment for the tractor they brought over last time.

Do you hear that sound?

That’s the sound of my heart going pitter patter.

We might not have to try and keep the driveway clear with little Spewie this winter!

For those new to this blog, Spewie is a 20′ electric snow blower. Actually, I believe it’s marketed as an electric snow shovel. Either way, it’s very small, and we’ve really put it through a lot over the last few winters!

Not that any of us would be setting up and using my brother’s tractors and snow blowers. At some point, he might be able to take the time to show us how, but none of this stuff is straightforward when it comes to using them!

My brother did have something for us in the back of this truck, though.

He brought us a hose that we can use as a diverter for when the septic expeller is being worked on, so we can still use the plumbing in the house. The septic guy was supposed to swing by this evening, and I was going to talk to him about that – they might be able to hook up the pipe in the basement and get it through the foam filled opening in the wall. Once that’s through, it can be set up to this, and drain into the maples.

It’ll stink, but that’s a trade off we’re quite okay with!

Meanwhile…

There was other equipment that needed to be unloaded then, as soon as they were done, they rushed off again. The guy they hired was hoping to do three loads today!

They didn’t manage three loads.

The second load on the triple axle trailer included a square baler, larger than the one that was brought over before, and a hay cutter. Those two things filled the entire trailer!

A tractor was needed to pull the baler off, and they ended up strapping the hay cutter to the bucket on the front end loader, to lift it off the side.

Once that trailer was unloaded, the hired guy and his assistant left. On this trip, my SIL wasn’t able to come along, so it was just my brother and I to unload their trailer.

This trailer was why it was the last trip of the day. It took a lot to get the stuff on – and it was just three things! The hired guy had to use a Bobcat to load it.

We don’t have a Bobcat here. Our vandal still has that and has no intention of returning it, even though there are still parts and attachments, here.

One thing on the trailer was pretty easy to unload. My brother and I could lift it off together. The others needed to be dragged off with a tractor. One of them had to be pulled off sideways, and sections of it got caught on parts of the trailer, requiring another tractor to be used to pull it back again. The front end loader was once again pressed into action, to try and lift it off the end of the trailer, since there was no way it was going to slide down the ramps.

When it finally came off, the same parts that were getting caught on the trailer slammed into a corner of the tractor, punching straight into the radiator.

It’s going to have to be replaced entirely.

Considering how old this tractor is, that’s going to be a challenge. My brother is very good at hunting down parts that aren’t made anymore, though, so I hope it won’t be too difficult to find.

There was still one more piece of equipment on the trailer that had to be taken off. It was a bit easier, but this was a very old piece of equipment, with old and partially rotted wood, with parts attached, that broke off completely in the process. Still, my brother was able to get it off and parked. All of this equipment is being tucked away where there is space. Once the biggest of the items is here, which won’t be until next month, my brother will move things around in an organized way.

It’s a shame so many things were broken or damaged in the process, though.

Meanwhile, we can expect another load on the triple axle trailer next weekend, too!

My poor brother, though. I helped as much as I could, but some things, I just physically can’t. Plus, at one point, he tripped and, while he didn’t fall, I think he did hurt himself. He never complains, though.

All this took so long that, once it was finally done, he had to rush off home again.

I did manage to finally get a hug in, though!

I think he really needed one by then, too!

I don’t know how much more they will be bringing out here. I had thought they might sell off some of the equipment, but I’m starting to think they’re keeping it all, and just bringing it here!

This will actually be of great help to us, in the long term. A lot of this is the sort of equipment my parents had here before, that disappeared. Maybe not so many tractors, though. At least, not that I know of.

The outer yard is going to get very crowded!

More reason to get the scrap company out here to take out the junk vehicles and the old threshing machine.

I have got to remember to call them back tomorrow. It’s not too much of a rush. There are some things I know can go now, but with others, I need to go looking at them with my brother, first, so he can confirm with me, what can go and what stays.

Little by little, it’s getting done!

The Re-Farmer

Our 2024 Garden: grapes getting there, and a bit of a harvest

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As part of my morning rounds today, I checked on the grapes, got a bit of a harvest, and did some watering, as we were expecting to get very warm today.

The first picture above shows how dark some of the grapes are starting to get. There are still more green than purple grapes, but they are coming along!

Though I’d picked quite a lot yesterday, I still was able to pick some beans and Forme de Couer tomatoes this morning. We are at that stage with these tomatoes where a lot of people pick them to finish ripening indoors. We don’t have the space for that, but I try to pick as many as I can, just to reduce the weight on the vines. I’m going to have to snag one or both of the girls tomorrow morning to help add more supports to some of the vines and stakes. We were actually supposed to do that today, but other things happened, instead!

That will be a topic for my next post, though.

Yesterday evening, I did go through the tomatoes that I could reach (not very many, among the Black Cherry vines!) and the trellised melons and pruned their tops. This should trigger the plants to focus more on ripening their fruit, rather than trying to grow more of them. I probably should have done that a while ago.

Only 7 more days (not counting today) before our first average frost. There are people in one of my zone 3 gardening groups that are expected to get frost tonight!

We have no way to cover the squash, trellised melons or tomatoes. The only beds we’d be able to cover is the eggplant and hot pepper bed, and the bell peppers in the high raised bed. We just might be able to cover the melon bed that isn’t trellised, too, but anything we use would be resting directly on the plants.

We’ll have to watch the forecast closely. If it comes down to the wire, we might have to just harvest everything early. I pray it doesn’t come to that!

Just a few more frost free weeks, please!!!

The Re-Farmer

Cat colony madness

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Today turned out to be very long and busy, but for I get into that, in another post, I wanted to share this photo of Sad Face.

AKA Shop Towel.

Some time ago, he showed up with his cheek badly injured, a flap of skin torn off and hanging. While he would sometimes allow me to pet him while he was eating, he wouldn’t let me get a good look at him, and certainly not anywhere near the injury. For weeks, he’s had a piece of dead skin dangling off his face, but that finally fell off a few days ago.

This picture is one of the best looks I’ve been able to get of it for quite a long time. There’s no doubt that he’s going to have a massive scar there, but it seems to be closing up and healing well.

That cat is indestructible!

After I got this picture, while he and the other cats had gathered around for breakfast, I tried for a head count.

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

My first count was 44.

That’s right. Forty Four!

My second count was 37, and then 40, but I’m pretty sure that first count was accurate, and that some cats hid on me when I tried counting again.

One of these mornings, I should try to count just kittens and just adult cats. Not an easy task, but it would give me a better idea of how many of the adult cats have disappeared over the summer.

That is totally insane and unsustainable.

The rescue is helping us as much as they can, but with so few people adopting or donating for spays and neuters, there’s only so much they can help with.

Meanwhile, the girls just updated me on how treating and feeding eye baby went. I was just too exhausted and in too much pain to help out tonight. His eye still looks really horrible, but is definitely getting better. We have some plain eye drops – the same that’s used on humans for dry eyes – that we can at least use on the messed up eye. It doesn’t seem to be bothering him or slowing him down in any way, and he is just as active and playful as any of the other kittens. A real trooper!

Given that he is a descendent, direct or otherwise, of Shop Towel, I suppose that’s not a surprise!

I also got some updated on Button from the Cat Lady. Not only have they had to put a bell on him, but now have post it notes all over the place, including the bottom freezer drawer on their fridge, reminding people to check for Button before closing things. He’s just way too tiny!

There is a possible cause for this, though I am just guessing. He has been dewormed and massive amounts of them are being cleared out of his system and into his litter box. She’s never seen anything like it before!

Just a little bit longer and, as long as there isn’t any sudden backing out on the arrangement, he’ll be ready to go to his forever home.

The Re-Farmer

Morning harvest, kitty cuddles, and a lovely day

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It has been a bit longer than usual since I’ve actually done a morning harvest. With all the stuff going on for the past while, I lost track of time! I do try to harvest at least every other day. Since I’m in the habit of taking pictures what I harvest, unless it’s just one or two tomatoes or something like that, I checked the dates on my photos. Turns out, I haven’t done a harvest in 4 days!

Well, I got a pretty good one, this morning!

In the photo are a few San Marzano tomatoes at the top, some black cherry tomatoes, and a nice bunch of Forme de Couer tomatoes. I had to battle some very spiky stems to reach those G Star patty pan squash! With the beans, there are all three varieties in there, including a very decent amount of the Royal Burgundy bush beans – but this is the first time I picked any of the green Seychelle beans from the main garden area, and not just from the trellis over the Crespo squash. I had planted some Seychelles in the gaps where the purple Carminat beans failed to germinate, but I think only 3 Seychelle germinated. However many there were, there’s only one plant left, and it’s finally producing beans!

Among the Carminat beans, I found a couple that had gotten too big to harvest; they would no longer be tender, so I left them on the vine. There probably isn’t time enough, but who knows. They might fully mature and give me a few seeds I can plant next year! This is definitely a variety that grows well here, and we do enjoy them, so we do want to grow them again.

Of course, along with checking on the garden, I checked on the kitties. After setting the food out, I tried to do a head count.

I counted 34 cats and kittens.

*sigh*

I don’t even want to think of how many there would be, if we hadn’t lost so many kittens this year, and at least one adult. There are other adult cats that I haven’t seen in a while, but they may come back and stay for the winter. Some of them, anyhow.

Eye baby is pretty active among the kittens, but also has her favourite place to hang out, in the cat cage.

Which she can’t do right now, because I took that cat bed out to give it a wash!

So she made do on the blanket, instead.

Her cuddle buddy doesn’t seem to care, either way! This bigger kitten seems to be rather protective of eye baby.

Or just likes to use her for a pillow.

~~~~~ pause for interruptions and treating of eye baby~~~~~

I’m back!

We just gave eye baby her daily dose of antibiotics, and a feeding of cat soup from the modified bottle. I did something a bit different, this time.

I remembered we were gifted one of those mixers, where you can make individual size smoothies or whatever. I used that to make the cat soup. It worked. We had zero issues of bits paté clogging the nipple.

Why didn’t we think of this before? 😄

I still don’t know what to make of that eye. I think it’s getting better overall, but I also still think the eye itself is lost.

Oh, and we have determined something else. At least I did, only just now, when I let eye baby back out in the sun room.

She, is a he.

The girls had been able to determine that when they took care of the cats outside recently. A couple of the kittens, including eye baby, decided to roll onto their backs and give a good view. The other kitten was female, but eye baby is definitely a little boy.

But I am getting ahead of myself!

Aside from my usual morning routine, I had a day “off” today. A friend of mine from another province is in town right now, and we had a lunch date!

After getting one of the girls to distract the outside cats away from the truck with some treats, I headed to town a bit early. There was a store I wanted to check out, but I didn’t find what I was looking for. What I did get, however, was clear Gorilla tape. That will be very useful in setting the “greenhouse” around the eggplant and hot pepper bed. I’m hoping that the two clear shower curtains, or the two clear table protectors, with be long enough to go all the way around the box frame, and I had been wondering how I would join them together. This should be strong enough to hold.

I then went to the dollar store and ended up getting a several packages of angle braces that can be used to reinforce the donated cat shelter, instead of the triangle blocks of wood I was intending to use. These would be much better for the size of wood the shelter is made out of. I also got a few more things to use on the shelters, plus new sonic deer/wildlife screamers for the truck. I was down to one, and they’re not much good if there isn’t a pair of them.

I had just finished putting them on the truck and started heading to where we had arranged to meet, when my friend caught up with me. Perfect timing!

We had intended to go to a fish ‘n chips place for lunch, at 1pm, that had reopened recently. They’d had a fire some time ago, and it took quite a long time to get things up and running again, and I wanted to see the renovations. They were so incredibly busy, though, we barely got in the door, and saw that every table was full (granted, there isn’t room for a lot of tables anyhow) with lots of people waiting to place orders at the counter. So we left and walked up the block to a Thai place. I’d thought this place had closed and moved to the city, but I guess they’d opened a second location, instead. I haven’t been there in years, but my friend has been going there regularly since she’s been in town.

We have a very lovely, quiet, lunch, with excellent service!

It was really great to be able to sit and talk and get all caught up with each other.

After lunch, we just walked around and went to different places, checking out the marina and the local art club’s art gallery, and stopping at other restaurants for her to collect take out menus for her mother, who still lives out here. One place didn’t have any take out menus and the guy I asked said it was all their website, but her mother isn’t online, so that was of no use for her!

Town was really busy, as a lot of people use this long weekend to close up their cottages for the winter, and spend one last weekend on the beach before their kids go back to school. It wasn’t too bad, really, but neither of us enjoy crowds! All in all, though, we spent a couple of hours just hanging out together, and it was grand!

After we finally said our goodbyes – we may or may not have a chance to get together before she has to leave – I made a quick stop at the grocery store before going home. My husband has a birthday this month, so we’ll be doing things for him over the next week or so. We never celebrate birthdays on the actual day. 😄

I picked up some snacks he likes for now, and the girls tucked away the ice cream I got for later. My younger daughter plans to bake him a cake. His take out meal of choice was Chinese food, and I confirmed their hours while I was in town and got a fresh take out menu, just in case anything had changed.

They don’t have a website. 😄

We will be able to do the take out on Tuesday – after the long weekend is over!

It looks like I’m going to be doing a lot of running around over the next couple of weeks. We’ve got not only my husband’s birthday stuff going on, but the girls and I are taking my mother out to a nature reserve as part of her 93rd birthday celebrations – sort of. My mother said she didn’t want any fuss for her birthday this year, but she did want an outing to the nature reserve with my daughters, so we’re going to do both. Then there’s at least one appointment for my mother that I will be driving her to, and hopefully another in her home with the home care guy. My husband has to get to a lab for some bloodwork. I will hopefully see my friend one more time before she leaves. I also need to get back to the town my mother lives in to pick up kibble and lysine at the feed store, and will likely be back another day to pick up the clear plastic roofing material I’d ordered from the hardware store.

All of that in just the first two weeks of September, and I’m sure I’m forgetting something!

Meanwhile, I still don’t have the date for the spay/neuter the rescue has set up for us! I’ll have to contact her again. They’ve been insanely busy, too.

A couple of weeks from now, we should have someone coming in to excavate and repair the expeller on our septic system.

This is going to be a really crazy month!

After that, things should settle down, though.

I hope!

Pretty much all of this is good stuff, though, so no complaints!

The Re-Farmer

Stock up Shopping: This is what $825 total looks like

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I am so, so tired.

I’m really not sure why. I got sleep. It could very well be just the accumulation of things. The end of the month always involves a lot of running around, but this month we had a few extra stressed thrown in – both positive and negative stresses, but stresses, nonetheless.

Still, that’s just a guess on my part.

The morning was pretty typical. I wasn’t in any rush to get to the city, and did my morning rounds as usual. Then I grabbed the bag of ice packs and headed out. I didn’t even need to stop for a bit of gas along the way, as I’d put a bit in while in town yesterday, before meeting up with the Cat Lady and bringing home the donated cat shelter. It did mean I was below half a tank when I got to the Costco gas station, and filling up was the first thing I did. Regular gas at Costco was $128.9/L Everywhere else was either $1.379 or $139.9 It still cost me $80.94 to fill the tank!

Before I went to Costco, though, I did make a stop for breakfast (it was well past 10 by the time I reached the city). I decided to stop at a mall and try the food court, since the last time I tried to have food at Costco, I couldn’t eat it. My complete intolerance for spice heat in food means I can’t even have the Costco chicken strips meal. I figured, the food court would have more choices.

I can’t remember how long it’s been since I’d gone into this mall, but it was long enough that the food court was completely different, with mostly different vendors. I ended up going for Chinese food. A 3 item meal was quite a bit more expensive than where I got Chinese food last time, in the international grocery store, a few days ago! I was, however, able to get a taro bubble tea with it. I don’t think I’ve had bubble tea since before we moved out here! If I have, it’s only been once, and years ago, but I don’t remember having even seen somewhere to get bubble tea since we’ve moved.

The total bill for my breakfast was $24.62. It was good, but I don’t know that is was worth the price, to be honest.

Since I was in the mall and the food court was right next to a Dollarama, I checked that out before leaving. I ended up getting two more table protector sheets – the ones I got earlier are meant to protect the eggplant bed, but these will be to actually use on our dining table. I got some hemp rope that will be used to make scratching posts inside the cat shelters, and a small paint roller that will be used to paint the donated cat shelter’s wire mesh. Last of all, I found a cat toy that I wanted to see if the cats would actually like. It’s got the captured jingle ball, but it’s quite small and on a rocker base that, for the most part, can right itself, plus some feathers on a string out the top. The question of whether they like it is mostly due to its small size.

They like it. If I find more like it, I definitely will pick up more.

The total bill at Dollarama was $19.32

Then, it was off to get gas and do the shopping.

Since I already got some kibble at the feed store, and will be getting more later, the only cat food I needed to get today was for the inside cats. So it was just a couple of bags of kibble, plus wet cat food and puppy pads. The rest was for us humans!

I did get the pet supplies on a separate bill. This is what both bills together, $735.23, looks like.

Well, kinda. Quite a few things are hidden in the image.

The pet supplies receipt is on the bottom. Two cases of wet cat food, two 9kg bags of kibble and one box of puppy pads. Grand total: $182.51

The stuff for ourselves totaled $552.72, but this did include some more expensive purchases that are not at all usual. One of those is something that’s hidden in the photo above. I got a shop light, which cost $39.99 Now that both basements are cat free zones, we’ll be setting the workshop up again, including the giant self healing cutting mat that is currently covering the dining table. My husband will be bringing some of his leatherworking supplies down there. The light will be hung above the work table.

We got a flat of Coke Zero, but the other unusual thing we picked up was a flat of Monster energy drinks, in three flavours. Both my daughters and I drink them, so I figured it would be worth trying a case. That was $44.99.

The other “bottom of the basket” stuff includes a bag of flour – we weren’t out, but at $9.99, I grabbed one, as flour is rarely such a good price, even at Costco. I got a bucket of ghee, as we were getting low – it’s not the same as what we got before but, for the amount, the price is still insanely better than elsewhere. There’s a 9 pack of pasta, two flats of eggs (60 eggs), frozen perogies and toilet paper.

Along with those, there are packages of pork chops, fresh sausages, a panini variety pack and – a treat for the girls – a package of fresh pink salmon! Salmon is usually extremely expensive, but there were three or four salmon in there, for only $24.09. Usually, we’d pay that much for a single frozen fillet, and not a very big one!

I got another 3 pack of Spam for the pantry, and a 3 pack of all beef wieners. There is a big jar of mayonnaise and another of peanut butter. I got a 2 pack of rye bread, and two 2 packs of tortilla wraps. I also got their last 2 pack of hot dog buns. Not enough for the amount of wieners I got, but the shelf was empty. The only reason I got the one package was because someone left it in with another type of bread.

There are also blocks of mozzarella and Old cheddar cheese, plus two 4 packs of cream cheese. My daughter wants to do some baking! There are 5 pounds of butter, a 1L of whipping cream and a 2L of lactose free milk. There are a couple of 2 packs of salad mixes, and finally there are containers of ibuprofen, acetaminophen and house brand lactase.

Both Costco bills together came to $735.23

There were a couple of things on my list that I couldn’t find, though, so I decided to hit a nearby Walmart before leaving the city. I chose to go to the Walmart only because it was physically easier to get to and from than my other options.

I ended up getting more!

Click on the images to see them full size.

One of the things I was looking for was zucchini, for my daughter’s baking. We don’t have enough summer squash in the garden for the amount she needs. The other thing was soy milk. I got the lactose free milk, but my daughters had requested soy milk, and I couldn’t find any at Costco.

The big winner were the bags of salad mix. They were only $3.77 each – normally, they’d be closer to $6, even at Walmart, and closer to $7 locally. I try to get one bagged salad for each of us – it’s just easier that way – but they only had three bags left of the Mexican Corn mix. My husband likes Caesar salads, so I got one of those for him. I also got four bags of Maple Bourbon mix.

I grabbed another 12 pack of mac and cheese, as it was only $8.97. Those usually cost closer to $13, or even $15. There’s a small wheel of brie, a couple of baguettes, and a small charcuterie mix of meats. I’d like to have another charcuterie and Columbo night, this time with both girls, now that my older daughter has hit her commissions deadlines. I got more hot dog buns, so we now have more than enough for the amount of wieners I got at Costco. Last of all, I got myself a cold energy drink for the drive home.

By the time I was ready to go through the checkout lane, I was pretty exhausted. I found a lane with just one cart ahead of me, being unloaded. It was two women, shopping together. One was talking to the cashier while the other was finishing emptying the cart.

As I started unloading my own cart, both women were starting to talk to the cashier, who was no longer scanning their items.

The cashier was trying to hard sell them a Walmart credit card.

And I do mean HARD selling!

Every time one of the women would say no, the cashier would be, Oh, but there’s this benefit, or this feature, or no fees… The women kept saying no, but also listening politely to the cashier, who just kept pushing them to get this credit card, waving around this printout she had with the details…

… and not scanning their purchases.

This went on for quite a while before I finally asked, “should I be going to another lane?” The woman looked at me, and I added, “I’m tired. If this is going to take a while, should I just go to another lane?”

The cashier tired to push the card in them again, the women said no again, and finally the cashier put away the sheet and started scanning their stuff again.

It took maybe a minute for them to finish after that.

When the cashier started scanning my stuff, I got no greeting at all. She basically ignored me until she was done…

… then tried to sell me on their credit card.

Funny. When I said no, she didn’t try to hard sell me on it.

Then, for some reason, when I tried to pay for my purchase by inserting my card into the machine, I got a message saying, customer canceled transaction. I hadn’t touched anything but the bottom of the machine as I pushed the card in. At least I don’t think I did. Given how tired I was, it’s entirely possible my hand slipped and I hit a button, but I don’t think so. She resent the total to the machine and I scanned the chip, instead, and it worked fine after that.

Grand total was $90.11

I was more than happy to be out of there.

So the grand total for stock up shopping, both Costco and Walmart, was $825.43

Add in the gas and the Dollarama purchase, and it totaled $925.60 Plus my breakfast, $950.22

Ouch.

I was very happy to be leaving the city after that. Thank God I won’t have to do this again until next month!

Unfortunately, that nice cold energy drink I got did not accomplish much.

It’s an hour’s drive to the city, plus the driving time inside the city itself. After about half an hour, my exhaustion was starting to catch up on me.

By about 45 minutes, I was looking all over for a place I could safely pull over. I was feeling so tired, I started to be afraid to blink, because my eyes did not want to stay open!

In the end, I wasn’t able to pull over until I reached the intersection outside of the town nearest us, with a gas station. I went in to use the washroom, bought a couple of small things to pay for the toilet paper I used 😉, then messaged my family to let them know where I was, and that I was going to close my eyes for a bit. I was only about 25 minutes from home, but I was just not safe to drive.

Once back in the truck, I cracked the windows open a bit, leaned my seat back and closed my eyes. I had the radio going which, with the engine off, turns itself off after 10 minutes. I turned it back on again once. I also had to close the windows on one side of the truck, as it started to rain and the wind was coming in from that side, blowing rain into the cab.

I didn’t think I’d slept much, but then my phone started to ring. It was my husband, giving me a wake up call.

An hour had gone by!

Before I got off the phone, I asked if someone could open the gate for me so I could drive straight in, and then set off for home.

When I got home, both girls were waiting for me by the house. Once I was backed up to the house, they ordered me to go inside and lie down, then started to unload the truck.

I went to the bathroom before going to lie down, which is when I first heard it.

Thunder.

By the time I got back to the entry, it was pouring rain. My younger daughter was outside, unloading the truck to my older daughter at the door. My older daughter asked if I could take over while she ran upstairs to close the window by their computer!

So I took over door duty, grabbing the remaining stuff my younger daughter was bringing over. She was laughing gleefully, while getting completely soaked!

Then, as quickly as it hit us, the rain was gone!

The girls took care of everything else while I tried to lie down, but sleep would not come.

Mostly because I had a very persistent Potato Beetle, demanding attention.

He does this by reaching out and grabbing and arm or hand or face, with a single, sharp claw!

One of my daughters rescued me but, by then, I needed to eat something, anyhow.

The rest of my evening has been one of recovery, while the girls take over things. As I write this, they just finished feeding the outside cats and tending to eye baby.

It’s almost 8pm right now, and I think as soon as I finish this, I’m going to try going to bed for real this time!

I am so, so tired.

The Re-Farmer

Our 2024 Garden: squash, melons and pumpkin progress – and my little follower! Also, eye baby update

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After my last post, I intended to grab something to eat, then head outside and see what I could get done while the light was still good.

As an aside, after I published my last post, I hit the AI “generate feedback”. It had the usual, break up your paragraphs, include photos, etc. – then at the very end, it included an encouraging statement about making sure I ate regularly! Too funny!

So, for the AI, should I do that again: this post is going to have Instagram slideshows of photos. Lots of them.

I didn’t get outside as quickly as I intended, however. I had started to make a meal for myself when my daughter came down and asked if I wanted to do charcuterie and Columbo with her.

Heck yes!

My husband doesn’t like charcuterie, and his back can’t handle sitting in the living room for long, so the food I had started to cook because his supper, instead. 😄

My older daughter wasn’t able to join us either; she’s been up all night and all day, busting her butt, trying to get several commissions finished before her end of the month deadline. She did come down and grab a plate to take upstairs, though.

My younger daughter and I quite enjoyed the Columbo episode. It was a season 4 episode, and they were hour long movies at this point of the series.

By the time we were done, there was still light out, so I did my evening rounds, then remembered to take progress photos of all the squash, pumpkins, gourds and melons, with my hand in most of the shots, for perspective.

For some reason, though, Instagram turned my most of the photos upside down when they were shared. They were not upside down when I uploaded them! I also make extra sure when I’m taking the photos, that the camera on my phone hadn’t flipped orientation. It does that way too often.

With that caveat, let’s start with the Crespo squash bed.

There are more of them now, even after losing some! The darkest green one that’s bumpy is the oldest one. They are supposed to get really huge, though, but I’ll take a little one, too!

The second last photo in the slideshow (which is upside down) is in a cherry tree. The last one, also upside down, is one I couldn’t reach to have my hand in the shot. This one is in the A frame pole bean trellis.

Next are the Summer of Melons blend melons in the east bed. I had to split these up into three slideshows to fit them all, even with having multiple melons in some photos.

Still none of them are ready for harvest!

Next are the pumpkins, plus the drum gourds.

Why, Instagram? Why are these upside down?

The only drum gourd we’ve got that was getting bigger seems to be wilting away. There are other small ones on the vines, but none seem to be getting bigger.

It would have been really nice to have at least one drum gourd of a decent size! Ah, well.

Next up, more upside down images of the East winter squash bed.

The fourth photo in – the pale yellowish one – is one I was sure was dying off, but it seems that colour is what it’s actually supposed to be – and it’s starting to develop a textured surface. I hope it matures enough that we can identify the variety.

Here is the West bed of winter squash.

Once again, all upside down!

I’m fascinated by the weird lumpy shape of the squash in the second last photo!

The West melon bed was split up into two slideshows.

Also, upside down.

The first photo is all Summer of Melons blend, as is the second photo. There are actually two melons in that photo; the second one is hard to see, in the back. After that, it’s Sarah’s Choice and Pixie melons.

This set is all Sarah’s Choice and Pixie melons, with our one remaining Cream of Saskatchewan watermelon. The others that started to grow all died off. The one survivor is getting big – and looks more like a squash than a watermelon!

This image from the Heritage Harvest website is what they’re supposed to look like, when fully mature. The one I’ve got not only looks much lighter in colour, with no dark stripes, but seems to be developing ribs.

Considering I pre-germinated the melons after I’d started the winter squash, it’s not possible that I got the seeds and seedlings mixed up. No other seeds I started look like watermelon seeds, either.

Very curious!

While I was fighting my way around leaves and stems – and fighting off mosquitoes! – I had a little entourage following me around. It was all adult cats, except for this little cutie.

I don’t know why this one kitten has decided to follow me around the garden, but it does make me happy when I see it! I was even able to pick it up and carry it for a little while.

By the time I was done my evening rounds, and getting the photos, it was getting time to give eye baby her medication. We got everything ready, including the modified bottle with cat soup in it. When I came inside, I couldn’t see eye baby anywhere, but when I went out again to look for her, I quickly found her.

She started running towards the sun room from the shelters as soon as she heard me going through the old kitchen doors!

She was purring before I even picked her up!

She most definitely is enjoying these evening ministrations. Which is rather surprising, considering we wrap her up in a towel, dose her with medications, then get the fur around her eye wet, while moistening the … whatever it is… over her eye, and trying to rub the area around her eye as clean as we can first.

She also likes that modified bottle feeding, even though it gets pretty messy at times! No matter how much we mash up the cat food in the water/lysine mix, there’s always bits that manage to clog the modified nipple opening. Sometimes, it unclogs unexpectedly and she gets sprayed all over her mouth with cat soup! Even wrapped in a towel, it end up all over her neck and chest, too. It doesn’t seem to bother her one bit.

She does let us know when she’s done, though.

I still don’t know what to say about how her eye is doing. The swelling of the eyelids has gone down, but not completely. The swollen inner lids seem to be covering the eyeball, and the eye is still bulging out of its socket, though not at much. As we were tending to her, my daughter did see her attempt at blinking, and the eye does move, as if she’s trying to look from side to side.

For now, all we can do is keep up with the antibiotics the rescue provided for us, and giving her the supplemented cat soup. It doesn’t seem to be bothering her, she can obviously see out the other eye that is healed up, and she is quite active and playful.

Time will tell, I guess.

The Re-Farmer

So… Costco didn’t happen

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Okay, so after confirming that we didn’t have any flat tires this morning, then getting diverted with a trip to town before doing to the city, the trip to Costco has been dropped entirely for today.

When the Cat Lady and her husband caught up with me, I could see why they had to much trouble with the catio! With her husband’s short box truck, it was leaning against the tail gate. It is really quite light. No wonder it got blown off! They did get a strap for it, though, and ended up giving me the strap after it was transferred to our truck. She also gave me four bags of kitten food that fussy little Button won’t eat!

They’ve had to put a bell on him. He’s so tiny, he kept going missing!

I still used one of my new straps, along with the tarp and some bungee cords to secure it. The catio just barely fit into the box of our truck, between the fenders on the sides, and the rolled up cover by the cab and the tail gate. I did have to slightly bend the remaining roof panel to squeeze it forward, so we could close the tailgate.

The second photo shows it unloaded behind our garage.

The Cat Lady hoped we could at least use the parts and pieces. They’ve had this catio for a while. As we unloaded it, I did see that one corner on the bottom will need to be reinforced. The wind tore off part of one of the fabric cat beds, but my younger daughter is pretty sure she has some heavy duty fabric she can replace it with.

The mesh has a hole in the back that had been the entry through their basement window in their old house. That will need to be patched. It’s the same half inch hardware cloth that I just picked up for the isolation shelter I’m building, and we’ll have enough to patch that up.

I’m surprised that the wire is just held in place with staples! Definitely something heavier duty than what we’ve got. Any time I’ve tried to staple something like this down, the staples tend to pop out again, easily. I was a bit surprised to see that those shelves are just “floating”. They are attached to the wire only, not the frame!

You can see that there is some rust on the wire, too. Once we reinforce the corners and do any other fixes or modifications, we’ll give the whole thing a paint job. If the wire needs to be painted, though, I think I’ll go for black, so it’ll be easier to see through the wire.

We might add a second latch on the door, near the bottom, as it’s bowing out in that corner – reinforcing the frame should fix that. Racoons can figure out how to open those latches, though, so we’ll probably look for something different.

By this time, it was past noon, so instead of going to Costco, I went to my mother’s town and the feed store to pick up 40 pound bags of cat food for the outside cats. While there, I asked about lysine. The guy I spoke to before was there, and he said he found some in 1 pound buckets, so he got two of them for me. They will arrive on Tuesday (after the long weekend).

I was going to get 4 bags of cat food, but they had only 3 in stock. I paid for those, but when the guy went to get the bags to load into the truck, there were only two left on the shelf. More will be coming on Tuesday. I was going to come back for the lysine and another bag of cat food, anyhow, so I’ll get the bag that’s already paid for at the same time. The two bags I got are equivalent to four of the Kirkland brand I get at Costco, so we’ll be good for a while.

That done, I decided to swing by the hardware store. They also carry roofing supplies and materials, so I asked about clear roof panels. They don’t carry them in stock, but they do special order them. After looking at my options, I went ahead and ordered two 3’x8′ panels. They will be cut in half cross wise, and will be enough for both cat shelters, so I won’t be using the salvaged metal roof pieces that I was expecting to use. They couldn’t say exactly when the panels will come in, but will call me. At best, they might even be in by Tuesday, too.

Once home, unloaded and settled, I phoned the septic company that charges by the hour, to arrange to get the septic expeller area fixed. They won’t be able to come out for a couple of weeks, unfortunately, but the owner is going to be in the area on Monday. He will be swinging by to look at the area on Monday evening.

The good thing is, the renter’s cows are no longer here, so we can move the electric fence and chain away from the vehicle opening in the fence by the barn. It’s wide enough for heavy equipment. I should probably head out there in advance, with the extended pole pruning saw, and cut away the willow branches overhanging the expeller.

I was going to do it with the loppers, but I’m not tall enough.

So today turned out to be not at all as I expected it to be, but I don’t mind. We now have the ratchet straps and tie downs we meant to get for the truck kit anyhow. The tarp did get damaged by wind during the drive home, but it’s repairable.

More importantly, we have a cat shelter that can be used until the isolation shelter I’m building is finished. I plan to use some of the wood lath I have to reinforce the wire mesh, because I don’t trust staples, along with any other repairs it needs. Then we can move it closer to the house. Probably on the patio blocks under the kitchen window, so we can see it, though we’ll need to find somewhere else for a wood bench and the swing bench, if we put it there.. The clear plastic roof panels can be added, and any painting can be done, after it’s been moved. Once it’s in place, we can leave the door open and allow the cats and kittens to enjoy it. That way, when we have a cat that’s been spayed and needs to stay in there for two weeks, it will already be used to the shelter.

I might even be able to get some stuff out there done, while there’s still light out, since I’m not exhausted by a Costco shop.

I should probably eat something first, though! I keep forgetting to do that.

The Re-Farmer

Change in plans!

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I’m happy to say, no flat tires this morning, so I was going to do the Costco shop this morning.

I slept in longer than intended, and didn’t leave as early as I’d planned.  Which is why I was still home when I started getting messages from the Cat Lady.

They had a change in plans, too, and needed to go to the town nearest us.  Could I meet them?  They had cat food for us, but instead of the cat tower, they had their old catio shelter.

Of course, I said yes.  I was heading that direction to detour road work, anyhow.

I ended up going into town early, got a bit of gas, and was going to wait.

I got a message saying they were leaving late, so I went for breakfast.

They have a short box truck, and apparently the cat shelter was really tall in it.  They were going to drive slow.

Then I got a message.

It fell off, onto the highway!

Nothing broke, though.

Some time later, I got another message.

Two roof panels just blew off!

After making sure everyone was okay, I went to the hardware store for ratchet straps, a tarp and tie downs.

I messaged them about it, and she told me they stopped to get straps, too.  The ones they kept in their truck had been borrowed by her FIL.

Oops!

So now I await them in our meet up spot.  I’ve already rolled back the box cover.  Once we have the shelter, I’m going home to drop it off.

I’m seriously considering doing Costco tomorrow!  But a Saturday Cos5co trip would be worse than a Friday one. 😆

The Re-Farmer

Just chugging along

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Today started quite late for me. For some reason, I was completely unable to sleep. I finally got up at about 5am, when I heard my older daughter come down for what, for her, would be her supper. After having a chat with her, and making myself a couple of sandwiches, I tried going to bed again. The girls, sweethearts that they are, took care of my morning stuff for me, including feeding the outside cats (they usually already do the morning feeding of the inside cats).

I managed to get maybe 4 hours of sleep and, apparently, that was all I needed.

The first thing I needed to do was make some calls. I tried calling the home care guy and left another message, letting him know I wouldn’t be home after about 2. He didn’t call me back.

Then I called the two septic companies that hadn’t responded to my messages. With one, I left another message. With the other, I tried their cell phone number instead of their land line, and actually got someone. Considering what town they are in, chances were pretty good their cell phone coverage wouldn’t be any better than hours, so I was glad it worked.

This company charges by the hour. We talked about our system and the problem. He didn’t even mention that these ejector/expeller systems are not supposed to be repaired anymore, but replaced with a septic field.

Given that they charge by the hour, he couldn’t give me a firm estimate, but figured it would be at least $1500. They charge $250/hour and that covers all costs, including transportation, parts, etc. After asking a few more questions, he thought it might take 4-6 hours. At 6 hours, that’s $1500 (before taxes).

I’m just going to assume it will take longer. That’s generally how things tend to be out here!

I greatly appreciated the information, and passed it on to my brother.

So we have one company that charges by the job, regardless of time, and the estimate was $2032 before taxes, for all the materials, labour and transportation (both companies are located about a 40 minute drive away from us). The other charges by the hour, regardless of what the job ends up entailing. Based on his time estimate, it could cost anywhere from $1000 to $1500 – though he did say that it would likely be “at least” $1500. If it took 8 hours, that would be $2000, plus taxes.

As for the third company, since we’re not hearing back from them, and this job really needs to get done soon, I figure they are going to be dropped from the list.

That done, I went outside and checked a few things. I didn’t bother taking any pictures, but I ended up picking what is probably the last of our corn. There are a few cobs left that are pretty immature, and are unlikely to have been pollinated. I grabbed a few Forme de Couer tomatoes, too. I probably could have left them longer, but I wanted to take some of the weight off the vines!

In the afternoon, I loaded the truck up with three empty 18.9L/5gallon water jugs to refill. I made a quick stop at the post office on the way out, and found that my replacement Mastercard was in, and just needed a PIN purchase to be activated. With Disability coming in tomorrow, I’ve already changed the info in my online banking to pay off the balance, then do the Costco shopping.

On a Friday before a long weekend.

May as well get it over with!

Oh, I forgot. Before I left for the grocery store, I had to pause and get a shot of Ginger.

That’s him on our dining table, which is currently protected by a giant self-healing cutting mat. Ginger is the only cat that is allowed on the dining table, because he still gets bullied by several of the other cats. My daughters even gave him his own bed.

He’s bigger than the bed. 😄

Now… where was I?

Oh, yes. The grocery store.

Since I was at the grocery store, anyhow, I got a few more things. My husband requested nacho fixings, so I got that – including lactose free cheese – and I found the last things to go with the fancy meats and cheeses I got yesterday. The girls and I can now have ourselves a charcuterie and Columbo marathon night again. 😁

When I got home, and my younger daughter helped me unload the truck, then I reloaded it with our garbage and recycling, in time to get to the dump just as it opened for this evening.

I now wish I’d left it for Saturday. It’s open longer hours on Saturday, but that’s not why I wish I’d waited.

When entering the landfill area, there is a little hut for the attendant, where I can show our card that shows we live in the area and can use the dump without charge. They had to implement this because too many people from rural municipalities with landfills that charged a fee, would come to one of the three landfills in our RM instead.

Next to the attendant’s hut is a row of recycling bins – those get emptied and the contents shipped to the city for processing – plus one bin for glass only. There are other sheds and areas set aside for batteries, oil, paint, etc. that we drive between, while on the way to the pit.

The first thing I noticed about the driveway to the pit – aside from it being half underwater, due to having rain almost all day today – were tracks in the clay, filled with garbage. There was no way to avoid driving over them.

The tracks were from the front end loader that was in the enclosure around the pit, which had literal tracks rather than wheels. It was going back and forth, pushing garbage into the pit.

Another problem is all the people who just dump their garbage on the edge of the pit, rather than into the pit. It builds up until there’s no more room for vehicles to turn around in, or pass each other.

So it was a good thing that the front end loader was pushing the garbage into the pit.

The bad thing was that its tracks were not only tearing up the clay heavy gravel, but dragging garbage all over.

Normally, I would drive forward, then back up and turn the tailgate towards the pit, but I didn’t dare drive over the area the loader had driven over. I could see all sorts of wire, metal objects, and things I couldn’t identify. I’ve already gotten a flat after a visit to the dump, once before, and did not want a repeat!

I decided to not even try backing close to the edge of the pit. Instead, I tried to drive a bit further forward in an area that the loader had only partially driven over.

Which is when I heard a horrible popping sort of noise, and could actually feel that something broke under my front tired.

I stopped to take a look and discovered…

… I had driven over a glass jar and broken it.

There were some larger shards that I picked up and tossed into the pit, then I started checking the front and back tires that would have driven over it.

There was no obvious sign of damage.

So I moved forward a bit more, then emptied the truck box of garbage bags, without bothering to get closer to the pit.

The driver of the loader seemed to appreciate me keeping a distance, as it gave him room to drive along the edge of the pit, then go in reverse, dragging the bucket on the ground, pulling all the stuck garbage back with it.

Too little, too late.

I’ve never seen the area in front of the pit look so bad, and that was from the cleanup, not the garbage piles!

I checked the tires again, then found space to turn around. I stopped to unload the recycling and glass into the bins near the attendant’s shack, then checked the tires again.

Still fine, so far.

I did go to the shack and tell the attendant what happened, just so it would be known as a problem, and a thing that happened.

After giving the tires one more check, I finally headed home.

Once at home, I made sure to park the truck so that my husband can see it through his window, and let me know of we suddenly have a flat!

I am not a happy camper.

It’s been a few hours, though, and it’s still all right. I may have gotten lucky.

Meanwhile, I started to get messages from the Cat Lady, along with some photos. She just picked up a new cat tree – 9 feet tall! – for only $60 on FB Marketplace. In the first picture she sent me, I could see several cats all over the cat tree – but almost missed the tiny face of Button, barely visible on a bottom shelf!

He was all over that thing, along with the other cats.

He is also apparently becoming very fussy!

The Cat Lady wanted to know if I would be in town this weekend. She has some bags of kitten food that Button won’t eat. He’ll only eat one brand, now! Among the brands he now rejects is the very brand we usually feed the outside cats!

They also have a 5 foot cat tree that cats weren’t really using, that she wants to pass on to us.

The girls have already called dibs on it, for upstairs.

pause for interruption

I’m back!

My mother called, and I had a lot to update her on!

We talked about the numbers I have so far for the septic repair. She confirmed, she will pay the full amount. That is so awesome of her!!! There’s still the one company I had hoped to hear from, but expect that tomorrow, I will be calling the company that charges by the hour, and make arrangements for the excavation and repairs.

We also talked about her pending visit from the home care guy. I told her, he left a message while I was out, and we haven’t been able to connect yet. She couldn’t quite remember what it was about, but when I reminded her it was about her application for supportive living, she was quite happy. She would rather be in a particular nursing home, but to live somewhere that provides meals, snacks, laundry and light housekeeping is exactly what she needs right now – plus access to 24 hour home care support, if something happens. She was concerned about the cost, and I explained it will be 30% of her income (which is what she’s paying now), plus the package that includes the services (meals, etc.) She won’t have to cook for herself, though she’ll have a “kitchen” with a mini fridge, probably a microwave, a sink, and room for a kettle or or coffee pot. She won’t have to buy groceries anymore, unless she wants something to keep in her own apartment.

The application process, of course, will just get her on a waiting list. The website doesn’t say if there are any vacancies, and it’s unlikely there are any. There just isn’t a lot of supportive living housing out there, and the demand is high. There would be a triage process, I’m sure.

I’m glad she called, because it was getting late and I wasn’t going to call her to update her until tomorrow.

So there’s that…

Now… where was I?

Ah, yes. I was chatting with the Cat Lady!

As we were talking and she told me she wanted to pass on the kitten food and cat tree to us, on the weekend, I mentioned the possibility of going to the city tomorrow. She asked me to message her if I do end up going. Chances are, she’ll be able to meet me in the city, instead.

I hope I have room in the truck box for the cat tree, plus the shopping!

We shall see.

After we chatted, and it was still light out, I did my evening rounds, and I just have to share this picture with you.

The Crespo squash is getting so huge! The leaves reach about waist height on me. You can see a squash under the leaves in the foreground. In the distance, you can see the vines climbing a cherry tree – and there is at least one squash developing among the branches! It is also trying to climb the pole bean trellis, and there’s at least one baby squash in there, too, though it’s still too early to know if it got pollinated. With that one, I hope not, because the trellis was not made to hold the weight of squash!

What a difference from when we tried to grow it last year! Clearly, it likes having more shade than where we tried to grow before. Plus, this area gets much wetter, and stays wetter longer. Perfect for a thirsty plant like this!

While doing my evening rounds, I was checking on the San Marzano tomatoes in the main garden area and actually found a couple of red tomatoes! One was ripe enough to pick, while the other was not ready but close – and fell off while I was tending the plant! I also picked more Forme de Couer tomatoes that probably could have done to stay longer, but the plants are getting so overloaded with tomatoes, I wanted to take some of the weight off!

By the time I was done that, it was getting time to tend to eye baby. She was in the cat cage in the sun room and did not make it easy to reach her, but once I picked her up, she started purring like crazy.

Her eye is still in that terrible “she looks better, but her eye looks so awful” state.

My daughter got her all wrapped up in a towel and held her during her ministrations. She’s gotten very good about taking her antibiotics, though, and quite enjoyed a feeding of warmed up cat soup. She also seems to be okay with being held pretty restricted, the entire time.

We aren’t washing the eye anymore, as that would cause more injury, but we do try to get the fur around her eye at least somewhat clean of gunk. Then, after a snuggle with my daughter, she went back outside, where she can go back to her cuddle pile in the cat cage!

So that was the gist of my day today.

For now, I need to try and get to bed early – and hopefully get some actual sleep! I want to head to the city early – if I don’t have a flat in the morning – so that I have plenty of time to make a call to the septic company when I get back.

I guess it’s time to say good night.

Good night!

The Re-Farmer

Our 2024 Garden: evening harvest, and a little friend!

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Since I was heading to the city today, I didn’t try to see if anything needed to be harvested, while doing my morning rounds. I did it while doing my evening rounds, instead.

When I do my rounds, I usually have a cat or two, following me around. Sometimes, it’s Rolando Moon, wanting me to give her pets, then trying to scratch or bite me after I do. More often, of late, it’s been Syndol, who likes to be carried around, if he can convince me to pick him up. Other times, it’s this year’s Not-Junk Pile, (the previous Not-Junk Pile is now Toni the Tripod, and indoors. 😄) will follow me around.

Today, I had tiny friend, following me around!

I believe this is the kitten that pushes its way into the old kitchen – I really have to watch my feet when I open that door! – to explore. It even lets me pick it up and cuddle it for a while. This is the first time I’ve had one of this year’s kittens actively following me around the yards and garden beds, though. It’s hard to tell some of the white and black kittens apart, though. A few have distinctive markings, but the others… they just run around too much for us to get a good enough look at them to identify which is which!

I quite enjoyed having kitten company while harvesting these.

We’ve got all three types of beans in there, plus some Black Cherry tomatoes, and some Forme de Couer tomatoes. It’s getting that we have more tomatoes for fresh eating than my family can consume! Not enough to warrant going any canning or freezing, though. It’s been the same with the beans; more than we can eat right away, but not enough to make it worth processing. I think we might have enough to do a jar, maybe two, of quick pickled beans, but that’s about it.

It’s such a strange year. We plant with the goal to have enough to process for the winter months, but the spaces where we would have been planting stuff we’d harvest throughout the summer ended up being mostly winter squash and melons. Even the corn we planted as a trail of one variety, so not a lot there. We didn’t plant anywhere near as many beans, carrots, peas and summer squash we normally would have, and what we did plant, most didn’t even germinate. Even with three varieties of potatoes (only two that were planned), there isn’t a lot. We did plant four varieties of tomatoes, but cut back on how many plants we put in the ground – we still have tomatoes in the freezer from last year!

I am happy that we have so many winter squash and melons, but it’s going to be touch and go as to weather they’ll reach full maturity before the frost hit. The long range forecast still says we’re going to have a very hot two weeks in the middle of September, but the weather will do what it does, and the forecasts will probably change a few times between now and then! As it stands right now, we might not get a first frost until October. Which has happened before, since we’ve moved here. I seem to recall a fall where we didn’t get first frost until November, though I could be wrong on that.

Still, we’re expecting a few overnight lows that are on the chilly side, so I want to have that plastic around the eggplant and hot pepper bed soon. While not all the eggplants are fruiting, with the ones that are, I’m quite happy with what I’m seeing.

As an aside, while I was writing this, I got some updates on Button. He is doing fantastic, and getting spoiled rotten! In one photo sent, you can tell he’s getting bigger… but then there was a photo with him behind The Wolfman, and suddenly, he looks miniscule again! 😄😄 He’s got vaccinations and ear mite treatment this week, and then he’s ready to go. The woman that wanted to adopt him is still interested in him, and we’re hoping that doesn’t change, but sadly, too many people do change their minds at the last minute. The Cat Lady and her family have a whole bunch of cats living with them now, because of this.

We also just treated the eye baby kitten for the night, and gave her a feeding of cat soup, with my daughter holding her wrapped in a towel like a purrito. She seems to be getting quite used to the routine and accepting the ministrations, even if she doesn’t like parts of it. The swelling around that one eye does seem to be going down, but I’m still sure the eye itself is lost. Not even the rescue has a budget for her and, while it was suggested we could try turning her over to the humane society, chances are high they’d just euthanize her.

Which I shouldn’t be having a problem with, since we really do need to reduce the population, but I’d like to give them at least a chance to get adopted out.

Well, it’s time to call it a day and see if I can get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow, I need to follow up with the septic companies that haven’t called back yet. If I can’t get through to them, we need to contact the one company I did reach, and start making arrangements. This cannot be put off, now that we know about the problem!

Hopefully, the next time I write about it, I’ll have good news to pass on!

The Re-Farmer