They are especially enjoying the cat isolation shelter. Which makes me happy! It will made it much easier, when it comes time to actually isolate cats in there during their recovery periods.
The last image in the above slide show is of the completed catio wrap. I had to get my daughter to crawl inside to pull the excess plastic under the frame. Especially where the second sheet overlapped the first. That one didn’t quite reach the middle of the back, where it could have been tacked to the centre support I added when we repaired it, so it’s only tacked top and bottom. I might end up taping it or something, or the wind will get under there and rip it right off.
I did add a board under the front of the frame, lifting it about 1 1/2 inches. This will give a slight slope for water to drain off the roof.
Today has turned out to be a cool and damp day, so I didn’t get a lot done outside. Aside from finishing winterizing the catio, I made sure the rest of the insulation got set up around the house.
We really need to find a better option for this. The insulation pieces are scrap pieces from who knows where, to begin with, so they’re all different sizes and thicknesses. Setting them up is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle with pieces from different puzzles that don’t quite fit. They’re getting old and some of them are starting to break apart. It would be good to have a permanent solution, that we can make look like it’s part of the house and not just tacked on.
All in good time, I guess. Short term, we’re going to need to pick up some thicker sheets of rigid insulation to replace the busted up pieces. As it is, there is no longer enough to go completely around the wall there the back water tap is.
That took quite a while to get done, mostly spent trying to get the pieces to fit together, then finding ways to support them so they don’t get blown away. It’s been a dark and dreary day today, so even though it was still only mid afternoon or so when I was done, it was still dark enough that the light over the main door would turn on as I walked by. Mind you, sunset today was at 4:52pm, so I guess it wasn’t just the overcast skies.
At least the snow and rain that hit other parts of the province missed us. We’re wet enough right now, thank you! Interestingly, I noticed the signs up showing that we are under a fire ban in our municipality right now. We didn’t have a fire ban all summer, this year, so it’s quite unusual to have one start in the fall like this.
And here I was thinking it was finally wet enough and calm enough to burn that pile of diseased branches, as well as our burnable garbage.
Tomorrow, we’re supposed to hit 11C/52F, and even reach as high as 12C/54F on Sunday. The next few days will be a good time to get more done outside. The one cooler day is Friday, and I will be helping my mother with her errands that day.
For now, the important winterizing things have been done, and I can get back to cleaning up and and putting things away from the garden. It may even dry up enough to get our electric chainsaw out and finish clearing away that spruce that fell on the crab apple tree!
Today started off chilly and damp, but by the afternoon, things were quite pleasant out there. A good day to work outside.
Not a good day to get to the dump. It opens in the morning on Tuesdays, and we didn’t make it. It opens in the evening on Thursdays, so we’ll do our dump run, then.
My priority for the day was to get the cat shelters set up for the winter. Since the isolation shelter was going to go under the kitchen window, the first thing that needed to be done was to move the catio out of that spot.
The problem is, now that the roof is on, the overhang makes it difficult to grab the sides to move it, without face planting into the edge of the roof.
The solution: make handles for it, using paracord.
The first image in the slideshow above shows how I was able to get the paracord around the corner frame pieces. The end was threaded through the mesh on one side, into the loop of a garden twist tie, until it could be pulled through to the other side.
In the next image, you can see how the rope was tied to itself first, then the knot moved inside the catio before a another knot was made as close to the frame as I could, on the outside.
I admit, part of the reason I chose an overhand knot with some excess cord and put it on the inside, is because it’s right above the platforms. I expect the cats will play with the ends.
The next image shows how long of a loop was left for the handle. There is one of these on each corner.
This worked out quite well and allowed me to drag it easily across the yard. In retrospect, I should have put them lower down. Due to my own height, I can use them to drag across the yard, but I can’t lift it off the ground. If I had a second person using the other two handles, we could carry the catio that way, but my daughters aren’t any taller than I am, so it’ll still be mostly dragged on the ground. If it really is an issue, I can just undo the knots and lower the handles by a few inches.
In the next image, the catio is set up where I decided it will be for the winter. I wanted to make sure it was where it needed to be, because once it was wrapped in plastic for the winter, the handles would be covered and it would be more difficult to move again.
The roll of plastic I used is one of the sheets that was wrapped around the hot pepper and eggplant bed. It’s two vinyl table protectors from the dollar store, taped end to end.
I started at the door, making sure that it could still be latched and opened and closed without interference, then kept going. The vinyl is slightly wider than the height of the catio, but the excess can be tucked under the bottom.
It wasn’t long enough, though. I do have another roll, but it’s the same length, and I don’t want to double up so much. I do have one more table protector from the dollar store in the house, though, so I’ll use that.
Tomorrow.
The next thing to do was move the cat isolation shelter to a more open space.
Which is when I discovered a bit of a problem.
The whole thing is so heavy, and the ground is so soft right now, after all that rain, the wheels kept sinking into the soil! I had to wrestle with it, pausing to lift wheels out of the soil every now and then, to get it over the sidewalk, where I could work on it.
Where it had been sitting was not level, so the sloped roof ended up level. That meant rain didn’t drain off very well. I left the roof open and cleaned the seam out as best I could. I have an adhesive sealant to use on the seam later on, but the seam will need more cleaning, and be completely dry, because it can be used.
I then went digging through the scrap lumber my brother gave me to see if there was something I could use to put across the middle, to attach the clamp lamp to.
It was just long enough to fit across the top, lengthwise.
I could see it had been cut from a larger piece, but that’s just fine. I needed something narrow for the clamp lamp.
While getting ready to attach it to the underside of the frame, Stinky came to help. 😄
So did my daughter. She held it in place for me while I drilled pilot holes to screw it in place.
I am so glad I was able to make those sliding doors! It would have been much more difficult to access the underside of the frame to attach this. Even so, my daughter ended up taking over and finished the last two screws for me.
The cross piece was installed slightly towards the front, over the cat hammock. The clamp was also mounted sideways, with the lamp angled down, making it even closer to the front, and higher up than if it were just hanging straight now. I did not want to take any chance that a cat might burn themselves on it.
Once the lamp was in place, it was time to wrap the bottom of the shelter in plastic. I had a sheet of dollar store dining table protector, cut it in half, lengthwise. It took both halves to wrap all the way around, with maybe a foot and a half of excess that got folded under.
For both the catio and the isolation shelter, the vinyl was tacked in place with push pins. I decided on push pins because they can be removed easily. I want to use the vinyl again in the garden next year, so I wanted to avoid making larger holes. Pin pricks along the edges should be fine.
After the bottom was wrapped up, I set up a heated water bowl on one side of the upper level, and a food bowl on the other. A litter box, with litter in it this time, was put back into the bottom level.
Once that was done, I finished clearing the patio blocks under the kitchen window and set up the insulation we put over the basement walls and windows for the winter. In the past, we used an old bench and a bin against the insulation to hold it in place. This winter, the isolation shelter will serve that purpose for most of it.
Once the insulation was in, the shelter had to be wrestled over to the patio blocks. It didn’t have for to go, but there was always at least one wheel that would end up sunk into the ground!
The patio blocks are not at all level, either, with some of them heaved out of place by the roots of the elm tree in front of the kitchen window. That, at least, was easier to maneuver around, once all the wheels were on the blocks.
The next while was spent working out the safest way to set up the extension cord to power the heated water bowl and heater. The new cross piece came in quite handy, to wrap excess cord around.
In the last image of the slideshow, you can see the final result. It was getting pretty dark by then, so I did the evening feeding. Before I left, I could see some kittens checking out the bottom of the shelter, where there used to be a food bowl. It shouldn’t take long for them to figure out where it is now – and discover that there is heat up there!
My only concern is if the racoons discover it. We haven’t been seeing them as much, lately, as the temperatures drop. The sun room, at least, has the critter cam, and we can check it every now and then. We have no such option now. Even if we look out the kitchen window, it’s hard to see things directly below.
In time, we will get a smoke detector to put in there, like we have in the cat house. I’d like to put a thermometer in there, too, though one that’s mounted directly to the frame. The one we set up on a holder inside the cat house kept getting pulled down as the cats would play with it!
Right now, there are only two things left that need to be done. One is to get a carabiner for the latch; I think I have one available, but I’m not sure where it is right now. The other is to get some colour matched paint for the exposed wood. With the bottom wrapped in plastic for the winter, though, that will wait until spring!
I’m quite happy with how this has turned out. The Cat Lady has contacted the vet clinic about getting spays done and should hear back soon. Once she has it confirmed, she’ll let me know the date – and for how many! The isolation shelter is now ready for them to be in for their two week recovery period. Since we will likely be doing mostly, if not all, kittens, it could easily shelter three or four at once. With adult cats, I wouldn’t want to have more than two in there at once.
There is the insulated box nest in there right now, plus the hammock, but we will add more cat blankets or beds as well, once we know how many will be in there.
Next, we need to open up the cat house, clean it out and get it plugged in and ready for the winter. That will be a two person, job, as the roof is quite heavy, and the wood is starting to crack. It has to be opened very carefully, so it doesn’t twist.
I haven’t been seeing the cats use lately. The insides of the windows are so dirty, I can’t see inside very well. I’m a bit afraid of what we’ll find in there, after having to bury so many kittens this year. It could simply be because the sun room is warm, and the cat house isn’t, but they seemed to stop using it before things started getting chilly.
Well, we’ll find what we find. Hopefully, just a lot of cat poop or something benign like that! 😄😄
Today started off as an open day. No appointments, no running around planned… It was a day to catch up on things around home.
Which is mostly what happened!
My day started off sluggishly. With thunderstorms on the forecast, I got up and fed the outside cats before any potential storms, then went back to bed.
Well. I tried to. I finally gave up.
There was one errand that did have to be done, though. We were running out of kibble for the outside cats. I was considering where to go to get enough to last a week that would be in budget, and was thinking a trip to the feed store in my mother’s town might be in order. It was either that, or Walmart, but it’s not worth the cost of gas to get just a bag or two of kibble.
While I was checking Facebook while having breakfast, I caught a share from livestock supply store I follow, even though I’ve never been to that store. They are just outside the town to the North of us, and I’ve simply never had cause to find them. From the photos shared, they just got new pet inventory.
Including 40 pound bags of cat food.
In two different brands we haven’t seen before.
I decided to give them a try, heading out in the early afternoon. After finding the place, I asked about the kibble and got prices, then checked the rest of the store out.
I will most definitely be going back there for other things in the future!
Of the two brands of cat food, I chose the less expensive one, though even the more premium brand was a slightly lower price that the 40 pound bags I was getting at the feed store in my mother’s town. While looking around I noticed they have live traps of various sizes. They had the size for cats that I was looking at in Canadian Tire – at a better price, too! The rescue was going to lend us a trap, but I think the last person they lent it to is still ghosting them.
On the way back, I stopped at the post office, expecting some packages for my husband. Nothing was there, though. I just looked up the orders and they changed from arriving by 8pm today, to “now expected by September 26”.
Ah… I see why now. They’re being sent by Purolator, not the mail. They’re apparently in the city, but delayed “due to external factors”, whatever that means!
After I got home, I made a point of giving the outside cats a light feeding with the new brand of cat food, to see how they like it.
They all but inhaled it!
I guess this will be a brand we’ll get more often! The only down side is that this town is in the opposite direction of anywhere we normally go. So we’ll still be getting kibble at the feed store in my mother’s town, but special trips to this place for kibble will also happen.
While considering my issues with the cat isolation shelter and the materials I wanted, in contrast to the materials I have, I remembered something.
I do have clear plastic.
We found two of what looked like some sort of sliding door to me, in the barn. We’d brought them to the house, cleaned off years of dust, then put them in the basement. When we were still letting the cats down there, we kept the “bar” area closed off for the breakable stuff, and used one of these as a door to the entry.
I decided to bring one of them over to the cat isolation shelter and see.
I don’t know if it’s Plexiglass or Lexan or what. What I do know is, it’s big enough to cover the top front of the isolation shelter – and there should be enough left over that I might be able to cover a section on each side, too. Perhaps not as a sliding door, as I had been considering, but at least as a window on each side.
I’m really loathe to cut take the frame off and cut it up, though. It’s really well constructed.
I decided to think on it while working on the catio hammock.
I brought out a black plastic mesh, measured and cut it to size, then used steel strapping to secure it in place.
The ties are attached to the metal supports on the A frame trellis. I tried to lift the squash up at least a bit, in the process, so get some of the stress off the broken cross piece. I used Mason’s line as ties, as it was thin enough to thread through the mesh. It’s strong, but that squash is going to get heavier. I may need to supplement them.
We’ve got some cool nights coming, so it was time to get the eggplant and hot pepper bed set up. I picked up clear table vinyl table protectors for the job. I got two for the garden and two for our dining table.
It’s a good thing I had four, because I needed them all.
The bed is 9′ long and 3′ wide, so I needed a minimum of 24′, plus overlap. I thought I could get away with three of them, but that only gave me about 20′
In the end, I decided to use some clear Gorilla tape I picked up, and connect the sheets in pairs.
The kittens were very interested in what I was doing!
The wind made laying them out so the ends to be taped together were on the sidewalk, and all nice and even, quite a challenge! I got it done, though.
While I was working on this, I started getting messages from my SIL.
She and my brother were going to make a trip out to drop stuff off today! They had a small trailer to haul out, and were going to load up as much other stuff as they could in the process. I was surprised that they would make the trip out after my brother got off work, given how quickly things are starting to get dark, but they still have a lot they need to bring out here. She kept me up to date on their progress, as she was able, while I continued with the preparing the vinul.
Once the pairs were taped together, it was time to wrap the box frame over the eggplants and peppers.
When we had it wrapped before, we made a point of covering the length first, and having the overlap at the ends. I recall the wind really seemed to catch on those ends. This time, I decided to centre the vinyl sheets at the ends, and have the overlap in the middle of the long sides.
The box frame has a wire topped frame on top, and I was able to use that to hold the top of the vinyl in place, wrapping the excess over the top of the box frame and into the middle. The wire topped frame, however, isn’t secured in the center, and it starting to twist and bow out. We’ll need to set a line across and pull it in, but not today.
After the vinyl was in position, I used paracord to secure it to the box frame around the top. That one I made very tight, since it needs to not move at all. I added more paracord around the bottom and the middle, to keep the wind from blowing it around. Those are snug, but we will still be able to move the vinyl to reach into the bed, then tuck it back under the paracord again when we’re done.
The only problem is that the box frame has a cross piece in the middle. With the excess vinyl sitting on top of it, I could see the wind was going to be a problem. In the end, I ended up just using more clear Gorilla tape to secure the vinyl to itself on the inside. Hopefully, that will work!
With my brother and SIL on the way, when that was done, I went to open the gate for them. I think took advantage of the situation, grabbed a pair of loppers and the wagon, and headed to the end of the driveway.
If you click through to the second photo in the above slideshow, you can see my first wagon load. That’s all poplar saplings, spreading through roots. They were starting to obstruct visibility as we leave, making it hard to see if any vehicles are on the road, coming towards us.
I did three wagon loads like that!
While I was working on that, my SIL kept me updated. Then ended up driving into a storm with the rain coming down so hard, they had to pull over. When the could finally start driving again, they stopped at a gas station in town along the way to check on things before continuing on.
They still hadn’t arrived when I finished my third wagon load of saplings. At that point, it was getting hard to see the stems I was trying to cut!
My brother may have driven through torrential rain, but we got nothing all day, save a few spatters now and then.
After tossing the saplings on the burn pile and putting things away, I realized I hadn’t taken a picture of the wrapped garden. If you click through to the last image in the slideshow, you can see how that looks. Should we expect to get an actual frost, we can toss a cover on the wire frame on top. For now, the vinyl will act as a sort of greenhouse, keeping them warmer as our daytime temperatures start to drop. The open top should keep it from getting too hot. This bed has the only plants we have that like things quite a bit warmer, even during the day.
The real test will be how it holds up in high winds.
With my brother soon to arrive, and a smattering of rain starting, I headed into the garage to see what I could do on the isolation shelter.
I cut lengths of wood lath to use to secure the mesh on the bottom level, against the frame. I was just putting the last nail into the front section when they arrived.
It was pitch black out by then, and I ended up using the flashlight on my phone to help them see to open up the back of the trailer and unload the piece of equipment that was on it. That went into the barn, while the trailer itself got parked to the side.
Then they back the truck up to the barn and we unloaded it, assembly line style. That sure made things go very quickly!
They even had a couple of things they knew I could use in there, and I was very grateful for them! Those went into the garage.
We worked quickly to unload, and then they had to leave right away. They had a long drive home, and my brother still has to get up for work tomorrow. His job has him working with people in time zones around the world, so sometimes the hours get very unusual!
Before they got home, though, I got another message from them. They forgot their wooden ramp on the ground, that they were supposed to take home with them. My brother was concerned it would get rained on, so I went back out to put it in the garage.
It’s 16C/61F out there right now, and absolutely gorgeous. I’d be sleeping outside right now, if we had the set up for it!
Meanwhile, in the middle of all this, I got a voicemail message from home care about my mother. For some reason, they called my cell phone number. I was in the garage at the time, so my phone never rang. I started listening to the message as I went into the house, and promptly lost the signal. I had to go back outside to listen to the full message!
My mother was getting her first home care visit at suppertime, to help her with her medications. They will be coming in the morning and at supper, then one more time for her before-bed medications. The person calling me wanted to make sure to tell us that they wouldn’t have someone available for a supper and before bed visit this Sunday.
So I made sure to call my mother right away. It turns out they had called her, too, but didn’t mention to her about the day they wouldn’t be able to come. As we talked about her meds and the times, she started to get mixed up with things, and confused. I’m so glad we were able to get her to allow home care to come in to help with her meds!
The next thing will be the meal prep visits. Those are supposed to be every two weeks for bulk cooking. We’ll have to have some idea of what they can and can’t do for that, and plan my mother’s grocery shopping accordingly. Usually, I’ve been helping her with her groceries every week or so – sometimes, my sister is able to do it for her. With the bulk cooking every two weeks, that will change things, but I don’t know how, yet.
We’ll figure it out.
Meanwhile, I am now scheduled to go to her place tomorrow. She’s need to go to the bank this time – the one thing I can’t do for her – so she’s going to have to climb in and out of our truck.
I’m still amazed that she can do it. When we got the truck, I thought for sure, it wasn’t going to happen. With her car out of commission right now, we don’t have much choice. We do have a foot stool for her, and I have to give her a bit of a boost, and she manages it!
Still, it’s something we want to do as little as possible!
With that in mind, it’s time for me to finish this up and get to bed. It’s coming up on midnight right now!
Until next time, I hope you have a fabulous day! Or night. Whatever time it happens to be for you as you read this. 😁😁
Some of those leaves growing up from vines on the ground are taller than my waist! The vines climbing the cherry trees are really taking off, and blooming.
If you click over to the next picture, you will see my little green friend that I found in the main garden area. The onion flower stalk it’s sitting on is bigger than the frog!
Later on, I went back out to finish painting the catio.
I thought a quart would be enough. I was wrong, but by so very little!
If you click through to the second photo, you’ll see that I finished painting the mesh in blue. I didn’t try to get into the spaces to cover the white on the frame. I just wanted to make sure the rusted mesh was protected. When more black paint is in the budget again, we’ll give the while thing a second coat. Except for the top, of course, since that would require taking the roof panels off.
Once everything is dry, we can replace the cat hammock and then it’s basically done. Getting more paint is not a necessity, since all the important bits are now protected with at least one coat of paint.
The cats will be happy to be allowed back in there!
I find this kitten, curled up like this and napping, all over the place! Usually someone in a sun spot, in the open, on the grass. Today, he decided the kibble house roof would be his curl up spot.
I was actually able to pet him while he slept. Usually, when I try that, he wakes up and runs off. Today, when three adult cats pushed their way through, demanding pets and waking him up, he didn’t run away! I even got to touch his back a bit before the other cats pushed themselves under my hand. I stopped trying, because I didn’t want the bigger cats to end up pushing the little one right off the roof.
I tried to do a head count after feeding the cats this morning. I think I counted 41 this morning. I may have counted a cat twice, but I don’t think so.
*sigh*
Anyhow.
Today, we’re looking at a relatively bearable high of 23C/73F. As I write this, we’re at 21C/70F, with a humidex of 25C/77F. We got a little bit of rain last night, so I have decided not to water the garden today. I’ll definitely have to, tomorrow, though. The system that blew through barely touched us, but other areas in our province got enough that people in my local gardening groups had their gardens completely flooded out.
This morning I finally made some follow up calls. I left a message with the company that will be repairing our septic expeller. I got through to the scrap guy and told him about the threshing machine and cars that we have permission to get cleaned up. He will be coming over tomorrow morning to look at things and see what they’re dealing with. They were also supposed to take the collection of old batteries we found while cleaning up in the basement and garage. Those will be harder to get at, now that my brother is storing things in the barn, but we should still be able to do that. It will be good to finally get those bags of aluminum hauled off. We’re looking at almost 7 years of cans collected. With all the cat food cans in there, the outside cats keep digging into on corner and making a mess.
At least it’s just in the one spot, though!
I look forward to being able to clear out more of the old vehicles, but I have to clear with my brother, which ones he says can go or not.
In the first photo of the slide show, you can see the fluffy lady – we haven’t named her yet – nursing three kittens. They are not hers. She is the one that dropped her very late litter all over the yard and left them, so she had no surviving kittens of her own.
If you click through to see the video clip, you can see what seems to be the same three kittens going for nip, while being thoroughly mothered!
I no longer see any of the other mothers nursing. They’ve weaned all the babies off themselves. It seems these three kittens weren’t ready to be weaned, and somehow managed to get the fluffy lady to let them have nip! I am just sort of assuming they started this soon enough after she lost her kittens to start and maintain lactation, though we didn’t see her nursing them until weeks later.
We are so close to her letting us touch her, even when she’s not at the food bowls! If we can get her at all friendly, we can get her into a carrier, to a vet and spayed. It’s very touch and go right now.
While I was outside today, watering the garden, my daughter was a sweetheart and did some sewing for me. The torn cat hammock in the catio could not be repaired to be used in there again, but the fabric itself was still in good shape. It only had frayed edges. My daughter trimmed all the frayed parts straight, then hemmed all the sides. My husband had a grommet kit among his leatherworking tools, and she added a grommet to each corner. It will now be used inside the cat isolation shelter. I plan to set up hooks to hang it from. It’s smaller than the space, but we can just add cord loops to the grommets and use that to hang it off the hooks. It can then be easily removed for cleaning in the future, as needed.
I had scrubbed the floating shelves in the catio earlier, and they were dry by the time my daughter was done. She then started painting the inside.
She started off with the paint roller to do the wire mesh and most of the bottom of the frame, first. It would be touched up with the brush, later. The floating shelves would be done last, after those staples and bits of frayed fabric got removed. Once the inside is finished, the outside can be finished. The bottom was done first, so we could flip it upright and not have to flip it upside down again. Then the top was done, so the roof could be added. That leaves just the middle of the outside that needs to be done.
My daughter had to close up the door while she was in there, because the cats kept trying to go in with her. She was still in there, having moved to the other side, when I tried to take a picture from outside the catio. The mesh’s original paint it white, though, so there was no way I could get a picture of progress inside, so I opened the door, took a quick picture, then closed the door again before going inside.
I few minutes later, I got a message from my daughter.
I had locked her in!
Out of habit, I’d closed the latch on the door. There’s no way to reach it from inside!
It’s a good thing she had her phone with her!
While I was writing this, my daughter came by to update me. The inside is now completely done, except for the inside frame of the door. Rolando Moon wouldn’t leave her alone, so should couldn’t finish painting it, without also painting a cat!
Which means all that’s left to paint is the outside of the catio, and the inside frame of the door. Once that’s done, a new cat hammock will be added to replace the torn one, and then it will be finished!
The cats already love it. That will make it so much easier for when we need to keep a cat isolated in there for short lengths of time, in the summer.
The cat isolation shelter that’s still under construction will have insulation and a heat source in the upper half, so that one will be used in the winter.
Hopefully, to keep spayed females safe and warm for their 2 week recovery period.
Oh, that reminds me. I got an update from the Cat Lady about the family that was interested in adopting Gouda as a barn cat.
I think I’m going to have to take a pass on them!!!
I appreciate that they were honest, but good grief! It turned out they went through 8 barn cats.
In ONE YEAR!
One of them was a mystery loss. They came home and found it unresponsive. They took it to the vet immediately, but they could find nothing wrong with it. They gave it the standard antibiotics, etc., and told them to take the cat home and watch it closely. It passed away two hours later, and they never found out why.
The other seven…
Engines.
Seriously. Who lived in the country, with barn cats, and doesn’t do a cat check or bang the hood? Once, I can see, but SEVEN times?????
In ONE YEAR!!
What this also means is that they don’t have any sort of warm shelter for their cats, so they’re going into the engine compartment, instead. The woman the Cat Lady spoke to says they know better now, but it shouldn’t take SEVEN cats for them to learn their lesson.
Nope. I don’t want Gouda going there. He’s never tried to go into the engine compartment on our truck. He’s not even interested in going under it and exploring the undercarriage – but he has lots of other more comfortable shelters to use, in all seasons and all weather conditions. Including the catio, which he now loves to hang out in. Who knows what he would do, if he didn’t have any of that available.
We may have way too many cats, and need to adopt out as many as we can, but we still want them to go to the best situation we can find for them. The Cat Lady follows up on the cats she’s adopted out – many of the adoptees happily share photos of them with her, regularly. The few we’ve had that went to farms are all doing very well. Some of them are now indoor cats, they adapted so well.
That’s the sort of thing I’d like Gouda – or any other yard cat that becomes someone else’s yard cat – to have.
Gouda was one of the friendlier yard cats, but not overly so. Since he’s gotten his nibs nipped, and is now out of the catio, he has taken to following me around when I’m outside, wanting pets! He’s even allowed me to pick him up and hold him, briefly. That will make him much easier to adopt out, too!
Hopefully, as we start getting the females done, they’ll become more friendly, too.
With my brother and his wife on the way, I made sure to have the gate open for them, then started working on things outside, so I could keep an eye on things.
I didn’t realize until late last night that, in one of my posts yesterday, I’d said I would give an update on what’s going on with our vandal, but completely forgot about it when I hit publish.
Our vandal is out of the hospital, and I’m suddenly seeing him on the trail cam files quite frequently.
Granted, he has to go past our place to check on his fields, but considering he just had major surgery, it’s rather odd that he’d be doing this so often, when he’s just back from the hospital. I’ve seen his wife doing it while he was in the hospital, so it’s not like he’s the only one that can get it done.
There’s more to it than that, though.
Other than seeing him go by on the cameras, we’ve had no contact with him, even after the restraining order expired. He knows that I am willing to do things like that, and press charges for his vandalism. He’s not used to having someone stand up to him, rather than make excuses for him, so he stays away. I’m happy with that, as I really didn’t want to apply for it again. With the horrible messages and calls to my mother he’d been making, his number was blocked on her phone. My brother also blocked his number.
Yet, somehow, he was able to leave a message on his voice mail a few days ago.
We still don’t know how.
I have a copy of the recording, but could barely make it out. Probably because I was trying to listen to it on my phone. My brother was able to transcribe it, though.
Most of it was the usual weird stuff. He has invented scenarios in his head about what he thinks we are doing, and yells about it. This time, apparently my brother has a thousand dollar bottle of wine with which to celebrate our vandal’s death that he will have to put away for now. Oh, and my brother wants to put him in jail, apparently.
As always, he’s obsessed with this farm.
The property we’re on consists of two quarter sections. The one we’re on is all rented out except for the corner the house is on, which we are responsible for (and to keep an eye on the rest, in general). The other quarter, which is a half mile up and across the road, has no buildings or even fields on it and the whole thing is rented out to the same person. He, the renter, uses it for pasture and rotates his cows from there to here, regularly, along with other pastures he’s got for them. He’s very responsible when it comes to the land, whether it’s how he takes care of our field he grows crops on, or ensuring the pastures are never over grazed.
Well, our vandal had driven past the other quarter section recently (I only know this because my mother had tried calling him – which she should not have done – and spoke to his wife). In the message to my brother, he said that there’s a particular weed taking over and was ranting on how he took care of that piece of land for years – but also that he was fighting this weed on his own property. He was conflating the two things, so it’s hard to tell exactly if he meant he picked this weed on that quarter, as well as picking it on his own property right now, or just on his own property right now.
Either way, how could he have been taking care of that property for years, when it’s been rented out to the same farm family since my parents mostly retired from farming? I mean, we’re talking two generations renting from our family at this point. Plus, with the renter having his cattle grazing there, he would be on top of any invasive weeds that would affect the quality of the pasture, if they were there. So I honestly don’t know if this weed is actually there, or if our vandal just thinks that’s what he saw as he was driving by.
It’s also none of his business.
Either way, he ranted about how it’s going to ruin the farm, and that my “porkchop” daughters should go out there with a push mower to get it under control.
Yes. He said we should be mowing a pasture with a push mower.
Then he had a whole bunch of nasty stuff to say about me and my daughters (apparently, my husband doesn’t exist), with his usual lies about us having never worked a day in our lives (and by “work” he means a job he thinks is a “real” job, apparently), and trying to put him in jail, while demanding to talk to my brother about me, face to face.
It was how he ended the message that was the most concerning.
It was with a threat.
But of what?
Whatever it is, apparently he has something planned for before he dies, or after he dies, that is so big, even “the Pope will read it in a magazine,” about what we’ve done to him.
So his cancer scare and brush with death certainly hasn’t changed him in any way. If anything, he seems even more obsessed with the property – he is an example of what it means to “covet” something – and me, and my family. He has convinced himself we are trying to destroy him, so he is planning something to harm us as some sort of revenge.
*sigh*
I was hoping we’d be able to start relaxing a bit, but nope.
So while the gate was open, I wanted to be outside to make sure our vandal didn’t just suddenly show up.
One of the things I did was finally unwrap the sheets of clear plastic roofing material. I set up the saw horses and cleared space on the work table to support their 8′ length. They needed to be cut to 4′ lengths.
I marked out the centre of the panels, but wasn’t sure of the best way to cut it. I left it be, though, and went inside to have breakfast before my brother and his wife were supposed to arrive.
I timed it just right, too.
After they got here and my SIL was loaded up with tomatoes and a cantaloupe, she headed back home, and I went to help my brother.
He had a surprise for me.
One of the last times he was he, he checked on my mother’s car. We were able to get the compressor hose through a hole in the wall on that side of the garage, across the middle, section, and just reach the flat front tire on her car. We couldn’t reach the back tire, though.
He got me an extension for the compressor hose. One of those coiled ones that can stretch to 50′!
We can now easily reach the back tire on my mother’s care (which is starting to look low again), and I can even top up all the tires on our truck, without having to turn it around to reach the other end.
He is so thoughtful!
Meanwhile, since he was there, I asked for his advice on how best to cut the roof panels in half. After asking and seeing what I had, he suggested the jig saw, but to put painter’s tape over where I’d be cutting first. The jig saw, I had considered, but I would not have thought of the tape.
The hose extension set up and done, I helped him tie down a new tarp on the box of his dump truck, to keep the elements out, and the old tarp was getting worn out. The winds get really high out here, so we really wanted to make sure it was solidly tied down.
He’s already unhooked the piece of equipment he’d hauled out here, so as soon as the tarp was secure, he was off again. He wanted to come back with another load on his trailer before it got dark.
As for me, I followed his advice and used the painter’s tape over the line I’d marked. I could still see the line through the tape, so I didn’t have to measure and mark it out again.
Using the jigsaw worked, but WOW did it vibrate like crazy! So much so that the jigsaw blade and the line I was trying to follow were like trying to see with double vision! I was able to get it done, though, and pretty straight, too.
The cut edges were rough, though, so after removing the tape, I sanded the edges.
Leaving the panels still on top of each other, I left one end on top of the isolation shelter for later, then took the other end out to the catio.
Before starting on the roof, though, I brought over some of the wire that was used to hold the welded wire mesh rolled up. The bottom half of the catio is new mesh, with about 9 or 10 inches of overlap between old and new wire mesh. My daughter felt that some of the smaller kittens, should they require isolation in there, could potentially squeeze between mesh and get out, so I wanted to use the wire to “sew” it closed across the top.
Once he got over the scare of not being able to get out, he seemed to really enjoy his time in there. The Cat Lady thought she might have someone that could adopt him, but hadn’t heard back from them yet, so there was no point in keeping him in there longer.
When I opened the door for him, he didn’t even try to leave right away. As I was going back and forth with things, I suddenly realized, he was back in the catio, watching me!
Him and several kittens.
The cats quite like the catio! Especially the kittens.
Interestingly, after letting him out, Gouda seems to be extra calm, and wanting human attention more. He reaches out to my hands to get me to pet him – but if my hands are busy and I don’t pet him, he reaches out with his teeth!
This little kitten was all over the top of the catio! When I was bent over to lace the wire through the mesh, she kept batting at my hat.
Yes, this is a she, and she is friendly!
I had other cats rolling around on the top of the catio while I worked, but this one, I sent pictures of to the Cat Lady, mentioning that she’s friendly. She seems to be the only female kitten that is friendly. All the rest of the friendly ones are male, as far as I can tell.
The Cat Lady responded that we should get her fixed soon, while she still is young enough to qualify for the special pricing for spays at the vet clinic we took Gouda to. That would be awesome! So, maybe next month, we’ll be doing her instead of two males.
I did as much as I could with the wire wrapping, but had to stop for a while. I ended up going into town to refill three of our big water jugs. I should have done a dump run, too, but after driving over that glass jar last time, I really don’t want to risk my tires. People on the local RM Facebook group I’m on have been talking about how bad the conditions at the dump have become in the last little while.
So I decided against going today.
Since I was not going to be around to supervise, I had to make sure the gate was closed up.
The good thing is, my brother has his own key.
By the time I got back, my brother was hear and had already started to load. After unloading our truck and leaving a daughter to put things away, I went to help my brother unload his trailer. He didn’t stay long after that, as he needed to start loading the trailer again when he got home, before things got dark. Nothing that’s coming here, though, so we shouldn’t be seeing them again this weekend.
Once we were done and he left – and the gate was locked again – I went back to the catio. I finished off with the wire wrapping, then brought over the hose. It had taken Gouda a while to figure out the litter box, and he’d made a mess on the cat hammock. I got that cleaned off before finally starting on the roof.
The screws all have washers with neoprene seals on them, so water shouldn’t leak around them.
Since no cat will be in there overnight, I removed the empty food bowl, but didn’t bother removing the water bowl. The box nest went back in, though, as did the litter box, just to keep it out of the elements until I empty it and clean it for the next time it’s needed.
After this, we can finish painting the rest of it black, and replace the torn cat hammock that was removed. It will then be officially done!
Then I can get back to working on the isolation shelter. I really need to get that finished. Not just for the cats, but so I can get everything out of the garage and cleaned up, so we can park the truck in there again.
For now, I’m just glad to have that roof on. We’re supposed to get thunderstorms at around 5am. This gives the cats a bit of extra shelter they can tuck into.
After two weeks or driving all over, I’m happy to have one week of almost no driving at all, before it’s back to running around. This coming week, I expect to do grocery shopping for my mother at some point, but that’s about it. That will give me time to work on projects, but also get caught up on things like lawn mowing, and getting the loppers out to clear away saplings that are starting to take over some areas again.
Maybe even finally get back to working on those raised garden beds we’re supposed to be harvesting trees for!
If the weather holds. We may not be expecting frost, but by phone’s weather app is predicting thunderstorms on at least three days next week.
We shall see how it goes!
I’m just happy with whatever progress I manage to get right now.
Last night, I was able to reinforce the damage wire mesh along the door, after painting the base. The door still opens fully, with no obstructions, which was my goal.
My daughter did a second coat on the base, as the original white paint was showing through. She also painted the water stained underside of the “floating” shelves. Once the paint has cured for a couple of hours, it’ll be flipped upright, the plastic cover removed, and the rest will be painted. Then, the roof panels can be put on.
As for my day with my mother, she insisted on going back to her previous eye clinic, as she decided the one I took her too screwed up. The eye doctor there is an Asian woman, so my mother’s racism is in full play.
It turns out, the problem wasn’t her glasses at all. Since her last eye tests, she developed macular degeneration in one eye. It’s almost completely blind.
They can’t do anything for her out here, other than get her to take special vitamins to protect her other eye. She will need to go to the city once a month for eye injections. As the person that will be driving her, the specialist clinic will call me, probably within the next 2 weeks, to start that.
She is now glad she went to a “real doctor”. The thing is, I was in the room with her last appointment. I was there when they took images of her eyes. I saw the images when the doctor showed them to her. She did not have it then. This is something that can happen quickly, which is obviously how it is with her. But this doctor is a white man – and she knows his parents! – so that means he’s a good doctor, nor the other doctor.
*sigh*
After that, we had lunch, and ran into a friend of mine from high school! I spent time explaining things the eye doctor told us as we ate.
Then again as I drove her home.
Then again, after I picked up her meds, Tylenol and the eye vitamins she needs to take, and her groceries.
Then again, because she couldn’t figure out why she had 3 bottles of pills instead of two. She suddenly decided the vitamins were her prescription medication, and the prescription medication were the vitamins.
They have completely different instructions.
I ended up writing it all down, complete with illustrations, to help her remember.
At least she can still read with her left eye!
The monthly treatment she will be getting should fix her eye, though maybe not 100%. We don’t know how long it will take.
In the first photo, a support is being added to the back of the catio. The catio is sitting on one end, and I was able to reach inside through the open space in the back that was soon to be covered with wire mesh. I found a scrap piece of wood I cut to fit snuggly between the the middle of top and bottom frame pieces – snug enough that it stayed in place, even while the catio was on its side. Once it was centred, it was attached with screws. This will prevent any potential sagging in the middle – because I know that cats will be jumping on top! – as well as giving something extra to secure the wire mesh to.
,The catio is 5′ 3″ long. The roll of quarter inch wire mesh I got is 5′ long. Taking into account the width of the frame pieces, that meant I could cover the back of the catio, with half an inch on each side with which to secure it to the frame. In the second picture, you can see that I stapled the wire mesh in place.
You can also see, there is no way those staples were going to hold. However, stapling the new piece to the frame kept it where I needed it until I could secure it properly. I was also able to staple both old and new wire mesh to the new support in the middle, which kept things from wobbling around too much.
I then went nuts with pieces of wood lath, which you can see in the third image.
With the metal corner braces screwed onto the bottom of the catio, it now had metal bits that were not flush with the wood. I didn’t want to be dragging screw heads on the ground, or getting grass caught in the metal, if we had to move it. For now, I’ve added pieces of wood lath – which are exactly the same width as the frame pieces – to the bottom, flush against the metal braces. Eventually, we want to add something to the corners, over the metal braces, so that there is no gap for a cat to potentially reach under and dig its way out. We haven’t figured out what do use for that, yet. All in good time.
Once the bottom pieces were nailed in place, the catio got flipped onto its front. The wood lath comes in 4′ lengths, and the catio is 4′ high, so that worked out perfectly. The new vertical support inside the back of the catio is wider, though, so I centred two pieces to go over that.
It wasn’t until I’d already attached the pair of them to the frame at one end, that I realized one of them was shorter than the other by almost 2 1/2 inches! That was okay, though. When I added the horizontal pieces at the top and bottom, they were each marked and cut to individual lengths, so the gap was filled that way. Last of all, the vertical pieces attached to the frame.
Framing the mesh on the back had to be done rather carefully. There’s only that half inch of mesh attached to the frame, and I wanted to make sure there were plenty of nails that were inside the mesh squares, so that if something pulled or pushed onto the mesh, the nails would keep it from getting pulled out from between the wood. At the same time, the nails couldn’t go too close to the edge, or the wood lath would start splitting. Plus, the nails I was using were finishing nails I’d collected from what the cats had knocked onto the floor over the winter. I’d sorted out all the finishing nails from the rest, but only by type, not by size. A lot of them were thicker nails that would also split the wood, so I had to pick through the lid I was using as a tray to hold them, selecting those that weren’t too thick or too long or too short… there don’t seem to be a lot that were juuuuust right.
The main thing, though, is that the mesh is now securely attached to the frame. There is enough overlap between old and new wire mesh that I don’t think it also needs to be “sewn” together, but if it does, the wire that was used to keep the roll of mesh together was set aside for this, just in case.
That done, there were still a couple more areas to patch up. On each side, the bottom corner near the back was rusted out. You can see the larger rusted out area in the next photo of the slide show.
I didn’t have to break open the second roll of quarter inch wire mesh, though. I had a small amount left over from when I made the soil sifter, a couple of years ago. The rusted out areas of mesh were cut out. After determining how large the mesh needed to be to cover the holes, I made sure to cut them so that the two sides that would not be attached to the frame had the lengths of wire ends sticking out. When the new mesh was lined up with the old mesh, those ends were twisted around the old mesh to secure the patch in place. Then pieces of wood lath were cut to extend beyond the patches and nailed into place to secure them.
You can see the finished larger patch in the next photo – with Syndol on top! He was very curious about what I was doing, to the point I had to be careful not to hammer a paw!
So the wire mesh is now all patched up were needed!
That was where I stopped for the day, but there is still some repair needed. Along the hinge side of the door, some of the staples have popped off, and some of the wire mesh at the edges have become detached from each other. The easy way to fix it is with more wood lath, but the hinges have to be kept clear. The door also swings all the way open, and any wood lath added would prevent that. I need to come up with an alternative that is super thin. I do have some metal strips that I used on the raised bed covers, but the holes in that are larger, for screws, not nails. I don’t want to use screws for this, as I’d have to put in quite a few to secure the mesh, and I don’t want to be making that many large holes in the frame. The metal is soft enough, I might be able to nail through it, though. I’ll have to test that out, when I next get a chance.
Which won’t be tomorrow.
Meanwhile, with things as secure as they are now, I set the catio upright again and opened the door wide.
Syndol immediately found the door and started exploring. I lifted him onto one of the shelfs, and he promptly settled in the cloth hammock that is still secure. It took a bit longer for several kittens to find the door and explore as well.
I got rained on a few times while working on this, and we’re supposed to get more rain tonight, so I found a sheet of plastic and set up a temporary roof. This way, the cats can go inside and hang out on the shelves or the one secure hammock, and take shelter from the rain. In the last picture, you can see Syndol inside the covered catio.
There are a couple of fixes I’m going to have to get my younger daughter to do. I’m too broken to be able to go inside the catio to do them.
One is to add more corner brackets to reinforce the top corners of the frame, as has already been done in the bottom corners. We won’t be adding the flat plates on top of the corners, like the underside of the frame has, since the top will be covered with roof panels, and that will add its own layer of stability to the frame.
The other fix is to replace the torn cloth hammock. Those are stapled in place, but we’ll figure out some other way to attach the new cloth.
This won’t be done any time soon, but the very last thing we want to do is pain the whole thing – especially the new wood that was added – black. The wire mesh will be painted black as well, so that it’s easier to see through. We could probably get away with just a quart of paint for this job, too, which should be in budget.
For now, I’m happy with the progress made. With the last little fixes, we can use it as an isolation shelter right now, until the real one is finished. We don’t have to rush that job, now.
I’m so very thankful that the rescue was able to pass the catio on to us!
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 