Oh, what a handsome boy!
Or girl. We don’t know, either way, yet.
The Re-Farmer
Critters
Newfound baby, and a follow up
I have been avoiding going into the pump shack for the past while, because I was pretty sure there was a litter in there, and didn’t want to disturb the mama. They tend to move their litters further away when that happens.
Last night, I figured it was long enough to check things out.
Look what I found!
I only saw one, but could hear others. This one looks a lot like most of Rosencrantz’s babies, except smaller. Which makes it pretty clear who the daddy is! I’ve been calling him Sad Face, because he has this permanent tragic expression. I found out recently the girls have another name for him.
Shop Towel.
Because he is the daddy of Tissue…
*face palm*
Given the size of the kittens, I decided to bring one of the kibble trays over. I was going to leave it in front of the hole at the bottom of the pump shack door, but it was still raining and the roof overhang isn’t enough to keep it dry. So I tucked it inside for now.
I still think there is at least one more litter we haven’t seen yet, either in the collapsing log building or the threshing machine, near the fire pit. All I heard was maternal “mama is here” type noises, though, not kitten noises.
Being born so late in the year, these babies are going to be at much higher risk over the winter, no matter how many shelters we provide for them. Hopefully, we will be in the area expected to have a mild winter this year, rather than the area expected to have exceptionally cold temperatures. We’re in a sort of ambiguous border between the two areas, and the lake effect can change things dramatically.
On another note, my brother is taking the roofing estimates to my mother today. I pray my mother will actually follow through with her promise to pay for a new roof, and not choke once she sees the numbers and back off, as she has in the past. She still thinks things should cost what they did, 50 years ago. I well remember how, as part of our deal to move out here, she agreed to pay for the movers, only to try to back off when it came time to actually fork over the cash. Even when she finally did, she refused to pay the full amount, and my brother was kind enough to cover the balance. My mother can be very cruel and manipulative. My brother has already told her that if she starts doing that sort of thing again, he will not put up with it, and will stop the process completely. The last thing we need is to hire a company to do the roof, only to have her refuse to pay after it’s done. Neither my brother nor I can afford to cover the cost if she does that sort of thing again.
If she does follow through, we are looking to have the roof done in November. Which would be so amazing. I am afraid to hope it will get done, though. I’ve got too many knives stuck in my back as it is.
The Re-Farmer
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A puddle of fur
After doing my evening rounds yesterday, I spent some time in the sun room, being violently cuddled by two kittens.
Other kittens were not so aggressive in their cuddles.
Of the three in the box, only one of them is socialized, though the calico does sometimes let us pet it.
I’ve found at many of six kittens shmushed together on the pillow in that box, including some of the oldest, biggest kittens squished in with the smaller ones!
What an adorable puddle of fur.
The Re-Farmer
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So… many… kitties!
I did a head count this morning.
There is 11 visible in this shot.
Rozencrantz and her five in here.
Then there were the ones eating the kibble I left on the roof of the cats’ house, and the ones eating at the tray under the spirea by the storage house – including the one that was hiding in the background, waiting it’s turn.
Twenty five.
I counted twenty five cats and kittens this morning.
And that doesn’t count Rolando Moon and Potato Beetle, who have not been around for the past little while, or the two toms that show up. Plus, I’m pretty sure there are other, younger, kittens hidden away somewhere.
Wow.
The Re-Farmer
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Hello, Little One!
The other kittens ran off, but this one hung around long enough for me to snap a picture.
They are getting braver and exploring further into the yard – and other kibble trays and water bowls!
The Re-Farmer
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Grassy kittens!
Okay, so uploading to Rumble was WAY smoother than using YouTube.
So adorable!
They certainly do love that grass, though. I left the current bush like this last night.
This morning, I found it like this.
Thankfully, it was just here, and not among the tomatoes and squash I also mulched!
Silly babies. 🧡
The Re-Farmer
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From above
With the cooler nights, I finally closed my bedroom window yesterday.
This was more complex than normal.
The cats like to sit on the window ledge, but with the window open, they could attack anything that blew or flew by. Nosencrantz in particular was getting very destructive. Even when I got the window fan and set it up, she kept trying to get at the window, knocking the fan down. I had cord running through the handle, and more across the window, to keep the fan from being pushed off the ledge, but she would jam herself in behind. I finally had to grab some of the old window screens we used for drying mind leaves, needing 2 of them to cover the window and the fan, along with a cut-to-size piece of 2 inch Styrofoam between the top of the fan and the top of the window sill. She still kept clawing at the screens (which, thankfully, we metal mesh and stronger than the window’s screen). I had to come up with a rather elaborate barricade to block access to the window, and still allow air flow and use of the fan. That included creating a barricade around the shelf near the window she likes to curl up in, because she would actually pull one of the screens out of position.
I was able to take the fan down a while ago, but still had to keep the barricades. Nosencrantz was very, very determined!
To finally close the window, I had to remove cords, that piece of Styrofoam and the extra screens. Then, once the window could finally be closed, I had to remove its screen and tuck it behind the other ones to further protect it. Then I could finally move away the barricade around the shelf.
Which meant that Nosencrantz could now access the top of the shelf again.
This is what I get to see, now.
She has such and expression. Like she’s analyzing, and trying to figure things out.
The Re-Farmer
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Cup baby
I spent most of yesterday helping my mother run errands, so I didn’t get a lot done at home. It was a lovely evening, however, so I took advantage of it to do a burn.
I had company.
It took a few sprays of the hose for him to learn to stay away from the fire ring and burn barrel, but he quickly learned that if he was in my chair, I would let him stay.
It was just too funny to turn around and find him in the cup holder!
The Re-Farmer
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Morning kitties
The cattens were out in full force this morning.
The oldest of this year’s litters are almost adult size now. The cat with the plaid pattern on its back is one of the mamas.
Sadly, the older they are, the hard it is to socialize them. 😟
The Re-Farmer
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Goodbye, Keith
Keith passed away peacefully during the night. When I found him this morning, he looked like he was having a lovely little snooze.
My older daughter and I buried him this morning. At first, we were going to bury him under a willow, where there used to be a flower bed, but there were too many roots under the first few inches of soil. Knowing we could not be able to dig very deep, and not wanting critters to do damage, my daughter went looking for something to use as a cover while I decided to dig among the white lilacs.
We have horrible, rock hard, rock filled soil on top of hard clay and rocks. But we traded off and made progress, until we hit some much bigger roots. We took a hatchet to those, only to find a large rock under them. After much digging around it, we realized it was just too big and was not going to move.
We were able to bury Keith, though, and cover his grave.
It seems rather appropriate that as soon as everything was in place, a kitten decided to play on the spot.
The bench was returned and will add an extra level of protection. Once the ground is frozen, we won’t have to be concerned about it. In the spring, we will add soil and plant something over his grave.
Good bye, Keith.
How strange that we would suddenly lose Keith, when Leyendecker was the one who as so very ill. He has been active, has a good appetite and is overall looking so much better… but still doesn’t seem to be able to void properly. My daughter wants to have his blood tested again before making a final decision, to confirm one way or the other, whether his is recovering.
Right now, I just feel so tired.
And not because I just spent more than an hour fighting a losing battle with a big rock.
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 