A Day of Rest

We try to keep Sundays as our day of rest.  It has been made easier by colder temperatures and a continuous, if light, snowfall.

Last night, I found a way to prop the doors into the sun room so we could let the kittens in overnight, but the skunk should not be able to squeeze in and leave a mess for us in the morning.

It seems to have worked, though I suppose we can’t really be sure that the skunk didn’t come in and out without us seeing.  All I can say for sure is, no “presents” on the floor for me to clean up!

20181014.feeding.time My husband wasn’t up to doing the cats this morning, so I took care of it.  Here are the moms, three of Butterscotch’s kittens, and one of Beep Beep’s, plus The Outsider.

I’m fascinated by the markings on Rosencrantz or Guildenstern.

Bob has filled out so much, he’s almost as big as Jim, now!

It seems the kittens have decided today is a day of rest, too!

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I’m not sure if this is 6 or 7 kittens.  There’s that ear behind Doom Guy’s back.  I can’t tell if it’s attached to The Outsider or not. :-D

I am appreciating being able to rest today, as tomorrow is going to be a long one for me.  I will be taking my mother to a follow up appointment for her surgery at the smaller, slightly closer, city.  Then I plan to go to the RCMP and file a report about the vandalism on our lock.  Whoever is doing it may think it’s just a nasty trick to play on us, but this is a potential safety issue, if we ever had to evacuate suddenly.  There’s nothing the police can do at this point, but as long as there’s a file, there will be a past record, for when it happens again.

What a pain.

The Re-Farmer

Not quite what I expected

After I finished my last post (just before midnight! :-D ), I tried once again to see if I could close up the sun room for the night.  The last I saw, all the kittens were outside eating, and the skunk was settling into the corner of the sun room.

I came in to find this.

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Do not let the little furry heads fool you.  This is not a pile of six kittens.

It is a pile of seven kittens!

As I went in and the pile broke up, the seventh kitten emerged, having been completely buried by the others!

Bob is really filling out and looking so much healthier, now!  Glad to see that.  Also, the markings on one of the calico/torties is looking more and more like a grey tabby!  Much less orange than her sibling.

As I was persuading them to go outside, I saw the skunk was already out and eating, so I was finally able to close up the outside doors, then start heading in through the Old Kitchen.

Then I went back to let out Jim, who had been hiding and accidentally got closed in.  !!

So that worked out in the end, and no turd bombs that I could find.

Today, I was slated to go to my mother’s to help her with some errands.  I used her car, so that it would be easier for her to get in and out, but it doesn’t really fit her walker in the back, so she used a cane.  I must say, she is recovering really well, has grown noticeably stronger since I last saw her, and quite mobile.  She still tired quickly, of course, but did fantastic.  Not bad for someone who’s 87 and just had major abdominal surgery!

We had an excellent visit as well, and while we were talking, I mentioned that we were letting the kittens into the sun room.  I wasn’t sure how she would take that, since she vacillates from telling me we shouldn’t have cats because of the litter box, to happy about the outside cats, because they keep the rodent population under control, and loving how cute the kittens are.

I showed her the above photo, and she was loving it.  She questioned about them being all from one mom, but I reminded her that there were two from one mom, four from another – and that another kitten showed up from somewhere and has moved right in.  She loved that!

Then she commented that we might have a problem with them pooping in the sun room.  I wasn’t sure how she would take it, but I told her that it’s not the cats we have problems with pooping in the sun room, but…

Then I showed her a picture of the skunk I’d taken last night.

It took her a moment to realize what she was seeing and where, but when she did, she was so excited!  I showed her some more photos and the short video I took of the skunk sharing cat food with one of the kittens, and she loved it!  She thought he was so cute, and how great it was that it comes regularly.

I had thought she might be upset about the skunk coming inside the sun room, to be honest, so this was awesome!

She also suggested that we might end up with more of them showing up.  I figure it might depend of whether we have a he or a she.  Who knows; by next spring, the skunk might show up with a row of little ones, following along!

Meanwhile, my darling husband did a bit of research.  Apparently, cat kibble is not good for skunks.  Fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables is recommended.  Well, this skunk seems to be doing just fine with the kibble, along with whatever else it finds on its own.  It’s not like the cat kibble is the only source of food it has.  I think it’ll be just fine.

I’m just happy my mom is happy about our stinky kitty, too!

Also, I think I will make a point of shutting up the sun room now, before our smelly friend returns!

The Re-Farmer

A Deer Returns!

Note: I’m trying something different with my photos this time.  We’re close to our storage limit on our free WordPress account. I don’t want to reduce the number of photos we post, and we’re not in a position to upgrade yet, so we now have a Flickr account and I am going to try embedding the images.  Please let us know in the comments, if you are having any problems with the images loading, etc.  Thanks!

My darling husband has taken on the morning feeding of the critters.  With the bird feeder, this includes scattering seed on the ground for those birds that prefer feeding that way, and for any deer that happen by.  We’ve seen the odd deer, but they haven’t really hung around.

Well, this morning, one did!!!

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He’s a young one, and I’m sure he is one of the little ones that visited us in the winter.  There’s something about that swoopy snout that I recognize.

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Just look at those little antlers! :-D

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Getting the photos was a bit of a challenge for two reasons.  One, we keep the telephoto lens on the camera (for those new to this blog, we keep a Nikon D80 on a tripod in our living room window permanently, to photograph the wildlife out our living room window).  The deer was almost too close to the house for the lens!

He looks like he’s laughing at us, in this next one!

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The other challenge is reflections on the window from inside.  At the time I was taking these photos, I had to contend with reflections of my avocado on the glass.  :-D

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If it seems like he’s looking at something specific in some of these photos, that’s because he is …

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Sometimes, it was us in the window.

Most of the time, it was…

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… Doom Guy!

I wasn’t able to get a photo of it, but at one point, they were nose to nose!  So adorable!!

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He was quite attentive to all the noises around him, but not at all skittish.  Which is good, because it’s warming up today, and after all the snow yesterday, it’s falling off the trees with clumps.  We are hearing “phwomph” noises all over.

Also; avocado tree reflections. :-D

Then we got another curious kitten!

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In this photo, the deer had moved to the far side of the bird feeder, and The Outsider was on this side, watching him, while Doom Guy was on the other side of the feeder base, though he had left by the time this photo was taken.

I’m so happy to see deer back again!

I also managed to get some really fantastic pictures of The Outsider after the deer left.  Those will get their own post, next. :-D

The Re-Farmer

Crazy kits and cat strangers

Just before I headed out to my mother’s to help her with some cooking, my husband starts laughing out loud in the living room, calling us over.

If you’ve seen his previous post, you know why!

I managed to get some photos on the DSLR, too.

Too funny!

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What a handsome boy he is!

While he was going around the platform feeder, birds would start flying over, see him and abruptly change directions.  It looked like they were dive bombing him!

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He so wanted to get onto the hanging feeder, but it kept moving! :-D

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I don’t know what he found to nibble on up there.  We saw him chewing on things a few times.

I probably don’t want to know what he was eating.

He also was standing on his back legs, trying to climb even higher, but I wasn’t able to get photos.

While Corvo was busily entertaining us, Doom Guy and The Outsider also came over and hung out at the bottom of the planter.  We couldn’t get pictures at the time, but my older daughter caught this one.

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He’s here all the time, now, and seems to have made himself at home.

My daughter also got a photo, a few days ago, of one of the mystery cats that sometimes shows up.

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This is one of two strange adult cats that have been showing up now and then.

He seems pretty chill. :-D

Beyond getting entertained by cats at home, I spent some time with my mother, doing some cooking that will be used by home care when they come by for meal assist later on.  I noticed that another jar of the chili we made for her finally got used.  She told me I should take it home, because it wasn’t “fresh”, and she needs to only eat “fresh” food, for her health.

Well, she eats plenty of stuff that isn’t “fresh” all the time, so I know that’s just something she came up with to excuse not eating the chili.  I explained again to her that the reason I put them up in jars the way I did, was so that it last longer.  It didn’t matter.  Like the chicken my sister-in-law made for her, that ended up going to the cats, she’s simply decided it has gone bad, and that’s that.

So much of the fresh food that was prepared for her ended up being thrown out, because she wouldn’t eat it for some reason, and it actually did go bad.  Such a waste.

I had a chance to show my mother some photos of the clean up I did along the fence line up to the gate, because of a concern she brought up when she phoned to ask me to come over.  It seems “people” have been telling her that I was not just cutting down dead branches, but taking down living trees.  Now, I’ve been keeping my mother in the loop about what I’m doing, including clearing trees from the fence line, because we will need access to it to repair it.  Then she started talking about her lilacs.  She had planted special lilacs by the gate.  I told her on the phone that they’re still there, I just cleaned out the dead stuff and the poplars that were growing in the middle of them.  She seemed taken aback when I mentioned poplars, but she was really upset that I had apparently cut down her special lilacs.  I assured her I hadn’t, then asked who it was that was gossiping about us that she was listening to.  I found out, and was not at all surprised it was the person that is the reason we have to lock our gates.  *sigh*  Ah, well.

So I showed her a picture of the area by the gate I had cleaned up.  Including this one.

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I don’t know what kind of lilacs those are (I wasn’t sure they were even lilacs; she has the usual purple lilacs on the other side of the gate).

It turns out, this wasn’t the gate she was talking about.  She thought I had cut down her white lilacs.

These ones.

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We cleaned up this area, months ago.

She has seen this area since I’ve cleaned it up, so she knew what I had done with it.  But when she was told I was cutting by the “gate”, she thought of the gate into the yard, not the gate at the driveway.

I’ve made a point of keeping my mother in the loop of what we’ve been doing, showing her photos every chance I get, until she is strong enough to come and see for herself.  Yet, all it takes is one person, who has no clue what we’ve done or what we are doing, to start gossiping, and she starts to panic.

So disappointing.

She saw the pictures, however, and I talked about the repairs to the fences that are needed, and the section with posts that will need to be replaces, and so on.  She was happy with what she saw.  It worked out well in the end. :-)

The Re-Farmer

 

 

Catching up on cats

Here are some photos from yesterday to entertain you. :-)

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As my younger daughter and I were getting ready to head into town to pick up the rest of a prescription refill, we got accosted.  Doom Guy came right over for attention, but when I picked him up, he didn’t want to be held in my arms.  He wanted to perch!

Then my daughter came out, and Beep Beep was just all over her!

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She was rolling all over her shoulder, and pushing herself against my daughter’s head.

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Then kept on twisting and turning.  Until she fell off and landed on my daughter’s purse before we finally got her off so we could leave!

What a face!

While in town, we remembered to swing by a liquor store.  We spotted a beer bread mix which, of course, requires beer.  The company that made the bread mix is also a small brewery, and I even found the exact brand.

I got two cans.  One for baking, one for tasting! :-D

We shall see how it turns out!

The Re-Farmer

Oh, what a day! :-D

How the day was going to go was a bit up in the air, to be decided after we picked up our van.  It ended up being a much longer day, but we got the bulk of our monthly shop in, after all.

In order to get the van home, my younger daughter and husband had to come along.  Now, my mother’s car isn’t a compact car, by any means, but my husband tops 6 ft.  Even with the seat back as far as it could go, he had to fold himself in.  He was basically wearing the car!!  Continue reading

Kitties, kitties, pile o’ kitties!

This is what greeted me out the window, when I headed into the kitchen this morning.

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The girls and I headed into town today, and as we came out to go to the van, we found Jim up there, watching. :-D

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We had visitors this morning, too.  The girls saw Dad Cat, a grey and white, at the food bowls.  Out my office window, I spotted another, almost completely grey, adult cat running off.  As we were leaving, we startled The Outsider – which is what the girls call the all grey ball of fluff kitten that has been coming around – away from the food.

While we were out, my husband opened up the sun room for the cats and later found this.

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That’s just a whole pile o’ fluff!

We’re living in cat heaven. :-D

The Re-Farmer

Dinner Party

My husband has taken on the morning feeding of the outside cats, so I haven’t been getting photos of them coming out early in the day.  The kittens are getting used to him, I’m told, and have started to come running when he fills their bowls.

Every now and then, though, the kittens come back, sneaking around us, to get to the food bowls.

Corvo is most amusing.

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He now goes straight to laying half his body right in the bowl, and even rolls around in the kibble, pushing away any other kittens coming over.

Here we have Corvo, Rosencrantz (or Guildenstern), Jim, and Bob.

Bob is the teeny tabby.  So named, because his body is so small compared to his head, he looks like a bobble head toy.

He is filling out, though, which is a relief.

Doom Guy and Guildenstern (or Rosencrantz) didn’t make a showing this time, but when I came out later, these four were still there.

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Still completely ignoring the second food bowl. :-D

The Re-Farmer