Snow and frost, bye-bye bitties, and this is $353

December 31, 2022 / Re-Farmer / 11 Comments

Starting last night, heavy fog started moving across our province. It was heaviest in the south, with major visibility issues. Today, it reached us.

It was pretty light by the time I was doing this part of my rounds, and gosh, it does make the trees look pretty!

Though it does cause issues with how well the trail cams work! 😄

Yesterday, I had to head out in the morning to pick up some parcels at the post office before it closed for the holidays. The road had been plowed. Which is nice, but I started to get stuck trying to get through it with the van. So in the afternoon, I headed out with a shovel to clear it.

Which is really hard to see, even after trying to increase the contrast when I resized the photo! 😄 I did the end of the driveway, from the gate to the road, with a shovel rather than breaking out Spewie. The plow ridge was too much for that little snow blower.

Which meant getting out today was much, much easier!

Today, we said goodbye to the bitties.

Tissue is the last of the inside cats that needed to be spayed. She is available for adoption, but we will be bringing her back home on the 4th. They’re scheduled to be spayed on the 2nd.

Walnut (who would be Tissue’s baby sister) may not be spayed right away, though. The littles are all dealing with upper respiratory issues, and the vet might not be willing to spay her until that’s been treated. Talking to the Cat Lady, she was thinking either the vet would spay her, and they’d keep her for 2 weeks of antibiotic treatment, or the vet won’t do it, they’ll treat her for 2 weeks, and then hope for another spay clinic (which is $75, instead of $350).

While I was working on this post, however, I started getting messages from the Cat Lady, asking what we know about Walnut’s age. We know she’s at least 6 months old, even though she is so tiny. Well, it turns out the Cat Lady has someone who is interested in adopting a tiny cat. Walnut may already have a forever home lined up! The bitties, of course, won’t be up for adoption for a while, yet.

Meanwhile, because of the respiratory issues, Tissue is currently isolated from the rest of the Cat Lady’s cats, who are all sniffling right now. The bitties, of course, will be isolated in their own kennel for awhile, too. Apparently, this particular strain of upper respiratory problems, which has been a problem for at least 30 years, is especially bad this year. Another rescue she is connected with has lost ALL their adult cats to it! For it to take out adult cats is very unusual. When she was last at the vet, all the other people with cats in the waiting room, their cats were stuffy and sneezing.

The lysine we’ve been giving them – even though they are probably not getting much of a dose – will help. It used to be, lysine treatment was only for a month, but the vet is telling her that now, it’s lysine for life. !!!

So we will all be taking extra care with the cats. Being as isolated as we are, we don’t have to worry too much about the cats being in contact with other colonies compared to more populated areas, but the Cat Lady has to take extra care, just in her own house, and she has more than 20 right now.

We meet in a parking lot near a Walmart, so after we parted ways, I took advantage of the situation and did some shopping. We are well stocked with most things, which meant that – aside from cat food (the Cat Lady casually loaded another bag of cat food into our van, along with another cat bed, while we were chatting!) – we could indulge a bit for New Year’s treats.

Which is why this cart load is $353 and change (plus a donation to the Children’s Hospital).

There’s 5 different types of frozen appetizers in there, which we’re having today – early, because none of us intend to stay up to midnight! – as well as a couple of cheeses, a couple of charcuterie combos and a couple of baguettes for tomorrow. I got a couple of pies as well, and some cranberry ginger ale. Along with the dry and wet cat food, I had a request for some “healthy-ish” cereal for my husband, plus a large jar of olives, both for the charcuterie, and for general snacking. There’s a bag of clementines, and two bags of avocados. Those were under $2 for a bag of five avocados! These days, we’re lucky to pay less than $2 for just one.

There’s also a couple of bags of pistachios for van snacks, and a couple of popcorn seasonings. Last of all are a couple of Command Strip hooks I remembered to get, some batteries my daughters needed, and some painkillers for me. I ran out a while ago.

That’s it. The cart isn’t even full, and it was over $350

Before heading for home, I messaged the family to let them know I’d need help unloading. We can’t drive up to the house right now, and the path shoveled to the garage is not wide enough for the wagon.

When I got home, however, I found my daughter had broken Spewie out and widened the path, and even got paths to the burn ring and almost all the way to the electricity meter. The extension cord wasn’t long enough to reach all the way, and she didn’t want to break out another one. So she was shoveling in front of the garage, instead.

When I came in, though, I had another surprise.

The driveway was cleared again!

I was going to work on it tomorrow, with Spewie, but now we just need to clear the rest right in front of the garage, and paths in the yard.

As you can see, even though I increased the contrast in the photo, we still had fog.

Driving out, the fog got thicker the further south I went. By the time I was driving home, it was the other way around. When I was loading the van, there wasn’t any fog anymore, but the further north I drove, the denser it got. One stretch of my route is nothing but open fields in all directions, with just the occasional shelter belt around a farmyard visible. With the white snow and the dense fog, there was no horizon, except on the highway itself – and even then, I was seeing a vehicle in front of me slowly disappearing, even though we were not getting any further apart.

That combination of snow and fog really affects the visibility!

I was certainly glad to get home!

So now, we will celebrate New Year’s early, and be in bed well before midnight! 😄😄

The Re-Farmer

Foggy morning, and new kitty cuddles

October 4, 2022 / Re-Farmer / 5 Comments

We had another morning of very dense fog today. The photos do not do it justice!

The camera automatically cleaned up the images, but it was dense enough to shroud things I was standing next to – and it got thicker as I did my morning rounds!

What was interesting is that I was also surrounded by what sounded like the pitter patter of rain coming through the fog. It wasn’t rain, of course.

It was leaves. Falling leaves, hitting other leaves on the way down. Which I couldn’t see, because of the fog, until I was basically under a tree and had leaves falling around me!

The first thing I do when I head out in the morning it put kibble out in all the trays, which are full of cats and kittens by the time I get back in the yard after switching out the gate cam memory card. This sometimes gives me the opportunity to get close to, and maybe even pet, a less socialized kitty.

Or, in the case of one of Rosencrantz’s litter, pick it up!

While I was cuddling it, I got climbed like a tree by the two friendliest kitties.

The black and white one with the black splotch by its nose likes to just perch on my neck and shoulders. The grey and white tabby immediately starts licking my nose. The new kitty I was cuddling actually seemed to get more relaxed when the other two joined.

Getting my phone out of my pocket while juggling kittens to take this picture was rather challenging.

While I was cuddling, more of the white and grey kittens came out, as well as the one with the orange head (whose eye is getting better) and the tortie.

It took a moment for me to realize there was an extra white and grey kitten. One of the pump shack kittens had joined the bunch! It became easy to tell which one was the pump shack kitten when it slipped easily through the chain link fence to get to the kibble bowl under the shrine. Another white and grey did manage to squeeze though, but the others went around to where they can fit under the fence. 😄

I may not be able to touch them all, but at least they are more willing to come to the kibble bowl while I am standing nearby!

The Re-Farmer

Morning fog

October 2, 2022 / Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

We had quite a fog roll in last night, and it was still quite dense when I went out to do my morning rounds.

Starting with feeding the kitties, of course.

Rosencrantz’s five were together, but no sign of Rosencrantz.

We can’t get at the one with the orange head to check it’s eye. 😔

Then I aw a white and grey kitten come out from under the cat’s house, see me, and go hiding again. With these ones still under the shrine, that meant it was one of the pump shack kittens! I don’t know how many of them are coming to the house. I still drop kibble off in a tray in front of the door, but I don’t go in. I do hear noises from inside, so at least some of them are still using the pump shack.

It was so beautiful with the fog this morning!

While checking the gate and switching out the trail cam memory card, I had a whole bunch of kitties following me. Five of them started playing around the “bridge” over the little drainage ditch leading to the culvert, and at least one more had gone the other way and was playing in the hold hay yard.

Then there was this guy.

He much prefers to be on a human!

He is so very tiny. 🧡

The Re-Farmer

Foggy Morning

October 1, 2021 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

We got some rain last night, then this morning we woke to this incredible, dense fog.

It was 10:30am when I took this photo, and it was still so foggy, I could feel it on my skin as I walked around!

So gorgeous.

The Re-Farmer

Mingling with fog

January 11, 2021January 11, 2021 / Re-Farmer / 4 Comments

This morning was bright and sunny while I did my outside rounds, but it was fascinating to watch the fog roll in on the security camera live feed! It was like an approaching wall!

By the time my daughter and I headed out in the late morning, the highways had visibility of about a kilometer, sometimes less.

My daughter tried to get pictures for me after we left her doctor’s appointment. The camera clears it up quite a lot from what it actually was! At some points, visibility was down to maybe 200 yards. We kept driving in and out of banks of fog until we found ourselves driving in clear sunshine again – surrounded by trees thickly covered with frost!

After a quick side trip to town, we were still early enough to hit the post office before it closed. I checked tracking before we left, but my package wasn’t supposed to arrive until tomorrow, but other packages were expected – and I’m still hoping for my last little orders of seeds to come in!

No luck on the seeds, but I had a surprise along with a package for my husband.

My Mingle Masks finally came in!

Too late to use while running errands, but that’s okay. At least they’re finally in. With 10 of them, I can keep a few in my mother’s car, a few in the van, and even have some I can give my mother. Some places won’t accept them, but those are the same places that don’t recognize medical exemptions to begin with, so that won’t change for me. :-(

We shall see if I find it any easier to breathe with these compared with the shield. At the very least, I won’t have anything bumping into my shoulders are chest as I move my head around.

While at the doctor’s for my daughter, she asked me to come in with her and he took the time to ask how I was doing, too. I’ve been using the inhaler he prescribed for only 2 days, and there’s been no change (he actually seemed surprised by that). Unfortunately, using the inhaler requires first exhaling as much as possible, then inhaling powder as quickly and deeply as possible, then holding the breath for 20 seconds.

Which is a recipe to trigger my chronic cough.

I was unable to hold my breath for 20 seconds, but I did manage almost 10 before my chest exploded into a cough. :-( My trachea still feels irritated.

I’ve got another phone appointment booked after 2 weeks of use to follow up on it. The last time an inhaler was tried on me, I didn’t last that long, but my coughing fits were much, much worse back then.

We shall see!

The Re-Farmer

Another foggy day, and Canada Post sucks

January 8, 2021 / Re-Farmer / 8 Comments

My goodness, it’s even foggier today than it was yesterday!

This is how it looked in the old hay yard, beyond the barn.

It’s enough to make a collapsing old building look all pretty and artsy! :-D

From what I’ve been told, this old log building was a house. The family that owned this property before it was purchased by a relative of my fathers had built a couple of them, before they built the one that is now part of the house we’re living in.

Can you imagine being able to just up an build yourself a new house whenever the need arose? No permits, and just using what materials you had on hand?

Of course, they also had no electricity, running water, insulation or privacy. :-D

Or space. I don’t know how many kids they had, but that little log cabin probably housed at least 6 people, if they were typical of the era. Since they built slightly bigger cabins each time, I’d guess that reflected on increases in the household! :-D

Anyhow…

When I came out to do the food and water for the outside cats, I found myself being watched.

What the camera isn’t showing is that there was fog visible around her! It was dense enough this morning, that I could actually feel it on my face as I walked around the yard. I haven’t felt that since I last lived on the coast!

This kitten is a shy one, unlike her brother, Nostrildamus. This morning, however, while she was definitely nervous, she would not leave the roof while I moved around. I think it was nice and warm on the toes! :-)

Her mother, on the other hand…

… seemed to quite enjoy rolling in the snow!

:-D

In other things…

This afternoon, my daughter and I have telephone doctor appointments, and I was thinking that I might go to the post office after that. The Mingle Masks I orders were supposed to be in by late yesterday. I checked the tracking number to see if it was in.

*sigh*

They are now saying to expect it on the 12th.

This is getting ridiculous. The post office got an electronic shipping notice on the 29th. They did not physically have the package yet, but two days later – on New Year’s Eve, no less – the package physically arrived from another province to the warehouse facilities in the city.

Since then, I’ve seen it listed as in transit with arrival dates of the 5th and the 7th.

Now, according to Canada Post, the parcel got processed just this morning.

In the city.

So how were they listing the package with these earlier expected delivery dates, when apparently they never even processed it yet?

How is it that Canada Post can get a package from one province to another in a couple of days during the holiday rush, but can’t get it from a warehouse in the city, to a post office just an hour out of the city? And now it’s going to be “in transit” for another 4 days?

They can’t blame catching up on the Christmas rush at this point!

Meanwhile, I still have two small orders of seeds from Baker Creek that got shipped before Christmas that have still not arrived. These are physically small enough that they would be regular mail, not parcels.

And no, we can’t blame the increase in the number of parcels because so many more people are ordering online while trapped at home, either. Canada Post was selectively efficient and inefficient, long before this.

The Re-Farmer

Foggy morning, and more looking ahead

January 7, 2021 / Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

It’s past 10am as I start this post, and we are still surrounded by fog!

The camera automatically cleans up images, so this photo does not reflect just how dense the fog was when I took it!

Not only does fog normally disappear quite a bit earlier than this, but it’s also pretty breezy out there. I’m used to winds and fog on the coasts. On the prairies, a stiff breeze usually blows the fog away in no time. Not today!

I just had to share this high traffic zone picture!

There are deer paths cutting through the old garden area, but most of the tracks are all long here. When we first moved here, you couldn’t walk under the spruces, because of all the overhanging branches. The deer seem to be very happy that it’s all cleaned up!

Down the middle of this area, between the spruces and the crab apple trees, we are planning to plant Korean Pine Nuts. They need to be kept shaded for their first 5 years (the transplants are typically sold at 3 years), and this location is prefect for that. We will still put covers to shade them more, but also to keep the deer from trampling them. After 5 years of being really tiny, they are supposed to have a sudden growth spurt. It would be another 5 years or so before they have edible pine nuts. We are hoping to buy them and get them started next year.

This is another high traffic zone for the deer. The open space in front, past the ring for the compost pile, is also where we plan to build the outdoor bathroom.

Not getting that started last year, as I’d hoped, may turn out to be a blessing. While taking this photo, I took a good look at the spruces in the background. There was one I had already identified as needing to be cut down, but looking more closely, there seems to be at least 6 or 7 dead spruces that we’ll need to cut down. Possibly 8 or 9, if I count the ones closer to the house (we’ll be hiring someone to take those ones down). I wouldn’t want any of them falling on our shed after we build it! Plus, if we cut them down before they fall down, the wood might still be usable for projects. Usually, by the time they fall, it’s because ants have made nests in the trunk and they are left basically hollow.

Once the dead trees and some of the underbrush (mostly spirea!) is cleared away, that is where we will be planting the mulberry tree we will be getting this spring. It will get full sun, while still being sheltered by the other trees. This is one tree we’ll have to make a point of wrapping up in the fall, for at least the first few years. A mulberry tree can start producing fruit by the second year, so that will be exciting! In the future, we plan to get a variety native to the more Eastern parts of Canada. It is becoming rare, so we will have to make sure to plant it away from any others we get, so they don’t cross pollinate. That might be 2 or 3 years from now, though.

One of the things I love about doing the morning rounds is looking at the progress made. Even though we are “behind” on getting this area in particular cleared out, it’s reached a point where it no longer seems as overwhelming, and I can get excited about the things we can do in the increasingly near future!

The Re-Farmer