As I catch up with things I wasn’t able to post while our internet was down, I figured I’d start with some fun stuff!
(Also, whatever technical problems killed off our secondary account is also affecting our primary account – but at least that one still gets a signal! We will get a call in a day or two about when someone can come by to check the hardware.)
This first photo shows some impressive progress.
That’s Keith, reaching out to touch a napping Leyendecker.
Keith.
Keith, the ball of stress and anxiety that would hiss and run away anytime a kitten came near him.
Now, he will actually curl up with Leyendecker for a nap.
He still doesn’t do much with the kittens overall, but at least he isn’t freaking out anymore.
Which leaves Fenrir as the remaining problem cat. She is more aggressive than Keith was, and will hiss and bat at them. But then, she’ll hiss and bat at some of the adult cats, too.
Then there’s Cheddar. This is him in his usual state.
He has managed to take up half of my king sized bed, with his stretching and splaying!
When he came indoors, almost a year ago, I never imagined he would grow into this big beast!
He used to be so tiny! :-D I’m so glad we were able to get his eyes all healed up.
And now some bonus critter pictures!
Much, much bigger critters.
Our renter’s cows came by the barn for a visit. :-D
In the middle foreground, walking away, is the bull. What a massive, meaty beast he is!
It won’t take long for them to eat up all that grass, and it’ll be shorter than our lawn, after being freshly mowed!
I just love hearing the cows when they’re nearby. We’re not in a position to have cows ourselves, so I get to enjoy them vicariously through the renter! :-D
The down side of using what clear weather we’ve had to keep on top of the mowing is, lots of other things aren’t getting done.
Today, we tackled one of those jobs (though I could easily have spent a couple of hours mowing).
We worked on pruning the dead wood out of the crab apple trees. This first one was losing the most.
Honestly, I think this one is probably a lost cause. It has a fungal disease, and much of it is already dead, but if we can save it, that would be great.
This next one is already completely dead.
Last year, the stems that were growing out of the base were still alive, so we left it. Not a sign of any life at all, this year.
Unless you count the ant hill that appeared at the base, or the fungus growing on it, we discovered last fall.
This last one is not too bad.
The main trunk of this tree – which my brother tells me was grafted on by my late father – has died, but the suckers that grew out of the base produced very well last year. They were decently larger, for a crab apple, and while it took quite a while for them to ripen compared to the other trees, once they did, they were the tastiest of them all.
Mind you, last year was not a good year for apples.
I had help, while doing this, and not just from my daughters…
What a silly boy! :-D
Here is how the trees look now.
There is not a lot left on that first one. On the stump we cut short, you can see little dots – those are ants! The last one is looking pretty good.
The pile of branches next to the first tree is what we cut away from these three areas.
After that, we decided to cut away the dead wood from the other trees.
I’d actually done a major pruning of dead wood on all the trees, our first summer here, and kept it up a bit last year, so I wasn’t expecting to remove all that much. Which is why I didn’t thing to take a before picture.
I was really amazed by how much dead wood we got out of these, and how much more open the trees looked! They were hard enough to clear on their own, with how much apple branches twist around each other, but with the trees planted so close together, they were also entangled in neighbouring branches! The biggest tree, in the middle of the photo, had a really surprising number of dead branches. This also makes it more dangerous to take them down. They catch on everything on the way down, and time and again, we’d bring down a branch that turned out to be much bigger than we’d expected it to be. They’d get caught on the other branches, and were quite difficult to remove.
Here is the final pile of branches.
All of this needs to be burned, due to the fungal infection. No salvage to be had, here. What a shame. While we did get a few dying branches with leaves still on them, this was almost all dead stuff. We did not actively try to prune any of the live branches.
Since we also have to burn out infected stumps, we’re leaving these branches here. When the conditions are right, I’ll be bringing a metal ring we’ve got to place over each stump and start a small fire. We need to burn out the stumps, but they are also under live branches, so we have to take care to keep the fire small enough not to affect those. While these will need to be done on separate days, weather willing, this pile will be used partly to feed the small fires, but also broken down and we’re just going to burn it in the garden. We’ll be able to have a slightly bigger fire, but not by much. Thanks to the rain we’ve been having, there would be no complete burn ban right now. So no controlled burning of fields, but yes to fire pits and burn barrels.
It was good to get this done! With how much more open the trees are, this should help increase yield quite a bit – though I think all the lovely rain we’ve had so far will play a much bigger part!
As an aside, we got some unexpected entertainment while working. At one point, we heard a tractor go by on the road. It was our vandal. Some time later, he made his return trip. I could just see him through the lilac hedge and something seemed… odd. It took a while to see him clearly, but the entire time he drove past us, he had one arm out, giving us the finger! :-D
So juvenile!
Which reminds me. Before we started on the trees, my daughter and I planted new sunflower seeds in the spaces that either didn’t sprout, or the sprouts got … eaten? Of the seeds we originally planted, we’ve got about a 50% loss, in total, between the two varieties. I found another variety in the grocery store that is supposed to be a large head, eating/bird seed type. It’s so late in the season, it’s hard to know if they’ll reach full growth, but even if they don’t, I’m hoping they’ll fill the gaps to be part of the wind break/privacy screen we also planted them for.
While we were putting things away, I spotted a pleasant surprise.
We put this up to encourage local pollinators last year, and not a single tube got used, so I was very happy to see some of them have been filled. It’s only in this one area, but hopefully, that means we’ll see more of them, over time.
I’m really glad to have gotten this job done. Now we just have to get rid of those branches, before things get overgrown again! :-D
For those who are not yet familiar with the Spoon Theory, visit this link.
Today has been turning out to be a very non-productive day. Right from the start.
The first issue was waking up in pain. Particularly in my hands. Every joint in my fingers, stiff and sore. I know osteoarthritis is setting in (inevitable, given some of the jobs I’ve had in the past), but most of the time, they’re fine. Some days, however… well… let’s just say they’re “not fine.”
I woke up fairly early and started getting ready to do my usual routing, which now starts with bringing fresh water for the kitties. My husband was using the kitchen, so I sat down on the couch for a bit to let him finish.
I basically passed out for nearly 4 hours.
It felt more like a few minutes.
My entire body is feeling achy and sluggish, I’m in a snarly mood, and I’m in a brain fog.
Definitely a reminder that I am not really all that able bodied. I didn’t feel like I’d been overdoing it over the past few days, yet I clearly have, and my body is making sure I know it.
Well, at least it’s a good day to go into recovery mode. It’s too wet to finish mowing, and too chilly to finish transplanting. Manual labour outside is not going to be much of a thing, today.
And so, I will share some smiles with you, instead! :-)
I’ve been posting so many photos of our adopted cats and kittens, I rarely get photos of the two that moved out here with us. Last night, DahBoy got to entertain us!
One of my daughters was in my doorway when DahBoy demanded up.
He did not want up on her, though. She was just a way to get to his real goal.
No, not the top of the door, either!
He wants the top of the linen closet. He knows there’s space up there, and he wants in!
Will a human assist him? No? So how is he to get down, now?
Oh, look! A handy human.
I got that last shot a split second before he leapt onto my shoulder, then vaulted the rest of his way to the ground. :-D
This morning, while visiting the kittens, I had to very carefully step my way around kittens that were determined to climb my legs. They didn’t stop until I gave them some wet cat food.
Even during the feeding frenzy, Saffron and Turmeric were more interested in me than the food! They’re not as into the solid food thing, yet. Especially Saffron, who would much rather climb a table leg. LOL
Once outside, I had another cat I had to dance around. Potato Beetle was quite determined to walk in front of my moving feet and flop onto the ground. That is, when he wasn’t doing this…
What a goof!
At least they’re entertaining. ;-)
Ugh. It feels like such a wasted day, today, and it’s only mid afternoon!
Hopefully, a day of recovery means I can get things done tomorrow. I really need to get those transplants in.
I went to check out the goats at our gate after seeing them on the security camera – and they came to check out the weird human with the shiny thing in her hand…
As I write this, it’s 1C (33F), with a “real feel” of -5C (23F). It’s supposed to drop down to a low of -1C (30F) and feel like -7C (19F).
Not only do I have the light we’d used to keep the cats’ water bowl from freezing last year in the mini-greenhouse to keep the planting trays warm, but I just made a shelter for the goat outside our door, using the saw horses and the crochet’s blankets we’d used in the sun room for the cats.
Yes. I made a blanket fort for the goat.
I don’t know if she’ll use it. She is really dedicated to standing at the door.
I think I know why. The person who originally owned her had a pen built up against the house, where there was a side door. When we lived in that building, that door led to what was a shed to store inventory for when the front of the building was a general store. The shed is now here at the farm, being used to store my parents’ old belongings, and there is now a set of stairs under that door. I remember driving by and the only time I ever could see the goats was when one of them was at the top of the stairs, at the door. The set up we have must feel familiar to the goat!
But it is so chilly out there, and she won’t leave the door to go to any of the places around that she could bed down in. I am really hoping she’ll use the shelter I rigged up for her!!
Temperatures continue to be on the cold side. Last night, we were supposed to reach a low of -27C (-16F), with a windchill of -34C (-29F) – at least that’s what The Weather Network predicted. My phone’s app was predicting low of -24C (-11F). Either way, bitterly cold.
Our high for today is supposed to warm up to -17C (1F) with a windchill of -23C (-9F), so warmer than yesterday, but still a day I would have stayed home, if I didn’t have to go into town to pick up prescription refills. I made sure to start the van near the end of my rounds, to let it warm up a bit before I headed out. Yes, it was plugged in, but I still didn’t want to take it out before the engine had a chance to warm up at least a little bit. I still have bad memories of a cracked engine block (on a rental with no block heater)!
One of the things I started doing years ago, back when we were living in the city, where it wasn’t unusual for me to be heading out sometimes 3 times a day for various things, was keep water bottles in the van. I used to keep them in an insulated grocery bag until we finally found a really nice cooler that fit between the seats. Though we don’t go out anywhere near as often as we used to, it’s still been handy to keep the cooler in the van, with a few water bottles. In the summer, when we go into the city to do our monthly shop, we can put ice packs in it for our insulated grocery bags with frozen items, or those that need refrigeration. Sometimes, when I’m getting gas, there are really good deals on energy drinks, like 4 for $7, so I’ll get a bunch and put the bag in the cooler with the water bottles, just to have them handy for days when we’re heading out and feel the need for one.
This morning was one of those days.
Back in the van after locking the gate behind me, I remembered the drinks in the cooler and reached back to grab one.
The first thing that came to mind when I opened the lid was “hmm… the lid wasn’t closed.” It was down, but not pushed all the way.
The next thing that came to mind as I dug into the bag for a drink was, “what the heck is that? That’s not a can.”
So I got out of the van so I could check the cooler from the side door.
I was wrong. It was, indeed, a can.
An exploded can!
Yup. It got cold enough last night for the cans to burst!
Now, we’ve had things survive just fine in colder temperatures – yes, they froze, but they didn’t burst. How full the cooler is makes a difference, too. When it’s almost completely full, the water bottles at the top and bottom would freeze completely, while the ones in the middle would still have liquid water in them. But with the lid not pushed all the way down, it was enough for things to get messy!
After I got home, I made sure to bring the cooler inside.
The damage was not as extensive as I thought. Only 2 cans exploded.
Two more cans, plus the remaining water bottles, were frozen solid, but intact.
I guess the take away from this is 1) make sure there’s more bottles and cans in the cooler, and 2) make sure that lid is pushed all the way down!
Otherwise, things can get messy!
:-D
The Re-Farmer
addendum:
After publishing the above post, I went to check the files on the memory card from the trail cam. Yesterday, knowing the cold had already brought the battery level down to one bar, even though fresh batteries had been put in just a couple of days earlier, I brought the camera inside and switched out a new set of batteries. The previous set, now warmed up, will be switched back again later.
When I checked the trail cam this morning, I saw the battery level was down to 1 bar already, so I was curious to see how many files were made before the camera shut itself off due to low power.
There were no files.
Nothing.
That means that the fresh, room temperature batteries I’d put in became too cold to power the camera before anything triggered the motion sensor. And I know it should have been triggered at least twice. As I was heading out, I saw tracks in the snow showing that someone had backed into our driveway to turn around, as well as tracks from (most likely) my brother’s dog going through, including the smudge in the snow where he squeezed under the gate.
Even with two months of bitter cold last year, this is the first time I’ve had this happen to the batteries in the trail cam!
This morning, while doing my rounds, I had an unexpected visitor – my brother’s beautiful dog! He is usually very shy and tends to sneak up behind a person, and under their hand, for sneaky pets, but not today! He was quite happy to come right up for some attention.
While I was petting him, I heard a noise above my head.
As usual, the cats had followed me while I was doing my rounds. Butterscotch and Beep Beep will bully each other to be carried. This morning, Butterscotch came along, and she was not happy to see our visitor!
Sadly, when I paused to take the picture, my visitor went away.
As I started back, I saw Butterscotch was not the only one unhappy with our visitor!
Even Junk Pile cat had been following along and was up a tree, but before I could get a picture, he’d jumped down and bolted further into the grove.
I admit, my morning rounds are not as consistent as they should be. Some mornings, when my daughter has a shift, it’s earlier – and this time of year, pitch black, still! Others, like today, I can wait until there’s actually light out.
Which means, I can get pictures of the company I get. :-D
I always do the cat food and water first, then do the feeding station. The cats will happily abandon food and fresh water to come join me.
Because, apparently, bird bath water is better.
They also like to use the bird feeder pole as a scratching post. :-D
Creamsicle was all set to jump on me!
I didn’t let him.
As I finished up at the feeding station, I realized I had an audience.
Gosh, they are so funny.
Also, that aloe vera behind Dave is the baby of one we had before our move. It’s about half the size of the mama was. We called it the sarlacc, so I guess this is sarlacc junior. :-D
The frost covered spruces were very pretty this morning. :-)
The first thing I found this morning was a Pump Shack kitten! After opening up the sun room to let the other kittens out and get some cat kibble, I turned to find him at the door, waiting to see if he could sneak past me for some food!
He never did come in while I was there, but after I put food out by the junk pile and pump shack, I came back to find him, with Junk Pile kitten and Rosencrantz (his mom), sharing food with Doom Guy and Keith.
We rarely see Rosencrantz these days, and we haven’t seen Guildenstern in ages. Same with Jim, Bobby and Rolando Moon. I hope they are okay, wherever they are.
While checking the yard for any fallen branches or damage, I found…
One of the tree mushrooms had fallen.
That thing is really big!
I looked around for the others I’d spotted a few days back; they are not only still there, but bigger than ever. All this rain is definitely mushroom weather!
The final find of the day was something my daughter had to point out to me, or I would have missed it entirely.
During the night, I kept hearing the kittens getting onto the dining table, where they are not allowed to be. In coming out to chase them off, they were usually already down, but I could see the cords from our ceiling fan swinging. They were getting on the table to try and play with them!
A friend of mine has had success with using aluminum foil to get her cats from doing where they are not supposed to, so I figured I’d give it a try, leaving sheets of them in front of each chair that they are using to get onto the table.
As you can see by the paw prints, it didn’t work!
Another find I made was a few days ago, during my rare times to the basement. I needed a washer of a particular size and hoped I could find one among the various drawers and cabinets down there.
I found this.
The old syringe my dad used to use to treat cattle. I remember it used to be stored in a case, together with needles of various sizes, but there is only the syringe, now. Check out the inner chamber, that would be sterilized and reused, again and again – as did the needles! They certainly don’t make them like this, anymore!
Interestingly, we found these just the next day.
I found them with my feet. These are the sorts of medicine bottles that would have been used with that syringe.
Knowing my brother was coming with some wheels to try on the old trailer frame in the hay yard by the barn, my daughter and I went to pull it out of the grass. It’s really heavy, so we were not going to be able to drag it out of the old hay yard, through the barn, and into the outer yard, as I’d hope we might be able to, but we didn’t want to just leave it in the grass again, either. Leaning against the barn were some old tires, so I dragged several out to put under the frame. While pulling out the first tire, I stepped on something that my foot slipped on, and found an old medicine bottle, half buried in the dirt. I moved it aside but when I came back for the next tire, I stepped on another one!
We took them into the barn. I don’t know what we’ll do with them, but I want to keep these! :-D
While the kitties were out and about yesterday, they were not about to turn down the comforts of a mom!
Beep Beep lay down and was immediately accosted. :-D
One of the aunties came by for food and was thoroughly confused by the mass of kittens, everywhere.
She kept going back and forth, moving away from one group of kittens, only to be blocked by another, and another. It was so funny to see!
This morning, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were slightly more relaxed about it. :-D
Now, it’s time to paint gate posts again, before it gets too hot. I decided to give them 24 hours to cure before a second coat, instead of doing it last night, just to be on the safe side!
