Some smiles to share with you!
My daughter joined me this morning, to help with crowd control. Leyendecker promptly scaled her and settled on a shoulder.
Saffron, on the other hand…
… claimed her spot, getting her way with sheer adorableness. :-D
Turmeric and Nicco, meanwhile, had themselves a wrestling match!
Big Rig settled down to eat and be completely non-photogenic, this morning. LOL
What a great way to start the day.
The Re-Farmer
Today, I finally made it down to the basement to do some practice carving, using the spoon blank that came with the carving kit.
While talking to one of my daughters about my mother’s request to carve her a mushroom, she had a brilliant suggestion.
Make a spoon with a mushroom at the end of the handle.
Well, that sounds like a great way to get my practice carving in!
The first problem was, kittens.
All of the kittens. :-D
Plus Beep Beep, of course.
It took several minutes just to open the storage box, and probably another 15 or 20 before I de-catted myself enough to get started.
The first thing to do was mark off the spoon blank.
Pretty basic.
It’s typically recommended to carve out the inside of the bowl, first, which meant I could finally break out the curved sloyd knife.
While fighting off kittens.
That… didn’t quite work out.
I realize I got a cheap kit, but I was quite happy with the other two knives when I first tested those out. The sloyd knife, however, seemed to be completely dull.
At one point, I figured maybe it was because I was using a different wood. My previous practice carving was on lilac, which I’ve read is really great to carve. So I tested one of the other knives on the handle.
It cut beautifully. You can see where I made a few quick cuts to start removing excess material on the handle. What little I got out of the bowl took a surprising amount of effort. Mostly, the curved blade wanted to just slide across the surface.
The kit came with a leather strop, suede on one side, smooth on the other, and a polishing compound. Which doesn’t work too well on a curved blade, at all, and certainly isn’t enough to create an edge, when there barely is one.
I have since brought it to my husband, and his significant collection of sharpening tools. He did some research on how to sharpen a sloyd knife, and while he was able to get an edge on it, it would be a lot easier to make sharpening tools out of dowel.
After I gave up trying to carve with a dull knife, I let the kittens go wild. The basement is nice and cool, but I think the kittens were enjoying the warmth of a human to crawl all over and snuggle into.
Until, that is, there was a mom available…
And what a good mom she is! Here she is, loving on Nicco.
As you can see, Leyendecker decided to get in on it, as I was taking the above photo!
He had ulterior motives, though. Nicco was blocking access to Leyendecker’s nip! LOL
Big Rig joined in, too!
While all that was going on, Saffron and Turmeric were crawling all over my shoulders and attacking my hair.
David had come downstairs with me and had jumped to the top of some shelves to get to one of the windows.
Then he fell into the giant plant pot I’ve got waiting for our umbrella tree.
I’m pretty sure his getting in was an accident, but he seemed to like it in there!
Even when I took the pot down so he could jump out, he wouldn’t! I had to tip him out. :-D
So, anyhow. That was my attempt at using the curved knife to practice carve a spoon. Hopefully my next attempt will go much better!
The Re-Farmer
I’m glad we got as much of the mowing as we did, yesterday. It has been raining on and off since last night, and today they are predicting thunderstorms, with possible hail and tornadoes (?!?!) this evening and overnight.
We may get high winds, but tornadoes are not an issue where we live. Water spouts on the lake, maybe, but these weather systems tend to move to the south of us. I checked the weather radar and it looks like we’ll probably get hit by the edges of the system. So I am expecting rain and high winds, but the main body of the system looked like it’ll hit the city. Which means my brother and sister’s places will likely get hit harder than us.
While doing my rounds this morning, I spotted a Rosencrantz.
We think she has a litter of kittens, somewhere, but so far have seen no sign of them. She comes here for food, then disappears.
I had both Creamsicle and Potato Beetle joining me this morning, but they were not happy with each other. Moments after I took this picture, Creamsicle attacked Potato Beetle! I actually had to break up the fight. :-(
I checked the gardens, and the sunflowers. There are now about 26 sunflowers sprouting, that I can see.
The one on the left is an Early Russian, the one on the right is Giganteus.
Then there is this one.
Deadeus.
Looks like something just bit the top off!
Back in the house, I had to help my daughter with the kittens.
They can climb to the top of the stairs, now, and they want out!
So we spent some time, distracting them.
Dave came down to babysit, while Beep Beep went upstairs. :-D
They really like the lilac branches, and my box of wood chips. This, it’s okay for them to get into. I have a separate, sealed, container for sawdust.
So it looks like today will be an inside day. Time to catch up on little projects I need to finish. Maybe even spend some time with the kitties, and practice carving on that spoon blank that came with the carving kit. :-)
And mabye playing a bit of Civ VI. I used to play Civ II, years ago, but didn’t like the newer ones. Loved Alpha Centauri. Then I moved on to Age of Empires, and others in the series. I stopped playing completely for a while, because the games user interfaces changed so much, I couldn’t figure out how to to the most basic things. The tutorials were no help at all. Civ VI became available for free recently, and I am finding it has become user friendly again, and actually fun to play. Perfect for a rainy day.
Well. Until it starts storming, and we shut all the electronics down! :-D
The Re-Farmer
As usual, in my morning routine, I visited the kittens.
David dashed downstairs to visit them, too.
It’s so funny to watch how he interacts with them! The kittens are quite happy to include him in their play, while he seems torn between “I wanna play, too” and “stay away from me, you strange creatures.”
Speaking of strange creatures…
… Creamsicle was in fine form this morning! What a drama queen. :-D
After dropping my daughter off at work this morning, I decided to play a bit of Pokemon Go before heading home. I was parked by a gym and playing the game when I heard something hit the side of the van.
It was a goldfinch, at the middle window.
Now, my first thought was that the bird was disoriented by reflections in the window and accidentally flew into the glass.
But it stayed, fluttering away at the glass, making its way across to the front door’s window, and sat there, at the bottom of the glass, looking at me.
When it seemed to be staying there, I opened the camera on my phone. I thought I’d lost my moment when it seemed to be flying away, but nope.
It went to the front windshield and proceeded to try and peck its way in!
This went on for several minutes! I did try and get video, but my phone’s camera does not do zoom well, and the video was horribly pixelated.
I don’t know why the bird did this, but it certainly made my morning! :-D
The Re-Farmer
I had some extra company when I visited the kitties this morning.
Both Two Face and David came down with me. It’s the first time Two Face has been in the basement for a while.
She immediately began grooming kittens.
They, however, were far more interested in climbing me, and wrestling each other, on my knee!
So she started grooming Beep Beep, instead. :-D
Also, that’s all 5 kittens climbing one leg. Only Leyendecker kept climbing, so he could tackle my hair. The other 4 battled each other with kitten ferociousness, all at once, on my leg.
:-D
The last while, I haven’t seen the outside cats much while doing my rounds. With so many of the cats ending up indoors, I suspect they are going where there are more cats around outside.
This morning, Creamsicle came to join me, and boy, did he want attention!
He was very affectionate.
I got Creamsicle kisses! :-D
What a beauty he is!
Just look at those gorgeous eyes.
He even let me carry him around as I continued my rounds. He’s such a sweetie. We’re still hoping to adopt him, but once they get big, no one is interested in cats anymore. :-(
Today has turned out to be a much cooler day. Downright chilly, compared to the last few days! Perfect weather to work on the lawn. :-)
Time to get outside and make some noise! :-D
The Re-Farmer
Here are some kitten antics to brighten your day! :-)
The ferocious beast likes to climb into the lilac branches. :-D
The like playing with the sun spots, too.
I let David come down with me, and he is very interested in his little doppelganger!
The other kittens and Beep Beep were just too fast moving for me to get any pictures of them. :-D
Outside, meanwhile, the some of the lilacs are reaching the height of their blooming period.
These ones are the first bloomers. The white lilacs and the double lilacs take a bit longer, then there are two other varieties that bloom in succession. So we have lilacs of one kind or another, blooming for quite a long time.
I really appreciate the things that make me smile. Particularly on mornings like today, when I check the trail cam and find our vandal has come for another visit. Twice in the past week, he’s come to the gate, only to make rude gestures down the driveway. Last Saturday, he walked over and stood there, giving the finger with both hands, in multiple directions. I think he spotted the trail cam, but I’m not sure. Either way, he was mugging for the camera. Last night, he drove over on his quad, pulled up alongside the gate to gesture down the driveway with one hand. Almost lost control of the quad. Pretty sure he was quite drunk, both times.
Rather pathetic, really.
Ah, well. At least he’s not trying to vandalize anything anymore.
The Re-Farmer
When visiting the kittens this morning, I was viciously attacked!
By a Nicco! :-D
Saffron has one eye that is a bit gooby, so I took the time to clean and medicate it. Then, after they’d all had a chance to devour some wet cat food, they all went after my legs!
They are tearing my clothes to shreds. :-D
Also, they really, really like my shoelaces.
Even Beep Beep got in on the action!
For a cat that has spent her entire life outdoors, she is really taking to this “inside” thing – and having access to people to cuddle!
Later on, while checking the trail cam files, I found a lovely surprise.
Other than discovering that FedEx made a delivery after we got home yesterday, and left a package shoved into the gate. I never even saw it, when I did my rounds! If I hadn’t seen the video, I would never have known until this afternoon. I was expecting it to come in the mail, tomorrow.
No, it was this surprise that really made me smile.
That baby is so adorable!!!
They found a spot in the fence where they can both squeeze through the barbed wire, without the mom having to jump it.
The baby can fit through any part of the fence, just by ducking its head. :-D
So sweet!
Also, there’s a package in the middle of that gate. It was shoved into the chain.
Even while walking up the driveway this morning, knowing it was there, I couldn’t see it until I was almost right at the gate!
At least FedEx can find our place. Unlike UPS. !!
Lots to smile about, this morning. :-)
The Re-Farmer
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.
The Re-Farmer
It’s not even noon yet, and my day is already completely out of whack! It’s my own fault, too. :-D
My daughter got her new work schedule, which had 1 whole extra shift on it, beyond another month of 1 shift a week.
It was today.
I diligently added it to my calendar, then completely forgot about it until my husband came to me this morning, saying, “So [our daughter] has a shift today, and it’s just after 8…”
Which meant we had to leave in less than half an hour. It took me about that long, just to shift mental gears. LOL If I’d remembered and set my alarm as I normally do when she has a shift, I would have completely finished my rounds and been at my computer, almost finished checking the trail cam files by then.
No worries. My husband had already fed the outside cats, and topped up the food for the inside cats, except Beep Beep and the babies. He can’t do stairs very well, and we’re still keeping the other cats out until the kittens get a bit bigger.
When visiting Beep Beep and the kittens last night, I noticed they weren’t using the crate under the chair that used to be part of their nest. They are really liking the set up on and under the platform bed frame. So I decided to see what would happen if I put the crate on the frame.
This happened.
I barely put it down when Beep Beep jumped right in!
When I visited them this morning, they were all running around so much, I couldn’t get any good pictures.
So here are some crappy ones. :-D
I’m pretty sure this is Turmeric, teething on the basket I made. When the two orange ones aren’t close to each other, it’s kinda hard to remember which is Turmeric and which is Saffron. :-D
I had not intended that basket to be for the kittens, but they really seem to like it!
There were a couple of noticeable achievements this morning. I had already seen Leyendecker, at least, eating the cat kibble. This morning…
… Nicco was figuring out how to drink water from a bowl.
The major achievement (especially after having to clean up a mess on the foam mats we laid out on the concrete for them) is this…
Yes. I took a picture of a kitten taking a dump. But it was in the litter box, not the floor, so this is a milestone! :-D
Anyhow.
I’ll be needing to head into town again a couple more times. I’ll be meeting my daughter for lunch and taking advantage of that to try and find some self-drilling screws my brother is looking for, to use on that trailer frame we now have wheels on and has been sitting in the barn all winter. Then again to pick up my daughter at the end of her shift. So getting more of the squashes transplanted will wait another day. The ones already planted have grown noticeably, as have the carrots in the new garden plot. That’s encouraging, at least. :-) There are plenty of other tasks to do that can handle interruptions.
I’ll just have to remember to use lots of insect repellent before I do anything outside. Aside from the squadrons of mosquitoes, I’ve been seeing lots of wood ticks already. :-( Ah, well. Such is life in the sticks! :-D
The Re-Farmer
Feeling rather haggard this morning, so I’ll start with cuteness, first.
When I saw Big Rig lying on her back, sleeping, I just had to get a picture. Unfortunately, I woke her up in the process, but she didn’t move much. :-D
After rigging up walls around the kitty pool, we waited until the kittens were in run-around-and-play mode, rather than sleeping-in-a-pile mode, transferred their bedding and set them up. Which is also when we discovered that one of the cats that had jumped in to explore had tried to use the tiny litter pan, and peed right next to it, instead.
And that, my friends, is exactly why the plastic pool seemed like such a great idea! It was an easy mess to clean up. Especially since we set it up on the shag carpet in the living room.
Two Face was quick to join them.
And eat their kitten food, while they explored new things. Like tiny litter pans.
Not much changed when Beep Beep joined them.
Things seemed to be working. The kittens had more room. They could explore solid food, water and a litter pan to their hearts’ content. They had their familiar bedding.
It did seem a bit too open, rather than the cave-like nests they were used to, but would it work?
No.
The walls were high enough the kittens couldn’t get out, but that also made them a bit harder for Beep Beep to get in. Which was not an issue until she started jumping out with a kitten in her mouth.
Yup. As soon as she could, she started moving the kittens.
She dragged Nicco into a corner of my closet, but in the time it took for her to return for another kitten, Nicco was exploring my bedroom. This is a large room. I’ve got my office in one corner, my crafting table in another, and there’s still lots of room for a king size bed, exercise bike and other furniture.
In other words, there is a lot kittens can get into.
After a while, we ended up moving the kitty pool into the bedroom, set up a litter box near my desk, put all the kittens back in the kitty pool, and shut Beep Beep in with me for the night. We even added one of the boxes that had been part of their next before, to create a cave inside, hoping that would satisfy Beep Beep.
That. Did. Not. Work.
Beep Beep eventually started moving the kittens back into my closet, and with all the squealing and squawling, I finally got up and took the last kitten out myself. They spent the rest of the night in my closet, but I ended up not being able to get to bed until about 4:30 am.
While getting dressed later, I had to fight kittens off my ankles and feet. I tried having the door open, which lead to a rush of other cats coming in. While Beep Beep immediately left, Two Face rushed in and began aggressively mothering any kitten that came with reach of her paws. As they went past her, she would grab them with her front legs and do a death roll, then groom them like mad while they struggled to squirm out of her grip!
Then there was David, who kept following kittens around, trying to sniff and groom them any moment they stopped moving long enough. Cheddar was also following them around. Especially the orange ones, just sniffing at them.
Fenrir, on the other hand, came in just to growl and hiss. Keith came in, but when a kitten came running up to him, he had a panic attack and ran away.
Keith is just a raw bundle of nerves, that boy!
The rest of the cats, thankfully, stayed away.
I finally managed to get all the kittens into the kitty pool again, hoping I could leave the door open and get to the daily routine. I left the room for less than 5 minutes, only to come back and find Beep Beep already moving the kittens back to the closet, while Two Face, David and Cheddar watched. I ended up taking the rest of the kittens out, because I’m concerned she will hurt them with all the jumping around, kicked the rest of the cats out and shut Beep Beep in with her babies. Now, I’m shut in with Beep Beep and the babies again. Which means being on constant guard for kittens around my feet, or the wheels of my office chair.
*sigh*
As soon as I’m done here, we’re going to set up some “caves” the kittens can get in and out of in the basement, then down they’re going to go. Until they get bigger, we’re going to have to keep the basement door closed to keep the other cats out.
*sigh*
Having that door open really does help keep the house a bit cooler.
Ah, well. We had it closed up for the past 2 summers. We’ll live. :-/
I had an energy drink with breakfast. I still feel ready for a nap.
It’s going to be a long day. :-/
The Re-Farmer
