We got visited by Hungry Girl and Barbecue today. Having been out all day, I was glad I got to see them at least a little bit.
The cats and Hungry Girl were very interested in each other for a while!
Thankfully, mama cat has stopped growling at the deer through the window. Instead, she joins her boy at the window, and watches them. They get watched right back!
They are so pretty!
The Re-Famer
I happened to be around when the deer came to visit this morning.
Hungry Girl and Barbecue showed up first.
Then Mama and the twins came by.
I do miss our DSLR. Zooming in with my phone’s camera just isn’t anywhere near as good!
It’s great for indoor shots that don’t need zoom, though!
He is such a silly boy!
I love how his little front paws are tucked into his chest.
While in town earlier, my daughter and I took advantage of the trip to swing by the grocery store. In a parking lot full of “winter parking” (where no one even tries to park in the lines, because you can’t see them!), I actually managed to park in a legitimate parking spot. I could see just enough of the lines though the snow. It was farther from the store, and there was plenty of room around me.
Or so I thought.
We came out to find this.
That’s our van to the right.
Now, being a woman of generous proportions, it’s still rare for me to not even be able to get to my door.
I also wonder how the driver of the white truck got out of their vehicle, because there is no way that door opened even half way. My mirror would have blocked it.
My daughter had to squeeze between the vehicles, open our door, and jam herself in.
So she ended up driving home. An opportunity to practice for her road test.
The sad thing is, the only reason the vehicle was so tightly parked was because they pulled forward from the other side. Which means they drove through an empty parking spot, and placed themselves right next to my door.
With our previous vehicle, a Grand Caravan, we’ve had this happen a couple of times. I was able to just go through the other door and clamber across to the driver’s seat.
With this van, the only keyhole is in the driver’s door. We don’t have one of those keys that locks/unlocks the vehicle remotely. The ONLY way into the van when it’s locked is through the door that got blocked.
Why do people do that?
Has this happened to you, too?
The Re-Farmer
Our younger daughter has been working on a crocodile stitch shawl for some time now. She has set up her own crochet corner on the second floor.
DaBoy likes to keep her company.
He is so tolerant. She draped an end over him, and he just stayed there.
Also, he likes this yarn. He keeps trying to eat it.
The Re-Farmer
A slow day for me today. So… first, the fun stuff!
I wasn’t around to see if any deer came today, though from the looks of the feeding station, they were certainly here.
So instead, I have a cat picture for you!
DaBoy sure loves the top of the piano! His mom doesn’t go up there. She’s not as good of a jumper, and there’s nothing close that she can use to take it in stages. He was just so adorable, with his face hanging over the edge, I had to get a picture!
Yesterday, I spent a long time stirring a pot to make this…
It is a delicious failure. I’d doubled the recipe for a type of cream fudge I’d made recently, and I just didn’t cook it down long enough, I think, even though I’d cooked it for at least 45 minutes, stirring constantly. It’s an attempt to recreate a type of Polish cream fudge that is so addictive. It has a unique texture that is hard to match, and this doesn’t match it at all. Leaving it overnight to cool and set didn’t change the texture as much as I’d expected. It still tastes great, though!
Once I’ve got it worked out, I will share the recipe.
Oh, dear! One of my daughters just came by to share with me something that had happened upstairs. They were talking and when she laughed, her sister could actually see her breath!
It’s just a touch chilling up there!!!
They moved the heater into the room they were in.
That upstairs needs a lot of work.
Meanwhile…
Today, I focused on doing something I have been letting stew in my brain for a while; figuring out what to do about the Co-op withholding our shares. That resulted in my spending what ended up being about 4 hours, working on a letter. Doing it meant having to revisit a pretty traumatic time, and has left me feeling drained. Then after a break to help with the bread baking, I went back to it to add in something I’d forgotten, then go over it for typos. It was difficult, and I am recognizing the damage living there has done to me, and that even though we don’t live there anymore, it is still affecting my mental health.
Now that I’ve written it, though, I have to do something with it.
I am not looking forward to it.
Moving away from there was supposed to end this toxic garbage. Ah, well. I’ve never been one to avoid doing the right thing, just because it’s difficult.
The Re-Farmer
We have had many cats over the years. At one point, we were an impromptu cat shelter and had a dozen of them at once, but only a couple were ours.
We have never had a cat that liked to do this at all, never mind so frequently. It seems he’s more comfortable upside down than right side up!
The Re-Farmer
One of the things that did not come along for the move were cat scratchers. Our cats loved the cheap cardboard ones and totally destroy them, so we just tossed the last one we had with plans to get a new one.
Except we never managed to get another one.
Meanwhile, the cats discovered the padded cloth seats on the chairs here, and we’re constantly having to stop them from scratching them. I mean, they COULD scratch at the rolled up piece of carpet leaning against the wall – a scrap piece of what we have in the living room that was being used as a rug upstairs. But no. They ignore that and go for the chairs. Or the couch.
So far, we’ve managed to keep them from damaging things.
Then we got a very odd shaped parcel in the mail.
It was addressed to our cats, from the cat of a dear friend. A dear friend I had regaled about our adventures out here, including how the cats have been handling things.
When I brought the package home and laid it on the floor, the cats were immediately interested. I let them push it around for a while.
Then I had to use a knife to cut it open, because it was completely wrapped in packing tape. LOL!
It was a cat scratcher, with catnip infused cardboard. There was an extra baggie of catnip, too.
No wonder they were so interested!
The scratcher has an opening with something dangling inside, but while the cats have looked in, they haven’t tried to get at it.
The cardboard scratch pad, however, was magic. The practically fought each other for it. They pushed it around, knocked it over, and scratched, scratched, scratched.
Then they stopped.
Da Boy is broken.
Funny thing is, he’s not the one that’s big on catnip. His mama is.
Later on, I found her asleep beside it (after I straightened it back up again), using the cardboard pad as a pillow.
I have the best friends!
<Sure! lemme get on to the shelf by the window>
(select “blurred background” for added difficulty, because I’m stupid…)
Alllriiiight, and <SQUIRREL! >
K, lemme try that aga<BIRD!! >
(sigh) K, buddy, I need you to sit sti<Wanna smell my butt? >
Would you hol<BIRD…. No, just a thing>
<hey, what’s that over th>CLICK
Gotcha!!
<Hey! No fair, I was distracted! >
(puts away camera)
<Can I get a do over? >
(start post Processing of image)
<Do over?? >
<Hey! Where are you going? >
As I was on the computer, I heard a noise above me. This is what I found.
She goes up there when I am in the chair, because she can then jump from the top of the chair into the top shelf in the wall, then up onto the utility shelf in front of the closet.
She really loves it up there!
The Re-Farmer
One thing I am glad about. Our cats have handled the move very well, and are clearly liking their new home.
Mama is quite at peace, under the tripod.
