just talkin’

A win for modern technology

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What a night it was last night!  A night when we really appreciated what we can accomplish with our modern communications technology!

world.techLate last night, I drove my mother to meet a family member that was supposed to arrive shortly after midnight.

Earlier in the day, I had been in contact with his daughter through a messenger app, where she had informed me that his flight left 2 hours late.  We even exchanged photos, so he would know what I looked like, and we would know what he looked like.

Before leaving for the airport, I checked his connecting flight to see that it was running on time.  Not hearing from his daughter to let me know if he missed his connection, we figured he caught his flight and off we went.

Shortly after arriving, she and I started messaging each other.  More photos were shared.

My older brother started texting me.  He and his wife were at the airport as a surprise, and looking for us.

We took a group selfie to send out.

Then I get another message, this time from my sister, who lives in the boonies, much like I do.  She had just received a phone call from our relative.  He had missed his connecting flight, and the airline got him set up for another flight, but not until 8am.  Once we realized he would not be on the flight we were waiting for, we found a place to have some drinks.  My brother started looking up flight information on his phone, while I continued to communicate with both the daughter in Europe, and my sister out of town.

In no time at all, we had all the information we needed, were assured our relative was spending the night in a hotel, and since the new arrival time conflicted with my schedule, arranged alternative transportation.  While all this was going on, I got another message from my husband; unsure if she would reach me, my sister had phoned the land line and let him know about the missed connection and new times, and he was passing it on to me.

Six people.  Two continents.  Two provinces.  Seven time zones.

Gosh, I love technology!

To top it all off, though we missed picking up our family last night, the four of us had a great visit with each other at the airport, and my drive in and out with my mother was absolutely amazing.  She was having one of her good days, which was so wonderful! During the drive back, at 2am, she started telling me things she remembered from her childhood, including a couple of stories from WWII, when her village was taken control of by the Nazis, as part of a strategic route to Russia, the border of which was just a few kilometers from her village at the time.  She was only about 10 yrs old at the time, but she still remembers quite a bit.  She has lived through some pretty amazing experiences, and it was good to hear about some of them.

The Re-Farmer

A bit of manual labour

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When I started clearing out at the spruce grove, my husband was able to get a picture from the living room, as I was dragging the downed tree top out of the bush.

So here is me, in my grubbies.  A decidedly unflattering picture, but then, this kind of work isn’t pretty, either! :-D

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The difficulty was maneuvering it between two trees, when its branches were wider than the space.  Most broke off, but I did have to cut one larger branch to get it through.

Since starting an Instagram account connected to this blog, I’ve been following a number of farm and country related accounts.  Most heavily feature farming equipment (swoon!) or cute animals.  Then there are the hashtag “women farmers” ones.  The usual pictures of people holding armfuls of vegetables, or adorable baby livestock, except focusing on pretty women.  I do have to admit to giggling a bit over some of them that feature conventionally beautiful, thin women in painted on jeans, perfect hair, coordinated outfits, and not a bit of dirt or sweat, anywhere.  Then there’s me; short, fat, burly, wearing the sweats I stole from my much taller husband (they have elastics around the ankles; keeps the bugs out), twigs stuck in my braid, and dirt accumulated in the sweat of my neck and elbows.  But I do have my sparkly, sequined, dollar store baseball cap!

I realize that, for a lot of people, their Instagram accounts are a branding tool, so they’re not going to show the grungy side of country life.  Not going to gain a big following doing that!

Me?  I couldn’t post pictures like that if I wanted to!  LOL

The Re-Farmer

A Beautiful morning… avoiding the snakes

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Driving to and from town on the gravel road for the past while, I have been noticing quite a lot of garter snakes trying to cross the road.  Avoiding them has become a challenge.  Is that a stick on the road?  Nope, it moved!  swerve

Sadly, I’m also seeing quite a few that have been run over, too.

I had been wondering why the sudden uptick in snakes, until I remembered what time of year it is.  They are starting to make their way back to their winter dens, to the north of us.  We will likely be seeing increased numbers for a few more weeks.

It was a beautiful morning to drive my daughter to work, then swing by the lake, after.

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Usually, I walk past the wave line, but not today.

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Today, I got soaked to my knees from the waves. :-D

The Re-Farmer

Morning at the lake

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After the heat we’ve been having lately, this morning was downright chilly!

No, that’s not a complaint! :-D

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I actually wore a light jacket when I drove my daughter to work. :-D  After dropping her off, I stopped at the lake and walked on the beach for a while (which just happens to help me get some kilometers in on Pokemon Go… ;-) ).  By the time I got back to the van, it was starting to be too warm for that jacket!  We’re supposed to hit over 30C today, so we’ll really be appreciating how cool the house got overnight, because it’ll stay that way for most of the day, once we close up the windows.

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Life is so much slower and calmer out here.  For all the inconveniences of the move, and the various challenges we’ve had since then, life is good!

Speaking of good…

My husband’s CPAP came in yesterday!!  He was lying down when we got back, but for this, I disturbed him. :-D  We got it set up, and he immediately lay down to sleep again – this time, with his hospital bed flat.  He’s been without for so long, he has to get used to it all over again!  Much to our surprise, he even had to reduce the pressure on the machine.  It’s an adjustable pressure machine, which means it is set at a range, rather than just one pressure.  It’s rather a big deal for him to be able to reduce that range, considering how high he normally needs to keep it.

Pretty awesome. :-)

The Re-Farmer.

 

 

It’s a bit hot out there…

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2018-08-12.heatwave

And getting hotter.

For those in the US, 34C = 93.2F
43C = 109.4F

By 4pm, we are expected to hit 36C, or 96.8F, but it’s supposed to feel like 44C, or 111.2F

I hope we do get that storm tonight, even though it’s still supposed to be 32/40C (89/104F).

Thankfully, even though we don’t have air conditioning, we’ve been able to keep the house fairly cool.  Closing the windows before it starts heating up (except the kitchen window, because of the frog), and having the basement door open, makes a difference!

The Re-Farmer

Plums and kittens and more…

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Yesterday evening, while walking around the yard, I was followed by a little beast!

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I was even able to pick him up and pet him for a bit.  I dragged the end of a stick on the ground that he and his mother had a blast trying to catch, and I caught him (her?  still don’t know).  He was tense about it, but not freaking out, which is progress!

I found that the plums are now ripe.

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These tiny little plums are almost all pit.  If I were to do something with them, I would be harvesting them now.

I might just leave them for the birds this year.

I can think of a number of things to do with them, Continue reading →

Some little things

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Not a particularly productive day, but a good day for little things.

And pretty things.

I’ve noticed quite a difference in behavior in the birds as they visit the feeder now, compared to when we were still just putting seed on the frozen ground.  They seem a lot more chill and relaxed!  The bird in the photo on the left was just hanging around in the feeder, pecking at a seed every now and then, shifting position now and then, but otherwise just sitting there.  Even on the planter feeder, the birds more frequently take just sit around and take their time as they feed.  Rather nice. :-)

Earlier today, my younger daughter and I made an unplanned trip to the city.  When we got home and were walking to the door, we saw Butterscotch coming over, and could see her babies over by the old dog house.  So I grabbed our things and went inside while she topped up the cat kibble, and took some over for the kittens, too.

When I came out again shortly after, I found her over by the storage house with Beep Beep.  We now know where she moved her kittens to!  They are under the storage house.  My daughter brought some kibble for them, too, and they were quite happy to scarf it down.  They are much more nervous than Butterscotch’s kittens, though, and quickly hid themselves as I walked by, even though I didn’t go towards them.  No chance for photos!

I’m happy to know where Beep Beep’s babies are, and that they are eating solid food now, too.

It’s good to enjoy the little things in life.  Especially if those little things also happen to be furry and adorable! :-D

The Re-Farmer

Getting closer!

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While doing one last walk around the yard at the end of the day, while there was still enough light, I got to say hello to Butterscotch by the food bowls.  I was even able to give her some cat treats.  Then Rolando Moon showed up – it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen her! – and even she got a few treats.

I decided to see what would happen if I went around the house and just sat in the grass, near where Butterscotch’s kittens are.

When Butterscotch noticed me there, she came running over for pets, mrrr’ing and meowing away.

At the sound of their mother, one of the orange kittens came running out of the bushes, almost right up to me, suddenly seemed to notice me, then ran back to the edge of the bushes!  Three other little kitty faces also began peaking at me.

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I stayed for perhaps half an hour. I had Butterscotch enthusiastically rubbing against my arms, demanding pets, while the kittens watched.  After a while, they became comfortable enough to play with each other, eventually all coming down near the edge of the bushes.  Rolando Moon came by, but she clearly does not like the kittens!  She hissed when she saw them.  One of the orange kittens really wanted to go to Rolando Moon, though, and at one point, got really close.  When Rolando Moon started hissing and growling, I got up to shoo her away.  Rolando Moon has attacked the other cats, and I didn’t want to take a chance she would hurt one of the kittens, even if it meant I scared the kittens into their wood pile in the process.

Thankfully, they did come back out again, and I even got to touch a couple!  Butterscotch was on the wood pile and I went over to pet her.  The kittens kept popping their heads out to watch, in between playing with each other.  One even went for my fingers. :-D

They were so adorable!!

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The Re-Farmer

The Call of the wild… mama

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Our mama cat has been very vocal for the past while.

That, in itself, is not unusual.  Her boy is a very quiet cat, but she has always been more talkative.

What was unusual is that as I moved around the house, she would run ahead to whatever window she could reach in the area.  I go to the entry, she’s at the outer door, meowing out the window.  I go to the kitchen, she’s up by the aquarium, yowling out the screen (where we still have that frog; it’s been leaving every night, then comes back by morning!).  I go to the living room, she follows me there…

Which was when I noticed Butterscotch’s kittens were out and running around.  They were brave enough to come up to the steps of the house.  I even got a few pictures, though I only saw three of the four kittens.

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Then I moved to the front door to see them better.

When we open the inner door, we put our little step ladder in front of it, so the cats can sit at it and look out the window.  Because we’re sucks that way.

As soon as I got to the door, our mama cat was on her ladder, front paws on the screen, yeowling away.

Which is when I realized, she wanted the kittens!  In the past, when I’ve been looking at YouTube videos of kittens that were meowing, she would come running into the room, looking for the kittens.  She seemed so upset not to find any that I stopped watching these videos unless they were muted!

Our mama wants to be a mama to the kittens outside!

The kittens have a very good mama already taking care of them, though.

This is from yesterday.

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As for today, when the kittens heard us at the door, they stopped to watch us for a while, then ran off to their nest in the wood pile.

Our mama is still calling for them every now and then!

Oh, how I wish we could get close to the kittens to socialize them! :-)

The Re-Farmer

 

For Real? LOL

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My older daughter came with me when it was time to pick up her sister from work.  Since UPS hadn’t delivered my birthday present yet, I asked my husband, who had had to lie down again, to be up in case they came while we were gone.  We also made sure the gate wasn’t locked when we left; it was just closed and not even latched.

Along the way, we saw our shaggy friends again.

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I wish you could see the babies better!  They are so adorable.

When we got home, we found this.

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Yeah.  They just slid? tossed? pushed? it past the gate.

Seriously?  Could they not figure out how to open it?  Or did they just decide not to come in?  I mean, I know UPS will leave packages at doors when no one was home, but this isn’t even anywhere near the house!

But you know what?  I don’t care.  IT’S FINALLY HERE!!

*doing the happy dance*

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There she is!  My new toy!

Yes, I made sure to read the instructions first.

Then I went and took down part of that big branch that was hanging off a tree behind the storage house.  I couldn’t get all of it; the pole isn’t anywhere near long enough for that, but at least I won’t be having to push past the hanging branches when I mow through there.

Then I went around different areas, taking down some branches with the extended pole, then converting back to chain saw mode and starting on some trees and stumps.  I got a couple of larger dead tree trunks down, which required some careful maneuvering with a blade that’s only 8 inches long.  Then I started cutting some of the tall stumps I’d left behind to ground level.  Turned on its side, it can cut quite close to the ground, which I really appreciate!

I even got the smaller of the two dead spruce trees that had been covered with vines down.  Not to ground level, as it is too wide at the base, and the second tree will have to wait for a full size chain saw.

Unfortunately, I’m already out of bar and chain oil.

I expected it to be used up quickly after the first fill, since it’s a first use and the whole thing would have been bone dry.  However, I also did a dumb.  I refilled it once, noticing it was already completely empty (there is a window on the side where you can see the oil level).  Shortly after, I noticed it was getting low again, so I added more.  After topping up the oil, I put the bottle away, came back, used the saw once to cut a skinny tree stump to ground level, and suddenly realized I hadn’t put the oil cap back on.

I just just poured all the out out by accident.

I used the last of my oil to refill it, but it was only a small bottle (which you can see in the photo), so there wasn’t enough left to completely fill it.  I was able to finish cutting flat as many stumps as I could for now.  There are some older ones from trees cut down before we moved here that are higher, but also too thick for my little blade.

I am so happy with this thing!  I can hardly wait to get into the last section of the spruce grove.  I already went through it yesterday evening, taking out the dead branches that were already on the ground.

I just have to pick some more bar and chain oil, first!

:-D

The Re-Farmer