I may have missed the kitties when my husband fed them this morning, but I got to see them this afternoon, when my daughter topped up the kibble containers! :-)
Even Ghost Baby made an appearance!
My daughter was happy because, once they all came running to eat, she was able to pet a whole bunch of baby butts, and they didn’t run away! Too interested in the food to notice they were being pet. :-)
My daughter had come out to take care of something for me. I had earlier been working on the high raised bed and, since I was right next to it, decided to dig up some carrots from the abandoned bed.
I am totally amazed that after the greens being munched down to the ground at least three times, then getting overgrown with weeds, we STILL have decent sized carrots! Certainly not their full potential, but far better than what I expected. Which was nothing! These are the Napoli carrots we ordered from Veseys, and I must say, I’m impressed by their resilience! I picked maybe 1/3rd of the bed’s carrots. It’s hard to judge, with it being so overgrown.
Then one of my daughters came out to hose them off (and feed kitties!) while I did other stuff outside. My other daughter then used them with a roast vegetable dish she made to do with supper. I finished up outside while she was working on it, and we decided to include our tiny winter squash.
The tiny halves in the background are the little Teddy squash. By the time I took out the pulp in the seed cavity, there wasn’t much flesh left! Like the immature Kuri squash in the foreground, their seeds were not at all developed.
I have no idea how edible they are at this immature stage, but we’ll find out!
My husband was able to feed the outside cats for me this morning, so when I came out to do the rest of my morning rounds later, most of them had already moved on. Junk Pile Jr. was by the door and aaaalllmost let me pet her, but not quite! She did sniff my hand, though.
Then I saw Rosencrantz and Toesencrantz at their private dining area under the shrine and had to take a closer look. What was Toesencrantz doing?
He was all sprawled out on the kibble tray, as if he was taking a nap!
Very unusual. Was he okay?
As I watched, he would sometimes lift his head and snuzzle his mother.
Awww… How sweet!
Using the zoom on my phone camera makes for some terrible photos, so I tried to slowly come closer, without disturbing them.
It didn’t work.
Seeing me come closer, Toesencrantz started to get up, then finally move away from where he was lying, to the other side of the tray, watching me to see if I’d come any closer.
His mother immediately moved over to start eating the kibble he had been lying on top of.
The little bugger! He had lying on top of the food, leaving only the little dregs around him for his mother to eat!
For the past while, pain has been driving my husband out of bed quite early in the mornings, so he has been sweet enough to feed the outside cats as soon as it gets light. Which is great for the kitties, and for me, though it meant I didn’t get to see the morning crowd at all! :-D
Yesterday, I headed outside to see if I could work on the high raised bed garden. It was a no go, as it started to rain while I was out there. I did, however, get company…
The ever nomadic Rolando Moon had been away for a few days, but yesterday she came back. She was still with us this morning, too. :-)
There are nine kittens and three adults in this photo! Including Junk Pile and Junk Pile Jr. I can tell them apart because Jr. has more white on her back legs.
I had come out to top up their food in the kibble house last night, after it got dark. As the noise of dry kibble hitting metal pans started, there was a sudden scrambling from the cat’s house beside me, and kittens began flailing out of the doorway. It turned out to be full of cats, and I had scared them!
I then went to top up the tray under the shrine. As I came back to the sun room, I went wide around the kibble house, trying to be quiet. It was completely full of cats, eating! :-D
It’s good to know that, as the nights get cooler, they are using the cat house. I’m even seeing a kitten or two through the window during the day, too.
Nosencrantz has started to regularly come right up to me! Sometimes she lets me pet her, sometimes she just wants to be close by and watch. This morning, I got to give her skritches. :-)
Toesencrantz got to share breakfast with Grandma Butterscotch – but not for long!
When I had come out this morning, I found Stinky in the kibble house. He ended up going around and under the cat’s house, before finally running off. As you can see, he came back, and the cats know well enough to give him space! You can even see Ghost Baby disappearing off on the left. She had been under the shrine, eating with Butterscotch and Toesencrantz.
I was not happy that Ghost Baby was driven away, so I got out the hose to spray the skunk away.
He wouldn’t leave!
Yes, I was hitting him directly with water, but he just shook it off and kept coming back for the food! I finally gave up. I figure he must be really, really hungry to put up with being soaked like that.
Ghost Baby did come back later. Gosh, I want to snuggle that poor baby so much! The other cats tend to drive her off, and she’s so shy of us, we’ve had no opportunity to socialize her. I’m assuming that Mystery Kitten Eleven is hers, which means her own kitten is more socialized that she is, just because it’ll come up to the house, and eat while we are around. Hopefully, over time, she will get more used to us, and the current crop of kittens will be more welcoming of her than some of the adults have been!
One of the most fun things about heading outside in the mornings has become seeing all the cats waiting for me, outside the sun room door.
Most were moving around too much to try and get photos through to door, but Nosencrantz was willing to post for me!
Gosh, she looks so much like Nicky the Nose!!! I wonder if she will get big like him, too?
Junk Pile Jr. was patiently waiting for me to move on, so she could get back to the kibble!
As was her brother (sister?), Tuxedo Mask, and her cousin, Caramel. :-D
Nosencrantz is getting so comfortable with me! I could walk right up to her, pet her and take photos, without her even looking like she was about to run off.
Caramel was perched and watching me from the old tire planter, but when I moved to take her picture, that was a bit too much for her!
Meanwhile, four other kittens were prowling in the nearby white lilacs!
Two of them are completely hidden by the leaves in this photo, but if you look closely, you’ll find part of a little orange face – just one eye and one ear – peaking through the leaves.
Last night, I did something we haven’t been able to do in almost two years – and the last time I did it, I probably shouldn’t have!
I did a burn.
The burn barrel has been full for some time, but with the conditions we’ve had for the past two summers, we had full burn bans, including burn barrels and fire pits. I suppose we could have done burns in the winter, but we had such a bitterly cold winter in between, we just didn’t.
While I was outside, tending the fire, I had cats and kittens, circling around me the whole time! The kittens were curious enough to play around me, but not enough to come close. :-D
Speaking of kittens…
I did a head count will feeding the outside cats this morning. For two areas, it’s easy. Rosencrantz and her babies were at their private dining area (and what is Toesencrantz doing, the way he’s all stretched out and flattened like that?? LOL), while Butterscotch and Tuxedo Mask were at the kibble tray on the ground. So we’ve got three kittens accounted for.
Inside the kibble house, however…
So we have Potato Beetle in front and Rolando Moon in the roasting pan. That leaves… nine kittens?
Do we have twelve, this morning?
Then I realized I was seeing double.
There are two Junk Piles in the kibble house. Junk Pile Cat and her mini-me, Junk Pile Baby! Who is almost as big as her mother.
So now I’m thinking that on the one day that I counted a dozen kittens, I may have accidentally counted Junk Pile as as kitten.
Once again, we have nine kittens and three adults in there. Junk Pile cat is even there, tucked into the corner on the right. Potato Beetle is barely visible at the tray on the ground, and Nutmeg is in the middle of all the kittens. Rosencrantz, Toesencrantz and Nosencrantz were at the tray under the shrine, with Ghost Baby nervously prowling back and forth, wanting to go to the food, but nervous with so many other cats. I had to chase off Potato Beetle, because he decided he wanted to eat at the tray under the shrine, too, but when he saw Rosencrantz and Ghost Baby, he went into hunting mode.
Nasty boy!
Rolando Moon was also around, but she preferred to wait well away from the other cats before she went to eat.
Little Nosencrantz has taken to following me around at a distance, as I work around the yard. This morning, she came over while I was picking tomatoes. I was able to step over to her and pet her, without her running away! Perhaps she was more distracted by Rolando Moon on the other side of me, growling a warning for her to stay back. :-D
The outside cats were out in full force, eager for breakfast, but first I wanted to share some indoor adorableness!
Cabbages and Cheddar, all snuggled together for a nap!
The size difference just blows me away. Cabbages is more than a year old now, so she is pretty much her full adult size. Cheddar… he’s just huge.
Yesterday evening, I decided to use our Roku device and watch some TV. We’ve got the Great Courses on Amazon Prime, and I’m watching Cooking Through the Ages right now. Cheddar decided to join me and trap my hand under his head as a pillow!
He eventually got driven out, though, when Tissue came over and started bugging him. After he left…
… she took his spot!
She would not stop squirming, though, and when I brought my phone over to take pictures…
… she went for it, and tried to eat it!
Gosh, she has the strangest facial structure! Like a little alien.
Meanwhile, her younger siblings outside were joining the breakfast buffet.
While I was pouring the kibble out, Broccoli jumped into the kibble house, and I actually got to pet her! She was torn between startled and wanting to go at the food. The confused expression she gave me as I pet her back was hilarious. She seemed to like the pets, though, and tolerated them for a little while.
There are nine kittens in the above photo. Potato Beetle is one of the adults, and he’s at the tray on the ground. Butterscotch is inside the kibble house. Nutmeg was around, too, but on the other side of the kibble house, out of view.
Rosencrantz, Nosencrantz and Toesencrantz, enjoying breakfast together!
More progress; while walking back from pouring kibble onto the tray under the shrine, Nosencrantz came running right up to me, and let me pet her, before continuing on to the food!
I really, really like Nosencrantz.
I guess this is a good time to promote our Ko-fi page. If you are interested in helping with the feeding and care for the kitties, you can click here, or on the donation button on the side bar. All donations go towards the cats, either for their food, to get them fixed, or for any needed vet care, and are gratefully appreciated.
I got to pet Nosencrantz this morning, but had to move away before Toesencrantz would come to eat.
I am NOT happy with Potato Beetle. He attacked Rosencrantz this morning. Again. Drove her off. She did get a chance to come by and eat with her babies, later, but he is really nasty towards her!
We had nine kittens in the kibble house again (the two orange cats are the adults). I was looking at the photos with my daughter and talking about the five grey tabbies. There’s Bradicous, Chadicous, Sadicous and Tadicous. What would number five be called? Why not Gaticous? (a play on the movie title, Gattaca)
Gaticous, it is! :-D
Ghost Baby made an appearance, too, dashing by in the background. :-)
You know what else made an appearance?
Toe pints. Itty, bitty kittie toe prints!
Dirty little toe prints!
At least the paint was dry before it got walked on. :-D
Odd that the camera in my phone turned the mint green paint into white!
This was waiting for me, when I came into the sun room to start my morning rounds.
They know which door the food comes from! :-D
There are nine kittens and four adults in this photo, plus two more kittens at the food tray under the shrine. I can see five grey striped tabbies. So we have Bradicous, Chadicous, Tadicous and Sadicous… plus the spare! :-D The girls will have to come up with another -icous. :-D
Gosh, it feels like such a long day today. It always does when we do our city shopping!
I am so glad we only do this once or twice a month!
But first… Kitties!
I just have to share some adorable photos with you. :-) <3
I got my morning Ginger cuddles!
He does not want me to pet him. If I try, he violently kicks my hand away with his back legs, rolls half onto his back and sticks the back of his head onto my hand for ear skritches. Not from above his head, but from below! Of course, once the skritches starts, a back leg starts to kick uncontrollably. :-D
Gosh, he’s adorable.
Before my daughter and I headed out to the city, I of course had to check the basement.
That is SUCH an improvement! By the time I checked it again after we got back from the city, this side was mostly dry. I think, by tomorrow, I’ll be able to move the blower fan to face the other side of the basement, as it had flooded enough to reach the other side of the furnaces. A couple more days, and we should be able to start the final clean up.
I even remembered to pick up more heavier duty latex gloves for the job, as the pair I was using while working on the drain pipe sprang leaks! :-D
Of the four places we typically try to hit during our monthly city shop, my younger daughter and I managed three. :-D Our first stop was at Canadian Tire, were we picked up more wood pellets. We still have some unopened bags to use as litter, but now that I’ve found how well they work to amend the soil in our garden beds, I have no problem stocking up even more! While there, we also found a heavy duty, high traffic, scrubbable paint for the inside of the outhouse. My older daughter was thinking a pale robin’s egg blue, but once we started looking at the colour samples, there were not a lot of options, so my younger daughter chose a light mint. Not a colour I would have chosen, but they have better taste than I do, so I trust them. ;-) As long as it’s a like colour and not white, I don’t really care all that much. :-D So now we just need to get all those tacks out of the walls, give it one last cleaning to get rid of any new dust or spider webs, and then we can paint! At some point, we’ll pick up more exterior paint to do the outside, but that can wait until next spring, really. Getting the roof fixed is more of a priority when it comes to the outside.
After Canadian Tire, we went to the international grocery store for those little things we can’t find at Costco, with Costco being our final stop. We didn’t get everything in the quantities we will need for our goal of stocking up extra for the winter, in case the weather has us stuck at home for a couple of months, again. Partly because, even using a flat cart, it would be just too much. The largest and heaviest items being the bags of dry cat food. Even so, it’s been a long time since we packed the van this full!
One thing we didn’t get a lot of was meat. Partly because we still had some in the freezer, but partly because we are planning on getting a quarter beef from the local supplier we found. They are taking orders now, then start butchering in November, and the meat will be ready in December. They are charging $6 per pound this year, and a quarter beef averages about 150-200 pounds in finished weight. So, at most, we can expect to be paying $1200. That’s the equivalent of our entire grocery budget, including cat supplies, toiletries, household cleaners and the like, for the entire month! Which means we have to make sure to set some of our grocery budget aside, along with the unallocated funds in our budget. Most of the unallocated funds for this month just went to pay for the plumber, though. We’ll have to juggle the budget a bit, so we can still set aside for the beef, while also not touching our contingency fund that is slated for something else.
After we got home and everything got put away, it was time for supper, and then I headed outside to water the garden beds. We hit 25C/77F today. Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter, and things have been pretty dry for the past little while. We still have the soaker hose set up under the squash trellis, and the sprinkler hose set up with the summer squash, so we got those going first. While I was at it, I topped up the empty kibble trays outside.
We may have got all of the outside cats when I did!
I counted 11 kittens in total, including Nosencrantz and Toesencrantz in their usual private dining area under the shrine. Nutmeg, Rosencrantz and Ghost Baby joined them, too! I also saw Potato Beetle, Rolando Moon and Butterscotch at the kibble house. They were all moving around so much that, if the 12th kitten was there, too, I could easily have missed it. Especially since they sometimes hide under the cat house.
There are nine kittens and three adults visible in the above photo. What a crowd! Lately, I’ve been seeing more and more of the kittens outside the sunroom door, waiting for me to come out with the kibble, and fewer of them run away completely when I come outside. Some of them are almost underfoot when I put the food out, even though they back right off if it seems like I’m about to stop near them. They are such an adorable bunch. I just love those stripes on the ‘icouses!
When I came back out later to switch the hose from the soaker hose to the sprinkler hose, I was very entertained by the sight of a Rolando Moon roast! She loves to climb right into the old roaster (which became a kibble tray after one of the handles broke off). I missed getting a photo of her looking all trussed up, before she gave me her famous death glare. :-D
Later on, I even saw Junk Pile cat! She has been coming out to eat after all the other cats and kittens are gone.
I’m just looking at the long range forecast right now, and it’s looking like we are going to have some absolutely glorious weather, well into October! That should go a long way to giving us a chance to get some outside projects worked on, and for our garden to continue producing. While watering today, I was noticing quite a lot of pea pods developing, and yes, I have even found some mature enough to taste! Just a couple of pods so far, but my goodness, fresh peas are the best! One of the sweet corn blocks is even looking like it might have cobs worth harvesting soon, too! I honestly thought that one was a lost cause, too. We shall see! Meanwhile, tomorrow I will be picking tomatoes, and probably more beans, too.
The Re-Farmer 