Before I go into today’s events, I wanted to share this photo from a few days back.
I had been watching the birds at the feeder and noticed some much bigger birds under the apple tree. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many robins, all together (there were several more that I was unable to get in a photo) . I also didn’t know robins like to eat crab apples!
Between the birds and the deer, any fallen apples get cleaned up, real quick! Continue reading
I did my rounds around the yard this evening, and it’s really something to see how everything is settling in for the winter.
While I have been fighting those invasive vines all over the place all summer, there is one area where I am keeping them. They are, after all, quite pretty, when under control! They have gone to seed, now, and are all covered with lovely little puffs.
I spent some time going around the yard, picking up the fallen branches, and going through where I cleaned things up in the maple grove.
When talking to my family about what I was finding, I mentioned the rows of trees that were planted too close together, with many dying because of it, and how I wanted to eventually transplant the three poor little tamarack trees. One family member told me to just cut them down to give the other trees space.
Nope! Not going to do that. I really want to save these trees.
This is one of the reasons why.
They turn a most glorious golden yellow in the fall!
In the future, I would really love to plant more of them!
It’s not unusual, when I make my way through the yard, for me to have a cat follow me. That’s typically when Rolando Moon makes an appearance. Otherwise, it’s Beep Beep or Butterscotch.
Today, I had two cats following me!
Beep Beep and her boy!
Later, my younger daughter helped me move some leaf piles onto the flower garden by the Old Kitchen. The girls have been raking the grass, but with the latest drop of leaves, it’s rather yard to tell in some places! :-D We are starting to use the leaves as mulch in different areas as well as adding more to the garden – and that’s without doing any raking at all in between the trees! Those will be left to decompose where they are. We’ll just stay on top of picking up fallen branches in those areas.
Earlier today, we made a trip into town to get some prescription refills. When they were ready, the pharmacist went through the three bottles with me. There was supposed to be four, however. So she went back to check what happened. It turned out that, for some reason, the insurance wasn’t coming up to cover that one at all. They figured it was a glitch in the system.
They ended up giving me the refill, without charging us for it now. When I come back in about a week, for some other refills, they will charge us for it then.
Which kinda blows me away.
When we had issues with insurance, shortly after moving here, the Costco pharmacy my husband had set up with wanted to charge him full price. We didn’t even know there was a problem until they wanted some $400, when we should only have been paying $40 or so. It was a most frustrating experience, and my husband went without some of his medications for a long time before the mess was fixed – and then even longer, because the fix put him at the wrong rate, which meant we still couldn’t afford it.
I’m rather glad we are with this pharmacy, now!
One of the benefits of going with a small town pharmacy, instead of one in the city!
Something to be thankful for, for sure!
The Re-Farmer
After I finished my last post (just before midnight! :-D ), I tried once again to see if I could close up the sun room for the night. The last I saw, all the kittens were outside eating, and the skunk was settling into the corner of the sun room.
I came in to find this.
Do not let the little furry heads fool you. This is not a pile of six kittens.
It is a pile of seven kittens!
As I went in and the pile broke up, the seventh kitten emerged, having been completely buried by the others!
Bob is really filling out and looking so much healthier, now! Glad to see that. Also, the markings on one of the calico/torties is looking more and more like a grey tabby! Much less orange than her sibling.
As I was persuading them to go outside, I saw the skunk was already out and eating, so I was finally able to close up the outside doors, then start heading in through the Old Kitchen.
Then I went back to let out Jim, who had been hiding and accidentally got closed in. !!
So that worked out in the end, and no turd bombs that I could find.
Today, I was slated to go to my mother’s to help her with some errands. I used her car, so that it would be easier for her to get in and out, but it doesn’t really fit her walker in the back, so she used a cane. I must say, she is recovering really well, has grown noticeably stronger since I last saw her, and quite mobile. She still tired quickly, of course, but did fantastic. Not bad for someone who’s 87 and just had major abdominal surgery!
We had an excellent visit as well, and while we were talking, I mentioned that we were letting the kittens into the sun room. I wasn’t sure how she would take that, since she vacillates from telling me we shouldn’t have cats because of the litter box, to happy about the outside cats, because they keep the rodent population under control, and loving how cute the kittens are.
I showed her the above photo, and she was loving it. She questioned about them being all from one mom, but I reminded her that there were two from one mom, four from another – and that another kitten showed up from somewhere and has moved right in. She loved that!
Then she commented that we might have a problem with them pooping in the sun room. I wasn’t sure how she would take it, but I told her that it’s not the cats we have problems with pooping in the sun room, but…
Then I showed her a picture of the skunk I’d taken last night.
It took her a moment to realize what she was seeing and where, but when she did, she was so excited! I showed her some more photos and the short video I took of the skunk sharing cat food with one of the kittens, and she loved it! She thought he was so cute, and how great it was that it comes regularly.
I had thought she might be upset about the skunk coming inside the sun room, to be honest, so this was awesome!
She also suggested that we might end up with more of them showing up. I figure it might depend of whether we have a he or a she. Who knows; by next spring, the skunk might show up with a row of little ones, following along!
Meanwhile, my darling husband did a bit of research. Apparently, cat kibble is not good for skunks. Fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables is recommended. Well, this skunk seems to be doing just fine with the kibble, along with whatever else it finds on its own. It’s not like the cat kibble is the only source of food it has. I think it’ll be just fine.
I’m just happy my mom is happy about our stinky kitty, too!
Also, I think I will make a point of shutting up the sun room now, before our smelly friend returns!
The Re-Farmer
Well, I’m certainly glad that yesterday was a good day, weather wise, because today certainly wasn’t!
Yesterday had warmed up quite a bit, which meant the ice and snow was melting and coming off the trees with a constant rattle of ice pellets hitting the ground. When I had the chance, I checked around the yard to see if we had lost any other trees or large branches, and am happy to say that we did not. Just a few little branches.
Heading over towards the apples, I could see that, while we only saw one deer over by the bird feeder, there were certainly others we didn’t see! Continue reading
Just before I headed out to my mother’s to help her with some cooking, my husband starts laughing out loud in the living room, calling us over.
If you’ve seen his previous post, you know why!
I managed to get some photos on the DSLR, too.
Too funny!
What a handsome boy he is!
While he was going around the platform feeder, birds would start flying over, see him and abruptly change directions. It looked like they were dive bombing him!
He so wanted to get onto the hanging feeder, but it kept moving! :-D
I don’t know what he found to nibble on up there. We saw him chewing on things a few times.
I probably don’t want to know what he was eating.
He also was standing on his back legs, trying to climb even higher, but I wasn’t able to get photos.
While Corvo was busily entertaining us, Doom Guy and The Outsider also came over and hung out at the bottom of the planter. We couldn’t get pictures at the time, but my older daughter caught this one.
He’s here all the time, now, and seems to have made himself at home.
My daughter also got a photo, a few days ago, of one of the mystery cats that sometimes shows up.
This is one of two strange adult cats that have been showing up now and then.
He seems pretty chill. :-D
Beyond getting entertained by cats at home, I spent some time with my mother, doing some cooking that will be used by home care when they come by for meal assist later on. I noticed that another jar of the chili we made for her finally got used. She told me I should take it home, because it wasn’t “fresh”, and she needs to only eat “fresh” food, for her health.
Well, she eats plenty of stuff that isn’t “fresh” all the time, so I know that’s just something she came up with to excuse not eating the chili. I explained again to her that the reason I put them up in jars the way I did, was so that it last longer. It didn’t matter. Like the chicken my sister-in-law made for her, that ended up going to the cats, she’s simply decided it has gone bad, and that’s that.
So much of the fresh food that was prepared for her ended up being thrown out, because she wouldn’t eat it for some reason, and it actually did go bad. Such a waste.
I had a chance to show my mother some photos of the clean up I did along the fence line up to the gate, because of a concern she brought up when she phoned to ask me to come over. It seems “people” have been telling her that I was not just cutting down dead branches, but taking down living trees. Now, I’ve been keeping my mother in the loop about what I’m doing, including clearing trees from the fence line, because we will need access to it to repair it. Then she started talking about her lilacs. She had planted special lilacs by the gate. I told her on the phone that they’re still there, I just cleaned out the dead stuff and the poplars that were growing in the middle of them. She seemed taken aback when I mentioned poplars, but she was really upset that I had apparently cut down her special lilacs. I assured her I hadn’t, then asked who it was that was gossiping about us that she was listening to. I found out, and was not at all surprised it was the person that is the reason we have to lock our gates. *sigh* Ah, well.
So I showed her a picture of the area by the gate I had cleaned up. Including this one.
I don’t know what kind of lilacs those are (I wasn’t sure they were even lilacs; she has the usual purple lilacs on the other side of the gate).
It turns out, this wasn’t the gate she was talking about. She thought I had cut down her white lilacs.
These ones.
We cleaned up this area, months ago.
She has seen this area since I’ve cleaned it up, so she knew what I had done with it. But when she was told I was cutting by the “gate”, she thought of the gate into the yard, not the gate at the driveway.
I’ve made a point of keeping my mother in the loop of what we’ve been doing, showing her photos every chance I get, until she is strong enough to come and see for herself. Yet, all it takes is one person, who has no clue what we’ve done or what we are doing, to start gossiping, and she starts to panic.
So disappointing.
She saw the pictures, however, and I talked about the repairs to the fences that are needed, and the section with posts that will need to be replaces, and so on. She was happy with what she saw. It worked out well in the end. :-)
The Re-Farmer
How the day was going to go was a bit up in the air, to be decided after we picked up our van. It ended up being a much longer day, but we got the bulk of our monthly shop in, after all.
In order to get the van home, my younger daughter and husband had to come along. Now, my mother’s car isn’t a compact car, by any means, but my husband tops 6 ft. Even with the seat back as far as it could go, he had to fold himself in. He was basically wearing the car!! Continue reading
Ah, what a day!
Before I get into it, however, I will share some adorableness! :-D
I was outside and decided to check the sun room, to see if it was safe to close up the doors for the night.
It wasn’t quite there yet…
After all our running around in town today, we decided a pizza night was in order.
This one’s mine.
Alfredo Pizza. One of the best I’ve ever had, with broccoli, chicken and alfredo sauce.
Sooooo good!
Normally, today would have been our day to go into the city for our monthly shop, but that will likely happen the day after tomorrow. I will be out much of tomorrow, as I’ve booked an oil change, and I’m asking them to check the wheel bearings and take it for a spin, to see if the mystery noise will start. We’ll see what they say after their inspection, before we make any trips to the city!
I should be able to visit my mother, as well, since she lives just a couple of blocks from the garage I’m going to. I will have to try to explain to her – again – that when the home care workers come in for a meal assist, they can only heat up prepared food. They don’t have the time to cook food from scratch, which it turns out she’s still expecting them to do. Plus, apparently, she was being very rude to them about it, too. My older brother, who is their contact person, got a phone call about her not having prepared food for them to heat up. Which we all had made sure there was lots of. He was able to get through to our mom (he’s not even in this province right now!) and was able to establish that yes, there is still lots of food in the fridge, and even more in the freezer. It basically just needs to be assembled into meals and heated – and my jars of chili are still there, too, which need nothing extra done. She was just being a pain, demanding of them more than they are supposed to do. :-(
Years ago, my mother worked as a home care worker, but things have changed a great deal since then. She refuses to accept that. Still, you’d think she would at least treat them better! :-(
Well, she is slated for a total of 14 days of home care. She should be recovered enough to be able to do a lot more herself, by the time the two weeks are up. Which should be early next week. She surgical area is healing well, and her mobility is quite good (especially for someone who is 87 and is in need of a knee replacement!). She gets tired easily, which I would expect to continue for some weeks, yet, but she’s getting her 4 daily walks in, as the doctor ordered. It’s basically just down the hall to the lobby area and back, but that’s enough for now. She’s really doing very well, even if she complains about what a difficult time she’s had! :-) She just has nothing in her personal experience to compare it to. She was totally convinced she was going to die, though that was partly due to her racism. She had the best hernia surgeon in the province, but he’s from Nigeria, so… Sadly, it turns out he’s had problems with his own mother, back in Nigeria, who thinks him being a doctor in Canada is wasting his life! Poor guy! At least my brother has made a point of telling him how much he is appreciated, for taking such good care of our mother.
Ah, well. We shall see how it goes, tomorrow!
The Re-Farmer
I had to make a quick trip into town this morning, and came home to DahBoy, waiting for me.
Okay, so maybe he was just watching the action outside, and not really waiting for me, but it’s cute, either way. :-D
Plans have been changed for the day. I’ve learned my mother is going to be released from hospital this afternoon. They were actually going to kick her out this morning, against doctor’s orders and before confirmation for home care, but my brother talked them into making it this afternoon, as was originally being discussed. I am waiting on my brother to let me know when they are leaving, so I can meet them at my mother’s and help out.
Which meant a planned trip into town this afternoon, to drop some stuff off at the lab for my husband, got done this morning, instead.
Home care for my mother won’t start until tomorrow, but thankfully, my older brother will be able to stay overnight with my mother and be available for her until then. If he hadn’t already worked that out, chances are I’d be doing it. Hopefully, if my mother does need help with stuff beyond home care, she’ll call me, at a 20 minute drive away, instead of my brother, who is about an hour and a half away!
I think she is going to be glad to be home, and away from the noise and bustle of the hospital.
The Re-Farmer
The kittens have been tearing around all over the place!
Last night, I spent some time outside with them, tossing out cat treats in various directions. The tuxedo was once again the only kitten that would come near me, and even allowed me to pet him.
This afternoon, while heading out to go pick up some prescription refills, they heard as and all came out – even the ones that wouldn’t come near us. My husband has been putting food out for them in the mornings, but they didn’t all come out until later.
So of course, my daughter and I paused to say hello.
Beep Beep’s kittens now have names. Meet Doom Guy, the tuxedo.
Who loves my daughter’s new purse!
While we were out, we started to hear some plaintive meowing from… somewhere.
It turned out to be one of the inside cats, at the kitchen window.
Beep Beep’s tabby went to take a look. Meet Corvo (why yes, my daughters are gamers… why do you ask? LOL)
He had even stretched up, with his paws on the wall, trying to get closer to the window, but I wasn’t able to get a picture. Too cute!
Butterscotch, three of her babies, and Beep Beep, at the food bowls. The larger orange tabby made a showing, but I wasn’t able to get a picture of him.
Then, something amazing happened.
Doom Guy allowed my daughter to pick him up. He not only stayed (though he wasn’t quite sure how to handle being held) and let us pet him, but even started to purr!!
So awesome!
Just before we left, my daughter had to rescue her bag again. :-D
Well, okay. He’s not quite comfortable around us, yet. :-D
In other things; it had been my plan to work along the fence line today, but it was much chillier than I expected. So it was a morning to do some crochet. Later on, I’ll be making a big batch of chili in the crock pot, and setting some aside in jars for my mother, for when she comes home from the hospital. Between my siblings and I, she will hopefully not have to cook for quite some time, and can focus on recovery. Though there has been come discomfort for her, everything has been going very well with her. At the moment, she’s expected to come home on Saturday, and my older brother plans to stay with her for a few days, to help her out. We should know by then if she will need home care or not, too. I hope she does get it, just to make sure she doesn’t over do things too early. My family is notorious for ignoring pain or injury and pushing ourselves through it, even when we shouldn’t! :-D
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 