outside cats

Finally doing a burn, and getting cuddles for my efforts

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Today turned out to be actually chilly, for a change. Also, a bit on the damp side, with the odd bit of rain here and there.

Which made it the perfect day to FINALLY get a burn done.

I set this ring up last year, so we could burn away the scrap and rotted wood and other garbage that was too big or oddly shaped for the burn barrel.

With weather conditions, neither have been used much at all, lately! There was stuff in here, waiting to be burned, for months. This thing was supposed to be a short term set up that was meant to be cleaned up by fall of last year!

It is about 2/3rds full of ashes now, so this will be the last burn in it.

I was originally thinking that the ashes would be emptied into garbage bags, then taken to the dump, but I’ve decided against that. It will be added to the material we’ve been putting behind the outhouse. At some point, we’ll be ready to get rid of it and fill in the pit, and we should be able to just shovel this stuff in.

While tending the fire, I had some loving company!

He was not only determined to get hugs and cuddles, but also to lick my nose. If he couldn’t get at my nose, he would go for my neck, chin, ears, hair… but apparently, my nose tasted best of all! LOL Which wouldn’t have been too bad, except he kept trying to lick the inside of my nose, too.

Which actually hurts. That tongue is sharp!

When I had get up to tend the fire…

… he took my butt spot! :-D

After everything was burned out, I found some pieces of metal that I fished out. Nails and old wire are one thing; they’ll be left in there. These pieces, however, were a bit too big!

The metal plate could have been on pretty much anything that was in there, and I half remember the parts and pieces of an old drawer going in, which would explain the handle, but I cannot, for the life of me, think of what went into the pile that had such a huge hinge on it!

The next step will be to shovel out the ashes until I can move the ring. The metal sheet underneath will make it easier to clean up whatever is left. Then the whole thing will be moved away. I had deliberately placed it, not only far away from anything that could catch fire, while still being close enough to reach with a hose, but also in the way of using this part of the driveway. The inconvenience of it would be incentive to get it done! :-D

Well, it worked. It was definitely inconvenient where it was. LOL It’ll be good to finally have it cleared away!

The Re-Farmer

Fur babies, and garden finds

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Today was our day to head into the city for our monthly shop. We will be making another smaller trip, later in the month, but the big stuff is done. We normally would have done it a few days ago, but doing Costco on a weekend just didn’t appeal to us! :-D

So that took up the bulk of our day. Which made it one of those days were some plenty of stuff got accomplished, but it doesn’t feel like it, since much of the day was spent driving. :-D

While doing my rounds this evening, I was able to play with Butterscotch’s babies again. :-)

The orange babies were quite eager to play, while the calico and the orange and white kitten (which was sitting in the broken barrel planter at the time this picture was taken) looked like they were falling asleep where they sat!

Later, I headed over to check on the sunflowers. There are still only 2 seed heads that are opening, but there’s at least one that looks like it may start opening tomorrow.

Then I noticed something… different… about one of the sunflowers.

Very different.

It is covered with developing seed heads.

I started counting them. I got to 21, and I’m sure I missed some. Along with the several at the very top, every single leaf on the stalk has a seed head developing in the “elbow”. Some of them were absolutely minuscule, but they were there!

I looked at every other sunflower in the rows, and there are no others like this. All the other plants (that aren’t too deer damaged) are developing just one seed head. Which, for these giant varieties, is to be expected. This one plant is among the many that tower above my head now, so it is definitely one of the giants, and not an ornamental type that found its way into a seed packet.

It looks amazing! I really look forward to seeing how it progresses!

Speaking of progress, I made sure to check the pumpkins, too.

The first pumpkin to develop is growing nicely, but it was the the next plant that had me smiling.

The pumpkin plant in the middle mound has finally developed a pumpkin! I made sure to put something under it, so it won’t develop rot from the damp ground.

The third pumpkin mound had a surprise for me, too.

There’s a new baby pumpkin developing!

Our squash beds had one last surprise for me tonight, too.

That, my friends, is the tiniest of birdhouse gourds! :-D

There’s just one that has started developing. I can see no sign of gourds on the others, but they are all so small, I honestly wasn’t expecting any to develop at all.

It should be interesting to see if this one gourd will survive. Especially as we start to get some actually chilly overnight temperatures.

Before it got too dark, the girls helped me with one last thing outside. We moved my daughter’s tent, then moved the picnic table under it.

September is a month filled with birthdays and anniversaries, so we have decided to celebrate them all at once. On the long weekend – weather willing – we will set up by the fire pit and have…

Chinese food.

And birthday/anniversary cake.

And maybe roast some hot dogs over a fire, too. :-D

The tent has one solid wall that we will add to the far side to act as a bit of a wind break, since that is the direction the wind usually comes from. We also have screen walls, in case bugs are a problem.

If the weather isn’t co-operative, we now have the sun room and old kitchen cleaned out and organized, so we can move into there. The old kitchen is downright pleasant to sit in now, plus it’s close to the bathroom. More importantly, there are no stairs, so my mom can get in and out more easily than into the new part of the house. Plus, there is also a door we can keep closed, and keep the cats out! :-D

This is planned for almost 2 weeks from now, so we have plenty of time to make sure everything is clear and accessible for my mother.

Hopefully, it will all work out. A lot can happen in 2 weeks! :-D

The Re-Farmer

Kitten therapy

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Last night, as I was finishing up my rounds, I spotted Butterscotch and her babies, lounging in the old barrel planter.

So, of course, I went over to say hello.

I wasn’t able to touch any of them, but they are willing to come closer!

Then I spotted a surprise at the other end of the yard. I zoomed in with my phone’s camera as much as I could, because I knew they’d run hide, once I started moving closer.

Junk Pile cat and all THREE of her kittens were playing on the log and among the flowers. Junk Pile is to the right of centre, sitting by the log. Tabby is in the grass on the far left. Little Braveheart is near the end of the log, looking up at the Shy One.

This was the best I could get of Shy One!

This morning, though, when I came out to refill their food bowls, I found all three kittens by the old doghouse my brother brought for the cats. I keep a dish of kibble either in front of, or just inside, the opening. This time, it was inside, and it was the only container that still had food in it, and the kittens were quite interested!

This evening, I made a twisted rope of yarn and attached it to a stick, for a simply toy for Butterscotch’s kittens.

They quite like it!

Even Creamsicle liked it. :-)

One of the kittens wasn’t too sure about Creamsicle, though…

It was quite funny to hear the tiny little hiss when Creamsicle tried to sniff the kitten’s nose!

I have to admit, today I rather needed some kitten therapy. I don’t know why, but today was one of those “down” days, right from the start. Part of it is, I’m feeling the year slip by so quickly, and so little of what I had hoped to accomplish this year was done. Granted, we had the garden this year, but really, once it was in, it wasn’t a lot of work. Spring had so much wonderful rain, so I don’t mind that delaying some things, but then the heat hit, and that was pretty relentless. In my younger days, I would have been out there in the heat, anyhow, but this old body just can’t tolerate heat like it used to. Then there were all the things breaking down, and the expenses coming with it.

Now, it’s almost September, and it feels like I’ve accomplished so little. There were so many things on the list to work on, with many of them being “do this; but if you can’t, do this other thing instead”, rather than being a checklist. Yet, as summer winds to an end, what did we manage? We painted a picnic table. Got the fire pit cleaned out and set up. Mowed the lawn a lot, until the heat hit and the grass stopped growing. Very little clean up in the spruce grove has been done – and only part of that can be blamed on wasps! Even keeping up on the areas we cleaned out previously slacked off this year, mostly because of the heat.

Anyhow.

Normally, I just plug away and don’t really think about it. Every now and then, though, I just have one of “those” days. Today was one of them.

Kitten therapy helps. :-)

The Re-Farmer

Butterscotch baby – progress!

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Last night, I was able to spend some time on the log seat near the junk pile, and work on getting Butterscotch’s kittens used to human interaction.

I saw all four were out when I was heading to the nearby garden beds, so I left the garden for later. They all ran off, but after I sat down, Butterscotch came over for pets. After a while, she started making some comforting noises, and the kittens emerged.

I had a twig to wiggle at them, and one orange kitten in particular really likes that. Mostly, they just sort of wandered around me, then hid, then tried to sneak around behind me.

I could hardly see the kitten in the above picture, from where I was sitting, but was able to reach my arm around to get the photo.

They really love the collapsed barrel!

Now that I’ve cleared away some of the undergrowth, I realize I was wrong about it. It is a half-barrel, not a full barrel like I’d thought, and I can now see the dirt inside, so it was, indeed, another barrel planter that got knocked over.

The kittens are using the dirt as a litter box! :-D

The one kitten that really likes to play with the stick is also the one that is willing to come the closest.

Yes, I got to touch him. I was even able to pick him up for a few moments! He wasn’t too sure about that and wanted down very quickly, but he also came back again, quickly. Mostly, as long as Mom was around, they were willing to play with me there. So that is some major progress!

Now, if only we could do that Junk Pile’s babies! It’s much harder when the Mom isn’t willing to come near us, herself.

The Re-Farmer

Come a little bit closer…

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It was worth getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Little Braveheart was willing to come closer for a wiggling flag, than a wiggling stick. :-D

The bit of fur visible at the bottom of the picture is Potato Beetle, who really, really wanted cuddles!

I didn’t stay too long, though. Tabby was hanging around, and I spotted their even more elusive sibling making several attempts to get to the freshly refilled food container. I didn’t want to keep any cats from being able to eat!

The Re-Farmer

Yard bebbies

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While doing this morning’s rounds, I got to see all of Butterscotch’s babies!

My apologies for the terrible picture. :-(

I was zoomed in from the far side of the lilacs in the flower garden to get this. Thankfully, after clearing out the spreading cherry saplings, I had a perfectly positioned window to watch them through. As soon as I moved, however, they were gone!

I was just finishing up and starting to go into the house when I saw Little Braveheart was out, so I sat on the steps and tried to lure her closer.

This was as close as she would get. She was curious enough to come out, but content enough to just sit there!

After I while, I did see a little Tabby face peering at me through the spirea, too. :-) Not quite as brave as Little Braveheart!

I really hope we can get these bebbies socialized, at a little bit!

The Re-Farmer

Get a little bit closer, and a follow up

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I headed out to water things this evening, but got distracted.

Junk Pile and two of her babies were out!

I ended up lying right on the ground, in hopes that would make them less intimidated by the tall(ish) human.

Creamsicle took full advantage of the situation.

What a silly boy!

Tabby didn’t come any closer than this, but did spend some time rolling around under the grapes, in between watching me.

Little Braveheart did come a bit closer to the stick I was wiggling, but not close enough to actually touch it.

It was funny to watch Little Braveheart and her mother. They share many of the same mannerisms, and often mimicked each other’s movements.

They also have the same eyes! Even though the markings in their fur are different, they have the same facial structure and many other similarities.

The grapes, meanwhile, did eventually get watered, and are looking really good.

The more shaded ones at the back of the trellis are noticeably darker than the ones that are more exposed.

While tending the rest of the garden, I found this.

The tallest of our sunflowers is starting to open up its seed head! So far, it’s the only one at this stage.

Awesome!!! I can’t wait to see how big the seed head gets.

Meanwhile…

My husband and I had our medical appointments today. Heading out two days in a row was really hard on him. Thankfully, we got in quickly, and didn’t have long to wait.

I learned one thing today that my husband forgot to mention after yesterday’s appointment at the pain clinic. The doctor there was going to phone our doctor here to discuss recommended pain medications.

Another reason I’m unhappy I wasn’t allowed to go in with him yesterday. He forgets things more often, these days. At least he remembered this while with our doctor!

The doctor had a couple of concerns. For one, he will be referring my husband to an endocrinologist, so we’ll be getting a phone call about that. He also wants to adjust my husband’s prescriptions, but will wait until he talks to the pain clinic doctor, go through his current medications, and think about it. Once he’s done that, he will fax any new/changed prescriptions directly to the pharmacy.

As for the rest of my husband’s bloodwork, it was all fine.

Then it was my turn. My bloodwork was fine, across the board. During the physical, we did get a laugh. After testing my reflexes, he did the usual putting his hand on my knee while flexing the joint, as he started to ask if I had any issues with pain, etc. When he lifted my lower leg, he cut himself off in mid sentence with a startled “Oh!!”

To which I responded to his half-finished question, “yes. Arthritis. You felt that, did you?” :-D

Yeah, both my knees do some interesting things when they’re flexed!!

One thing with both my husband and I was, what we thought were heat rashes turned out to be fungal infections. !! So we both got prescriptions for creams to treat that. When we were done, I dropped my husband off at home, picked up a daughter, then headed into town to get the prescriptions filled before the pharmacy closed. A stop at the mail on the way out found a letter from the heart clinic, with my husband’s rescheduled appointment, early next month.

I’ll have to remind him to phone them about it right away, to arrange some sort of accommodations, like having a stretcher available for him, for an appointment they say might take up to 2 hours.

So while nothing much changed at today’s appointment, steps were taken and others are being put in place, for the near future.

We shall see what comes of it.

The Re-Farmer

Close, closer and gone

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Last night, Little Braveheart was willing to come close to me.

But not as close as this little guy I found on the rain barrel, when I lifted off the screen cover.

He even came closer and posed for a picture, with the phone just inches away!

Then he went down the outside of the barrel, much to my relief. The screen cover did its job in keeping critters out, as well as debris, but it only works while it’s on! :-D

I remembered to check on the caterpillar last night, too.

Alas.

It is gone!

So are the berries that were left on the tree, next to it. Stripped clean!

I am thinking a deer had a snack of berries, and knocked the caterpillar off in the process.

Dang.

I was really hoping to be able to see its transformation!

The Re-Farmer

Brave babies

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It was a lovely evening to do my evening rounds last night, so I found myself sitting in the sunroom, Potato Beetle curled up on the swing bench beside me, fiddling with my phone and enjoying the quiet.

When I suddenly realized there was a tiny tabby in front of me!

One of Junk Pile’s kittens was exploring through the open door, saw me, saw Potato Beetle and ran off, before I could get a photo.

Alas!

With where the bench is set up, the open inner door blocks my view of where the cat food is set up, but I could hear some crunching – and an almost non-stop, low growl.

That would be Junk Pile. Even as she sometimes comes a bit closer to give us a sniff, she keeps up that growl.

I ended up moving to the steps of the storage house to see if I could lure some kitties closer – or at least get them more used to me.

The food bowl I’ve put there for them was empty, but the ones by the house still had kibble in them, so I didn’t add more. I wanted to encourage them to go to the house.

Little Braveheart and her tabby sibling were willing to come out and play nearby. More Braveheart than Tabby, who often ran back into the spirea.

Unfortunately, Rosencrantz was in there, too, and she does not like Junk Pile’s babies. Any time one of the kittens went in there, I could hear her growling at them.

In the end, I think they felt my presence was safer!

Little Braveheart was even almost-kinda-justabout-willing to play with the stick I was wiggling around.

After a while, the kittens took to ignoring me and just running around and playing – which, in itself, is progress – before going to the house to eat.

Junk Pile, however, has three kittens.

Eventually, I spotted the shy one, peeking at me from the spirea. It never came all the way out, so I left, so as not to stress it too much.

Instead, I went into the sun room and dug up a baggie with a few cat toys in it, tossing some outside for the babies. Potato Beetle was with me again, and he went running after the toys, too. I was pleased to see that he and the kittens would sometimes play with the same toy together, with no animosity between them!

As I was walking back and forth around the front of the house, the kittens stopped running away immediately, and would either just ignore me, or pause to watch.

More progress!

Meanwhile, I went over to the junk pile, and was happy to see and hear some of Butterscotch’s kittens. She came out for pets, too. Earlier in the day, though the living room window, I saw one of her orange babies playing in the collapsed wine barrel that I’d cleared beside. I had hoped they would find it a good place to play, and they have! Now, when they do, we can see them from the house. :-)

It will take time, but I am hoping we can socialize these babies better than we were able to with Junk Pile and Rosencrantz. The biggest problem with working on that, however, is mosquitoes. I was being eaten alive while out there! I didn’t want to put on bug spray, as I’m sure the smell would be unpleasant for the kittens. Unfortunately, the times when the kittens seem to come out the most are also the times when the mosquitoes come out, too!

We’re working on it, though! :-)

The Re-Farmer

Junk pile babies!

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I had a much more pleasant surprise this morning, besides finding myself face to face with a wasps nest.

While walking past the junk pile, I suddenly saw a white, orange and black face looking at me!

I quickly grabbed my phone to take a picture, but by the time I looked back…

There was an orange face staring at me.

A playful little orange baby that did not run and hide from me.

Then Butterscotch came over and let me pet her before jumping up on the junk pile herself. I got to pet her some more before she moved further away.

There is the little calico beauty!

So adorable!

Oh? Is that orange movement behind the calico?

Why, yes it is! Hello, orange baby!

The babies ignored me and started going for Butterscotch and climbing to the top of the pile.

I just switched to video when another orange baby showed up?

They are so big and fluffy!!! They would be quite a bit younger than the other kittens, and yet they’re not that much smaller!

Oh? Did I hear something scrabbling around in the junk pile?

Number four!

They just hung around at the top and played while I stood just a few feet away. I got closer to these guys than with any of the other kittens, except Little Braveheart.

Just look at the smug expression on Butterscotch’s face! She’s all like “see… I don’t kill ALL my babies. I’m a good mama… when I’m outside!”

Going past the junk pile later, I saw the calico and an orange baby playing at the top. With Mom not there, they ran off when they saw me.

That makes 3 litters of yard cats. I’ve only seen one of Rosencrantz’s 3 babies lately, so that makes a total of 8, for sure. Possibly 10.

It’s a good thing Beep Beep is content to stay indoors. Otherwise, there would probably be another litter on the way!

The Re-Farmer