Well, today blew away the predicted high, by a long shot! When I checked this morning, we were supposed to reach 8C/46F. As I write this, past 4pm, we are at 14C/57F! It was downright hot out there! :-D
One of my daughters added more mulch to where they planted the back-ordered tulips. The planting depth was 12-18 inches, including mulch, for them to be able to come back every year, and they definitely have that now. :-)
While that was being done, my other daughter cleaned out the eaves troughs while I held the ladder for her. Not all of them were done. One corner is just too dangerous.
Also, we need new eaves troughs, along with a new roof. :-/
I was able to clean out the fire pit.
I sifted the ashes, putting the bits of wood and charcoal back in the pit, while the sifted ashes went into the compost pile. I then made use of what used to be the “roof” over the old basement window that broke off at the hinges. It’ll keep the snow out if we want to use the fire pit in the winter.
The modifications to the kibble house floor were done.
One sheet of insulation was enough. I had to trim the length to fit. There was no trimming of the width. I cut notches to fit into the sides as well.
After the wood floor boards were returned, I cut a piece of salvaged wood to length. I used some of the bits of insulation that were trimmed off as spacers for the height. We will be able to slide the floor boards straight out the front. The insulation under it is narrow enough that it can be lifted out from the inside.
After the cross piece was screwed in place, I returned the kibble containers and topped them up.
Obviously, the cats are quite content with it there.
Hopefully, the skunks will no longer be able to pull the containers down anymore.
Now that it’s daylight, I could check to see how the tarp was looking. This only needs to hold out for one winter. Next year, we’ll paint it from top to bottom, and the tarp will no longer be needed.
Wind is the big problem. This is the tarp we used last year, to try and create a shelter for the cats in front of a shelf outside the sun room. The winds kept tearing it apart, and one corner of the tarp is pretty badly damaged. That made tying it down from underneath a bit more difficult, since one of the grommets is torn off.
The shelf we’d used is now moved, but I turned the bottom two shelves into a critter cave.
The insulation on the bottom shelves were there from last year. As this shelf is not something we are trying to keep or preserve, I used some bits and pieces of insulation and nailed them in place, to create the cave-like shelter. The taller tops will keep the stuff in the top shelf from getting knocked out or blown around. This will be removed in the spring.
The top of the shelf has been losing layers of the … plywood? … that was on top. I’d put some larger pieces of insulation to cover it, but the wind kept blowing it around. Since the surface was so damp and coming off anyway, I removed the last of the warped bits.
I found the original surface, underneath! I wonder why it was covered?
I made a new “roof” of pieces of rigid insulation, covered in plastic. With the tarp, I’d used a staple gun to try and hold it in place, but the winds just tore it all loose.
This time, I just nailed it in place.
Because the top was still a bit damp, the “roof” has spacers under it. Between the overhangs and the plastic, no new moisture should be able to get under there any more.
So now, if there are any critters that can’t shelter in the cat’s house, they’ll have this to shelter in, if necessary.
They might have a spiffy new heated house, but the boys seem to miss the sun room!
I didn’t have to heard to chase them out after everything was cleaned up and put everything away. We’ll just have to remember to close up the sun room later on this evening! :-)
If you notice strings hanging down from under the roof of the kibble house, I left those for the cats to play with, after tying down the tarp I put over it last night. :-)
When I do my morning rounds, I don’t typically go all the way around the two old dog houses we’d set up near the outhouse as critter shelter last winter. The last time I went around them was when I took some of the straw to bury in what became our garlic beds. Some time between then and now, this showed up.
This is in front of the opening of the bigger dog house, facing away from the house.
That’s quite a lot of fur.
There is no skin attached to any of it. No sign of blood or bones. So this is not the remains of an animal that was killed and eaten.
Since I can’t really see into the old dog house, I turned the flash on on my phone’s camera, stuck it in the opening, and got this.
It looks like more fur, and even a pile of droppings in the corner near the opening.
If it were spring time, I would be thinking this is some animal shedding its winter fur. Usually, we just see tufts, but it’s possible an animal would use the sides of the opening to scratch off mats of itchy old fur.
But it’s not spring. So nothing is shedding their fur right now.
I don’t even recognize the fur to know what type of animal it is. Any animal I can think of is unlikely to be in our yard, and certainly not using the old dog house.
Well, at least I know that these old dog houses are still being used by critters for shelter!
Today turned out to be a lovely day, indeed! Even now, as I write this at past 7pm, it’s still 8C/46F. Which is good, because I unexpectedly spent a couple of hours outside!
I’ll get to that in a bit…
First, a winky smile for you to enjoy!
Rolando Moon joined me as I was doing my morning rounds.
So did Creamsicle.
And Potato Beetle.
And Rosencrantz!
Even some kittens followed along, in the distance! It was quite a crowd! :-D
I think they were all enjoying the milder temperatures.
I headed out to town early, as I wanted to go through a car wash with the van before taking it in to the garage. I figured it would be nice for him to work under the van without months of gravel road dust. ;-)
Today, however, is the first day a province wide mask mandate came into effect. Even though there hasn’t been a single person testing positive for the Wu Flu around, the city has seen a spike in PCR positives, and with the usual increases of people getting sick as we go into flu season – all in the city – our provincial government has put everyone under mandate. The usual exemptions still apply of course. One of the local hardware stores has a drive through car wash, so I went in to buy one. The cash desk is near the doors, so I didn’t even have to go far into the store, and I kept my distance. I was told by the cashier that they couldn’t serve me without a mask. I told them I understood about the mandate, and that I was medically exempt. She told me the whole province was under mandate. I said I knew that, but that there are several exemptions in the mandate, including medical, and I can’t wear a mask. I was told they couldn’t serve me without a mask. She did try to be polite about it, and a manager was called. I think she was ready to process the sale, too, after she asked how I intended to pay, and I said by debit. While we waited, she was apologetic, and I did mention that I understood retailers and employees were not being told about the exemptions.
The manager came and just said, we can’t serve you without a mask. I said again, I am medically exempt, pointing out that a refusal was a violation of the Human Rights Act, and I could file a complaint. He said I could do that, but they won’t serve me without a mask.
So I left.
I stayed in my vehicle for a while, trying to find an email address I could use to send a note about what happened (there wasn’t one; once I got home, I used the email address to a manager I’d written to in the past, having sent compliments for excellent customer service) when a staff member came to my vehicle. She told me they remembered that they had a portable debit machine. If I still wanted the car wash, they could bring it out to me. I told her I would be satisfied with that, and she asked me to drive close to the doors, after finding out which level of car wash I wanted. I drove over, and it was the manager who came out with the debit machine. After I tapped to pay for it, he went back in and another staff member came out with an invoice printed out with the code, and my receipt. The first person and the manager acted a bit like I was a leper, but the guy who brought me my receipt didn’t, and I really appreciated that.
With two vehicles in front of me, I had just enough time to get the car wash before my appointment at the garage!
All that for a $16 purchase. :-/
When I did get a chance to send an email to the store manager, I did say I appreciated the efforts, and that I understood the mandates put retailers in a really horrible position, while not giving them the information they need. I also mentioned that I am “fortunate”, in that my medical exemption is for something physical. If it were related to trauma, being confronted like this could have triggered someone pretty badly. I know people who are terrified to go out anywhere right now, not because they are afraid of the virus, but out of fear of something like this happening to them. The same anxiety issues that cause panic attacks if they wear a mask is causing panic attacks over the possibility of being abused for not wearing a mask. :-(
The garage, on the other hand, was completely different. There weren’t even any signs anywhere, and the owner doesn’t wear a mask, himself. Physical distancing is easy, and he is very thorough about hygiene. As we were chatting, I mentioned what had just happened, and told him again how much I appreciate him!
I noticed, as I parked my van, that he had the most adorable little picnic table outside, just big enough for two. Being such a lovely day, that’s where I went after I left my keys with him. (It’s not like there are any coffee shops or the like, where I could just sit and wait! They are all take out, only.) I saw a few others going in and out, some with masks and some without, while I waited. It is clearly – and deservedly – a very popular garage.
Since I don’t have rims on my winter tires, it took a while for him to do the switch. I’m going to have to get a spare set of rims. This job would be done a lot faster, if I did! Mind you, tires without rims are a lot lighter and easier to manhandle out of the back of the van, to where they get stored in our garage! :-D
When he was done and I went in to pay, we started chatting again. He remembered a little bit about where we lived and had some questions.
After I double check with the renter to make sure cows aren’t on the other quarter section, I will be giving him permission to go deer hunting over there. :-)
With the days being so short, once I was home, I grabbed a quick supper, then headed outside to putter about the yard while there was still light out.
I just had to go to the outer yard to get pictures of the sunset! It was stunning!
I always get a giggle out of seeing the cat paths! We have them all over, but this one is probably the most well worn! :-D
One of the things I wanted to get done was to cover the roof of the kibble house with a tarp. The rest will be fine until we can paint it next spring or summer, but the roof has screw holes from the boards we took off of it, and I don’t want moisture to get into them. I don’t have proper cordage right now, so I ended up using the cotton yarn I used to make a trellis for the cucamelons. I wanted to make sure it was secured as flat as possible, so nothing will catch and blow in the wind. The yarn isn’t particularly strong, so I was using a lot of it.
Unfortunately, by the time I was finishing up, it ended up a big tangled mass that the cats were just loving! I had to stop and untangle it, so I could finish the job.
About and hour or two later, the girls came out to check on me. :-D
By then, it was fully dark, and I was working by porch light. A pair of skunks had come out and pulled one of the kibble containers to the ground, so I chased them off, but they came back to each the kibble that spilled into the grass. I was too entangled to chase them off again, so one of my daughters did it for me. :-)
Then she noticed where a cat had chewed through the yarn. LOL
My other daughter took over untangling the yarn while I went back to tying down the tarp on the kibble house. The cats had left me just enough to do it!
Well, at least a little bit got done outside before I got side tracked! My daughters’ tulips got a good layer of leaves to mulch them, though we will probably add more before we’re done. :-) The other bulbs should be fine; only the tulips need the extra effort.
If we have time, I hope to clean the ashes out of the fire pit, in case we want to use it over the winter. There isn’t a lot, but with the blocks to hold up the cooking grill, there isn’t as much room for ashes as there used to be.
I’m looking forward to getting back outside tomorrow! :-) I definitely plan to enjoy the mild weather, while I can!
Of course, I just have to start with my morning smiles!
I am so glad we were able to build the kibble house for the outside cats. It’s working out really well! We have about 5 days of warm weather coming up next week. The perfect time to add a sheet of rigid insulation under the floor boards, then add another board across the front, to keep the containers from being knocked out. Hopefully, the winds will have died down more by then. We don’t have anywhere near the high winds we had yesterday, but it’s still too windy to be trying to work with things that become sails! :-D
Speaking of winds, my morning rounds were a bit more extensive, as I checked to see what damage there might be. I found the back doors of the barn were actually starting to pull open. They are double doors, with one side “latched” at the lintel, while the other split door is held in place by the first one. If it weren’t for the bar holding the one side in place as much as it did, no doubt that both sides would have been flung open. As it is, they were pulled open far enough that the split door was barely held in place.
Even one of the garage doors were my mother’s car is parked were being blown open. We finally had to roll and old tire, still on its rim, in front of it to keep it from blowing open. Those doors are supposed to be held in place with spring latches at the time, but the piece one of them latches into has broken, and both sides of the door are sagging. Another thing on the list of things to fix!
The tarp I put over my late brother’s post pounder is being torn to shreds. I’ve tried tying it down more, but the recent winds have undone all of that, and more. I was at least able to cover the motor with a plastic bag until I can find another tarp large enough to cover the whole thing.
Oddly, I found a piece of aluminum blown onto a stack of wood by the old garden shed. It’s the same material the eaves-troughs on the house are made of, though it’s not a trough; more like an edge piece. I have no idea where it blew in from! Still, when the girls are on the roof to clean out the eaves-troughs on the second level, it’ll be a good time to check the roof for damage in places we can’t see from the ground.
We also lost another tree in the spruce grove. Not a spruce, this time.
One tree broke off about 8 or 9 feet up, and another next to it lost its top. Not too bad for losses, all things considered.
Cleaning up in the spruce grove was my goal for the past 2 summers, and it just didn’t happen. We really need to get in there and clean out all the dead wood. It’s quite the fire hazard, and the area is almost impassable. In checking out the latest breakages, I was pleased to see there’s quite a lot of red bark dogwood, as well as wild roses, in the area – two things that I want to encourage the growth of, as we clean out other things. In time, the plan is to transplant more spruces into the spruce grove. So many have died, it’s almost not a spruce grove any more! A lot of what we’ll be taking out of the grove are small poplars. These are pretty flexible and springy when they’re small, so we are planning to find ways to use them to make things like arbors, trellises, and other things, where I plan to use bent wood. The larger ones that will be cut down will be used as support posts. Among the things we want to make is an arbor with a gate to put on one side of the driveway gate. This is for when people come by, to make deliveries or whatever, while the gate is locked, so they don’t have to climb over the gate to get in, potentially damaging the hinges. I also want to make combination benches and climbing trellises to set up in different areas around the yard. It’ll be good to be able to actually use the small trees we’ll have to clear out to make useful and pretty things, rather than just adding them to the chipper piles.
I also made a run into town today. I was intending to do it yesterday, but just did not want to drive in those winds. Especially since I wanted to swing by the cemetery with some artificial flowers my mother gave me to put at the graves of our family. While there, I took the time to pick up and replace some of the stuff from other graves that got blown around, but some of them, I just couldn’t tell where the things had come from, so I just set them aside.
Among the things I had to get in town was more bird feed and suet, and I’ve also picked up deer feed. From the droppings I’m finding, they are coming around more often. We will start leaving out small amounts for them to get used to finding it here again, but at this time of year, it’s more like dessert. There is plenty of wild food available for them.
I just checked our long range forecast. When I last looked, tomorrow was supposed to be one more cooler day, then it would warm up over the next few. Now it’s saying the next two days will reach highs of 11C, then highs of 9C for the next couple of days after that! So we’ve got 4 days to do as much as possible outdoors before it starts dipping below freezing again. It’s looking to be a pretty mild November, but I still really want to get more mulch on the tulips the girls planted, in particular. The eaves-troughs are the only essential thing left that needs to be done; the rest is stuff that we’d like to get done, but if we don’t, it’s not a big deal. We shall see what we manage. Tomorrow, it’ll be on the girls for the most part, since the van has been re-booked for the garage for then.
I will be very happy to get that oil change done, and those winter tires on, before winter really hits!
High winds are sweeping across the prairies right now! There has been snow, now and again, as well. As I write this, I can see the live feed on our security camera, which has switched to its night setting. That means the snowflakes are being lit by the infrared flash, looking like white lights. I don’t know where the wind is supposed to be coming from right now, and those flakes are being blown in all directions – sometimes at the same time! I am quite happy to be indoors and warm right now!
The high winds had started the night before, but the outside cats were well sheltered. The three large kibble containers were all knocked on the ground, probably by skunks. The water containers along the side of the cat house were completely filled with leaves blown into them. The heated water, bowl, was disgusting.
A cat had somehow managed to crap in it!!!
So that took some time to clean up. :-(
Over the next week, it’s supposed to be warmer – even as high as 12C/53F! So we are making plans for what we want to quickly get done before it gets too cold again. Until then, we’ve got plenty to do inside. Our last fish has died, and I’ve decided not to get more. I’m hoping to salvage the live (barely) plants in a smaller, gallon tank. I have just not had success with live plants, and there are too many other things to focus on right now. So the 20 gallon tank is being cleaned out, while the entire living room is being shifted around. The camera and tripod are being set up again at the window. I don’t know that I’ll be up to starting my photo of the day again, but at least it’ll be available once I start putting deer feed out again.
The inside kitties are living a life of luxury right now, and even let me take a few pictures! :-)
I’m happy to say that Cabbages is well settled in, if not quite fully socialized. She will sometimes let us pick her up and does enjoy pets and cuddles, but if we try to walk up to her, she still runs off and won’t let us touch her. She still goes into hiding during the day, but not as long as she used to.
Among the other cats, even Fenrir is finally accepting her, and not growling and hissing like she used to. She has even put up with Cabbages snuggling up to her butt for a nap. Mostly, I think, because when she does hiss at Cabbages, Cabbages just ignores her. :-D
Tissue (aka Little Braveheart) is fully socialized, not only with people, but the other cats, as well. Unfortunately, she, Turmeric, Cabbage and Leyendecker ALL keep trying to nurse on “grandma”!
Turmeric just looks innocent in this photo.
Actually… she doesn’t look at innocent at all, does she? :-D
I had to bring the van to the garage for 9am, so I was outside, doing my rounds, earlier than usual.
I usually wait until it isn’t dark anymore, but of course, it’s staying dark much longer now.
That didn’t stop the kitties from coming out for an early breakfast, though!!
Things didn’t quite work out at the garage, though. When I got there, I asked if it was okay if I could stay in his office/waiting area. With all the restrictions, there’s no place to just sit, and it’s too cold to stay outdoors.
It turned out, however, that he somehow double booked. My appointment wasn’t written in his schedule! He remembered what I was booked for, but he had someone else scheduled.
On top of that, the lift he needed to be able to access my tires was occupied by a truck that was supposed to have had only hours of work, but has instead been there for days.
Considering he had my mother’s car on a lift for almost a month, I could only appreciate the situation.
He asked if I could come back in the afternoon, but with my needing to go to the court office, it wasn’t an option. I could have gone in the morning, but I had no way of knowing how long it would take. I might not have been able to get back in time.
So we re-booked me for Monday. A quick stop top
pick up breakfast at the grocery store, then the gas station before driving the 30-40 minutes to the small city it’s in. While I was inside, nowhere near anyone, waiting to pay for my gas, a masked customer came up to me – so much for physical distancing! – telling me that there was a sign at the door saying we had to wear masks. There is no mask mandate in this municipality, but I just told him I was medically exempt. He slunk away with a snarky “isn’t that convenient” type of comment. I told him, “… and that’s harassment.”
At least he had the decency to seem embarrassed.
The clerk behind the counter wasn’t wearing a mask, either.
A tree, keeping watch over my van in the parking lot! :-D
When I got to where I needed to go, the court itself, in a different area of the building, was in session, so there were two security guards in body armour at the door. Though the mask mandates were supposed to expire two days ago, they got extended (is anyone surprised?). The guards were wearing cloth masks that matched their uniforms. I got questions about why I was there, if I had any symptoms or have been around people who tested positive, etc., and about masking. They accepted my exempt status, though I don’t think they believed me. I was the only person I saw, anywhere in the building, without a mask. Since I had everything prepared and needed only to have things signed, witnessed and to swear on the Bible, that part went by quickly. The lady behind the counter was surprised by my typed affidavit, and I explained I was told I could do that, so she accepted it. I then had to wait outside the doors until someone came to me.
The chairs had been taken away since I was there on Monday, so I tucked into a little cubby in the wall next to the pay phone, opposite the security guards. Which was… interesting.
One of the guards, who was wearing thick cloth gloves, kept pulling at his mask and adjusting it. Because of this, I could see that it wasn’t even layers of fabric, but little more than a single layer of interlock knit (t-shirt material) over his face. Cloth masks are confirmed as being the most useless type of mask to begin with, but this was about as flimsy as could be! Still, they satisfied the mandate. :-/
Then I saw him repeatedly use hand sanitizer.
On his cloth gloves.
It was the strangest thing!
I think I waited for about an hour before someone came out and handed me some printouts.
The application was denied.
The letter explained why. It came down to two related things; one of which I might have been able to dig up old emails to meet their standard of evidence, but the other… I just don’t have it. Since I’ve cut communications off with our vandal, I am not in a position to know those sorts of details. At least not to the extent they need.
So that is that. Unless/until something else happens, I will not apply again. As much as he needs the help and won’t get it himself, there is a reason these mental health applications are hard to get, and I do appreciate that. Too many people already abuse the court system for their own personal vendettas. To force someone to have a psychiatric evaluation, the application absolutely must have the evidence to back it up.
I really should have done this when it was first recommended to me, 2 years ago, when the worst of it was still happening.
Ah, well. Live and learn.
One thing that helps is, my family is very supportive of me in all this. When I got home, one of my daughters made lunch for me. As I spent time writing related emails and making a call to get legal advice (I love my Legal Shield!) for the court date, my husband and I had a chance to talk about it, and I updated my brother. As he now owns the property, what our vandal is doing is against him as much as against us! Later, my daughters put together a charcuterie board for us to share for supper, as we watched an episode of The Edwardian Farm. That did get cut short when my lawyer called back. We didn’t talk for long; he asked me to email him copies of the court form about the peace bond, will do some research, and get back to me next week.
Among the things I need to talk to him about is that our vandal has been dropping hints for some time that he’s planning to sue… someone… not sure who. When I first heard of it, it was in a voice mail directed at my mother, but now that my brother is the owner, perhaps that who he plans to sue? Of course, we are “making” him do this but I have no clue what grounds he thinks he has that he can sue any of us for. He apparently still thinks everything has been “given” to me, and by “everything”, he means all the stuff on the farm he feels entitled to because he helped my parents, way back when. It seems he honestly believes he owns it all. When we moved here, my mother expressly stated that we were to treat everything and use everything here as if it were our own, and my brother is on board with that, too. Even so, the stuff that’s here belongs to the farm. It’s not “ours” any more than the farm or house is. It’s a sort of package deal. :-D Of course, there’s more to it than that, which I can’t get into here.
What a mess!
With all the stuff we’ve discovered since moving here – like needing a new roof and a complete renovation, possibly needing a new well, not having the tools and equipment we should have had had to take care of the place, and so on, in the end, this is really the only major problem with living here. In the end, that’s really not too bad. It’s still better than what we left behind.
Today was our day to do our monthly shop in the city. It went well, but my goodness, it’s draining! :-D
Of course, my day started with my morning rounds and a visit with the outside kitties. :-)
Which included an explosion of sorts!
I was right by the heated water bowl, near the entrance into the cat’s house, when an explosion of fur and fury erupted through the strips of carpet covering the entrance. It was Nicky the Nose, making a mad dash for it!
That is a big, hefty cat!
Once my rounds were done, I settled in to check the trail cam files. I saw an RCMP pick up truck going slowly past our driveway, then again in the other direction. So it looks like they at least tried to serve our vandal about the restraining order court date, and checked our place out as well. Whether or not he was home to be served, I don’t know and probably will not be notified about.
We had snow last night, so when I checked the gate this morning, I was following all sorts of tracks – cats (of course), the prints of a large canine (likely my brother’s dog visiting again. :-D ) and very, very fresh deer tracks!
There were not, however, any tire tracks in our driveway, on the outside of the gate.
As my daughter and I headed out to the city, a couple of hours later, there were tire tracks. I could see that someone had driven into our driveway. It could be just someone using our driveway to turn around, which is not that unusual, but it should be interesting to see what shows up when I check the memory cards tomorrow.
I also checked the security camera on our garage. It is set to take an image and email it to me, whenever the motion sensor is triggered. I was very interesting to see what would show up, now that it’s in a new position.
Did I mention it snowed last night?
I had almost 200 emails, and all but a few had pictures of snowflakes! :-D
I did a bit of adjusting of the camera’s position before we headed out, and from what files were waiting for me when we got home, I think I found the sweet spot for the motion sensor.
Our trip to the city went well, but also had its interesting moments.
On our way, we stopped at the next town to get gas. This municipality is under a mask mandate. They know me pretty well by now, so when I walked in without a mask, the lady behind the counter was comfortable enough to ask me why so many people coming from up north aren’t wearing masks. I said we aren’t under a mask mandate. Of course, she pointed out that when we come to places that do, we are are supposed to be wearing them. How can I be not wearing one? So I explained to her about the medical exemption, and she was all “but what does that mean?” I explained it, and how PIPA means they can’t ask someone why someone is medically exempt (though I did mention my own chronic cough, because I really don’t care who knows about it). A customer who had started to come in at the same time as me, but turned around to get his mask, heard part of the conversation and started asking, too. We talked a bit about the different kinds of exemptions, and how a medical exemption includes invisible disabilities, like PTSD or Autism. It turns out that the employees were simply told, everyone has to wear masks, but no one told them that the mandate included exemptions. Nothing! So I gave her one of my extra exemption cards, which states exactly where in the mandate medical exemptions are, mentions PIPA’s role, and includes related phone numbers. She was really happy to have it, and I think she was really ticked off that no one explained any of this to them.
Once in the city, we go to a drive through for breakfast, then Walmart, an international foods grocery store, Costco… then, hopefully, nowhere else! :-D
While at the Walmart, my daughter bought me a new toy.
I now have an angle grinder!! Oh, I am so excited. :-)
My daughter knows what her Mama likes! <3
Meanwhile…
At the international foods store, just as we were finishing up at the self checkout, I had someone come to me, reminding me to wear a mask next time. I thanked her and told her I was medically exempt, and she moved on to the next self checkout. Which is why I could hear when a security guard came to her and started telling her not to bother going to people who come in without masks because “suddenly, everyone is medically exempt.”
Oh, dear.
She did not need to be given a hard time for doing her job, and that comment was just too much! For me, it’s not a big deal, but if someone that is medically exempt for something like anxiety or trauma had heard that, it would have been extremely difficult for them.
So when we were done, my daughter went ahead with our stuff while I asked to speak to a manager.
I made sure to say I had no problems with being told about the mandate, that the staff member who approached me was doing her job; I told her I’m medically exempt, and that was it. He was nodding along as I spoke. Then I told him about the security guard going to her, and what I heard him saying to her. As soon as I repeated “suddenly, everyone’s medically exempt”, even with his mask on, I could see his face cringing! We spoke for a while, and he was very glad I’d told him about it, thanking me for doing so. I really stressed I understood what is required of them to meet the conditions of the mandate, and the staff member who approached me didn’t need to be hassled for doing her job, but also, there are alot of reasons people can’t wear masks, so that comment by the security guard was not right. He said he would talk to the security guard about it, and agreed with me that it came down to training. He also added, it’s not their job to be the mandate police! :-D It was a very pleasant and positive conversation.
Costco went smoothly, except for a couple of things. One being a customer. We had our flat cart pretty heavily loaded, making it hard to steer, when there was a bit of a bottle neck around a woman who stopped her cart to look at some produce. Behind her was an older woman with a walker. I pulled back a bit, smiled and indicated that she could go around first. No, she told me. She didn’t want to go near me, because I wasn’t wearing a mask. :-/ So I just went ahead and pushed my flat cart forward – which meant I had to walk past her, anyhow! She ended up moving around the other side. As I passed, I told her I was at more risk from her than the other way around, but I don’t know that she heard me. Ah, well.
We were nearly done when I had a staff member approach me, asking about a mask. I told her I was medically exempt and she asked if I had a card or a letter from a doctor. I said it wasn’t a requirement, but she said they had a policy that people without masks had to have a card from a doctor. Now, I know doctors have been told not to write exemption letters, but she kept saying “card”. So I dug out one of my exemption cards and asked if that was what she meant. She said yes, and told me to keep it handy; there was a health inspector in the building, and she didn’t want me to get fined!
I never saw the health inspector but, as we were leaving, I made a point of telling the woman checking our receipt as we left, how much I appreciated them not giving me grief about the mandate, and how awesome they were at this location. I know people who have tried going to other locations and have gotten a lot of hassle, and this place never has. I wanted to make sure to say thank you and make a positive comment about it.
As smoothly as things went overall, these trips are really draining at the best of times. We were both pretty exhausted by the time we got home!
As we unloaded, I took the cat kibble for the outside cats to the sun room and refilled the bin. On cutting open a bag, I had Creamsicle actually sticking his head in and starting to eat! It was like he was starving! LOL After emptying the one bag into the bin, both he and Potato Beetle climbed right in to eat. I scooped some to top up the containers in the kibble house, but they didn’t leave the bin, even as I emptied another big into it. :-D I finally had to drag them out and over to the kibble house, just so I could close the bin and put it away.
Junk Pile was hanging out, too, and she has been willing to come closer to us, even if we still can’t touch her.
Which is why I could see, she’s starting to look very round. !!!
I really hope I’m wrong, but she might be pregnant again! This is a very bad time of year for it. :-( We’ll know soon enough, I guess.
Anyhow.
We are now well stocked for the month, and I am so glad to be done with it.
There’s even two of them tucked under the kibble house. :-) I’m glad they like being able to do that!
Since we are not using the sun room as a cat shelter this winter, we will not be putting the rigid insulation against the windows inside again. With the doors now closing properly, we can get away will keeping the light, and any passive solar we might manage to get this winter, instead.
Which means we can re-purpose some of the insulation. There should be several large enough that we can cut one to fit under the floor of the kibble house. It won’t do much for insulating, but it will make things a bit less wiggly. It would be nicer on their little toe beans to have the insulation on top of the floor, but the cats just LOVE using this stuff for scratching, and can tear it apart rather quickly!
After that, I can look at whether I still need to put something across the front, to keep the kibble containers from being knocked out. They’re not being knocked out every day, so I may not need to.
This morning, I was able to give the outside cats and extra treat with their breakfast; the pan juices from some pork we roasted, including some much needed fat to help them build up their reserves for the winter.
Yes, we’re careful about what’s in those juices, and I make sure not to cook with anything that might be harmful to the cats when I am planning to give them the meat juices.
This picture was taken as I was finishing my rounds and heading back in, well after that initial mad rush when the kibble is first brought out. :-D They are a lot more peaceful and contented at this point!
Peace and contentment is what I’m hoping we’ll get for today, but I don’t know what to expect, really. Chances are, our vandal will get served for the court date regarding the restraining order today. I also sent an email – a group email, that included family members who need to know what’s going on – pointing out the escalation of his behaviour, and telling him he needs to get help. Long ago, I had to tell him to not only stop coming here, but to stop phoning and texting. Email was the one method of communication I left open, even if it’s through his wife. Yes, she was included in the group email, too. I don’t know how much she knows of what he’s been doing.
Things can go one of two ways, at this point. Either he’ll back off completely and keep playing the victim. Or it’ll trigger him into doing something stupid, and he’ll still keep playing the victim.
Meanwhile, we’ll maintain higher vigilance. Thanks to Silk Cords‘ comment, I decided it was worth adjusting the security camera on our garage. I have had it zoomed in and focused on the gate, as much as possible from that angle, since the gate itself has been such a physical target. An obsession, really. Now I’ve got it zoomed out and adjusted so that, in my live feed, I can see the driveway inside the gate, the old hay yard and most of the barn. It’s unlikely he’d go in through the barbed wire fence to access the barn, since he’d need to bring a vehicle in to take what he wants, but who knows what he’d do if he gets triggered. Between all the cameras, we have his key targets covered.
If all goes well, they will all be completely unnecessary.
I had quite the crowd greeting me when I headed out this morning!
Of course, they immediately abandoned me, once there was food! :-D
I will have to be more careful when I do this. One of the spice boys slipped into the sun room without my noticing, and got trapped! Thankfully, one of my daughters heard his plaintive meowing after she’d turned the light on to go into the bathroom, lighting up the sun room a bit through the window. He’d been in there most of the day! I went in through the old kitchen, then opened the outside doors of the sun room to let him out. It didn’t quite work! Instead, his brother immediately ran in, and the two of them started to snuggle and rub their faces against each other. They missed each other so much! :-D I was able to lure them out while topping up their food in the kibble house. :-)
Yesterday, I headed to town and finally got the opportunity to check the outside of the gate. Checking the gate is part of my morning rounds, but I don’t take the gate key with me, so I can’t check the outside of the gate very well. And why should I have to? After seeing how our vandal had reefed on the south gate, I took a closer look.
Sure enough, he actually managed to cause damage.
It may not seem like much, but he reefed the gate against the post hard enough to create permanent dents in the pool noodle bumpers. The top one had been shifted a bit, though I’d put it back before taking the picture. If you look at the gate post in the first photo, you can see a nick in the paint. That nick is right to the metal. The posts were originally painted black, so that is through two layers of paint. It had to take a lot of force to slam the gate hard enough against the post to cause even that little bit of damage, while there were still the other bumpers to cushion the gate.
Thank God my brother did such a fabulous job in replacing the broken hinges! Our vandal was clearly trying to break the gate. The other half of the gate had nothing, thankfully.
Dealing with this is what I’m procrastinating. I need to transcribe old phone messages to present to the court when I make my applications for a restraining order and involuntary psychiatric assessment. I am not looking forward to it.
One of the things I’ve done instead is finally put up the shelves I’d painted for the entry.
Previously, I’d had a net hanging from hooks to hold various things. The net was from our previous van, to keep things from rolling around. I’d kept it to use with the van we have now, but it doesn’t fit anywhere, but I still hung on to it. It was good enough to hold random things, but not very easy to get at those things, once they were in!
I’d painted the boards I’d cut from a piece salvaged from a shed, and they were ready to put up several days ago. My daughter provided some shelf brackets she was no longer using. I suppose I should have painted them, too, but – unlike the board I salvaged – they don’t have any damage to hide. :-D
The shelves are attached to the outside of a closet, but there is a joist only on the front and back. The rest is just paneling. With the window, I couldn’t have the shelves extend right to the wall, so only one side of each shelf is screwed into a joist. Inside the closet, there is a board that supports the rod, but not at a useful height. So for the bottom shelf, the bracket closer to the window is screwed into paneling, only. I wish I’d thought to attach the bracket to the wall, like the top one, before I’d screwed it into place, but… ah, well. We’ll just have to make sure nothing heavy gets put on that end of the shelf. :-)
We are now waiting for the inevitable crash of a cat deciding to explore the shelves and knocking everything over! :-D They love to sit in that window and watch the cats outside.
So by procrastinating one thing, I accomplished a job that had been procrastinated for a couple of years, now. :-D
Looking at the date, I am realizing that, for my husband and youngest daughter, they have been here for 3 years! In less than a week, it’ll be the 3 yr anniversary for this blog, too.
We had an idea of what we were walking into, when we decided to move out here, but my goodness, there was a lot we didn’t expect!
Having to deal with someone close to us becoming our own personal vandal, especially to the point that it has, was one of the last things we could have expected!
*sigh*
I guess I should get to transcribing those files.
Oh, wait… I should probably work on supper, first.
The kitties were very happy to see me this morning!
Okay, so maybe is wasn’t me they were happy to see, but the food I bring!
The heated water bowl was partially frozen again, so I had to lift the roof to plug it back in. I’ll have to go through my work station in the basement to find an appropriately sized hook to support the cord.
Which I will do later, because my morning was dedicated to a more unpleasant project. I have been putting together a package to bring with me when I go to apply for a restraining order. Thankfully, the type I’m after covers more “minor” stuff, like believing there is a threat to property. Which has already happened. I would have a more difficult time proving my need for, say, a protection order for stalking.
Before our move, we unfortunately had to deal with the police and court system quite a bit, and it left me incredibly jaded. Thankfully, I had long developed the habit of journaling and documenting things to share with family far away. It didn’t take much more to switch focus to document things for police files and courts.
As much as I try to keep everything organized on my computer, it still took some digging. Especially since I was going back to 2018, to establish a history of vandalism, as well as the more recent stuff showing that, whatever program our vandal was required to go through, it didn’t help.
The hard part is going to be going through what I have to present my case for an involuntary psychiatric assessment. It’s not like I can give them a bunch of electronic files and expect them to go through it all. I’ll have to select images and screen captures to print out and, what will be most difficult, transcribe some of the voice mail messages that this person has left. I’ve had to do similar documentation of many hours of security videos, before our move. Two others had already started to but had to stop because of how traumatic it became. It takes a lot for me to reach that point, but even I had to stop after a while. In the end, it was futile, since the police wouldn’t do anything about it, anyhow.
It’s particularly hard to disassociate when you’re right in the middle of the events that need documenting, and that’s what I’m dreading about all this. We’re talking about having a person arrested and forced into a psychiatric hospital for evaluation against their will. This is a big deal, which has a lot to do with why I haven’t done this since the police first started recommending it to me. It seems to be the only way to get this person the help they need. If he doesn’t get that help, it’s not going to stop, and will likely get worse. I need to make a really solid case, and while there is plenty I can produce to show this, going through it all is going to be really unpleasant.
So, I’ve got my work cut out for me over the weekend; Monday is the earliest I can make the drive and start the process.
I had really hoped living out here would mean getting away from stuff like this.
It’s still better than what we left behind, though.
