Just got back from checking on Butterscotch and her kittens.
When I first came in, she and her babies were all cuddled up, and I wasn’t going to disturb her.
She came out while I was paying attention to Beep Beep, though, so I took advantage of the situation.
Continue readingPart of my morning rounds now includes checking on kittens and mamas. I am happy to say that Rosencrantz is showing no signs of wanting to move her kittens anywhere. When I check on her, I stand to the side of the dog house, stick my phone camera into an opening, and try and see through the screen. This morning, Rosencrantz ran out, but she did not go far. I snapped a quick picture, then stepped aside, calling to her a bit. She was comfortable enough to go back in to her kittens.
I still have some hope of being able to bring Rosencrantz and her babies into the “maternity ward.”
While visiting with Butterscotch and Beep Beep earlier, they both went into the old kitchen while I topped up their food and water and grabbed the bird and deer feed. Butterscotch even let me pick her up and cuddle her for a bit, before she went back to her kittens, but I’d managed to get a quick picture while she was out.
I am now kind of concerned. And confused. (slight graphic warning)
Continue readingThe girls and I made a trip into the city today, and when we got back, I made sure to visit the mamas and kittens in the sun room.
Two of the kittens have their eyes open! The orange and white tabby does not, and I couldn’t see the face of the tuxedo to tell one way or the other.
They are so adorable!!!
In other news, we are finally ready to get the trees done. All of them, not just a half-job. I made the call this morning, and they will come out within the next two weeks.
So two live trees that are putting the house as risk and one dead tree that is a risk of falling onto the power lines will come down completely. Then the power lines will be cleared of branches the whole way. They will be bringing a chipper to do the small stuff, and we will be keeping the wood (there was the option of them taking the wood away, if we wanted).
We’re thinking about what the next big job (money wise, at least) should be a priority. It will mostly likely be to rent a heavy duty chipper for a week, and clear out the piles of branches all over the place. Getting a quote to get the driveway done with fresh gravel is also on the list, but as much as it could use it now, this will likely be a next year thing.
Little by little, we’re getting the job done!
The Re-Farmer
While going outside to investigate some animal noises (the visiting toms were at each other again), my daughter and I were surprised by another noise.
A tiny, squeaking noise.
Coming from the old dog house.
Continue readingWith Butterscotch staying in the box nest I had hope Beep Beep would use to have her babies in, I decided to move the kittens in with her.
The next time I saw Butterscotch, she was where the kittens had been. Now, she’s hiding under the swing bench.
This mama wants her alone time!
I had put treats on the pillow to tempt the mamas to use it, but Butterscotch has been ignoring them. Beep Beep loves them, but won’t go in where the kittens are.
We are at the point where we’re expecting Beep Beep to have her kittens any time. She is also so very cuddly, while Butterscotch has become less so. It used to be the other way around. I think Butterscotch is ticked off at us for closing her up in the sun room. :-D
The Re-Farmer
My husband went out to visit the cats in the sun room, and found the kittens squirming around on the floor!
He put them back in their spot and told me about it, so I made them a new bed. Hopefully, the walls will be enough to keep them from rolling off the bench seat they are on.
Unless Butterscotch is the reason they were down. She’s been using the box next I made in hopes that Beep Beep will have her kittens there. I thought she might have tried to move her kittens there, but when I went in later, I found her in the box, and the kittens on the swing bench.
The theory is that mama needs a break from the babies. :-D
While mama was snoozing in the box, her babies were snoozing on the bench. Even when they started mewing as I moved them, Butterscotch stayed right were she was!
If nothing else, it’s clean and warm. :-)
The Re-Farmer
Today, we finally got our monthly shop in the city done. We got the main shopping done at Costco, and still had energy enough to take in a couple more stores. It made for a long, achy day. I forgot to take pain killers before we left. Ah, well.
We encountered a couple of strange things in the process. The first was at Costco, when we stopped to look at a food dehydrator. I had one but passed it on before the move, and will be wanting to replace it by the time we start gardening. The one on display was tipped over on its side, so while we were maneuvering it around so we could see it properly, we got a good look at the settings.
We both did double takes.
Living food? What on earth is “living food” supposed to be? It’s already got settings for yogurt, so not bacteria, and bread, so not yeast. I’m familiar with the raw food diets and the claims about enzymes, but there’s fruit and vegetable settings there, too. I’ve even been doing searches, and I’ve found a Living Food Institute, living food as a brand name for, among other things, dehydrators, and raw food diets that define living foods as “all natural and uncooked.” Which doesn’t explain having its own setting.
Very strange! :-D
Then as we were heading into another grocery store for things we don’t want to buy in bulk, we walked past a cart corral and spotted this…
Someone left their liverwurst behind, and there it sits, all sad and lonely. Strange, indeed! :-D
It was a productive shop, though the Costco was very busy for a Tuesday morning! My daughter and I were both pretty sore and tired by the time we got home. My younger daughter had a shift today; we dropped her off, then headed straight to the city. One of the things we got were cat treats for the mamas in the sun room, so before I headed out again to pick her up, I took some time to sit in the sun room with them.
Beep Beep could not get enough cuddles!
I spread cat treats in different areas, including the box nest I hope Beep Beep will use when she has her babies, as well as tucking some under the blanket for Butterscotch. She would be in this picture, too, if the blanket were lifted up. :-D Beep Beep was a real greedy guts and ate up all the other treats, then came over to me and demanded all of my attention!
Having a heavily pregnant cat try and roll around on your stomach and chest is truly amusing.
And painful. She kept slipping, and she has very sharp claws!
I’m happy to say that, by the end of the day, I could see that both cats had used the litter box. I was really hoping they wouldn’t find the litter too odd and just used the floor or something. I’m also happy to say that Butterscotch seems quite okay with me being around her and the kittens, and purrs up a storm when I reach under the blanket to pet her, and even touch her babies. They are so adorable!!!
There is one thing about having them in the sun room that makes things less convenient; we can’t go outside through it right now. I don’t want to take a chance of either of the mamas getting out. The bags of outside cat food are kept in the old kitchen, but the deer/bird feed is in a bin in the sun room. That means getting the cat food from the old kitchen, then walking through the house to the main doorway, then back to the sun room, from the outside, to the cat’s food and water bowls. Then going back through the house, the old kitchen and into the sun room, to get a bucket of feed for the birds and deer. I don’t mind, but it is kinda funny.
I was almost finished the last bag of deer feed, so on the way to getting my daughter I stopped to pick up more feed. I am now switching away from the deer feed (which is a mix of mostly oats and sunflower seeds) to straight black oil seed. I don’t expect the deer to be coming by as often, now that things are greening up and food is more available in the bush, and the birds prefer the black oil seeds. The deer are more than happy to eat it, too, so it’s win-win. :-)
The Re-Farmer
We are just surrounded by adorableness, inside and out!
I was getting ready to head to the post office when I saw a giant slug, rolling around on my bed.
She had a duster for company.
Fenrir and our mama cat hang out together a lot, these days. :-)
As I headed outside, I spotted Stinky coming out of the sun room and disappearing under the storage house. Another reason to start closing up the sun room, once we get the mamas set up. Skunks are omnivorous, and I don’t want it going after the babies.
Though there is a good chance we might be seeing some stinky babies at some point, too. I have no idea if our visitor is male or female, but it is more likely to be female
When I was coming back to the house later on, I spotted these two…
At first, I could only see Bob, over on the left, and didn’t see Rolando Moon until I came closer for a photo.
Bob came over for some pets, and we got joined by a Big Beep.
She is getting so huge! More kitties to come!
I think I’m going to head out to the sun room now, and start setting up a litter box, food and water!
The Re-Farmer
I was late putting food out for the critters this morning, though I had put some extra out last night, so I knew they would be fine.
While refilling their water bowls, Butterscotch came out of the sun room and I cuddled her a bit. After putting her down, I found bird feathers on my chest, from her paws! Then she took off.
I figured this would be a safe time to peak behind the box we used as part of our cat shelter in the sun room, and see if that’s where her kittens were.
I was wrong.
They weren’t hidden behind the box. I picked up the corner of the blanket, and they were just there on the swing bench cushion!!!
There’s nothing but the big crochet blanket to hide them.
Oh, my melting heart!
I can also see where the feathers came from. Butterscotch is still the mighty hunter, bringing food back with her when she returns to her kittens.
Over the next little while, I’m hoping we can find a way to close up both Butterscotch and Beep Beep, who should be having kittens pretty soon, in the sun room, with their own food, water and a litter box. Of last year’s kittens, there are still 3 that we were unable to socialize. I’m hoping we can avoid that, this year.
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 