I finally got a decent picture of the kitten we didn’t catch.
And even some video!
What a little cutie! I love that dramatic “eye liner”. Just like his mom!
I had been putting food in a bowl on the junk pile, but this morning I brought extra and put it on the ground, instead. They seem to prefer that.
As for the one (or more?) in the pump shack, I heard rustling when I brought in food and water (actually, another ice balloon), but didn’t see anything else.
The Re-Farmer
This morning, after dropping my daughter off at work, I immediately headed out to do some work by the main gate before things got too hot.
I was already too late.
Continue readingBefore I continue with what I found while doing my rounds this morning, I just have to share this adorable photo I managed to take, yesterday.
When we decided to move out here and take care of the farm for my mother, we had some ideas of what to expect, and what we might do in the future.
We were not naive about it, though, and knew that things would have to change with circumstances.
One thing I did not even think of at all.
That we might become a cat sanctuary.
Now, this isn’t all that unusual. Every now and then, I’ll read something in one of the local papers, or see a news clip someone shared on Facebook, about farmers and the 40 or so barn cats that they take care of. Along with their cows and goats and chickens or whatever.
We don’t have barn cats. The house came with yard cats. My dad loved them, and taking care of them was just a given.
I think it’s gotten a bit beyond that, now. LOL
Continue readingI headed out with my daughter to drop her off for work earlier than usual. She was very kind enough to be willing to be stuck outside until someone with a key showed up (which, thankfully, did not turn out to be long) so that I could head over to another town almost an hour’s drive from her work. It was a court date for our vandal, this time in a town closer to us – though not with the extra driving this morning! *L*
Continue readingI just had to share some adorable kitten pictures I got today, while doing a head count to make sure they were all there.
They are all snoozy in these pictures, but they were wild beasts, this morning! LOL I tried to go into the sun room quickly, so as not to let any kittens into the old kitchen, but Beep Beep got in my way, slowing me down enough that one kitten snuck through while I was closing the door. I had to open it again to grab, but three more dashed in.
I gave up at that point.
Once in the old kitchen, they went nuts, climbing and running and jumping.
They look so calm and peaceful in the pictures below.
The pictures lie! LOL
Click on the pictures to see them full size.
While taking the pictures, I noticed the 2 kittens eyes were stuck shut again. :-( I thought they were doing better for a while, but they’re still all leaky. So I came back with the supplies to wash them. I’d done it this morning, and found the top of our freezer is the perfect height to work on their eyes, so with the help of my daughter, we got Dave into the old kitchen to wash his eyes. Then I went to put Dave with his cousins and get Keith, but had to quickly hand him through the door to my daughter to take care of, because I was trapped by kittens already.
Especially Dave. Who wanted cuddles.
How could I say no to those sad, leaky, eyes surrounded by water flattened fur?
Dave is growing on us. Big time!
Beyond our kitten fix, it was a quiet Father’s Day, which we celebrated after my daughter got home from work. My daughter had a short shift, so I stayed in town. It’s a good time for me to recharge and relax, though depending on the weather, that often means parking different places, sitting in my van and playing Pokemon Go, under the watchful eyes of my turts.
I used to spend a lot of time in our van, before the move. In our previous van, I was able to cover most of the dash with self-adhesive pearls and beads, glow in the dark “rocks”, and lots and lots of little critters, held in place with Fun Tack. At Christmas, I added tiny trees with itsy bitsy LED lights in them. It was one of those things where people would do double takes and start smiling – or take photos as they drove past. :-D I figured, if I was going to spend so much time in my van, it may as well be my happy place!
When we got this van, I tried to do the same, but the vinyl is different, and the adhesive wouldn’t stick as well. So I have a much smaller display.
I just love that bobble headed turtle, with the wiggly, wiggly legs.
The Re-Farmer
Today, I finally had both the time and the weather conditions to work on the south fence line of the spruce grove (there there aren’t actually any spruces left…).
So, while waiting for the freshly washed gates to dry, I brought out the weed trimmer, my new reciprocating saw, and a whole lot of extension cord!
Here is my first progress shot.
Continue readingIt’s been quite interesting, as I work around the yard, in areas I worked on last year, and seeing the differences.
One of the differences is, I am seeing all sorts of things popping up, in areas that used to be choked with years of dead grass, fallen branches and garbage, or hidden away by low hanging branches.
While mowing past the north side of the spruce grove, where I am now able to mow right up to the tree line, I was observing some of the wild roses I’d pruned down, but didn’t pull their roots, coming back up. For the most part, I will be leaving those. I also passed what looked for all the world like carrots, growing in the moss!
This is the largest of several I could see. I came back later and poked around the base, just to be sure.
No, they are not carrots.
Continue readingWhile doing my rounds yesterday evening, I decided to prune away the dead parts of the mock orange at the clothes line platform.
It did so well last year, it’s a shame so much of it died over the winter. At the same time, I was happy to see the tiniest of leaf buds struggling to emerge from some main branches. I pruned all the dead stuff off and cleared out some Virginia Creeper that was trying to re-establish itself. That’s a wheel barrow full, right there. Now that it’s all open and pruned, I’m thinking it will recover quite well.
While hauling this away, I also started picking up branches in the West yard that had come down in the storms. I kept finding more and more branches – most were just small enough to be hidden by the grass, but still be enough that I wouldn’t want to hit them with the mower! I probably cleared another 2 wheelbarrows worth from the West lawn, including the section behind the storage house. I found more in the maple grove. I’m glad I was able to mow as much as I did, as it made it easier to find the fallen branches. Branches that had fallen into the areas I still need to get to with the weed trimmer were almost completely hidden! I’m also glad I brought my pruners with me, because I ended up cutting away spirea and caragana that was trying to reclaim the spaces between the lilacs, plum and apple trees again. It’s going to be a constant battle to keep those under control!
Then I checked on the transplanted raspberries and found a surprise.
A single asparagus spear!
It wasn’t there a few days ago. It wasn’t there last year.
It may be that, after having cleared away the weeds and mulching the area, a hidden root was finally able to grow.
Of course, I did have to go into the sun room to get my pruning sheers, and managed to get this adorable picture.
Continue reading
