You know, the outside cats make going outside quite entertaining! Check out Beep Beep!
Earlier, when I was walking around the yard, she followed me, insisting on attention, until I finally picked her up and carried her the rest of the way.
Later, as I brought the van into the yard, cats and kits scattered all over the place. Beep Beep went up the tree. When I came near, she started rolling around so much, she almost fell off!
Doom Guy and Beep Beep kept me company while I was cleaning up around the garage and fence line this afternoon. When I got to where I had to figure out some way to lift the post hole pounder, to free up the bikes under it, I went into the lean to on this side of the garage, to find something to help.
Since I was going in and out of it, I left the door open.
Of course, the cats went in to check it out. This is the only part of the garage they can’t squeeze their way into, so it was all new to them!
While working on the junk pile, I could hear meowing from the garage. I went in to see, and from the direction of the sound, figured Doom Guy was exploring under the counter. After a while, though, the meowing started to sound decidedly distressed.
So I went back to look again.
Which is when I discovered Doom Guy was trapped behind the counter.
The counter has open space under it, but it also had a back to it. Above the counter are boards covering the wall joists; likely to prevent things from falling off the back of the counter, where they could not be retrieved.
Doom Guy was somewhere in the wall joists!
Now, while we’ve been using this lean to for storing the riding mower, and a few other things, we were not going to start sorting and cleaning up the garage any time soon. So stuff that’s in there have been there for years.
Lots of stuff.
I ended up getting one of my daughters to come and help me. She came into the garage, just in time to see the top of Doom Guy’s head, before he fell back down again. He could climb to the top, but couldn’t get over the edge of the board.
So we cleared the end of the counter, my daughter climbed on top of it, and ripped the board that was there off completely.
The blue on the left is another section of board, blocking the space.
This is some of the stuff that was on the counter.
The shadow is Beep Beep’s tail. :-D
The wooden things on the ground are shelves, filled with nuts, bolts and other small items. All metal.
I’m glad the two parts were separate, because it took two of us lift each of them off!
The noise and bustle we made spooked Doom Guy into squeezing over to another space. I could only see him by using my phone!
We even put some cat treats at the top, to tempt him to climb up again.
At one point, I could hear him purring!
I even managed to move the counter away from the wall by a couple of inches. It couldn’t be moved too far, as that end is resting on a bit of concrete foundation. It would fall right off, if moved too far.
We left the garage to give Doom Guy some quiet, so he would try and climb again. After a while, my daughter came back. We could hear some scrambling, so she hopped onto the counter. As soon as he was close enough, she grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pulled him the rest of the way out!
He was just covered in dirt and cobwebs!
He does not look happy. :-D
When he got down to the ground, she tried to give him treats there, but he was more interested in attention.
So his mom ate them.
My daughter took the treat container and, shaking it to make some noise, tried to tempt him away from the garage. Instead, he kept sniffing the spot where the treats his mother ate had been. So I picked him up and took him to my daughter, who got him over to the house.
I’m glad we were able to get him out of there. For a while, I was seriously considering cutting a hole in the wall, from the outside!
I haven’t put anything back on the counter, yet. A lot of what’s there might just get thrown out (why are there so many empty tool and tool accessory cases?). At the very least, I want to clean the end of the counter before putting the shelves back – and getting rid of all the dead Asian Lady Beetles that fell out when the board got pulled off!
I supposed the board should be put back. Maybe not nailed and glued in place again, though!
While fussing with things on the counter later on, though, something caught my eye, in between some pieces and parts, boxes and cases.
Was that a glass?
With liquid in it?
What on earth?
Oil.
Dirty oil.
Why is that there?
How long has it been there?
We’re going to have our work cut out for us, when we finally get to cleaning the garage.
Hopefully, no more kittens will need to be rescued!
The Re-Farmer
One of the dad cats showed up again this morning, cooperatively posing for me outside our living room window, so I could get some photos! :-)
Dad cat is looking a little rough around the edges!
While he seems to be coming around more regularly, yesterday I saw – and heard! – him being driven away by Rolando Moon. Who can be just as mean to the other cats, too, we’ve noticed!
I think we are slowly but surely getting The Outsider used to us, faster than the other kittens! Yesterday, my younger daughter was using a stick to play with him (her?), and even managed to pet him briefly.
I played with her a bit, too, and she was willing to come close to my feet, but then seemed to realize how close she was and would run off a bit. Then come back again, to play with the end of the stick.
While all the kittens and their moms seem to have accepted him as one of their own, he and Doom Guy are getting to be quite the pair! I wasn’t able to get any good photos, but they snuggle up in the sun room, regularly. Earlier today, while taking something out of the freezer, I looked out the window to the swing bench. Much to my surprise, there were no kittens on it. Then I found the two of them. They were on the old dresser I use to hold the tools, snuggled up and looking out the window. That space is normally covered with bags of cat food, but we’re on the last bag right now, so it’s available.
I think, from now through the winter, we’re going to have to start buying 4 big bags of cat food a month, instead of the 3 we did last year. We could get away with 2 in the summer, so I would have an extra bag left over from month to month, but this month we’ve already gone through 3 and are into the 4th – though some of that was due to the cats dumping the bucket onto the floor and eating it all night!
Cat kibble in bulk. Bird seed. Deer feed.
Not quite what we were expecting to be doing, when we first moved out here!
Hard to believe, in just a few days, it’ll be a year since my husband and younger daughter flew out.
It’s been quite a year!
The Re-farmer
Most of the kittens are pretty easy to describe. We’ve got the tuxedo, Doom Guy. The grey tabby, Corvo. Two orange tabbies, Jim and Bob.
Then there are the calicos. Or are they torties? Or something else entirely?
It doesn’t help that one of them is double-sided.
Here is Rosencrantz (or Guildenstern), side A.
This is side B. 
It’s like two different cats! When I see her (him?) from this side, I sometimes mistake her for Corvo, until I see the bits of orange.
Today has turned out to be remarkably warm – 13C! Well above the predicted high.
Time to go outside and enjoy it. :-D
The Re-Farmer
Seeing our furry visitors, it reminded me that, when I was out in the yard earlier in the day, I had noticed the cat kibble was almost gone. So I decided to top it up for the night.
We keep the kibble in the Old Kitchen now, so those were the doors I went through. The kittens were on the swing bench – 6 of them! They seemed to know I had food with me, which made their responses to me rather funny. There’s Doom Guy, who comes right up to me. The cautious ones, like Jim and Bob, sortof hang around, but are still not comfortable with me coming close, even with a bowl of food. Then there are the super shy ones, who are clearly torn between wanting the food they can see I have, and wanting to run away from me, at the same time!
As I went for the outer doors, however, they all dashed ahead of me and started for the bowls outside.
Just to be cautious, I looked around, and sure enough, there was our Pepe Le Pew, hanging out by the steps of the clothes line platform. Making himself look big at me!
So I put the food out for the cats, then got some video.
Just so you know, I am NOT really that close to him. This is zoomed in a bit.
Getting back through the sun room took a little more time than usual. ;-)
The Re-Farmer
While checking around the yard, to see if any other branches came down during the gusts of high winds we had yesterday, I came to the remains of our straw bale.
Beep Beep and her boy, taking advantage of something warmer than the ground! :-D
Smart kitties.
The Re-Farmer
While out and about this morning, the kittens were out in full force. Including Doom Guy, who can’t seem to figure out that, if he wants me to pick him up, he has to be in FRONT of me, not behind…
I’m going to have little puncture marks, all up the back of my legs, thanks to him. :-D
Yesterday, I was able to clean up the platform to the clothes line. The line itself needs a bit of maintenance before we can use it. A bit more, if we want to set up three lines again, instead of the one that’s left now.
Whoever rebuilt this platform did a good job of it.
The original platform doubled as a dog house. On the side, where the mock orange is growing now, there was an opening, and we kept it filled with straw for the dogs. I even remember being able to crawl into it, myself, for some canine snuggles!
The cats can squeeze under the stairs. At least, the smaller ones, can. I don’t think Rolando Moon could fit through there. Nor the skunk.
Of the stuff that was on the platform, I’ve only kept the bin, as a potential shelter for the cats in the winter, and a piece of eaves trough that I am wanting to re-purpose, but doens’t fit anywhere else right now.
I noticed, however, that there is stuff underneath, so I used my phone’s camera to see what it is.
???
Why is any of that, there?
Who thought it was a good idea to shove it under there?
The only way for any of this to be there is by pushing it through the opening under the step.
How am I supposed to clean that up?
The Re-Farmer
While working in my office this morning, our Mama cat started getting all agitated, and going up to the window. That’s when I realized I was hearing a low growling noise from outside.
This is what we saw.
It’s a dad-cat standoff!
No wonder our Mama wasn’t happy!
I’ve never seen this cat before, though I think the girls have.
This is the one that showed up in the sun room, one day. :-D
It should be interesting to see how things pan out with these two, over the winter!
The Re-Farmer
Heading over to my crochet corner, I noticed something odd on the bird feeder.
At first, I thought it was Butterscotch.
Then it looked at me.
Why, hello, Rosencrantz…
or Guildenstern.
All the birds were on the ground while she was up there, and she was VERY interested in watching them.
Guildenstern (or Rosencrantz) wasn’t quite sure what to make of me. Normally, she runs off as soon as any of us comes near. Which means this is probably the best look at her I’ve ever gotten!
Of course, as soon as she was on the ground, all the birds were on the feeder. :-D
Such a pretty kitty!
The Re-Farmer
We try to keep Sundays as our day of rest. It has been made easier by colder temperatures and a continuous, if light, snowfall.
Last night, I found a way to prop the doors into the sun room so we could let the kittens in overnight, but the skunk should not be able to squeeze in and leave a mess for us in the morning.
It seems to have worked, though I suppose we can’t really be sure that the skunk didn’t come in and out without us seeing. All I can say for sure is, no “presents” on the floor for me to clean up!
My husband wasn’t up to doing the cats this morning, so I took care of it. Here are the moms, three of Butterscotch’s kittens, and one of Beep Beep’s, plus The Outsider.
I’m fascinated by the markings on Rosencrantz or Guildenstern.
Bob has filled out so much, he’s almost as big as Jim, now!
It seems the kittens have decided today is a day of rest, too!
I’m not sure if this is 6 or 7 kittens. There’s that ear behind Doom Guy’s back. I can’t tell if it’s attached to The Outsider or not. :-D
I am appreciating being able to rest today, as tomorrow is going to be a long one for me. I will be taking my mother to a follow up appointment for her surgery at the smaller, slightly closer, city. Then I plan to go to the RCMP and file a report about the vandalism on our lock. Whoever is doing it may think it’s just a nasty trick to play on us, but this is a potential safety issue, if we ever had to evacuate suddenly. There’s nothing the police can do at this point, but as long as there’s a file, there will be a past record, for when it happens again.
What a pain.
The Re-Farmer
