outside cats

Morning kitties, new tech, tech repairs and estimates

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A few months ago, my husband got me a new OBDII reader for the van. The one I had worked, but didn’t give a lot of information. This one was supposed to be much more detailed in its reports. The problem was, I was never able to get it working. I had the app on my phone, but the Bluetooth connection just didn’t exist, as far as my phone was concerned. My husband tested it out, and it worked fine on his phone, and his tablet. After a bit of research, it turned out the problem was with my particular phone model. It was notorious for Bluetooth problems.

In the end, my husband offered to trade phones. His is a newer version of mine and does not have the issues mine was known for. Last night, he did the necessary back up, switched SIM cards and external memory cards, then did a data switch for the rest. We both then spent much of yesterday evening, getting our “new” phones working again, switching accounts and logging in to various apps.

It’s going to take some getting used to. Aside from the various difference in basic functions, what is now my phone is physically larger than the other one. Which resulting in an unexpected problem.

Lady pockets.

It is large enough that it can’t fit all the way in my pants pocket, and a corner of it sticks out. I’m going to have to be careful mucking about outside, or the darn thing is going to fall right out!

One huge benefit to the newer phone is improved camera quality.

My first test picture, taken while starting my morning rounds.

On a completely different note: Rosencrantz no longer looks pregnant, so there’s a new litter hidden away somewhere. The Distinguished Guest made an appearance this morning. Unfortunately, the patch of missing for on his shoulder is looking newly injured, and larger. I can’t get close enough to see more than a flash of red injured flesh as he runs away from me. :-(

I am zoomed in for this picture of Caramel and Broccoli on the cats’ house. Wow! With my old phone, this would have been a horrible blurry mess!

A definite step up in the photo department.

Yesterday, while checking out the trail cam files, I saw someone pull into our driveway, slip through the gate, then slip back again some time later and leave. This happened while I happened to be out, but clearly whoever it was did not knock at the door, because everyone else was home.

I suspected it was the tree removal company checking things out, so I called them again. Sure enough, it turned out to be the owner.

I’m glad I marked those trees with marking paint!

I had marked 22 dead treed. He commented on how we have SO many of them; he counted about 30 in there. I told him it was the ones closest to the house, and the one by the garage, that was my main concern. I also mentioned wanting to keep the wood to use to build garden beds. Normally, they’d take the trees down in chunks shorter than was I’m wanting. We brought it down to about 10 trees, including the one by the garage. He told me that, for a job like this, he would be sending a 4 man crew, at $400 an hour, and estimated it would take about 10 hours to do the trees closest to the house.

He didn’t hesitate at all when I starting talking about fewer trees! That’s a LOT of money. We brought it down to 5 trees closest to the house, plus the one by the garage. For that, I got an estimate of $2500.

Yeah…. we have a bit set aside, but not that much! It’s actually a very reasonable price. Four man crew, with their specialized equipment to get up into the trees, their massive chipper to take care of the branches, they’d stack the logs (or trunks, in this case) neatly aside and do a clean up at the end. Yes, it’s higher than when we got work done before, but the increased cost of fuel alone would kick their prices up.

So I asked about chipping the big pile in the outer yard – adding that there was no hurry on that, because there are kittens living in it right now. He said he would have to take a better look at the pile, and said he would swing by the next time he’s in the area.

For that job, at least, we’ll have more time to set funds aside. Because of little guys like this.

This branch pile kitten is one that I’ve been able to pick up, several times now. This morning, I was able to pick it up and pet it for a while, and when I put it down next to the food, it actually stayed and started eating, rather than running away. There is a second one I’ve been able to pick up more than one. It is less tolerant of being picked up and still hissed and spit at me, but not as much as the last time I was able to pick it up.

Along with the food I’m leaving near the branch pile, I’ve also brought an extra old baking tray over for water. It’s heavy enough to not get blown away, and shallow enough I don’t have to worry about a kitten falling in and drowning. I’ve seen the kittens drinking out of it several times, since. 😊

Hopefully, I’ll be able to grab and cuddle some of the other kittens, too, and get them at least a little big socialized!

We had some other crazy tech problems going on yesterday. It started with my not being able to get through to my mother on the phone. I don’t know it that problem was at all related, but we started to have issues with our land line gain. My brother had tried to phone me several times, and just got crackling noises. I was actually on the phone with the phone company to arrange having someone come out to fix it, when our prescription delivery arrived. He’d tried to call, too, and didn’t get through. On my new prescription, was a note to call the pharmacist about the dosages; she had tried to call me, but couldn’t get through.

The guy I was on the phone with was doing his computer stuff but had not put me on hold as he did it, so when my husband and I talked about the delivery driver’s call not getting through, and the pharmacist not being able to get ahold of me, he could hear it all.

This morning, while walking in the outer yard, about to head back inside, there was a shout from the gate.

The guy from the phone company was already here!

It took a while, but the problem was traced to corroded wires at the phone jack in my husband’s room. He had to replace wires and the jack itself. He ended up having to go back and forth into the basement a few times, but he got it working.

I’m really happy about how quickly they had someone come out. Having a working land line is really important to have out here, where cell phones and internet connections are far more likely to have issues. That and the tech guy was really nice, too. 😊

The Re-Farmer

Morning babies

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I got to hold one of the little babies again!

Not easy, getting a picture while securely holding a curious, squirmy baby! There are two that don’t run away as quickly as the others, and as they’re still at that slow and clumsy stage, I’m able to catch them and pick them up. Yesterday, they were hissing and spitting for a bit, before calming down. This morning, this little one didn’t make a sound.

Once again, the four older ones that come to the house were playing with the bitty babies, though I did see them at the house later on. I didn’t see the oldest kittens at the pump shack this morning, but the tiny skunk popped out to nibble on the kibble!

I should probably find a way to leave water at the pump shack, too. I’m sure I’ve got a sturdy container somewhere that can be left there.

While I was going in and out of the sun room, I opened the door and a flash of grey fur ran in. Potato Beetle is back, after disappearing for a while again.

He is so skinny, the poor thing! But he knows the sun room is where he can have food with no competition from other cats. As I write this, he’s still in there. That early in the day, the sun room is still cooler than outside, and I made sure the ceiling fan was on, and there was water available, too.

The tom that’s hanging around the most right now is Sad Face. He’s definitely the winner of the male cat hierarchy, so I am happy to have Potato safe in the sun room. I still see The Distinguished Guest, though not as often, and he’s more skittish. He still has a missing patch of fur on one shoulder. I’ve never been able to get close enough to see it well, but the colour is looking more like normal skin colour, rather than open wound or scabbing colour. I suspect it will scar over and remain a bald spot, rather than the fur growing in. All our other males have disappeared. Perhaps they’ll come back later in the season and stay for the winter, or simply disappear, as so many others have since we’ve moved here. I prefer to think they’ve found some other farm to call home.

One thing I was not happy to see what Sad Face having his way with one of the ladies. It is really late in the season for her to go into heat. If she got pregnant now, that would mean a new litter of kittens at the end of August. They won’t have a chance to get very big before the cold hits. Of course, we’ll have the heat back on in the cats’ house and that will help, but the smaller they are, the more at risk they will be from the cold.

We shall see how things work out. For now, I’m just working on getting the babies used to me, in hopes of socializing them enough to make adopting them out an option!

The Re-Farmer

So wee!

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While doing my evening rounds and tending the garden (something has started to nibbled on our carrot greens, so that bed now has a net around it), I topped up the kibble trays. Along with going to the pump shack and leaving some kibble there, I also left a bit of kibble in front of the branch pile, where the bitty kitties are.

While walking around the outer yard, I heard the distinctive crunching noises of a skunk eating kibble – coming from the pump shack.

So of course, I went to chase the skunk away from the kitten’s food.

Oh. My. Goodness!

Would you look at how TINY it is!!!! The litter of kittens in the pump shack are bigger than this guy!

No, I did not chase it away. It’s just a baby! A very hungry baby that let me come quite close. Far more interested in food.

So… we have both kittens and baby skunks in the pump shack now!

I heard a noise and took a quick peek, finding one of the big kittens skirting around the pump shack. Later on, I came back and found no food and no babies, so I went inside. I found the bike I got at the garage sale had been knocked to the floor. While picking it up again I could see, behind some junk, a tuxedo face was watching me. I heard movement in other places, so I left.

The branch pile, meanwhile, was just crawling with kittens!

The four kittens that have been coming to the house were playing with the six little kittens in the branch pile.

That kitten in the foreground?

I was able to catch it and hold it for a while. Some time later, I came over and picked it up again, only to realize it was a different little kitten. I was able to pick this one up again when I came back one last time, topping up the kibble at the branch pile, and the pump shack, again.

Hopefully, this is the start of being able to socialize at least some of the kittens!

So many bitty babies!!!

The Re-Farmer

Morning and evening kitties

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I was able to get pretty close to a pair of kittens in the branch pile last evening.

They were all smooshed together, playing. :-) They are looking directly at me in the photo; I had my arm stretched out to try and get my phone closer for a picture, which they ignored. I didn’t want to bother them too much, though, and quickly left. So far, I have not see them today.

I saw the four kittens that regularly come to the house yesterday, too. Bradiccus is nursing the long haired one. These four kittens seem like one litter, but I see two mothers taking care of them, so we have no idea how many are actual siblings, and which mother then belong to!

This morning, after I was finished up outside and heading for the sun room, I spotted a ghost.

Ghost Baby was hanging out in the kibble house! She was loafed in the pan, seeming to nap for a while, then eating a bit of kibble, then napping again. We don’t see her often, and she tends to stay away from the other cats, which means she tends to eat after all the others are done. I didn’t want to scare her away from the food, so I tried to keep my distance. I assume she has kittens somewhere well away from the house, but we’ve seen no sign of any, yet.

I do wish we could get her to be less scared of us. Of all the cats, she’s probably the most feral. Even the toms that aren’t ours will let me get closer than she does. At least I know she’s getting food, and that she has found herself some shelter and safety in the outer yard somewhere.

The Re-Farmer

Stormy weather, and more bebbies!

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When I headed out to the hardware store, I very carefully, very quietly, skirted around this little scene of motherly bliss!

Yeah, I was zooming in. The mother normally would have run off, but the little calico was asleep while attached to a nip, and she didn’t want to move.

Interesting thing to note: this is NOT Bradiccus.

I’ve seen Bradiccus nursing this little calico and two others.

I have no idea which cat is the actual mother, now. It seems they are sharing parenting duties.

Then, while heading to the garage, I was actually able to get quite close to these two!

The little black and white one kept staring at me, while the other climbed up next to it, but neither ran away. They are at that clumsy movement stage, and running away isn’t something they can do very well just yet. :-D

Oh, those blue, blue eyes!

Oh, that big a$$ mosquito on the one kitten!

After picking up the parts needed to fix the kitchen sink and heading home, I just had to pull over to get this picture.

Using the wide angle setting actually picked up more detail than I could see from inside the car. Mostly, I was seeing those very smooth layers of clouds in the distance.

Not long after I got home, the storm reached us. I’m glad I remembered to shut down my computer! We had power fluctuations long enough to reset some clocks. My husband was asleep at the time, which means that every time the power went out, so did his CPAP, which meant he suddenly couldn’t breathe anymore.

Thankfully, it didn’t happen too often, and the power never went out completely for more than a few seconds. Internet connectivity was interrupted more, though. I didn’t turn my computer back on until just before uploading pictures for this post, but I did try to watch some TV with Roku. Original Star Trek series. :-D At one point, we were loosing signal for longer than we were getting it. We weren’t losing our internet completely, though. According to the StarLink app, we lost connection twice – once for 1 minute, 3 seconds, and one for 41 seconds, and neither of those were at times while I was trying to watch the show. I had my phone with me, and could still access the internet, so whatever the interruption was for the streaming service, it was not at our end.

Right now, however, it’s looking bright and sunny again. Time to head out and check if there was any storm damage.

And see if the kitties are out again… :-)

The Re-Farmer

Morning discoveries

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Sunday is normally our day of rest, though of course work still needs to be done. Today, however, is going to be more of a day of rest than I’d hoped. We had rain overnight, and everything is still wet, so finishing the mowing is out. We’re also still getting all sorts of weather warnings, from severe thunderstorms to high water levels from rain falling elsewhere. At least we’re not getting tornado warnings in our area.

The garden, at least, if finally seeing some grown spurts. I’m most happy to see how this bed is doing.

That Kulli corn has been staying small for so long, I was starting to be concerned, but it is finally kicking in. I hope the beans planted with them are helping!

Hungry kittens are brave kittens! Nice to see them actually inside the kibble house, instead of hiding under the cat house.

There was an unexpected harvest this morning. Just a tiny one.

I checked on the wild strawberry patch, and could actually see the red berries from a distance!

The berries are so tiny, they are hard to pick! Many were already over ripe, but there are still lots of under ripe ones. This is the most we’ve seen since we found the patch while cleaning out the maple grove.

At some point, I would like to prepare a bed for them and transplant as many as I can, so they’re not fighting with grass and weeds to grow.

While moving things over to the burn barrel, I found another surprise in the branch pile.

One of the other litters of kittens has emerged! I had no idea there was another litter of kittens in this branch pile. Definitely the largest litter we’ve seen, too. There are six of them.

So adorable!

The cats are going to miss this pile of branches when we finally get it chipped!

We got another, far less pleasant surprise.

Our first spring here, one of the things that suddenly gave out was the drain on one side of the kitchen sink.

Well, the other side has finally given out, too. I heard some dripping a couple of days ago and asked my daughters to check it for me, as I can’t get under to look properly. My younger daughter found where it was leaking. When examining it from below, she was actually able to push the whole thing upwards!

So today, I’ll be making a trip to the hardware store to get the kit to replace it all. They open in about half an hour, so I’ll be heading out soon. At least we know, since we’ve already had it happen before, what we need to fix it! :-)

The Re-Farmer

Cryptid Kitten

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Look who I saw today!

This is the black and white kitten from the very first litter we found. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s this one…

We found this one alone in the yard, soaking wet, and no mama around. Likely she dropped him while moving him, then ran off when I came outside. We brought him (her?) in, and my husband kept him warm while we looked around and, eventually, were able to reunite it with its mother.

I am increasingly convinced that, of the 4 kittens in that litter, this may be the only survivor. I know there was a tuxedo in the litter, and a couple of tabby looking kittens, but this is the only older kitten we are seeing.

It’s also incredibly shy and runs off as soon as it sees me, no matter how far away I am. That is why I put some kibble out on the step, and on the ground in front of the grape vines. What I might end up doing is moving one of the smaller kibble containers over by those steps and putting food out there, regularly. The down side of that is, the skunks are more likely to get it before the kitten does.

Well, if it’s a lone survivor or if its siblings are even shier than this one, I hope they will eventually start coming to the kibble house for food. Leaving food farther out for a while will help get them more comfortable coming over.

The Re-Farmer

Critters!

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I popped out to see if the weather would allow some lawn mowing, and discovered a whole bunch of adorableness, just outside the door!

When I first opened the door, they were next to the water bowls (while mama was inside the kibble house, eating), and all four of them were moving towards me, all in a row. :-D Then they went around the back of the cats’ house, stopping long enough for me to get a couple of pictures.

There was a mama cat and kittens on the laundry platform steps, and they all started towards the cats, like they were synchronized. :-D After getting the pictures, I shooed the mama out of the kibble house and they all left.

Once the skunks were gone, the kitties were a lot more relaxed.

Except Sad Face, with his permanent tragic expression, and always looking ready to dash off.

Checking the weather radar, we had our frequent climate bubble in effect. The severe weather system split, with the large portion of it going to the north of us, and a smaller portion to the south. I was able to get some mowing down around the garden area, though it was so hot and sunny, I stopped when I ran out of gas, rather than filling and continuing.

Further south, however, another system went through. My brother’s place got hit with driving rain and hail! Everything is okay, though.

In other things, I called the tree company that cleared our power lines and roof a few years ago. Someone will be coming out over the next few days to give us an estimate. My plan had been to take down dead spruce trees myself, but considering where some of them are in relation to the house, and to each other, it would just be more efficient to hire someone. They can do it all in a day – and with greater safety! When I first called and left a message, I made a point of mentioning that I want to keep the wood for building with. I also mentioned getting things chipped.

With that in mind, before I started on the mowing, I got out the orange marking paint I remember to pick up more of at the hardware store. I then went around and marked the ones closer to the house, as well as the one by the garage. I’d marked as many dead trees as I could get to, last year. The marks have faced, but I could still see them. Last year, I’d counted about 22 or 23 dead spruces, with the possibility of more that were not accessible, in total (I hadn’t bothered marking some of them at the time).

We lost more trees over the winter, though. This time, I marked 22 dead spruce trees, and that was without going around the East side of the spruce grove, and trying to get through some of the underbrush.

That’s a lot of trees that can be used to build more high raised beds! Assuming they are all still solid, and from the looks of it, they are, though a couple of them have been dead and drying long enough, they have split lengthwise.

That spruce grove is going to look really empty once all the dead trees are cut down. Once things are cleared up, the plan it to turn part of the area into a sheltered seating area, with trunks supporting benches and tables. Fruit or berry trees that need more shelter may then be planted, as well as more spruces transplanted into the spruce grove.

Once those dead trees are down, though, we can get back on track for building the cordwood outdoor bathroom, with a composting toilet rather than a pit, that we were looking to do as a practise building. After we no longer need to use the space to access and drag out the dead trees, we can start working on building up a foundation for it. This year’s flooding showed us that, while the space we’d chosen for it didn’t end up underwater, like so many other spots, it did eventually get very muddy. We definitely need to build things up at least a few inches. Though the plan is to make an outdoor bathroom, it will have a solid floor, and the composting toilet will be easily removed, if we ever want to repurpose the building to be just a regular storage shed.

The dead trees we plan to use for building high raised beds had been intended for building the cordwood shed, but garden beds have become more of a priority. I expect we’ll still have plenty of wood that can be used for it, anyhow. Plus we’ll be making bottle bricks to use for light, instead of windows.

This is a project that will take much longer to get done than we originally planned. At least we still have the old outhouse all cleaned up inside and can use that, if we lose our septic again!

Also, if we do the floor right, we won’t have to worry about groundhogs digging dens in the pit, like we found under the outhouse!

The Re-Farmer

Why are you sticking that thing in my face?

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Broccoli seems conflicted. Does she want to run away from the crazy human aiming a weird rectangular thing at her?

Or does she want to enjoy her private breakfast on top of the cats’ house, away from the other cats?

Hunger won out.

The Re-Farmer

Time for a snack!

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Last night, I had to get this picture through a sun room window, as they would run off as soon as they heard the door open.

There are three kittens nursing in this photo. We usually see 4 kittens together, so this suggests to me that the third kitten – the almost black one – is from another litter. I had thought the one that looks like it’s going to be a long haired cat was from another litter, but it’s in the photo, nursing with the calico and the tabby.

Every now and then, I see the black and white kitten from the first litter. It runs off as soon as it sees me, no matter how far away I am. I have not seen the other 3 from that litter. Hopefully, they have all survived, and they’re just shier.

The Re-Farmer