A few last photos my daughter got of the deer that visited us a couple of days ago.
I always kinda wonder what it is they are looking at, when they look up at our roof!
Pretty sure he’s looking at those crazy humans in the window, too.
Maybe one of the cats are up on the roof again? :-D
What a beauty!
The Re-Farmer
Some more photos my daughter got of the deer that came to visit.
These were taken at maximum zoom. I’m really impressed with how her photos came out!
Love that swoopy snout.
Now, there’s a handsome boy! :-D
The Re-Farmer
Before I go into today’s events, I wanted to share this photo from a few days back.
I had been watching the birds at the feeder and noticed some much bigger birds under the apple tree. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many robins, all together (there were several more that I was unable to get in a photo) . I also didn’t know robins like to eat crab apples!
Between the birds and the deer, any fallen apples get cleaned up, real quick! Continue reading
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
You would think, living in the middle of nowhere, we wouldn’t have to worry about things like vandalism and security as much as when we lived in the downtown area of a major city. In many ways, that is true. However, we are certainly not immune, and in some ways, folks in the country have more to worry about.
I won’t get into the reasons here, but having to put locks on our gates has been quite disheartening. It is what it is, however, and we just deal.
Like today.
My younger daughter and I loaded up the van to go to the dump, then she walked ahead to unlock the gate while I drove over.
She couldn’t unlock it. The key wouldn’t even go into the lock.
This would be why.
What you’re seeing is after my daughter used a knife to try and clear it, to no avail. Not that it would have made a difference. Even if she had been able to get the key in, the glue would have prevented it from turning.
(The black, by the way, is from a graphite lubricant I used when the weather was making the lock a bit stiff, about a month ago.)
While we were at the gate, a candidate for some local elections came by to drop something off, so she saw what we were dealing with, too – and later saw my daughter getting into the van with the bolt cutters, after we got through.
So our trip to the dump was followed by a trip into town to get a new lock.
This is the second lock we’ve had to replace. I don’t expect it to be the last, unfortunately.
Frustrating.
The Re-Farmer
I did my rounds around the yard this evening, and it’s really something to see how everything is settling in for the winter.
While I have been fighting those invasive vines all over the place all summer, there is one area where I am keeping them. They are, after all, quite pretty, when under control! They have gone to seed, now, and are all covered with lovely little puffs.
I spent some time going around the yard, picking up the fallen branches, and going through where I cleaned things up in the maple grove.
When talking to my family about what I was finding, I mentioned the rows of trees that were planted too close together, with many dying because of it, and how I wanted to eventually transplant the three poor little tamarack trees. One family member told me to just cut them down to give the other trees space.
Nope! Not going to do that. I really want to save these trees.
This is one of the reasons why.
They turn a most glorious golden yellow in the fall!
In the future, I would really love to plant more of them!
It’s not unusual, when I make my way through the yard, for me to have a cat follow me. That’s typically when Rolando Moon makes an appearance. Otherwise, it’s Beep Beep or Butterscotch.
Today, I had two cats following me!
Beep Beep and her boy!
Later, my younger daughter helped me move some leaf piles onto the flower garden by the Old Kitchen. The girls have been raking the grass, but with the latest drop of leaves, it’s rather yard to tell in some places! :-D We are starting to use the leaves as mulch in different areas as well as adding more to the garden – and that’s without doing any raking at all in between the trees! Those will be left to decompose where they are. We’ll just stay on top of picking up fallen branches in those areas.
Earlier today, we made a trip into town to get some prescription refills. When they were ready, the pharmacist went through the three bottles with me. There was supposed to be four, however. So she went back to check what happened. It turned out that, for some reason, the insurance wasn’t coming up to cover that one at all. They figured it was a glitch in the system.
They ended up giving me the refill, without charging us for it now. When I come back in about a week, for some other refills, they will charge us for it then.
Which kinda blows me away.
When we had issues with insurance, shortly after moving here, the Costco pharmacy my husband had set up with wanted to charge him full price. We didn’t even know there was a problem until they wanted some $400, when we should only have been paying $40 or so. It was a most frustrating experience, and my husband went without some of his medications for a long time before the mess was fixed – and then even longer, because the fix put him at the wrong rate, which meant we still couldn’t afford it.
I’m rather glad we are with this pharmacy, now!
One of the benefits of going with a small town pharmacy, instead of one in the city!
Something to be thankful for, for sure!
The Re-Farmer
One thing about the chillier weather; it has made for much quieter days! It’s too cold to do much outside, and what little we have left to do can wait for the few days it’s supposed to warm up again. Otherwise, it was a good day to stay warm inside, drink lots of tea, and catch up on various things. In my case, crochet. :-D
I did want to share this cute little thing that happened, though…
Heading into the Old Kitchen, to close up the sun room’s outer doors, I turned on the sun room light and immediately saw through the window, all these pairs of ears turn towards the window! A pile of kittens, in their favorite spot.
So I go back to get my phone to see if I can get a good photo. It was a pile of the shiest kittens, so I wasn’t expecting to get them all, but who knows, right?
I open the inner door and check them out through the window of the second door. There they all are, looking at me. As I unlatch the door, they jump around a bit, startled by the noise.
They weren’t the only ones.
Our stinky friend ambled out from under the swing seat and headed outside!
I just managed to snag a photo through the screen before he was gone.
Then the kittens all scattered, so I wasn’t able to get a picture of them. Ah, well.
A few things were knocked over and pushed around that needed to be cleaned up. No turd bombs that I could see, but it does look like the skunk left some puddles. :-(
At least this time, it was easier to get everybody out of the sun room to close it up for the night.
After the last few years, I can really enjoy things like this being the most exciting action in my life. :-D
The Re-Farmer
After I finished my last post (just before midnight! :-D ), I tried once again to see if I could close up the sun room for the night. The last I saw, all the kittens were outside eating, and the skunk was settling into the corner of the sun room.
I came in to find this.
Do not let the little furry heads fool you. This is not a pile of six kittens.
It is a pile of seven kittens!
As I went in and the pile broke up, the seventh kitten emerged, having been completely buried by the others!
Bob is really filling out and looking so much healthier, now! Glad to see that. Also, the markings on one of the calico/torties is looking more and more like a grey tabby! Much less orange than her sibling.
As I was persuading them to go outside, I saw the skunk was already out and eating, so I was finally able to close up the outside doors, then start heading in through the Old Kitchen.
Then I went back to let out Jim, who had been hiding and accidentally got closed in. !!
So that worked out in the end, and no turd bombs that I could find.
Today, I was slated to go to my mother’s to help her with some errands. I used her car, so that it would be easier for her to get in and out, but it doesn’t really fit her walker in the back, so she used a cane. I must say, she is recovering really well, has grown noticeably stronger since I last saw her, and quite mobile. She still tired quickly, of course, but did fantastic. Not bad for someone who’s 87 and just had major abdominal surgery!
We had an excellent visit as well, and while we were talking, I mentioned that we were letting the kittens into the sun room. I wasn’t sure how she would take that, since she vacillates from telling me we shouldn’t have cats because of the litter box, to happy about the outside cats, because they keep the rodent population under control, and loving how cute the kittens are.
I showed her the above photo, and she was loving it. She questioned about them being all from one mom, but I reminded her that there were two from one mom, four from another – and that another kitten showed up from somewhere and has moved right in. She loved that!
Then she commented that we might have a problem with them pooping in the sun room. I wasn’t sure how she would take it, but I told her that it’s not the cats we have problems with pooping in the sun room, but…
Then I showed her a picture of the skunk I’d taken last night.
It took her a moment to realize what she was seeing and where, but when she did, she was so excited! I showed her some more photos and the short video I took of the skunk sharing cat food with one of the kittens, and she loved it! She thought he was so cute, and how great it was that it comes regularly.
I had thought she might be upset about the skunk coming inside the sun room, to be honest, so this was awesome!
She also suggested that we might end up with more of them showing up. I figure it might depend of whether we have a he or a she. Who knows; by next spring, the skunk might show up with a row of little ones, following along!
Meanwhile, my darling husband did a bit of research. Apparently, cat kibble is not good for skunks. Fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables is recommended. Well, this skunk seems to be doing just fine with the kibble, along with whatever else it finds on its own. It’s not like the cat kibble is the only source of food it has. I think it’ll be just fine.
I’m just happy my mom is happy about our stinky kitty, too!
Also, I think I will make a point of shutting up the sun room now, before our smelly friend returns!
The Re-Farmer
While Corvo is on the platform feeder, the birds sometimes perch on the lilac branches, nearby.
Which certainly has his attention!
The Re-Farmer
I wonder just how much the birds can see into the house at times – what with them smacking into the window so often.
Other times, it’s quite obvious they can see us, watching them!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 