What a wonderful thing to find on the trail cam this morning. :-)
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Kitten fix, and this is going to be another odd day
First up, here are your smiles for the day!
I wasn’t able to get decent kitten pictures this morning, so here are some from last night.
I picked up some wet cat food, just for Beep Beep and the kittens, and they were in heaven! Leyendecker is an enthusiastic eater, while the others are still figuring out that whole eating and chewing thing. Once he had his fill, he crawled into my arms and began grooming himself, my arm, licking my fingers, rolling around in my arms and generally being the most adorable thing ever!
Nicco, on the other hand, is more into the water bowl than the solid food thing. He also demanded “up” from my daughter, but once he was there, he wasn’t too sure he liked it!
This morning, I was enthusiastically tackled, climbed and squealed at, by the entire bunch! They definitely enjoy people attention. :-)
While doing my rounds this morning, I started to prep a bit for working on the lawn. With the rain we’ve had, and more to come, soon, there is only a small window to get the job done. Unfortunately, it will be while fighting off squadrons of mosquitoes. The last couple of years were so dry, we didn’t really have a lot of mosquitoes. This year, we have more normal moisture levels, which means we also have more normal mosquito numbers.
The area we are in is infamous for mosquitoes. And wood ticks. I recall, when living in a different province, a co-worker of my husband shared a story. They, too, had moved from another province not long before, with the husband moving ahead to start a new job, and his wife following some time later (we’ve had to do that a few times!). She drove through several provinces. After driving through the province we’re back in now, she said the front end of their white car was black and fuzzy, from all the mosquitoes stuck to it! My husband just nodded and said, yeah. That sounds about right!
So my focus for today is going to involve girding my loins, covering myself in insect repellent, and getting as much of the lawn done as I can before getting driven back indoors by either the bugs, or rain! That includes getting the mowers checked over, making use of that mower blade sharpener I got, and likely needing to charge the battery on the riding mower, first.
Wish me luck!
The Re-Farmer
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Out of whack (and kittens, of course)
It’s not even noon yet, and my day is already completely out of whack! It’s my own fault, too. :-D
My daughter got her new work schedule, which had 1 whole extra shift on it, beyond another month of 1 shift a week.
It was today.
I diligently added it to my calendar, then completely forgot about it until my husband came to me this morning, saying, “So [our daughter] has a shift today, and it’s just after 8…”
Which meant we had to leave in less than half an hour. It took me about that long, just to shift mental gears. LOL If I’d remembered and set my alarm as I normally do when she has a shift, I would have completely finished my rounds and been at my computer, almost finished checking the trail cam files by then.
No worries. My husband had already fed the outside cats, and topped up the food for the inside cats, except Beep Beep and the babies. He can’t do stairs very well, and we’re still keeping the other cats out until the kittens get a bit bigger.
When visiting Beep Beep and the kittens last night, I noticed they weren’t using the crate under the chair that used to be part of their nest. They are really liking the set up on and under the platform bed frame. So I decided to see what would happen if I put the crate on the frame.
This happened.
I barely put it down when Beep Beep jumped right in!
When I visited them this morning, they were all running around so much, I couldn’t get any good pictures.
So here are some crappy ones. :-D
I’m pretty sure this is Turmeric, teething on the basket I made. When the two orange ones aren’t close to each other, it’s kinda hard to remember which is Turmeric and which is Saffron. :-D
I had not intended that basket to be for the kittens, but they really seem to like it!
There were a couple of noticeable achievements this morning. I had already seen Leyendecker, at least, eating the cat kibble. This morning…
… Nicco was figuring out how to drink water from a bowl.
The major achievement (especially after having to clean up a mess on the foam mats we laid out on the concrete for them) is this…
Yes. I took a picture of a kitten taking a dump. But it was in the litter box, not the floor, so this is a milestone! :-D
Anyhow.
I’ll be needing to head into town again a couple more times. I’ll be meeting my daughter for lunch and taking advantage of that to try and find some self-drilling screws my brother is looking for, to use on that trailer frame we now have wheels on and has been sitting in the barn all winter. Then again to pick up my daughter at the end of her shift. So getting more of the squashes transplanted will wait another day. The ones already planted have grown noticeably, as have the carrots in the new garden plot. That’s encouraging, at least. :-) There are plenty of other tasks to do that can handle interruptions.
I’ll just have to remember to use lots of insect repellent before I do anything outside. Aside from the squadrons of mosquitoes, I’ve been seeing lots of wood ticks already. :-( Ah, well. Such is life in the sticks! :-D
The Re-Farmer
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Growing things
We’ve got all sorts of things growing right now.
Of course, the kittens are growing into ferocious little ankle biters.
They also love climbing on and clawing the grandpa slippers. :-D
Once outside, I checked the new garden bed and discovered carrots!
Unfortunately, there are also plenty of other things sprouting. At least the thistles are easy to pull out.
These carrots were done using a method found on a YouTube video, where the seeds were sprouted in water first, then put into a cornstarch gel in baggies, to be piped into the ground like icing.
These, along with the parsley, were planted on May 17. It is now the 24th. It took only 1 week for the sprouted seeds to break ground. Direct sown, they could take anywhere from 14 to 21 days.
Not only was the parsley also starting to show, but I think I’m even seeing some of the beets, which were planted 2 days later. I didn’t do anything special with them, other than cover the plots with plastic. Beets can take 7 – 14 days to sprout when direct sown.
It seems things are doing quite well in this location! I was able to remove the plastic on all the little plots. Even the kohl rabi. I just looked those up and they can germinate anywhere from 3 – 10 days.
I’m quite pleased with this!
Yesterday’s downpour has really revived everything! While doing my rounds, I found more blooming trees!
Yesterday, it was plum blossoms. Today, it’s Saskatoons. :-)
Of course, the grass is also growing like mad. Time to break out the lawn mowers! :-)
The Re-Farmer
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Morning things
I checked on the kitties this morning, of course, as part of my a.m. routine.
Of all the possible nests they could have chosen, they went back to their original nesting box, now shoved under the platform bed frame. The frame itself has something under it, so it’s not directly on the concrete, and there are several boxes with soft, comfy things to lie on, on top of it. But noooo… They go for this crowded space, instead! Even Beep Beep squeezes her way into it!
I was pleased to find that the fan did its job. There is only a tiny bit of wet in the very corner left.
Also, we have our first trees blooming! The plum trees. This variety of plums are very small and more pit than flesh, so not particularly good to eat, but if we get a lot of them this year, we can use them to make some sort of condiment, or even a wine, if we wanted to go that route. We shall see.
It’s turning out to be a lovely day to get some work done outside, though already very hot. As I write this, 23C/73F, with a “real feel” of 25C/77F. We’re supposed to hit 27C/80F, and feeling like 30C/86F for a high this afternoon, with a potential thunderstorm this evening. The forecasts are constantly changing, though, so it’s hard to say. Either way, I’ll be heading outside as soon as I can, to continue working on the sunflower plantings before it gets too hot out there!
But first…
Breakfast. :-)
The Re-Farmer
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Well, that didn’t work
Feeling rather haggard this morning, so I’ll start with cuteness, first.
When I saw Big Rig lying on her back, sleeping, I just had to get a picture. Unfortunately, I woke her up in the process, but she didn’t move much. :-D
After rigging up walls around the kitty pool, we waited until the kittens were in run-around-and-play mode, rather than sleeping-in-a-pile mode, transferred their bedding and set them up. Which is also when we discovered that one of the cats that had jumped in to explore had tried to use the tiny litter pan, and peed right next to it, instead.
And that, my friends, is exactly why the plastic pool seemed like such a great idea! It was an easy mess to clean up. Especially since we set it up on the shag carpet in the living room.
Two Face was quick to join them.
And eat their kitten food, while they explored new things. Like tiny litter pans.
Not much changed when Beep Beep joined them.
Things seemed to be working. The kittens had more room. They could explore solid food, water and a litter pan to their hearts’ content. They had their familiar bedding.
It did seem a bit too open, rather than the cave-like nests they were used to, but would it work?
No.
The walls were high enough the kittens couldn’t get out, but that also made them a bit harder for Beep Beep to get in. Which was not an issue until she started jumping out with a kitten in her mouth.
Yup. As soon as she could, she started moving the kittens.
She dragged Nicco into a corner of my closet, but in the time it took for her to return for another kitten, Nicco was exploring my bedroom. This is a large room. I’ve got my office in one corner, my crafting table in another, and there’s still lots of room for a king size bed, exercise bike and other furniture.
In other words, there is a lot kittens can get into.
After a while, we ended up moving the kitty pool into the bedroom, set up a litter box near my desk, put all the kittens back in the kitty pool, and shut Beep Beep in with me for the night. We even added one of the boxes that had been part of their next before, to create a cave inside, hoping that would satisfy Beep Beep.
That. Did. Not. Work.
Beep Beep eventually started moving the kittens back into my closet, and with all the squealing and squawling, I finally got up and took the last kitten out myself. They spent the rest of the night in my closet, but I ended up not being able to get to bed until about 4:30 am.
While getting dressed later, I had to fight kittens off my ankles and feet. I tried having the door open, which lead to a rush of other cats coming in. While Beep Beep immediately left, Two Face rushed in and began aggressively mothering any kitten that came with reach of her paws. As they went past her, she would grab them with her front legs and do a death roll, then groom them like mad while they struggled to squirm out of her grip!
Then there was David, who kept following kittens around, trying to sniff and groom them any moment they stopped moving long enough. Cheddar was also following them around. Especially the orange ones, just sniffing at them.
Fenrir, on the other hand, came in just to growl and hiss. Keith came in, but when a kitten came running up to him, he had a panic attack and ran away.
Keith is just a raw bundle of nerves, that boy!
The rest of the cats, thankfully, stayed away.
I finally managed to get all the kittens into the kitty pool again, hoping I could leave the door open and get to the daily routine. I left the room for less than 5 minutes, only to come back and find Beep Beep already moving the kittens back to the closet, while Two Face, David and Cheddar watched. I ended up taking the rest of the kittens out, because I’m concerned she will hurt them with all the jumping around, kicked the rest of the cats out and shut Beep Beep in with her babies. Now, I’m shut in with Beep Beep and the babies again. Which means being on constant guard for kittens around my feet, or the wheels of my office chair.
*sigh*
As soon as I’m done here, we’re going to set up some “caves” the kittens can get in and out of in the basement, then down they’re going to go. Until they get bigger, we’re going to have to keep the basement door closed to keep the other cats out.
*sigh*
Having that door open really does help keep the house a bit cooler.
Ah, well. We had it closed up for the past 2 summers. We’ll live. :-/
I had an energy drink with breakfast. I still feel ready for a nap.
It’s going to be a long day. :-/
The Re-Farmer
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The new kitty pool
With bringing a yard cat into the house to have her kittens, instead of using the sun room as a maternity ward, has us facing some different challenges.
In the sun room, as the kittens got bigger, they had a fairly decent sized room to run around in, and still be safe from other critters. Now, we obviously don’t have to worry about skunks or weasels or foxes or even feral toms coming into the house, there are other safety issues we need to keep in mind. The house itself is not at all kitten proof, so we can’t just let them run amok. Even if we could, however, there is the issue of other cats. At one extreme, we’ve got Two Face, who has been trying to mother them herself. Most are mildly curious or content to just ignore them. A couple, however, are not happy with having new adult additions to the household, never mind kittens. The adult cats can protect themselves, but the kittens can’t even run off and hide at this point.
The other thing is, we need to find a way to give them access to kitten food, water and a litter box, as they begin the weaning process.
We had considered a number of options. Even buying a play pen. Which, it turns out, cannot be found locally. We’d have to drive to the city! A wire dog kennel? The mesh is too wide for kittens, Mom needs to be able to get in and out, so the door would have to be left open. Though, I suppose, it could be used upside down. However, the kittens would be able to climb the wire mesh pretty easily. We could probably figure something out, but that would assume such a thing would be available locally. Once again, nope. We’d have to go to the city.
My daughter and I headed into town today and went to a store where I knew we could find decent cat litter at an equally decent price (the second Costco trip to the city we were planning looks like it’s just not going to happen). As we walked in, we saw a potential solution.
We bought a kitty pool.
The sides, of course, are way too low, but it’s big enough we can put in a litter pan and food and water bowls, along with their bedding, and they’ll still have room to run around.
As I write this, my daughters are building cardboard walls for it, at a height Mom can jump over, but the kittens can’t climb.
We’ll see how this works over the next few days! :-)
The Re-Farmer
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Smiles for the day
While walking around the far end of the old garden area, I found these little splashes of colour.
Such tiny little wildflowers! They were all over an area that is to dry, hardly anything grows there, and what little does manage to grow there, stays small. It’s nice to see what manages to survive there!
Of course, we must have a kitten picture, too!
An increasingly rare moment, when they’re all quiet instead of running, jumping, wrestling and playing around their nest. :-D
The Re-Farmer
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Kitten adventures
The pharmacy my daughter works at now has a small yarn display. Yay! I saw some t-shirt yarn and grabbed it, because I haven’t seen t-shirt yarn in stores in ages.
I made a basket.
It’s 5 kittens big.
Beep Beep tried to get in with them, but it’s not 5 kittens plus mama big. :-D
For my fellow crocheters, the yarn is Madolinni, 97% cotton 3% lycra and 130 meters. It’s 100% “recycled product from the textile industry”. Unfortunately, it turned out to be much coarser and unpleasant to work with, compared to what I was expecting from a t-shirt yarn, but it does make a very sturdy basket.
The base is a disc done in single crochet, starting from 7 stitches, and increased rounds worked in a spiral until about 9 inches across. The first round for the sides is single crochet worked in the back loop only. The next 4 rounds were done in split single crochet, then I switched back to normal single crochet for the remaining rows. This resulted in an almost cauldron shape. The handles were made by making chains of 10 and skipping 7 stitches, on opposite sides. In the next round, a single crochet was worked into each stitch, including into each chain stitch. One more round of single crochet was done, then it was finished with a round of slip stitch worked into the sides of the final round of single crochet, to add stability and reduce stretch.
For those who are not into crochet, here are more kitties!
Of all the cats that were curious about the kittens, Two Face wasn’t really one of them.
Until we started taking the kittens out and putting them on my bed to run around.
She suddenly turned into a mother!
Beep Beep is her mother, but now Two Face is jumping into the nest to mother her mother, and her little siblings. The kittens are even trying to nurse on her! With her belly still half nekkid from being fixed, the nips are easy for them to find. :-D I think they are confused about not getting any milk, though. :-D
The kittens are almost big enough to start scrambling out of their nest! We’re going to have to find a way to get them back into the basement, and walling off a corner or something, where there is less for them to get into and potentially hurt themselves. Plus, they are going to need room for food/water bowls and a litter pan, so they learn how to use them, soon!
What a bunch of cuties. :-)
The Re-Farmer
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Evening visitor, and escape attempts
While doing my rounds yesterday evening, I spotted a stinky visitor crossing the barn yard. He caught up with me some time later.
He moves pretty fast! :-D
I often see signs of where they have been digging up grubs during the night. Last night, I could hear their odd screeching noises out in the old garden – soon followed by some distinctive whiffs! – so I made a point of checking the area out when doing my rounds this morning. As long as they aren’t digging up our potatoes, I’m happy.
The potatoes beds are looking untouched. :-)
The kittens, meanwhile, are getting so much more active! And Beep Beep has been leaving them alone more often, even if it’s just to lounge nearby.
The kittens are also getting increasingly curious about that big world out there!
Leyendecker (the tuxedo) came very close to scrabbling his way out!
They may want to climb out, but if we actually take them out, they can’t wait to get back into their nest! :-D
Hard to believe they’re almost a month old, now.
With their increased activity, we’re going to have to find some way to set them up in the basement again. It is much safer for them down there.
Today, I’m hoping to get some more planting done, but at the moment, it’s amazingly windy out there! I was happy to find that our new garden bed, where we planted carrots and parsley so far, is quite sheltered from winds. Meanwhile, I’ve set up the trays of transplants in the open mini-greenhouse, next to the open door. I want to expose them to some wind as they harden off, but not too much! It’s a bit difficult to harden off the larger seedlings, when there are still new seedlings emerging in other ares of the trays.
Still no gourds, though.
Oh, my goodness! Looking out my window as I write this, I can see that the winds have increased again. Those maple branches are really swinging!
Hopefully, it will settle down a bit and I’ll be able to get some more planting done. Until then, I’ll use the time to head down to the basement workshop and help my daughter make some more plant markers. :-)
The Re-Farmer
