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A quick change in plans

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Today, I’d hoped to stay home for a few days (I really, really didn’t want to go to the dump today!) but when my husband needed something from the pharmacy, I figured I’d do that right away, since it was supposed to be milder. The next couple of days are supposed to get much colder.

A high of -9C/16F is milder, right?

It seemed all right when I headed out to feed the outside cats.

We had a light dusting of snow, but it wasn’t bad.

The full belly kitties were content to stay in the sun room. Not all of them, but enough to make nice, warm cuddle puddles!

The isolation kittens are doing fine, too.

It was a different story, once I started heading to town!

The first thing I realized was that the driveway needed to be cleared. Best to do it while the snow is still light and fluffy, too. Much easier on little Spewie. After closing the gate behind me, I made sure to message the family about that, because I knew I would forget once I got going again.

Driving conditions really sucked!

Once on the main gravel road, visibility was low with blowing snow, made all the more interesting when I had to cross paths with oncoming trucks bringing in bales. The trucks alone are wide loads, but their trailers were loaded 3 round bales wide. To fit them, about a third of a bale sticks out on each side of the trailers, adding about 3 feet to the total width. The main gravel road is wide enough for two vehicles to pass each other well enough, with room to spare, but it’s a very different story with these trucks! They did try to go to the side as far as they could, but with how slippery things can be under the snow, it wouldn’t take much to hit some ice on the shoulder and slide right into the ditches… and these ditches are narrow, steep and deep!

Even on the highway, it wasn’t much better. I found myself doing 70-80 kph (43-50mph) in a 100 (62mph) zone – and no one was trying to pass me!

I’m glad the roads were plowed yesterday, or it would have been so much worse!

Once in town, I did my errands, with my last stop at the grocery store. My husband had called in a prescription delivery for Thursday that I was able to pick up today, instead. At the grocery store, after refilling a couple of our 18.9L/5 gallon water jugs, I ended up taking advantage of some sales and picked up a few extra things besides what was on my list, and my older daughter’s list that she send funds for, once she found out I was going into town. Poor thing is not feeling well at all, today. PCOS sucks.

The drive home was not any better than the drive out, so it was slow going. I’ve driven in far worse. I just didn’t want to be driving at all today! Ah, well.

With the water jugs on top of everything else, I drove up to the house to unload, but had some troubles backing up to the main doors. The truck had to go over the sidewalk from the house to the gate, which was shoveled, and it was just too slippery!

I was quite happy to be parking the truck back in the garage!

My younger daughter was a sweetheart and took care of clearing the driveway after everything was put away, and the outside cats got a light feeding to keep them distracted. The isolation kitties seem very content in their shelter. I was even able to pet the fluffball! He started to run away, but once I started petting his back, he stopped and let me!

I’m going to be worrying about them over the next while, though. As I was writing this, I could see the temperature on my task bar dropping. We’re down to -14C/7F right now, but the wind chill is -30C/-22F!

The isolation kittens are protected from the wind, so that shouldn’t affect the heat lamps ability to keep them warm, but we’re supposed to drop to -25C/-13F tonight, and the high tomorrow is supposed to only reach -23C/-9F, with an overnight low of -26C/-15F, before wind chill. The next day is supposed to be slightly warmer, before our highs are supposed to get back into the single digits below freezing (Celsius).

Those would be good days to stay home, but I’m expecting to pick up our 1/8 beef share on one of those days. I’m just waiting on an email to confirm the date.

I hadn’t been home for long, when I got a phone call from my mother.

Guess who had just showed up at her place?

*sigh*

Yup. Our vandal. My surprising him by being there yesterday didn’t scare him off for long.

My mother was in the common room, though, and our neighbour was with him again, so he was on his best behaviour. Apparently, he was in the nearer city for “treatment” (chemotherapy?) so they stopped by on the way home.

I’m glad my mother called me as soon as she got back into her apartment after they left. In the past, she wouldn’t tell us if he showed up, even when he was alone and his behaviour was verbally abusive.

Then she told me that the doctor that was supposed to call her at 2pm, did finally call! It was past 4pm by the time he did. Thankfully, my mother still remembered our conversation, and on telling him how things went, his recommendation was exactly what I said was most likely. He wanted to increase the dose of the medication.

Then my mother, being the way she is, asked him if she could just stop taking them. What would happen? His response was, probably nothing would change. She could stop taking them, if she wanted, but to call him again if things got worse.

*sigh*

I just had to express my frustrations with her, as carefully as I could. She keeps complaining about all sorts of health problems, but when people try to help her, she won’t do the things that she is supposed to do to make things better. When we first moved out here, she mostly complained about her knees, but refused to wear the braces my brother got for her (as recommended by her doctor at the time), for her knee that’s bent sideways. I forget it he got two or three different braces, trying to find one she was willing to wear, but she wouldn’t. Instead, she would wear sport knee pads. They kept her knees warm, therefore, in her mind, they were helping her knees more than the brace.

It’s the same thing with this new medication. I tried to explain again, it takes time to see if a specific medication would work, and at what dose. As an example, I told her how my husband it still trying to get the dose right on the new pain medication he’s on (the previous one is no longer available), and it’s been about a year. Her response was to start talking about how much she pities us for him having health problems, but I had to cut that off. I told her, this was just an example of something that is common. Everyone is different, so they have to take the time to figure out exactly what will work for each person.

Her bubble packs are due for new ones, and the doctor would be faxing the increased dosage to her pharmacy, so I told her that when she gets her new bubble packs, they should have the new dosage, and nothing would change. Just keep taking her prescriptions as always, and give it time to work.

I don’t know if I got through to her. I might have, at least for a little while.

I’m so glad she has homecare doing med assists, now. Even with the bubble packs, she was messing with her prescriptions. Which is more of a problem because she forgets what some of them are for, and gets them mixed up.

I need to remember to call the home care office and see where her application for assisted living or a nursing home is at! There’s only so much my siblings and I can do to help her. Especially when she isn’t willing to help herself at times!

So today didn’t turn out the way it was intended to, but things got done and, more importantly, my mom is okay after our vandal showing up at her place again.

I really, really wish she would just tell him to not come around anymore, but she still holds out home that things will get better.

Another reason to get her into some sort of long term care! She can move to a better living situation, and no one needs to tell him where she is. As long as she doesn’t tell him herself, of course. 🫤🙄

Ah, well. It is what it is! All we can do is deal with the cards we’ve got.

The Re-Farmer

Finally (video)

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It took me forever to get this video done, a little at a time.

Which actually worked out, in the end.

This is a video of the isolation shelter build and, because it took so long, I was able to include files of it actually in use for the first time, at the end.

I hope you enjoy it!

The Re-Farmer

What a gorgeous day!

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As I write this, with less than an hour to sunset, we are at 3C/37F. I was just outside, getting a few more things done, with no coat on, and it was awesome! The only down side is that, with everything melting, some things were a bit slippery.

I will get to that part in a bit!

My SIL had let me know last night that she and my brother would be coming out this morning to park their truck here for the winter. They expected to be here around 8:30 am, so at 7:30 or so, I headed out to feed the outside cats and do the morning rounds, and open the gate for them.

When I came outside with the cat food, there was a set of headlights at the gate!

By the time I put kibble out in all the food bowls, including the isolation shelter, and added some warm water, they were in the yard and my brother was parking the truck. He got a solar trickle charger for the battery, so he wanted to make sure the windshield would get the most light for as long as possible.

So I went to my SIL, who had followed in their car, and we had a nice visit. A rather longer visit than expected, as my brother kept finding one more thing he wanted to do before they left.

As I was walking to their car, though, I saw that my SIL had started it again, and moved it a few feet. An odd thing, since she wasn’t in the way of anything, and they weren’t leaving yet.

It turned out that our vandal had showed up, driving every so slowly as he passed the open gate at our driveway, trying to see what was going on! They’d been there less than 5 minutes! How did he know they were here? He lives nearby, but not THAT nearby!

As we chatted, with me standing in the open door of the car, we saw him again, coming back the other way. We knew he was coming before we could identify the vehicle, because we could see headlights through the trees, slowing down as they got closer to the driveway. By the time we could fully see his vehicle, he was driving at a crawl. I just stood there and openly watched him. I don’t know that he recognizes either of my brother’s cars, since both had to be replaced in the years since we moved here and he lost his mind. With the trail cams set up, he’s been behaving, but in the last little while, I’ve been seeing him more often. All of the activity that’s been going on in the past couple of months, from stuff being moved here to the excavation and repair of the expeller, must be driving him nuts.

When I had the chance, I called my mother to warn her, he might show up out of the blue again. She’s sick with a cold right now, so after telling him what’s going on here is none of his business, she can also tell him to go away because she’s sick.

Anyhow.

I had a good long visit with my SIL before they were finally ready to leave. I had to switch out the trail cam cards, so I went ahead of them to close and lock the gate behind them. On changing the card, though, I found that the new batteries we’d put in were at 2%!

So, after finishing the rest of my morning rounds, which included giving the isolation babies a can of wet cat food and getting more warm water to top up all the water bowls, I grabbed some fresh batteries and headed back to the camera.

I figured I could change the batteries there, since it wasn’t so cold that I needed to come inside while I was doing it. This camera has a battery case that pops out, but in order to do that, the camera has to be removed from its holder. I did that, took out the case, then set the camera on top of its post so I could have two hands to change the batteries out.

*sigh*

It fell into the snow, opening as it fell, and landed right on its innards. Even the memory card sprang out into the snow when it landed. When I picked it up, there was sticky snow all over the inside – some even got into the space the battery case goes into!

*sigh*

So I took that in and set it up where it could melt and drain. I had to quickly do something else, and my daughter was sweet enough to change out the batteries for me. After trying the whole thing off with paper towel as best I could, I left it while I had my breakfast.

When that was done, I put everything back together and tested it out. With no power for so long, the date and time had reset to default – 2022! – so I hit the menu button to reset it.

Nothing happened.

I tried again. And again. And again.

The menu would simply not come up. It was in set up mode, and I could see it was functioning. The screen was working find, and I could even see the seconds on the time changing. I just couldn’t do anything with it.

So I took the battery case out again and left it to dry longer, then headed back outside to get some things done.

The first was to fix the wind damage on the catio.

The first image in the slideshow above shows how it looked before I started. The vinyl tore at the cord that is wrapped around the whole thing, but that cord is also what kept it from getting blown off even more. In the second photo, you can see where, even in the back, the vinyl was torn loose from the push pins holding it in place.

I picked up some foam mounting tape, with double sided adhesive, to help with the repairs, and also had some clear Gorilla tape, to tape the torn section together. I removed a number of push pins, first, then added the mounting tape to strategic sections of the frame. The mounting tape won’t stick to the wood very well – especially when it gets colder – but the vinyl will stick to it. This way, when the push pins are added back, they vinyl shouldn’t tear away anymore, and it will still be easy to remove in the spring.

In the third picture, you can see where the mounting tape was used in the front and on the door, but I also included it at the back, where the sheet was torn loose from the pins.

Once the vinyl was being held in place by the mounting tape, I got out one of the dollar store dining table protectors I’ve been using for this and set it up right on top, starting at the door, pinning it along the top. It was long enough to just reach around the corner at the back, so that edge got taped to the old sheet. Once that was taped, the push pins were added back, then the excess vinyl on the bottom was tucked under the bottom of the catio. Then the cord was wrapped back around and tied off again.

I had to kick away the snow that was added along the bottom of the shelter, so the last thing to do was get a snow shovel and put that back. The door, one corner and one end now have a double layer of vinyl.

The cats were really, really liking it.

I took some video after I was done, starting from the back of the catio.

Stinky REALLY enjoyed being in there! The vinyl creates a pretty decent greenhouse effect inside, so it’s pretty warm in there, too. At least during the day.

The next thing to do was patch up some tears in the isolation shelter, from the cats trying to get in.

Before I started, I took advantage of the fact that there is now an insulation ceiling and lifted the roof to drain off the melting snow and slush. With how uneven the patio blocks are, the slow slope of the roof is pretty flat, instead, so it doesn’t drain much at all, and I didn’t want to take a chance of any water getting inside. There is quite a bit of overlap in the roof panels, but until we can properly seal the edges in the spring, water can still get in between and potentially cause problems.

Next, I cut away some of the more tattered pieces of vinyl and removed some of the pins. I then cut pieces out of another dollar store table protector to create the patches.

At one corner, I taped the patch in place, but ran out of tape, so I used the last of the foam mounting tape to hold the other patch in place. Then the pins were put back. There is still one tiny corner near the back that is torn, but I no longer had suitable tape to hold a patch in place.

I had to be really careful while doing this job, though. It was warm enough to melt the snow, but the patio blocks were cold enough that the water was trying to freeze again. Water on ice is not a safe combination!

The isolation babies were quite interested in what was going on. Especially Kohl.

I’m glad she’s warmed up to me again, because she wouldn’t let me touch her for the past couple of days!

Stinky really wanted to go inside and join them!

No luck touching the male, but he did sniff at my fingers!

Not that Kohl would let him get close to my hand. She really, really wanted attention!

That done, I decided to take out the cat bed in the lower level, since I’d seen Kohl had used it as a litter box, yesterday.

It looked like they used it as a litter box for the rest of the night, too!

I got it out and cleaned it off in the snow as best I could and set it aside. Then I changed the litter box by grabbing another one, getting it ready with pellets, then simply switching them out. The lest time the ramp door was open, the less chance the isolations babies could escape!

The litter box was well used, too, so they probably didn’t start using the lower level cat bed until it got unpleasant to use the litter box.

With today being to warm, we’re taking advantage of it to do laundry. My daughter and I replaced the leaking hose extension on the washing machine, then set it out the storm door window. With the washer already set up for laundry, I grabbed the cat beds from the shelf shelter, too. These were the ones we took out of the cat house and weren’t sure if we were going to bother washing them. The cats are using them in the shelf shelter, though, so I figured I may as well do a load of just outside cat beds, once our own laundry was done. The shelf shelter beds are getting pretty tattered, but they’ll be nice and clean and fluffy again, soon.

As I was finishing up inside and getting ready to head it, I spotted this adorable one, on the isolation shelter roof.

Someone is happy the snow was cleared from the roof!

I thought this was Magda, but it wouldn’t let me come close, got scared and ran off. Magda is a mostly socialized cat that lets us pick her up and cuddle her. So now I’m not sure.

I did get another chance to pet Kohl, though, and this time she let me pick her up and check her incision. It is healing very nicely!

As I was finishing gathering the supplies to take them inside, I started hearing something that sounded off.

Like someone driving really, really slowly at our driveway. So I tossed everything into the house, then went to check.

This time, our vandal was driving his tractor. Once again, very slowly driving past our driveway, staring down our driveway the entire time. So I just stood there, in the open, watching him as he finally turned his tractor around and drove off. He had the snow blower attachment on his tractor which is rather odd, since we don’t have enough snow to use something like that right now.

I checked the trail cam again after that, and its still not working right, so I switched up trail cams to make sure the driveway is covered.

I also went looking through my Amazon shopping list, where I have several solar powered cameras with battery back ups saved. After looking through them again, I ended up ordering two of a cheaper one that had a higher rating, and lots of very positive reviews by Canadians. Including some mentioning how well the solar panel was able to keep it powered, even in winter.

No idea when we’ll get them, though, since the postal strike it still going.

By the time everything was done and I got the cat beds in the laundry, I really, really didn’t want to go anywhere. I was supposed to go to the dump, then the feed store, but when I checked their hours I discovered the feed store had already closed for the day. They close really early on Saturdays!

So… no feed store. We’re still good with kibble for the outside cats, so a few days wait should be fine.

Tomorrow looks like it will be a quiet, indoor day for us. We’ve got snowfall warnings for 10-20cm/4-8in of snow, starting around noon and continuing through to Monday. It’s not a lot of snow, but I’d rather not drive in it if I don’t have to.

We’ve got a few milder days ahead of us, then a couple of colder one, before it starts getting mild again. We are no longer getting temperatures above freezing in the forecast for the week before Christmas, though, so who knows how things will change over the next few days.

For now, I’m just glad to have been able to take advantage of today’s lovely weather and get those outside jobs done!

Meanwhile… we have a fluffy kitten in the isolation shelter that needs a name.

Any suggestions?

The Re-Farmer

Costco extra stocking up: this is what $899 looks like

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I am exhausted.

It was a good trip. The actual shopping wasn’t too bad, considering the time of year. I’m just getting drained, and it’s starting to have an effect on me.

With Christmas and New Year’s coming up, which changes when my husband’s disability payments come in, I decided to go into next month’s budget and get as much as I could on this trip. So this shopping trip included larger packages or extra items to stock us up into January. Plus, I’ve started to get things that we will be having for New Year’s in particular. We have decided to make our Christmas and New Year’s celebratory meals to be as stress free as possible. So there will be a lot of frozen appetizers as finger foods, heat and eats, etc. We will likely do some charcuterie as well, so some items, plus any fresh foods, will be picked up locally, closer to Christmas.

We already have a turkey in the freezer, plus we are getting our 1/8 beef next week. We’d been making monthly payments against that until the ranch told us they thought there was enough. The beef has been butchered and is being cut and frozen now, so they got the final weight, and it turned out we overpaid for our share. We will be getting a credit on that. I would have preferred extra beef, but they don’t butcher for general sales anymore; just pre-ordered beef shares, so there was no extra available. So we didn’t need to get a lot of meat this trip, not did we need to get as much cat food.

On the way out, the truck’s tank was below half, so I did stop at a gas station in my mother’s town along the way. I got $30 of gas, at $1.309.

As had been my plan when I tried to do this trip last week, I stopped at a shopping mall, first. It was past 11 by then, and I hadn’t had breakfast yet. This time, the food court was all open, though, and I ended up getting some Chinese food. That cost about $18 and change.

Once at the Costco, my first stop was to fill the tank. The Costco price for regular gas was $1.119 and it cost me $47 and change to fill the tank. So before I even started shopping, I already spent $77 in gas and $18 on food.

This is what $899.82 at Costco looks like.

I got a shot from each side, because so much was hidden from view.

So what did I get for almost $900

For the cats, I got two 9kg bags of kibble and a box of puppy pads. There is a case of Coke Zero for my husband and I, plus a case of energy drinks, which my daughter paid for. Also among the drinks list was a large box of Earl Grey tea and some iced tea mix. I also got some Eggnog, which was on sale, mostly for the girls, and a case of oat milk, completely for the girls.

Paper produces included toilet paper and paper towels. I probably should have got more facial tissues, but I didn’t want to take up too much space on the flat cart. I needed room for the big bag of sugar and the case of vinegar.

Also among the non-food items is some dish detergent, toothbrushes and a package of pens. I was out of normal coloured pens.

In the pharmacy section, I got both acetaminophen and ibuprofen, plus adult gummie multivitamins for my daughters.

For bread products, I got a couple of 2 pks of rye bread, four packages of tortilla warps and a 3 pack of sunflower and pumpkin seed, multigrain sliced bread.

For protein, I got a package of chicken breasts that was on sale, plus some tilapia fillets for the girls. I also got a panini pack for sandwiches, with canned chicken and pack of Spam for the pantry. There’s also a double flat of eggs (5 dozen).

In dairy, I got 5 pounds of butter, whipping cream, a 3 pack of cream cheese, mozza, Old cheddar, marble cheddar, goat cheese and a wheel of brie.

There’s also a bag of spinach and mini portabellas (aka: cremini mushrooms).

Among the jarred items, there are two big jars of mayo, olives and pickled asparagus, which was on sale. The pickled asparagus will be used, along with tortilla warps and cream cheese, to make appetizer pinwheels for our celebratory dinners.

There is a bag of Basmati rice and some hazelnuts. Oh, and a 3 pack of 4 cheese, rainbow tortellini, which was on sale.

For snacks, I got my husband a big back of Munchies Mix, and two boxes of Sweet and Salty granola bars for the four of us.

Then there are the frozen items. Along with a box of perogies and a box of Pizza Pops for quick heat and heats, we have the appetizers for our celebratory dinners. There are Mac n Cheese bites – something we’ve never tried before – mozza sticks, bacon wrapped scallops and mini quiche.

And that’s everything.

Hopefully, I won’t need to go another Costco trip until February! Or at least not until mid-January.

So it was a very productive trip, though part way through the shopping, I realized I was not doing well. I was over heating, but also getting very dehydrated. I did use their public water fountain about half way through my shopping, which helped a lot, but by the time I was standing in line to pay for the stuff, I was starting to feel dizzy and getting the shakes. I was at least getting a breeze from the giant fan above, while half taking off my coat and removing my hat, which helped.

While my items were being rung through and they were doing the stuff still on the flat cart, I dashed over to a water bottle vending machine and got one to start hydrating once back at the till. It wasn’t a large bottle, so by the time I loaded everything into the truck, I’d finished it off. I also keep water in the truck, and still had half my drink from my lunch, so I was able to continue hydrating for the ride home, and was feeling much better.

My back was also starting to give out, well before I reached the till, but that was also much better by the time I got home. An hour or so of sitting instead of walking around, wrestling the flat cart, helped a lot.

I was able to back the truck up quite close to the house, making it easier to unload. My daughter’s knee was still hurting her from her fall yesterday, but she was no longer using a cane. Once the truck was empty, I had to feed the outside cats to get them away from the truck – by then, it was starting to get dark and time to feed them, anyhow – so I could park it. Once I got back to the house, I also got some warm water to top up their bowls. The big water bowl in the sun room just had sheets of ice left in it, and the working heated water bowl in the shelter was almost dry!

The babies in the isolation shelter still had plenty of water. They got canned cat food with their morning feeding, along with the kibble. There was still kibble left in their bowl, but the wet food was long gone!

Unfortunately, as I was unloading bags to the door, I spotted Kohl digging around on the cat bed on the lower level. The little bugger had just pooped on the cat bed, instead of the littler box, right next to her!

Both of them seem much calmer now, but Kohl would not let me touch her, never mind pet her, or check her incision. I’m not too concerned about her, though. I’m more relieved the male it no longer panicking and trying to bash his way out through the wire mesh walls. They were both watching us closely, as we unloaded the truck, right near them.

When I topped up their kibble, neither tried to escape or anything like that. When I reached in to try to pet Kohl, I could feel it is nice and warm in there. I’ve been keeping the Cat Lady up to date on how they are doing, and she was very relieved to hear they are doing well. For all the effort we’re making to provide them with a safe, warm shelter during their recovery, the isolation shelter is still basically just a small box outside in the winter. She would really like to find homes for them. I told her to go ahead and share the photos I’d been sending her, and to tell people these two will be released to the yard again, after their recovery period. Hopefully, that will encourage someone to want to adopt and rescue them from the outdoors and give them an indoor forever home. It doesn’t hurt that they are both so incredibly adorable!

So, that’s my running around for today. Tomorrow, the dump is oven longer hours, and we are overdue for a trip, so I am hoping to get our garbage and recycling finally out. From there, I should be able to continue on to the feed store with the brand of kibble in 40 pound bags that the cats like better. As of right now, the high for tomorrow is expected to be 3C/37F, which makes it the ideal time to repair the wind torn vinyl around the catio. Plus, there are some tears in the vinyl around the bottom of the isolation shelter, where other cats were trying to get in. We should be able to patch those up with the extra vinyl table protectors I picked up while I was waiting for the vet to finish with the spay and neuter, yesterday.

Which means tomorrow will be another day of running around. Thankfully, I will be able to stay home on Sunday. I’ll be going to my mother’s on Monday. She has a telephone doctor’s appointment, and she wants me with her, since I help her remember things, and can understand what the doctor tells her and can spend the time to explain it to her later.

Meanwhile, I really, really glad to get this stock up shop done, even if it did get pretty expensive. This is meant to last us longer than usual, and will hopefully result in a quieter time over the holidays.

I’ve reached that stage in life where quite and boring is all I want! 😄😄

The Re-Farmer

Waiting

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I’m currently sitting the the truck in a parking lot, waiting to meet up with the Cat Lady.

This morning, my daughter and I snagged two kittens for the vet.  Kohl was easy to catch, once she joined us in the sun room, but none of the adult females were to be seen.

Then a kitten walked into the carrier.

Decision made!

I’m writing this on my phone, so I don’t know if you’ll be able to see the above image slideshow.

The grey and white tabby turned out to be male.  We’ve never been able to handle this one, though I have been able to sneak a pet while he was eating.  He was too fluffy to easily spot gender.

They were both very quiet during the drive in.  I hope they enjoy their recovery in the isolation shelter.  The male doesn’t need 2 weeks in there, but I don’t want Kohl to be in there alone. Plus, we might be able to socialize him while he is in there.

After connecting with the Cat Lady, I will take advantage of being in the area and do some errands and possible shopping.  Tomorrow is Costco day, though, so there isn’t much I need to get today.  I do want to get more vinyl table protectors, and some sort of fasteners.  Yesterday’s wind tore off a section at the catio door.  It will be warmer on the weekend, so thar will need a good time to fix it.

Oh!  Just got word from the Cat Lady.  She will be here soon.  I look forward to seeing her.  She is awesome!

The Re-Farmer

Finally home, and waiting for word…

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Oy, what a day this turned out to be!

First up, my daughter and I left quite early for her appointment, and I’m glad we did!

The outside cats seemed quite confused that they were getting fed while it was still dark out.

While we were not supposed to get more snow in our area, today, we were expected to get high winds, and we sure had that! Since we did get some light snow yesterday and overnight, that meant a lot of blowing snow reducing visibility on top of being buffeted on the highway. I had considered stopping at the gas station at my mother’s town along the way, just to grab some sort of road snack since I hadn’t had breakfast yet, but I skipped that. The clinic we were going to has a grocery store right next to it, and I figured I could wait!

We got there maybe 20 minutes early. I headed to the grocery store while my daughter went to the clinic, only to discover the doors were locked. So we both waited in the truck while I ate my sandwich until we saw the doors open 15 minutes before her appointment. Once she got called in, things went rather quickly. She had another round of bloodwork to do after that appointment, so I went to the truck while she got that done.

Which is when the messages started coming in.

My older daughter was letting me know to call my mother back… then to call home care. She couldn’t quite make much out of the message that had been left, but was eventually able to tell me that home care was still with my mother.

So I called my mother and the health care aid answered.

The first thing she told me was that she had just managed to get through to my sister. Which is good. I’m the first person to call, since I’m the closest. Then my sister, then my brother, who still lives the furthest away. My sister had said she would be coming to see my mother.

My mother was complaining of chest pains (again), shortness of breath (again) and clamminess.

The clamminess was a new one.

The health care aid was offering to call an ambulance, but my mother was refusing.

Her chest pains were most likely the usual heartburn, and the shortness of breath has become a regular complaint. From what I can observe, the previous doctors suggestion that it is conditioning is most likely correct. My mother is 93, had busted up knees and is getting out of shape with age, but she doesn’t know how to slow down. I sometimes have a hard time keeping up with her once she gets going with her walker. Then she gets out of breath and can’t understand why.

The clamminess, though… I don’t know what to make of that.

As we were talking, my sister tried to call. I dismissed that call, finished up with the health care aid, then phoned my sister while the health care aid was going to call home care next.

In talking to my sister, I told her where we were and why. She started saying they hadn’t have breakfast yet, but if I were in the area, maybe I could check on Mom instead.

…

I told her again, why we were where we were (which is NOT “in the area”). We were going to be in this town for most of the day. My sister wasn’t happy to hear that, but said she would go to Mom’s after they had breakfast.

I don’t know how long it was going to be before she was on the road, but by the time I was done with the phone calls, the weather had gotten worse. It would not be a fun drive, though I don’t know of the worsened weather reached as far as where she lives. Her route wouldn’t take her through this town, anyhow, so it’s possible she wouldn’t see the bad weather at all. Other than the high winds. Those never died down at all today. Even now, as I write this, I can see the trees swaying out my window.

That call done, I messaged my brother to keep him in the loop. Then my daughter and I went to get an actual breakfast. Not much was open that early in the morning, so we ended up going to a Tim Hortons.

We had some time between appointments, so I took advantage of it and went to a branch of my bank with some questions I had. The postal strike is causing some issues, and I needed to clear some things up. From there, we went to a Red Apple, where my daughter was able to get some clothing necessities, and I snagged a high density foam mat to keep in the truck. If we need to climb into the truck box with the tailgate open, it’s something we can lay down to protect our knees. Or, if we have a situation like when my brother wanted to lie on the ground to look under the truck, it can be a nicely insulated, clean surface to lie on.

After taking our time there, we then went to a Home Hardware that was kitty corner from the eye clinic. While there, I picked up a new sump pump hose. Not for our sump pump, though, but for our washing machine drain. We’re still running the hose out the front door, and the current one has started to leak.

At some point, we need to use that drain auger on the pipes, but I’m not going to do it until I am sure we can seal it up again without leaking. My brother keeps telling me how easy it is, but I honestly can’t even see how to open the thing. We also don’t have the sealant needed for when it gets closed up again. It’s also in a very awkward space, plus it’s directly above the sump pump reservoir. Just getting the auger close enough to use it is going to be difficult.

I really hate the plumbing in this place. 😄😄

Anyhow.

It was shortly past noon when we finished at the hardware store, so we popped across to the eye clinic and I checked in.

Thankfully, they were not busy.

I first got called in for the eye images, then the puff test. Then the tech checked to see if the field of vision machine was ready. It was, so she was able to take me straight over for that.

The field of vision test takes about five minutes per eye. Once that was done, the data was sent for the eye doctor to look at, and she would call me in when she was done. When I sat down with my daughter in the waiting room, I checked my phone and it had just turned 1pm – a full hour before my appointment!

Then my phone rang. 😄

It was my brother, calling me in between meetings, about Mom. We spoke for a short time, but there really wasn’t anything to say. Our sister had not sent any messages to update us.

It wasn’t too much longer before the eye doctor called me in. After looking at the images and comparing them from the last two, each 6 months apart, there was very little change. She took a direct look as well, and it was decided to not do the eye dilation tests this time. We would do it next time.

I mentioned to her that we were going to try and not book appointments in the winter, due to transportation and road condition concerns. The next appointment would have been in June, but she was okay if we changed it to July or August.

So that’s what I did. For the next appointment, I’m booked in the second half of July. If she wants me to do another “6 month” test, I would book it for March or April, slowly shifting the appointments to spring and fall instead of summer and winter.

Since we didn’t need to do the eye dilation test, I got to drive us home. My daughter’s dizzy spells have improved, but not gone away completely yet, so me driving was better, anyhow.

Since we were in town, we then made a short stop at a grocery store. I won’t be able to do our Costco shop until Friday at the earliest, so there were a few fresh things that we needed to get. We also picked up some road food for the trip home.

By this time, conditions had improved considerably. It was still very windy and the truck was being buffeted, but we also had bright sunshine. There was only one area that got dicey. The windward side in that area was all open fields and so much snow was being blown across, driving into it was like driving into a fog bank! At one point, as I checked my rear view mirror, the car behind me looked like it was driving on a cloud. No sign of the road or ditches at all! Just blowing snow.

Thankfully, the further north we go, the more trees there are to block the blowing snow.

We were both very glad to be home, that’s for sure!

Once everything was brought in, it was getting late enough that I left my daughter to put most of the stuff away while I went to feed the outside cats and top up their warm water before it got dark. I wanted to make sure they all had a chance to finish the food off before night time. It’s the only way we can get the outside cats that are going to be spayed tomorrow to fast.

I need to be on the road by 7am with the cats tomorrow, giving myself extra time for bad road conditions, for the 8am drop off. We’ll still be at our overnight low of -18C/0F at that time, based on the current forecast. It’s supposed to be slightly colder tomorrow, but without the high winds, so that will make a huge difference.

After the cats get dropped off at the vet, I’ll be hanging around the area until they call me to pick them up. So I will be gone all morning, at the very least. Last time, I was able to nap in the truck, but it’ll probably be too cold to do that, this time!

Oh, I just got word from my sister. By the time she got to my mother’s, she was feeling fine. No longer clammy. There’s a cold going through her building that she might be catching, so she got my mother some vitamin D, echinacea and immunity boosting tea.

Hopefully, that will do it.

I still plan to phone my mother, right after I finish posting this!

Then we need to get some carriers ready for the cats tomorrow. We won’t have any problem getting Kohl, as she’s become nice and social. The adult females may be another story. If we can’t get them, we should at least be able to snag Magda, who is also very social, but it would be much better if we could manage to get one of the adults! I’m not even sure Magda is 2 pounds yet, but she should be close.

We shall see.

Once the carriers are prepped, it’s going to be an early bedtime for me!

Time to go phone my mother now…

The Re-Farmer

A good day to stay home

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I’d rather stay home for the rest of the week, too, but if there was a day for it, it’s today.

As I write this, we are at -9C/16F, but the wind chill puts us at -21C/-6F. I’m not sure what it was when I headed out this morning, to do the rounds. My daughter was going to do it, but when I saw her using a cane this morning, I just went ahead and did it!

It was still dark when I started, but the sun was up well before I was done. I also got to see this little puff ball.

Not a good picture, but I had to zoom in in the half light to get it. Little mustache baby will not let us come any closer.

I want to snuggle that face!!!

His fluffiness is very much like Patience, even though he’s still about half the size.

I think he’s a he. I’m not 100% sure, though. Too much fluff.

Another good thing about getting outside as early as I did is that it was in between snowfalls. Not long after I got back inside, it started blowing snow and visibility dropped quite a bit. As I write this, is has been calm for a little while, but the snow is supposed to start up again basically now, according to the weather maps.

The temperature, however, is expected to increase. By 9pm, we’re expected to hit -3C/27F before it starts to drop to a low of -16C/3F by 8am tomorrow morning. We’re expecting another bit of snow at around 6am.

For my daughter’s appointment tomorrow, we need to be on the road by 7:45am at the latest. I want to make sure to give us extra time in case the road conditions are not good.

The day after is also supposed to be older, with temperatures of -18C/0F expected right when we need to be catching a couple of ladies into carriers before feeding time, and taking them in for spays. Hopefully, road conditions will be good for that, too.

From then, it’s supposed to warm up again. We’re now supposed to be getting 3C/37F by Friday.

This month is going to be all over the place, temperature wise!

I’m good with that. Especially the warmer temperatures. We have a lot of small kitties this year, so the milder things are, the easier it will be for those tiny bodies to keep warm.

Yeah. I’m a suck for the cats.

As for today, I’m content with another hibernation day.

The Re-Farmer

A day of rest

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Since yesterday – Sunday – ended up being a very long day of driving around and getting our truck in the city, today became my day of rest.

I even got to sleep in, and sleep well. As usually, I got inundated with cats but this time, they actually snuggled pleasantly. No stepping painfully on various body parts. No trying to lie on my face. No fighting amongst each other.

Well. Not much. Just a bit of hissing at times.

In fact, they helped keep me warm and cozy and let me fall into a deep and restful sleep.

I don’t expect this to happen again, so I’ll take it!

My daughter was only up to doing short rounds this morning, which is basically just making sure the outside cats got food and warm water. I did their evening feeding and topped up their warm water, too. With the sun room water bowl no longer working, it was full of ice.

And the critter cam.

Some cats like to hang out on the plant trays on the shelf where the critter cam was set up. I saw it was pushed downwards when I tried to check it. By the time I got out and could fix it, it had been knocked off completely. The camera was held in place with Alien Tape, which works great, normally. It’s frozen now, so once it gets unstuck, it won’t work again until it’s thawed. I ended up having to put the camera one shelf down and tried to wedge in in place. I had to make sure it couldn’t fall into the water bowl again, too. If it does get knocked off, it should just dangle a few inches but that’s it. It it working now, except the view is partially blocked by the shelf itself on one side.

While I was outside, I just had to try and get a good shot of Patience. I wasn’t able to get the shot I wanted, since he moved while I was getting my phone out, but I think I got one that captured what I was after.

His fur has gotten SO long and thick. When he’s loafed on the ground, he’s just a big round mass of fluff with eyes.

If you click through to the next photo, you’ll see his sister, Peanut Butter Cup. She, too, is a mass of fluff!

The Cat Lady and I are both surprised she hasn’t been adopted yet.

Overall, today was pleasant outside, if a bit colder than yesterday. We reached a high of -11C/12F, which is a degree warmer than was in the forecast yesterday. It’s supposed to start snowing tonight, then tomorrow, we’re supposed to reach a high of -4C/25F I was thinking of doing a dump run tomorrow, but the dump is open in the morning, and it’s supposed to still be snowing then. We’ll see what the road conditions are like, since I was planning to also hit a feed store for 40 pound bags of kibble.

Wednesday – which is when my daughter and I have our doctor and eye appointments – and Thursday – when we have 2 cats to go in for spays – are supposed to have highs of only -16C/3F and -15C/5F, but it’s Friday and the weekend that is really catching my attention. Friday is supposed to reach a high of 0C/32F, while Sunday is supposed to reach a high of 2C/36F!! It’s supposed to cool down again after that, but I’m really hoping it’ll stay quite mild, since we will have the ladies recovering in the isolation shelter for 2 weeks after their spays. Looking further ahead to the week of Christmas, and we have forecasts for highs up to 6C/43F for a couple of days! Christmas day itself is currently expected to be the coldest day of the week, with a high of -1C/30F.

I’m just excited by the idea of having two mild winters in a row. Having an El Nińo winter last year was great, but NOT having a strong La Nińa winter this year is just bonus. I’m hoping this will also be good for our winter sown garden beds, too.

One thing we haven’t been doing at all yet is start decorating for Christmas. I haven’t bothered setting up the Advent wreath. Normally, we would have had it on the dining table or on the counter dividing the kitchen from the dining room, but some of the cats would have a field day with it. The alternative is the living room – the cat free zone – but the bins of tomatoes I brought in from the old kitchen are still ripening in there, and taking up the space.

Yes. We still have tomatoes ripening!

Hopefully, we’ll be able to get stuff like that cleared out enough that we can at least put our little Christmas trees on top of the piano, like we did last year.

I think it’s going to be a quite Christmas this year. I don’t mind that at all. In fact, the quieter the better, as far as I’m concerned! 😄

All is good.

The Re-Farmer

We have a truck again!

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Wow, what a day today turned out to be!

Since the truck was booked to be looked at tomorrow morning, I rescheduled my mother’s shopping and errands to today. The plan was to do her errands, making sure to bring along our water jugs that needed refilling, so that I could go to the town nearer to us and fill them while running some errands of our own before going home.

Early this morning, I got a text reminder – at about 7am! – from Canadian Tire for our 7am appointment on Monday, saying to make sure to be there ahead of time and be ready to drop off the keys; standard stuff. I responded by saying the vehicle was already there, and they already had the keys.

It was probably around 9am when I got the first call from them.

They had already looked at the truck!

The problem was, indeed, a wheel bearing. I asked how much it would be, and it was thankfully lower than I feared. Being just the one tire, the total came to less than $500. I was half expecting both tires and a $1000 bill.

I authorized the work, which took a few texts, another call, then an email, because the link they texted me wouldn’t work on my phone. Instead, I got a message saying I needed to complete the process on my computer – but I don’t have text to desktop set up on this computer. In the end, all I needed to do was text back “approved”, but what they were trying to send me was the document showing an itemized list of what was to be done, and the cost of each item.

So that got approved just in time for me to start heading out to my mother’s.

Except…

I didn’t realize it, but my younger daughter was planning to come with me! I misunderstood something she’d said. She was behind on doing the morning cat feeding and the morning rounds, so I switched out one of the trail cam memory cards while she did the other. Everything else got skipped.

The slight delay turned out to be a good thing, because I’d forgotten the water jugs!

It’s a good thing I started heading out early. By the time we finally got everything ready, we were on the road exactly when I knew was the latest we could leave and get there for the time I told my mother I would be there.

When we got to my mother’s, I went in to get and go over her list with her. My daughter stayed in the car. With how my mother behaves towards her, she has no interest in being around her grandmother anymore and, to be honest, I can’t blame her one bit.

Normally, our first stop would have been the pharmacy, but they were still closed, so we went to the grocery store instead. They opened their doors at 11am – pretty much as we were parking! I keep forgetting about Sunday hours.

My daughter stayed in the car for that part, too, as there was nothing she needed there. That done, it was back to the pharmacy. It was still closed, so we went looking for the posted hours and realized they opened at noon, so we still had time. We took advantage of that and went to the gas station to fill my brother’s tank, which was just below half by then – it still feels so strange to be able to fill at tank for $30! That’s a quarter tank, on our truck.

I also picked up some fried chicken and wedges for our lunch, along with some drinks, since we would still have to wait. After parking by the pharmacy again, I called my mother to let her know we were waiting for the pharmacy to open at noon, so we would be longer. Then we had our lunch – very carefully, so as not to drop any crumbs in my brother’s car! – and watched all the people going to the pharmacy doors, realizing they were locked, then leaving again. 😄

As we were waiting, I got a text from the garage.

The truck was ready.

!!!!!

At this point, I’d already made arrangements with my brother and SIL for switching vehicles tomorrow. The garage already knew about this, so that was not an issue.

They were done so early, though. After updating my brother, he wondered if we meant to get it today, instead.

On finding out the garage was open until 6, and it was barely noon, we decided to just finish my mother’s shopping, then head straight to my brother’s, then to the city to get the truck.

After I did my mother’s shopping at the pharmacy and my daughter did part of hers, we went back to my mother’s place. She isn’t up to going to church lately, even though it’s just across the street, so someone comes over with communion for her, after services. She was all set up for this when I got there, so I quickly told her what was going on as I put her things away. I was just packing up my reusable bags when there was a knock at the door. Perfect timing! It was the guy from church.

So, off I went and soon, my daughter and I were on the road to my brother’s new place.

This is the first time I’ve driven to their place myself; I’ve been driven there as a passenger, and I’ve driven FROM their place, and everything looked different. I kept second guessing myself when I knew we were getting close. I had a landmark building I told my daughter about. It’s been there for probably 100 years. I told my daughter, it’s now an antique store.

“But what do they sell?” she asked me.

…

It took me a few moments. I’m not too swift with jokes.

I then laughed for the next 5 minutes!

Finally we got there, and then I had to remember which driveway was the right one. They’re in a row of townhouses now, and they all look identical, and I couldn’t remember their unit number. I recognized a car in another driveway, so I pulled into a driveway that I was pretty sure was theirs. I figured, if it was, their garage door opener would work. I knew which button closed the door, so I tried the other buttons to open it.

No garage doors opened.

I was still pretty sure we were at the right place. I could see some decor items near the door, but couldn’t remember if they were familiar to me or not.

Then, as we got out, I saw the block heater extension cord on the step, recognized that, and knew I was in the right place.

😄😄

Oh, and it turned out the same button on the garage door opener that closes it, opens it. We have no idea what the other two buttons are supposed to do. 😄

When we got there, they were all ready to set up a pot of tea and stuff, but I didn’t want to delay. The garage would be open for a few more hours but, since we were in the city, we could still do our errands at a nearby Walmart, and fill our water jugs at the Canadian Tire. So we were soon out the door again. Both my brother and SIL came along and drove us to the garage, taking advantage of the trip themselves to look for things.

When we got there, we were able to spot the truck fairly easily, so my brother pulled in behind it while we transferred my daughter’s shopping to the truck box – where I found the box with the old wheel bearings they’d left for me – and grabbed the water jugs, then my brother parked.

My brother went in to the auto service area with me while my daughter and SIL took the water jugs into the store to refill them.

I got the keys and paperwork for the truck and then got sent over to the cashier on the store side of the barrier to pay for it. Boom, boom, boom, and it was done!

I was so happy!!!!! What a relief!

We reconnected with my daughter and SIL soon after. They couldn’t find the refill station. I went to where I thought it was, completely forgetting that this is a different store than where I’d refilled at before. After looking around, I finally asked an employee.

This location doesn’t have a refill station. They only did Culligan brand exchanges.

Well… so much for that!

I put the jugs back in the truck, then met back up with everyone else in the store again. Since we didn’t need to get anything else and my brother and his wife were going to do some more looking around, we said our goodbyes and parted ways.

With the Costco pretty much across the street, I figured I would at least go there to fill the tank with cheaper gas.

Then we saw the lineups of cars at all the pumps.

We went straight to the Walmart, instead.

It was really busy, too!

My daughter had her list and I had mine, so we parted ways for a bit, then reconnected in the grocery section. We didn’t bring in the water jugs, though, because I didn’t know if this Walmart had a refill station.

We never did see one, so probably not.

By the time we were done and paid for our stuff – I didn’t take any stocking up photos, like I usually do, as we were just in high gear, the whole time – it was starting to snow quite a bit. So we just took the time to update the family before we started out. Well… updated my husband, as my older daughter would have still been in bed. She just closed the slots for her Christmas quick commissions sale, while also having several regular commissions to complete, last night, so she is going to have some very busy work nights for the next couple of weeks. She then takes time off for Christmas and New Years.

I also updated the Cat Lady whenever I could, throughout the day, and confirmed that we will NOT be rescheduling those spays she booked for us on Thursday!

She had good news for me, too. A friend of hers had donated 50 cans of wet cat food to us! That’s on top of the 100 or so, she is going to pass on to us because her own cats won’t eat that flavour, plus some kibble a grocery store donated. When we meet up with her at the vet, she’s going to have all sorts of donated cat food to pass on to us! In fact, we might find ourselves with enough wet cat food that we might be able to treat the outside cats to some cat soup! The Cat Lady is so awesome in being able to do this for us!

If we can keep it from freezing.

We’ll figure it out.

She said she even ordered more kibble for us from Amazon, though with the postal strike, it’s hard to say when it’ll get here. It’s a rotating strike; mail gets delivered in some places, while others are picketing, then it changes every week. So mail can potentially get through, at some point. We just have no idea when or where.

This strike is killing a lot of small businesses that depend on shipping out orders. Especially this time of year, when most businesses have their highest sales, putting them in the black before the end of the year. Some things just can’t be shipped by courier.

Anyhow.

For most of the drive out of the city, we took things easy. Nearer the city, roads were icy, but they cleared up the further north we drove. Which was good, because visibility decreased at the same time!

We got to the town nearest us and made our first stop for my daughter to run in and get what she needed while I updated the family again. Then it was to the grocery store. This time, I ran in with the water jugs to refill them – and picked up some food for my daughter, since she was too stressed out to choose something to eat on the road. She’s even worse for crowds and shopping than I am!

By the time we were done there, it was full dark. We made one more stop for gas, since we didn’t get any at Costco, then finally we headed home.

The snow was coming down harder by then, and I was very glad my daughter was with me. I had to focus on the road directly in front of us, just to stay in my lane. I couldn’t see the centre line, but I could make out the shoulder, at least. Thankfully, there wasn’t much traffic. Still, at times we were doing only 60 kph in a 100 zone.

My daughter, meanwhile, was on deer watch, scanning the ditches for me. You’d think deer would be hunkering down in shelter somewhere in weather like this, but nooo. These are Canadian deer. They’ll stand in the middle of the road and wait for the vodka to freeze.

Credit to my daughter for that one… 😄

So this day ended up being much, much longer than expected. The outside cats hadn’t been fed before it got dark, like we usually try to do. My older daughter wasn’t up yet, and my husband can’t manage getting kibble to all the spread out food bowls anymore, now that there’s ice and snow on the ground making it more dangerous for him to hobble about, even with a cane.

Which worked out, really, since we had to feed them to get them away from the truck before I could park it.

We had some very hungry babies. By the time I finished doing the outside trays and bowls and came back into the sunroom, the sunroom trays were almost empty!

As for me, I was very happy to be parking our own truck in the garage, instead of a borrowed car.

I’m so incredibly thankful they were able to get it done today, and that we could work out the transportation and vehicle switching with my brother and SIL on such short notice.

Best of all…

All the time that we were driving, all I was hearing was normal road noises. 😄

When I get a chance, I want to bring in the old part from the truck and take a look at the damage. I’m curious to see what kind of damage would make the noise I was hearing, since it was so different from the last vehicle we had to replace wheel bearings on.

To top it off, we now no longer have anyplace we will potentially need to go to, tomorrow. My mother’s errands are done, and now the truck is home, too.

We can actually *gasp* stay home for a day!

Which is good, because it’s supposed to be colder, tomorrow. The next day – Tuesday – is supposed to be warmer, so that will be a good time to make a much needed trip to the dump and, since I’d be going in that direction anyhow, go to the town north of us and get a couple of 40 pound bags of kibble. Yes, we have cat food donations coming, but you just can’t have too much kibble! Especially in winter. It’s looking like we will have a mild winter, but if things ever change and we end up not being able to get out for some reason, we need to have the pantry stocked up with enough for all of us – humans and feline alike. In the winter, I want to have at least one, preferably two, months worth of supplies on hand. We’ve already have a few times when we’ve relied on our stocked up items. It’s getting harder to keep it up, with the cost of everything going up, but I view this as an essential.

An essential, like our truck is!!

Have I mentioned, how glad I am that our truck is back?

😄😄

The Re-Farmer