I paused this morning to try and get some photos of the feral kittens that come to the shrine feeding station. This involves zooming in from quite a distance, so as not to scare them away.
Which turned out to be a moot point.
Video in the next file.
It’s bad enough the adult cats crowd the kittens away from the kitten soup. The skunks are doing it, too!
When I came back later, I found three… THREE… at the kibble bowl in the catio.
Turns out the skunks like kitten soup, too.
The Re-Farmer
Yesterday was beautifully cool, and I knew it would get cooler overnight but, my goodness, did it get cold last night! With June’s temperatures, I haven’t even bothered putting a blanket on my bed; just a top sheet, and I’d often sleep on top of it, with the fan blowing right over me. Last night, the fan was off and I should have closed the window and gotten a blanket, but was too sleepy to do it, and slept cold, instead. When I finally checked the temperature at about 6am, it was 7C/45F!! I don’t know if it got any cooler than that last night, but you can bet I was checking on the tomatoes and squash this morning, for cold damage. They seemed to be just fine. If I’d known it might get that cold overnight, the girls and I would have covered them! I keep a bottle water by my bedside for when I take my supplements, or just need a drink during the night. When I drank it this morning, it was as cold as if it had come straight out of the fridge!
The kitties seemed to handle the drop in temperature just fine. I’m sure they were well cuddled by their mamas!
Speaking of mamas…
I thought I saw a pregnant cat run by, last night! There she is! I almost never see this cat anymore. I can’t remember if we’ve ever named her. Good grief, she looks ready to pop! Considering we’re in July, I suspect this is a second pregnancy, and that she lost her first litter. Unless she’s the tuxedo’s mother, but I don’t think so. She is from one of the oldest of last year’s kittens. We can’t get anywhere near her, and the only reason I was able to take this photo was because she was really hungry, and I can zoom in.
As I was finishing up my rounds, I was pleased to spot this.
The tiny tuxedo has figured out that there’s safe food on the roof of the cat house! Normally, he eats at the tray under the water bowl shelter. He couldn’t do that at the time. It was occupied.
An adult skunk had already run off, but these two little ones did not want to leave the food. I sprayed them with a hose to chase them off, as I usually do, and one ran off. The other, however, kept trying to go back for the food, then hunkered down beside that ceramic chimney flue and just took the spray. Of course, I stopped. The little guy eventually started moving around as if looking for the food. I felt so bad! The urge to go over and try to comfort it was very strong. I didn’t, of course. They shouldn’t be eating kibble (it has to do with how their jaws hinge, not because it’s bad for them), but my goodness, how can I say no to a hungry baby? I just completely soaked it, and the poor thing even looked like it was shivering as it moved around.
I’m such a horrible monster! 😥😥
Looking at the long range forecasts, we’re going to get more cooler night, but not as cold as last night. Daily highs are expected to be slightly below average for July, with less rain than June. This will work out just fine for getting work done outside. It’ll be great for the local farmers, too. Some have already baled their first cut of hay, and may even get three cuts this year. I’m seeing grain fields turned golden and almost ready for harvest, and the canola fields are in full bloom. There is lots of pasture for the cows, and the dugouts are full of water. Wild berry bushes are ripening, too, so there will be plenty of food to keep the wildlife uninterested in our garden!
It’s looking to be a really good growing year. Plus, it’s supposed to be a strong El Niño year which, for our area, usually means a mild winter, too. That would be so nice! For us, and for all the critters outside!
The Re-Farmer
Among last year’s kittens, we didn’t get as many grey tabbies as the year before. So far, all but one of them seem to be male.
This one isn’t.
And she is most definitely starting to look round.
*sigh*
There is another that is more of a muted calico that looks so much like a baby Beep Beep that I call her… well… Baby Beep Beep. She has started to sometimes let me pet her while she is eating and, yes, I can call her a “she”. So far, though, she is not looking to be in the motherly way. The tortie has been hanging out in the sun room a lot, and so far she doesn’t look pregnant, either. With the long haired calico, Brussel, her fur is so long, we wouldn’t be able to tell one way or the other. I don’t usually see Sprout or Phantom very often (I sometimes wonder if they’re the same cat, to be honest), but the last time I did, she was looking pretty svelte so far, too.
Rozencrantz and not-Junk Pile have definitely had their kittens. Somewhere. Whether they have survived or not, or where they might be, is anyone’s guess right now.
Meanwhile, when I went to to feed the outside cats just a little while ago, I found these stinky kitties!
At first, it was just one, rooting around near the bottom of the shelf by the window. Then the second one squeezed its way through the doors. It took me making a lot more noise than usual while tossing the kibble with lysine powder in the old kitchen to persuade them to leave! I have no idea what effect lysine will have on skunks, but I would guess it’s just as beneficial for them as for the cats.
I look forward to when we can start keeping the sun room doors closed again, cleaning up the messes that cats made and being able to move our seedlings in!
The Re-Farmer
I popped out to see if the weather would allow some lawn mowing, and discovered a whole bunch of adorableness, just outside the door!
When I first opened the door, they were next to the water bowls (while mama was inside the kibble house, eating), and all four of them were moving towards me, all in a row. :-D Then they went around the back of the cats’ house, stopping long enough for me to get a couple of pictures.
There was a mama cat and kittens on the laundry platform steps, and they all started towards the cats, like they were synchronized. :-D After getting the pictures, I shooed the mama out of the kibble house and they all left.
Once the skunks were gone, the kitties were a lot more relaxed.
Except Sad Face, with his permanent tragic expression, and always looking ready to dash off.
Checking the weather radar, we had our frequent climate bubble in effect. The severe weather system split, with the large portion of it going to the north of us, and a smaller portion to the south. I was able to get some mowing down around the garden area, though it was so hot and sunny, I stopped when I ran out of gas, rather than filling and continuing.
Further south, however, another system went through. My brother’s place got hit with driving rain and hail! Everything is okay, though.
In other things, I called the tree company that cleared our power lines and roof a few years ago. Someone will be coming out over the next few days to give us an estimate. My plan had been to take down dead spruce trees myself, but considering where some of them are in relation to the house, and to each other, it would just be more efficient to hire someone. They can do it all in a day – and with greater safety! When I first called and left a message, I made a point of mentioning that I want to keep the wood for building with. I also mentioned getting things chipped.
With that in mind, before I started on the mowing, I got out the orange marking paint I remember to pick up more of at the hardware store. I then went around and marked the ones closer to the house, as well as the one by the garage. I’d marked as many dead trees as I could get to, last year. The marks have faced, but I could still see them. Last year, I’d counted about 22 or 23 dead spruces, with the possibility of more that were not accessible, in total (I hadn’t bothered marking some of them at the time).
We lost more trees over the winter, though. This time, I marked 22 dead spruce trees, and that was without going around the East side of the spruce grove, and trying to get through some of the underbrush.
That’s a lot of trees that can be used to build more high raised beds! Assuming they are all still solid, and from the looks of it, they are, though a couple of them have been dead and drying long enough, they have split lengthwise.
That spruce grove is going to look really empty once all the dead trees are cut down. Once things are cleared up, the plan it to turn part of the area into a sheltered seating area, with trunks supporting benches and tables. Fruit or berry trees that need more shelter may then be planted, as well as more spruces transplanted into the spruce grove.
Once those dead trees are down, though, we can get back on track for building the cordwood outdoor bathroom, with a composting toilet rather than a pit, that we were looking to do as a practise building. After we no longer need to use the space to access and drag out the dead trees, we can start working on building up a foundation for it. This year’s flooding showed us that, while the space we’d chosen for it didn’t end up underwater, like so many other spots, it did eventually get very muddy. We definitely need to build things up at least a few inches. Though the plan is to make an outdoor bathroom, it will have a solid floor, and the composting toilet will be easily removed, if we ever want to repurpose the building to be just a regular storage shed.
The dead trees we plan to use for building high raised beds had been intended for building the cordwood shed, but garden beds have become more of a priority. I expect we’ll still have plenty of wood that can be used for it, anyhow. Plus we’ll be making bottle bricks to use for light, instead of windows.
This is a project that will take much longer to get done than we originally planned. At least we still have the old outhouse all cleaned up inside and can use that, if we lose our septic again!
Also, if we do the floor right, we won’t have to worry about groundhogs digging dens in the pit, like we found under the outhouse!
The Re-Farmer
While at my computer a little while ago, I started to see all sorts of activity in the security camera live feed. A whole lot of deer, making their way down the driveway!
So I headed over to look out a window and see where they were going. Mostly, they were milling around, just beyond the chain link fence, watching something in the yard, intently.
They weren’t going to the feeding station (though we spotted the sad faced, brick of a cat, sitting on the junk pile), so I decided to head outside and see what was going on.
That took longer than expected.
I opened the door from the old kitchen to the sun room, and found the flood covered with black and white, furry beasts.
At least four skunks were in the sun room, eating the kibble!
Two took off right away, but these two would not leave! I ended up having to get a spray bottle and spritz them with water to get them out.
Meanwhile, Rolando Moon was in her bed in the shelf, just watching them. !!
I didn’t even try to take stills in the fading light, but tried to get some video. It wasn’t very good, either, but I could at least get this screen capture.
They ran off as I came closer, but then I saw them on the camera again, coming back.
Several had already gone by, but in this image, you can see another four of them across the road, and another making its way to the gate!
While I was out, I found there was no kibble left for the cats at all, so I refilled their trays, then headed inside. When I saw that the deer were returning, I headed back out again.
Guess who else was back?
Yup. One of the stinkers was back, eating at one of the newly refilled kibble trays.
Using flash didn’t help see the skunk better, but I love the red, heart shaped glowing eyes of the cat on the left! :-D
Unfortunately, there was no way to chase off the skunk without also chasing off the cats, which certainly won’t help our socializing efforts.
More reason to looking forward to being able to close the doors to the sun room again. Hopefully, this will be the last night we need to leave them access to the heated water bowl in the sun room. Temperatures are still dropping below zero overnight, but not so low as to freeze their water bowls solid.
Between the deer and the skunks, no wonder we’re going through the kibble so fast outside!
Oh, and now I’m watching three more deer crossing the driveway from the barn yard to the spruce grove.
A fourth one just joined them.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many deer in my entire life, as I have this spring!
The Re-Farmer
Today, we harvested all three spinach beds!
Looking at them this morning, I thought we could just harvest the plants that had started to go to seed and leave the smaller ones, but when we were ready to start, we realized that the smaller ones were going to seed, too!
We ended up using our three biggest baskets to hold it all.
Yes, these are our Easter baskets, and one of them still has its decorations. The flower garland is woven through the basket, so it doesn’t come off. :-D
Each of those baskets is filled with a different variety of spinach, though to be honest, I can’t tell any difference. They were even supposed to mature at different rates, but between the deer, the heat and the lack of rain, they all matured at the same time.
Nutmeg was hanging around while we were working, and my daughter noticed he was playing “cat and mouse” with something. It turned out to be a frog!
She rescued it.
We see frogs fairly regularly in the garden beds. That makes me happy. More frogs means less bugs eating our produce! :-)
We used shears to cut the spinach, so all the roots, along with the plants that weren’t suitable to harvest (like the teeny ones the deer got to), are still there. The beds will get a thorough clean up, probably tomorrow, so we can plant lettuces, next.
We dragged out the screen “door” that fits at the top of the old basement stairs, and covered it with the mosquito netting we’d been using to protect one of the beds. We also brought out a couple of our largest bowls. The spinach got washed in the bowls in batches, which also gave us a chance to start taking out any weeds that came along for a ride, and removing some of the yellowing or damaged leaves. After being washed, they got dumped on the mesh and got another rinse with the hose.
Then it was time to start picking over the spinach and destemming them. I set up the wagon to hold the screens I’d washed earlier, to dry spinach on.
My daughter and I then started going over the whole pile, picking out the best ones for dehydrating or into bowls, and dropping the rejects with the snipped stems for composting. We worked for about an hour, hour and a half, before my daughter went in with a filled bowl, to start supper while I kept working on the rest of the spinach.
The filled screens were left on the roof of the kibble house to drain for a while. They went into the sun room when it started to rain a bit, though we never got more than a smattering.
I’m hoping to be able to set up more batches to dehydrate out of this, but it depends on how well it works in the sun room. I’ve got the light I used to keep transplant trays warm on for the night, plus the ceiling fan. Tomorrow we’re supposed to get really hot, which means the sun room will be even hotter. I’m hoping that means they will dehydrate fairly quickly, and I can set up at least one more batch.
As for the rest, we might blanch some for freezing if we can’t use it up fast enough, but mostly, we plan to just eat it. :-D The girls have been looking of recipes for things like spinach soup to try, or maybe make another batch of their modified palak paneer sauce. We don’t have paneer, though.
I’m rather happy with our first garden harvest – and with being able to have one so early in the season!
While it may have taken a long time to clean it all, we were most entertained.
By skunks.
We had a whole parade of them, coming and going, including the mama and her babies.
All SIX of them!
I don’t know where she’s getting them all from! She started coming by with two. Then we saw her carrying a third. Today, she showed up with five – or so we thought. I took some video and, after I uploaded it and watched it, I realized there was six.
If you wish to see the video, click here. :-)
Gosh, they are so adorable! They came back several times, including just to run around an play.
As for the other skunks that showed up, I did end up stopping to take a hose to them. From where I was sitting, I couldn’t see them in the kibble house, but I could hear them, and they were not getting along. It turned out that only one of the containers had kibble left in it, and they were all trying to get at it. Then there was the one greedy guts that just wouldn’t stop eating.
Oh, and a question I had was answered. In the mornings, when I would go to refresh the cats’ water bowls, I would find one of them with kibble half dissolved in the water. It was always the bowl closest to the kibble house, but they’re far enough away that it couldn’t fall in by accident, as I had assumed was how it got into the heated water bowl, when we were still using that. The skunks, of course, use the water bowls, too. This evening, I saw one of the skunks come up to a water bowl, drink some water, then basically pick its teeth with its claws before drinking some more.
The reason it isn’t good for skunks to eat kibble is because of how their jaws are hinged. But they’ve got that figured out. The skunk was getting kibble stuck in its teeth, and was using water to get it out. The kibble would then fall into the bowl it was drinking from, for me to find in the morning.
They’re smart little buggers!
They also made what could have been a long and dreary job quite fun. :-)
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 