First storm? Also… 38??? Plus unfortunate news

November 8, 2023 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

We have been getting both snow and rain for the past while. Yesterday, while I was feeding the outside cats, we had this.

This morning, we had this!

It was snowing again when I started this post, but stopped by the time I started this sentence! Depending on what app I look at, we are either at 0C/32F or 2C/36F When we cleaned out the cat house, we took out the thermometer that was in there – the cats kept knocking it off the holder – and I’ve got it in the tiny shelf shelter section that I use for storing things. It was reading 1C/34F.

We are expected to have a “storm total” of 3-6 cm/1-2 inches, by tonight, according to one app. I didn’t realize we were supposed to get a storm until I read that! In fact, the other two apps I check, and even the website I check, don’t say anything about a storm. Of course, on the weather radar, I could see those climate bubble gaps in the clouds heading towards us, so while we’re certainly getting some heavy snow at times, we’ll also be getting nothing at all, while snow continues around us.

The only thing I’m concerned about right now is what the road conditions will be like on Saturday morning. From Thursday afternoon through Friday, we’re supposed to be clear, and Friday is supposed to be sunny, which means that the roads should be free of ice, even at 6:30am Saturday, which is when I plan to be on the road with the cats. I still plan on having to take some parts of the route much slower, as they are much more prone to icing over and staying icy. Depending on what I hear on the highway conditions group I’m on, I might even take a slightly different route to avoid those cross roads, though it simply means taking one crossroad instead of two different ones.

This morning, while feeding the outside cats, I tried to do a head count.

Then I counted again.

Then again.

I kept getting 38, including Sad Face.

Usually I count about 33. With Nosencrantz still here, plus Butterscotch still outside, plus Sad Face, I would get 37, maybe 38, at most, and that would be with the possibility of double counting some cats as they milled around. With Butterscotch now indoors again and Nosencrantz adopted out, I would expect to count 35 or 36, at most.

Which means we have some new cats, and I have no idea which ones they are!

I do think one might be a grey tabby. Recently, while doing my rounds, I saw a grey tabby, then did a double take because I wasn’t sure if I’d seen it before. We have quite a few grey tabbies, though, so I couldn’t say one way or the other.

No matter. If we have some stray cats that have found a safe haven here, I am more than happy to have them – as long as they don’t attack the other cats.

Sad Face (aka: Shop Towel) seems to have stopped attacking the other cats. Right now, one of the moms is acting way more aggressive than he is! She’ll walk past other cats and just start batting at them for no reason. But Sad Face? Not anymore. I’ve even seen him sharing food bowls with other cats he’s been fighting with before.

Also somewhat cat related…

I got some rather shocking news from the Cat Lady last night. They are dealing with a lot right now, with moving into a new home while trying to sell their current home, and all the normal activities that comes from having a large family and her husband running his business from a home office, on top of her health issues. Life is chaos right now.

Well, as if they didn’t have enough to deal with, during a 20 minute window when no one was home, they got robbed.

Seventeen years of zero crime, and then this.

Thankfully – and thanks to their dog – the thief didn’t get past the outside entryway, but there was a lot of stuff out there. She had asked people with cat carriers to bring them back, with two of them slated for us. We don’t need them anymore, so she had them all waiting for fosters to pick up, along with both canned and dry cat food. There was even a bag of crocheted cat blankets someone had made and donated. All gone. The Amazon delivery driver had come by and sent a photo of the boxes at the door as proof of delivery. All gone. The kids’ band uniforms. All gone. The shoe drying rack, with her kids’ boots and her husband’s boots for visiting job sites, all gone. An old, rusted, cat shaped cast iron shoe cleaner that had only sentimental value. Gone. The thief even took the light bulb and shade, and “happy holidays” mat! They didn’t take the new snow blower that was getting its battery charged, but probably only because they ran out of room. About the only “good” thing is that they also grabbed a garbage bag that was filled with used cat litter.

Best guess; someone with a truck or, more likely, an inobtrusive minivan was following the Amazon truck and took advantage of the situation. Since they have so many people coming by, either connected with the rescue, or the house being shown, etc., the neighbours wouldn’t have thought twice to see someone taking the cat carriers, for example, and loading them into their vehicle. They would have seen that before, and it would have been perfectly legitimate.

Oh! There was also a box, clearly labelled as a donation for the Children’s Hospital, of new, unwrapped toys that was taken.

What a sick, sick person. It’s one thing to take stuff that could be resold, like the cat carriers and cat food, and possibly whatever was in the Amazon boxes, but to take the kids’ band uniforms? Their shoes? Toy donations? Things like the uniforms can’t even be sold, since they all have customized embroidered names on them. And a light bulb??? Seriously?? The floor mat? WTF?

Her poor kids are already stressed out with the chaos going on, and then someone goes and steals their uniforms, boots and shoes!

When talking to the police, who knew they had lots of cats, they were told to check their animals. It seems there’s been a rash of theft in their area this year, and in some cases, only pets were stolen. So the Cat Lady was all in a panic because she couldn’t find the cats, forgetting that they were all boarded. One cat that isn’t was with her husband, and the other was with her and her daughter, I think. I can imagine how surreal it must have felt. We’ve come out to find our car stolen one time, and it felt so bizarre. I remember just standing there, looking at the empty space, second guessing my own mind that this is where it should have been. Maybe we actually parked somewhere else?? To have that empty space, but having so many things that should have been in it, just gone… in their own home! What a sense of violation, too.

And yet, as she was telling me all this, she was assuring me that she will meet me at the clinic on Saturday, before she goes for another MRI.

What an amazing, big hearted woman.

A plague on the thief that did this!!! I hope the police catch them soon, they get all their stuff returned, and the thief is appropriately dealt with by the law!

Who am I kidding. This is Canada. Even if they caught the thief, he or she will probably be back on the streets within the hour.

The Re-Farmer

What a switch, and making plans

November 5, 2023 / Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

I am so glad I did the drive to find cat carriers yesterday! The predicted rain and snow arrived overnight. As I was doing my morning rounds, we were getting ice pellet type snow and high winds.

The winds were enough that most of the cats ate in the kibble house, instead of the cat house roof! I counted 33 this morning, which did not include Sad Face, though my husband saw him in the sun room, later.

That fluffy black cat in the photo is Driver. He was favouring his right front paw this morning, so we need to keep an eye on him. I could see no obvious injury. As I was finishing my rounds and coming inside, I spotted him in the sun room, on the cat bed inside the cage, so that was good.

This morning was the second time I came out to find that not only was the heated water bowl in the sun room empty, but the big one outside was knocked out of the water bowl shelter and hanging by its cord (the cord is reinforced and protected with steel wire). There is a piece of wood across the front specifically to prevent that happening, so it takes a lot to knock that bowl out! I had thought it might be a deer, but last night I chased two giant, fluffy racoons out of the sun room, so it might have been a racoon that did it.

The metal water bowls (old stainless steel frying pans with no handles) were solid ice, of course. The cats seem to prefer those over plastic bowls. Usually I just top them up with a bit of water, but they needed to have the ice knocked out this time, before I could add more. With the big heated water bowl alone holding 1 1/2 gallons, I had to go back for more water to refill them all!

I also made sure to give the cats a little extra food to tide them over. I try not to give extra at the end of the day, as I don’t want to be feeding the racoons! At least, not much… But with the cold and wind, the cats will definitely need the extra calories. Happily, they are mostly staying close to the house, and really enjoying that warm corner in the cat house, under the heat bulb! It’s funny to walk by and see half a dozen faces or more, all mashed against each other, looking at me through the window.

All in all, it’s looking like an unpleasant day today. Looking at the weather radar in the wee hours of the night was funny. As I zoomed in closer to our area, I could actually see where the weather system split up to form an open space as it passed over us. We were catching just the edges of that open space. My mother’s town was looking completely clear. Our climate bubble, in action! 😄

After today, however, it’s going to switch up. Things are supposed to start warming – and keep getting warmer! Check out the most recent forecast I captured this morning.

They’re now saying we’ll be getting as high at 8C/46F!

The nice thing is, we’re in the middle of planning a trip to the city with my husband, to visit family. By the time we’re doing that, all the snow should be gone and the roads should be completely clear. Even after that, for pretty much the rest of November, we’re looking at highs above freezing on most days.

Of course, the forecast will probably be different in a few days. Hopefully, though, it’ll still be warm. The last couple of times we tried to go into the city to visit family, we ended up turning around to come home because a weather system hit and the roads were too dangerous. Then my husband’s back got worse, and it’s now been 4 or 5 years since he’s seen his dad. Thankfully, the truck’s front seats have so many micro adjustments that can make the trip less painful for him.

Now we just have to pray those weather predictions are correct!

The Re-Farmer

Check this out!!!

November 3, 2023November 3, 2023 / Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

Here we were, happy to have one last “warm” day to do the winter mulching, because it was likely to be the last day above freezing this year.

The forecast has changed.

They’re now saying we’re supposed to hit 6C/43F … in the middle of November!

While I was out, helping my mother run errands, it was just below freezing, and that was enough to set things melting in some areas. Over the next few days, we’re supposed to get snow, or a mix of snow and rain, because we’re expected to go just above freezing again. To have basically a week of temperatures between 4-6C/39-43F, that is enough to melt away all the snow we currently have.

I’m not complaining.

The mulch we put on the garden works both ways; it’ll keep the ground from freezing too much, but will also keep it from warming up too much. Otherwise, the garlic might start sprouting, only to get killed off when the deep freeze hits.

Also, we’re supposed to hit 4C/39F on the day I’m taking 6 cats in to be spayed and neutered!

I was messaging with the Cat Lady about that. She’s really stressing that we need to make sure and use all those slots she’s booking, and stay on the good side of this vet. It seems the last time the vet had one of these steeply discounted spay days, half the people who booked never showed up. Which I find absolutely astonishing. After that happened, the vet basically banned the no-shows from rebooking. Understandable! As for the Cat Lady, she’s been trying to help someone else slightly north of us that has a yard cat colony even larger than ours. That person was one of the no shows. Apparently, the drop off time of 8am was too early for her. Which blows me away. Yeah, it’s early, when you have to drive quite a ways to get there, but the vet has even said that if someone is in that situation and has to stay in town until it’s time to pick up their cats, let them know and they’ll try to do those cats first. For me, I’ll leave earlier than necessary, just in case I get stuck behind slow traffic, or have a breakdown or… who knows. Things happen. I just can’t imagine giving up such a deal on getting spays and neuters, and I especially can’t imagine just not showing up after booking an appointment! It’s happened so often, however, that the Cat Lady says we’re basically the only ones she’s still willing to help out with spays and neuters through her rescue.

We actually show up.

The only stickler right now is, each cat has to be in its own carrier. We’ve got 4 carriers, and need to bring in 6 cats. She’s put the word out to people who have borrowed carriers from her to bring them back, trying to come up with two more we can use.

I got curious and went looking online. If we really need to, there are soft sided carriers available through our nearest Walmart that are on clearance – but only if we order online, it seems. But we’re talking about only $10 or so for a carrier. Heck, I might just order a couple for pick up, since I have to go there soon, anyhow. I’d rather have hard sided carriers, but any carrier is better than no carrier! We’d just have to be careful what cats go in them, because some would tear their way right out of a soft sided carrier!

Well, if I’m going to be doing some running around, at least I’ll have good weather for it!

Just not tomorrow, because that’s when we’re supposed to get both snow and rain.

The Re-Farmer

Not worth it!

October 31, 2023October 31, 2023 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

I don’t mean this, though. THIS is totally worth it.

Totally.

What was NOT worth it, was a trip to the city.

We didn’t drive anywhere yesterday, but I was keeping on top of updates on road conditions, in a Facebook group dedicated to highway conditions in our area. It was warmer than today is expected to get, but we had “snow squall” warnings over the region, and winds were quite high at times. Lots of people were describing icy road conditions and advising people to stay home, if they could.

Today is working out to be a much more pleasant day. No wind to speak of, lots of sun, but our high is supposed to be only -3C/27F The question is, did the sand trucks get out?

The answer turned out to be, no.

I waited until late morning to head out, as even when it’s just below freezing, the paved roads tend to warm up more and melt.

Not today!

Where our gravel road reaches the highway, there is an exit lane on the other side into our little hamlet. Right away, I could see hints of what was to come, as the entire junction was sheer ice. There was a large truck pulling a trailer that I waited for, then I pulled onto the highway behind it.

The load on this trailer was an unusual shape. You know those trucks that are designed to haul windows? There’s a triangle shaped frame in the middle, and windows are loaded on either side, resting at an angle leaning towards the center? It was something like that, except much, much larger.

Along the highway, we were hitting alternate patches of sheer ice, and clear road. The curves were the worst, of course. As the truck was pulling out of a set of curves, there was a pair of vehicles on the side of the road ahead. There was no oncoming traffic, so the truck moved over the center line well ahead of these vehicles, to give them space, and I did the same. These were not vehicles in any sort of break down, but rather pulled over to do work of some kind. Once I cleared them and moved back into my lane, I barely started to accelerate again, and I could feel my back end start to fish tail! It was a quick recovery, but a bit of a surprise, since I didn’t think I was even on ice at the time.

It wasn’t much further when I saw the trailer ahead of me start fishtailing! I could see no reason for it, as the driver was clearly doing his best to drive to the conditions. My guess is, the load got hit with a gust of wind. Thankfully, I was making sure to keep quite a distance between us, because if I’d had to brake to avoid the truck, I would have gone skating, fancy new tires or not!

Thankfully, the big truck didn’t have to deal with that for much longer, and turned onto a gravel road soon after. By then, I’d already decided; it wasn’t worth driving all the way to the city. There is nothing essential we need to get there, and what we do need can wait a few days. I only continued far enough to reach an intersection, pulled over to message my family, then used the intersection to do a U turn and go back.

The north bound lane was even icier than the south bound lane. When I saw 4 deer running across the road, I was quite happy to have been driving slow and not at all needing to brake or avoid them.

I did decide to stop at the post office before going home, though. The exit and the section of road going through town was easily the iciest I saw the entire time. Since I was in the store to get to the post office, anyhow, I picked up one of their awesome hams as a treat for today.

As I was driving back to the junction, I found myself getting passed on the right, but a little utility vehicle! It was driving on the shoulder, which was clear gravel, unlike the paved road I was driving on, so that thing could easily go much faster, safely, than me! I was happy to be back on the gravel road, which was more snow than ice!

I’m glad we were able to do such a big trip last week!

On the way home from the post office, the computer display on the truck suddenly started telling me my left rear tire was low on air.

It isn’t.

I’ve got an appointment at the garage for tomorrow afternoon to get these codes and the tire monitoring system checked, out. With the tires, it’s the sensors/monitors that are the issue, not the tires themselves. The other codes could be a number of things, but since he’d serviced the truck from end to end himself, he knows it’s mechanically fine. The only thing he’s now second guessing himself over is whether he’d put in a new battery or not. He told me he did but, with it draining like it is, suddenly he’s not so sure! When he asked me if I noticed the brand on the battery, I told him I couldn’t see. I could barely see to attach the cables when I hooked up the charger. I’m too short! He got a laugh out of that, at least. 😁

Seriously, though. We’re going to need to get a step stool of some kind that we can keep in the truck at all times. I’ll need one just to check the oil!

So that means I won’t be going into the city tomorrow, either.

We’re supposed to reach highs above freezing, starting tomorrow and over the next few days – depending on what app we look at! That will clear the roads, at least. The way things are going, I won’t be able to get to the city until the end of the week. I got a call from my mother last night. It was a very strange call, where she complained about how terrible she was feeling, and how she’d called my brother (the on that lives more than an hour’s drive away) and he’s not calling back, etc. I called her out when she started saying terrible things about my brother for not being instantly at her beck and call, reminding her that I’m the one that’s the closest, so she should be calling me, first. Or, calling for an ambulance, if she was really feeling that bad. Oh, no… she doesn’t want to do that…

Then she started asking me what, of her things, I wanted, because she didn’t want her fighting over her stuff when she was gone. I told her, don’t worry about it. We won’t be fighting over her stuff. She was, however, making it like she was expecting to die because she had a headache and was feeling weak. ???

By the end of the call, when I finally got out of where her what she wanted, it came down to wanting someone to come visit. I told her I was going to the city today, and taking the truck to the garage tomorrow, so I could come over on Thursday – and she should be ready for a grocery shopping trip by then, too. She started saying she doesn’t need one, because she has milk now… *sigh* She has always had difficulty with planning ahead. I can’t even say if it’s gotten worse as she’s gotten older! So I’ll have to call her tomorrow and solidify my coming over.

She was sounding much better by the end of the call, too. After I got off the phone, I messaged my brother to let him know my mother was wanting him to call – and forewarning him that she was dragging up how he used to come out every week – and bring chicken! (the same chicken she now tells me not to bring her) – after work. I’ve reminded her, time and again, that he did that before we moved out here, so he had no choice. He made that trip every Friday for years, until we moved in and he no longer had to keep checking on the place.

I got a call from my brother later on. He’d gotten through to her and, after cutting off her immediate attempts to try and guilt trip him and make him feel bad, they actually had a very good conversation, and she was sounding quite well during their talk. So that worked out in the end.

Talking with my family about this, it’s really hard to not feel bitter about this whole thing with my mother. She’s expecting us to “be there” for her when she “needs us the most” – and by “we”, she really means my oldest brother. The thing is, she was pretty much never there for us. My family and I were out of province for most of the time, so we weren’t as affected by it. They would come out with their children to visit, and she’d leave, saying she would rather be “with her religious community”. She sure as heck wasn’t there when my brother needed her, and when my father needed her the most, she moved out and left him in the tender “mercies” of our vandal. So for her to now expect us to drop everything, ignore our own responsibilities, family and friends, and cater to her because she’s got a headache… Yeah. It gets hard, sometimes.

But I digress…

As I’m writing this, I’m also messaging with the Cat Lady. She’s dealing with their move, while also trying to work out getting those 6 spots for us for the cheap spay and neuter day. It looked like it would be only females, but the clinic recently posted an update, and they will do males – and will do trapped ferals where someone may not even know if they are male or female! We won’t be able to have kittens sharing a carrier, though, so she’s going to try to find a couple she can lend us (we have 4). The problem is, with the move, they are using their carriers to move their own cats. Most will be going into a kennel (the owner is a friend who is planning to shut down their kennel to appointments, to house most of their cats for a week), but some will be going to the new house earlier, while other will be staying in their old house until pretty much the last minute, depending on their various catonalities and medical needs.

However it works out, we’ll be getting 6 cats done on November 11, with the rescue paying for 4 of them, and us paying for 2 of them. I really want to get all the bigger kittens done. The females are getting old enough they could potentially go into their first heat, and the last thing we need is for that to happen with their intact brothers around! After that, we’ll still have the three littles, but they’re still way too small.

We’ll figure it out!

The Re-Farmer

This and that

October 29, 2023October 29, 2023 / Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

We’ve got a gorgeous day out, today! Cold, of course. The weather apps told me it was -6C/21F out there, with a “real feel” of -12C/10F, but we’re sheltered enough that I’m still not breaking out the parka. My only concession to the cold was to wear one of my ball cap ear warmers that I made recently.

The kittens – even the smaller ones – seem to be handling the snow rather well, though this one looks quite affronted by it! 😄

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In the slide show above; the fluffy tortie is making use of the self-warming pad set up in their favourite shelf to sit in and watch what’s going on outside. I got that shot yesterday. The other two, I took this afternoon. We have several very handsome black cats with little white bibs this year. The one sitting on the shelf shelter looks downright angry that the snow is on their favourite corner! 😄 In the last picture, you can see that the cats are making full use of the cleaned out and heated cat house.

While doing my morning rounds, I finally got around to a few things that either got missed while we had to do other things, or that kept getting forgotten about. One of those was to empty and move the rain barrel by the sun room. It was full, and had the diverter over it, so that got removed first. Then I had to break up the ice on top until I could remove the hardware cloth cover. We keep a rock and a brick on it to weigh it down, as the cats sometimes jump up on it. They also serve to hold the diverter (which is just a scrap piece of eavestrough) in place. I got the brick off easily enough, but I ended up removing the cover with the rock still stuck to the wire by ice! After emptying about half of the barrel into the old kitchen garden with a bucket, I was able to tip it over and empty it down one of the paths, then set it aside by one end of the wattle weave bed for the winter. After that, I had to use a hammer to break the rock loose from the cover. 😄 The cover is now stored away, but I ended up having to use the diverter and its supports later on!

I waited until this afternoon, when it was warmer, to deal with the old rain barrel way out in the garden. It didn’t have a lot of water in it, but it would have been somewhat frozen to the ground. I didn’t want to risk breaking the cold, brittle plastic any more than it already is. So that got taken care of this afternoon. I had a pile of branches we’d used as trellis supports on it to keep the critters out, since the cover for that barrel didn’t survive the winter, even though it was in the garden shed. Just in case, I also had a couple of branches in the water, so if a critter did fall in, it could climb out. Those all got set aside, then the emptied barrel set on its side next to the pile of branches. The watering can that’s kept beside the barrel and filled with water to keep it from blowing away, got emptied and stored inside the barrel itself. Leaving the barrel out like this also provides another shelter from the weather for small critters that won’t come closer to the house.

(As I write this, we’ve warmed up to our expected high -2C/28F, but the “feels like” is apparently -13C/9F. Not where we are!)

One the way back to the house, I remembered to grab the folding saw horse that was set up by the new trellis bed construction area. We’re not going to get more progress on that until spring. When I got back to the house, I realized that it had warmed up enough that all the snow was melting off the roof – and there was no longer a rain barrel or diverter to keep the water away from the base of the sunroom wall! That corner has already been undermined by water, and the last thing I want is for a freeze/thaw cycle happening under there. So I set up the diverter again, using the saw horse to support it, and the weights from the barrel cover to keep the diverter from sliding off the saw horse. I’ll probably have to come up with something else, though. The cats could very easily knock it all down. I might end up tying a rope loop the the nearby hand rail to hold the diverter, instead. For now, however, it’s doing the job.

We’re supposed to have highs above freezing in the middle of the week. Just for a couple of days. I don’t expect it to be enough to melt all the snow, but it will definitely get rid of most of it, I think. That will be when we cover the garlic and carrot beds with a deep mulch for the winter.

There’s just a few things left that absolutely need to be done before the ground freezes. The rest can wait until spring.

The Re-Farmer

Addendum: one of the yard kittens had gotten into the old kitchen earlier and wouldn’t come out, so after I hit publish on this post, I went back to check on him. This time, he was willing to come up to me and even let me pick him up and take him out. We’ve got bright sunshine, the yard cats are enjoying their sun spots, and things are melting all over. So I checked my weather apps on my phone. Of the two apps I have, one of them says we are at 1C/34F right now! The sun room thermometer reads even warmer, of course, and the thermometer outside my husband’s window is right in a very sheltered sun spot. I just checked. It’s reading 15C/59F!!!

Good morning!

October 23, 2023 / Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Breakfast is served.

I counted 37 or 38 this morning. Plus Shop Towel. He came over to the kibble house and seemed okay at first -I was even just starting to be able to touch him – but then one of our friendly males came by and he attacked. I chased him off and he actually stopped to attack another cat that had been startled by the commotion and happened to be running in the same direction.

*sigh*

Also, yes. That tuxedo has a messed up eye. That’s the one that had a badly infected eye, but we could never catch him to clean it up. Not the tuxedo that lost its eye entirely. I haven’t seen that one in a long time.

Today looks like a day where not much is going to get done outside. It looks like it’s been raining for most of the night, judging by how much water is pooling in our driveway, and is still raining now. It’s expected to continue raining until the evening.

Which I’m okay with. It’ll be good for the ground to get a lot of moisture before the snow hits and the ground starts to freeze. That will benefit any young trees, like the apple we planted in the spring, and the Korean Pine in the outer yard, as well as the garlic and saffron crocuses that were planted not long ago. A good, deep watering before winter is a good thing.

Oh, I need to remember to contact Veseys about those purple raspberries. I double checked and yes, I was remembering correctly. They are regular cane raspberries, not primal cane. Primal cane raspberries produce berries on new canes every year, so you can literally mow the whole patch down in the fall, and they will produce new shoots in the spring. With regular cane, berries are produced on second year canes, which then die off, leaving the fresh first year canes to survive the winter and produce the following year. What we should have gotten in our order was first year canes, and we should not have had any berries this year at all. Instead, the canes planted this year would have produced berries next year, while also having new canes come up that would produce berries the year after. There were no new canes that came up. Just the ones we planted, that produced berries, instead. It seems highly unlikely, but we either got second year canes in stead of first year canes, or conditions somehow “tricked” the raspberries into acting as though they’d gone through a winter. This can sometimes happen with biannuals like onions or carrots. For example, the year we had groundhogs eating our carrot greens, quite a few went to seed after their greens started growing back. I can’t think of anything that happened with the raspberries that could have simulated that sort of annual pattern, though.

Anyhow…

Days like today – rainy and overcast – always make me feel really, really sleepy. I’m resisting the urge to crawl back into bed!

The Re-Farmer

It’s a little wet out there

October 3, 2023October 3, 2023 / Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Just before 8am, the sky opened, the thunder roared, and down it came!

In short order, we had water pooling in all the usual places – except it usually takes a lot longer to get to this point!

Funny. I only counted about 22 cats when I put food out this morning. 😁 I didn’t put any on the cat house roof this time. They are all willing to crowd into the sun room, the kibble house and under the water bowl shelter.

The septic guy was supposed to come this morning. I called him and suggested tomorrow, since it’s supposed to be raining off and on all day. He agreed, though he will call first to ask how wet the ground is. It doesn’t take much for a truck that heavy to start sinking!

The rain was lighter when I fed the cats, so I did my morning rounds, including switching out the trail cam memory cards. I made sure to bring some tissue this time. There has been condensation inside the door of the solar camera, accumulating on the window in front of some lights. On the inside, the little window is recessed to fit the 3 LED lights it covers, so there was no way to just wipe it off. The lights are for settings, not for active recording, so it’s not essential to have them clear, but it gave me a chance to get rid of the moisture.

While it was raining…

Baseball cap visors are handy things!

So it will be a mostly indoor day. It’s election day, While I voted already, my daughter hasn’t (only the 2 of us have valid photo ID). The polling station is in our little hamlet, but I plan to go into town after, and get those medical files dropped off.

Hopefully, my mother’s car will behave!

The Re-Farmer

Morning kitties, and WOW did it get cold!

July 5, 2023 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

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

There was a time…

June 8, 2023 / Re-Farmer / 3 Comments

… when I dreamed of living on a tropical island somewhere. A place where “winter” didn’t involve air so cold it hurt your face and snow measured in feet instead of inches, or whiplash seasonal temperature extremes.

As I’ve gotten older, however, I’ve changed my mind. Oh, sure, I could do without the extreme cold temperatures in winter. However, my tolerance for heat has dropped considerably. We’ve got a somewhat cooler day today, at 25C/77F right now, compared to the last few days. Still above average, but not breaking any records. Yet I still can barely tolerate it.

Looking at the temperature map of North America right now – and not even looking at the tropics – I’ve come to the realization that this old dream of mind is something I probably don’t want anymore! I mean, even the hottest areas in the screen cap above are just a few degrees hotter than we are right now, in the prairies.

If it weren’t for the even shorter growing season, I’d be more interesting in going further north, rather than south!

The Re-Farmer

A garden tour

June 7, 2023June 8, 2023 / Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

I ended up not being able to get to doing outside work today.

It was actually cooler, but things are still too wet. I just got back from outside. It has cooled down to 23C/73F, and with the breeze, it’s gorgeous out there, but too dark to start anything.

I did, however, get to see a hole bunch of kitten out by the spirea and grape vines. So when I went out to feed the cats, I moved one of the kibble bowls over for them to discover. I’m guessing they must have already been hiding in the spirea, because just minutes later, I saw all six of them at the bowl, enthusiastically eating!

I did get some productivity in, and finally finished putting together video I took on June 1. Here is a tour of our garden, taking one day before our average last frost date.