Well, today blew away the predicted high, by a long shot! When I checked this morning, we were supposed to reach 8C/46F. As I write this, past 4pm, we are at 14C/57F! It was downright hot out there! :-D
One of my daughters added more mulch to where they planted the back-ordered tulips. The planting depth was 12-18 inches, including mulch, for them to be able to come back every year, and they definitely have that now. :-)
While that was being done, my other daughter cleaned out the eaves troughs while I held the ladder for her. Not all of them were done. One corner is just too dangerous.
Also, we need new eaves troughs, along with a new roof. :-/
I was able to clean out the fire pit.
I sifted the ashes, putting the bits of wood and charcoal back in the pit, while the sifted ashes went into the compost pile. I then made use of what used to be the “roof” over the old basement window that broke off at the hinges. It’ll keep the snow out if we want to use the fire pit in the winter.
The modifications to the kibble house floor were done.
One sheet of insulation was enough. I had to trim the length to fit. There was no trimming of the width. I cut notches to fit into the sides as well.
After the wood floor boards were returned, I cut a piece of salvaged wood to length. I used some of the bits of insulation that were trimmed off as spacers for the height. We will be able to slide the floor boards straight out the front. The insulation under it is narrow enough that it can be lifted out from the inside.
After the cross piece was screwed in place, I returned the kibble containers and topped them up.
Obviously, the cats are quite content with it there.
Hopefully, the skunks will no longer be able to pull the containers down anymore.
Now that it’s daylight, I could check to see how the tarp was looking. This only needs to hold out for one winter. Next year, we’ll paint it from top to bottom, and the tarp will no longer be needed.
Wind is the big problem. This is the tarp we used last year, to try and create a shelter for the cats in front of a shelf outside the sun room. The winds kept tearing it apart, and one corner of the tarp is pretty badly damaged. That made tying it down from underneath a bit more difficult, since one of the grommets is torn off.
The shelf we’d used is now moved, but I turned the bottom two shelves into a critter cave.
The insulation on the bottom shelves were there from last year. As this shelf is not something we are trying to keep or preserve, I used some bits and pieces of insulation and nailed them in place, to create the cave-like shelter. The taller tops will keep the stuff in the top shelf from getting knocked out or blown around. This will be removed in the spring.
The top of the shelf has been losing layers of the … plywood? … that was on top. I’d put some larger pieces of insulation to cover it, but the wind kept blowing it around. Since the surface was so damp and coming off anyway, I removed the last of the warped bits.
I found the original surface, underneath! I wonder why it was covered?
I made a new “roof” of pieces of rigid insulation, covered in plastic. With the tarp, I’d used a staple gun to try and hold it in place, but the winds just tore it all loose.
This time, I just nailed it in place.
Because the top was still a bit damp, the “roof” has spacers under it. Between the overhangs and the plastic, no new moisture should be able to get under there any more.
So now, if there are any critters that can’t shelter in the cat’s house, they’ll have this to shelter in, if necessary.
They might have a spiffy new heated house, but the boys seem to miss the sun room!
I didn’t have to heard to chase them out after everything was cleaned up and put everything away. We’ll just have to remember to close up the sun room later on this evening! :-)
Today turned out to be a lovely day, indeed! Even now, as I write this at past 7pm, it’s still 8C/46F. Which is good, because I unexpectedly spent a couple of hours outside!
I’ll get to that in a bit…
First, a winky smile for you to enjoy!
Rolando Moon joined me as I was doing my morning rounds.
So did Creamsicle.
And Potato Beetle.
And Rosencrantz!
Even some kittens followed along, in the distance! It was quite a crowd! :-D
I think they were all enjoying the milder temperatures.
I headed out to town early, as I wanted to go through a car wash with the van before taking it in to the garage. I figured it would be nice for him to work under the van without months of gravel road dust. ;-)
Today, however, is the first day a province wide mask mandate came into effect. Even though there hasn’t been a single person testing positive for the Wu Flu around, the city has seen a spike in PCR positives, and with the usual increases of people getting sick as we go into flu season – all in the city – our provincial government has put everyone under mandate. The usual exemptions still apply of course. One of the local hardware stores has a drive through car wash, so I went in to buy one. The cash desk is near the doors, so I didn’t even have to go far into the store, and I kept my distance. I was told by the cashier that they couldn’t serve me without a mask. I told them I understood about the mandate, and that I was medically exempt. She told me the whole province was under mandate. I said I knew that, but that there are several exemptions in the mandate, including medical, and I can’t wear a mask. I was told they couldn’t serve me without a mask. She did try to be polite about it, and a manager was called. I think she was ready to process the sale, too, after she asked how I intended to pay, and I said by debit. While we waited, she was apologetic, and I did mention that I understood retailers and employees were not being told about the exemptions.
The manager came and just said, we can’t serve you without a mask. I said again, I am medically exempt, pointing out that a refusal was a violation of the Human Rights Act, and I could file a complaint. He said I could do that, but they won’t serve me without a mask.
So I left.
I stayed in my vehicle for a while, trying to find an email address I could use to send a note about what happened (there wasn’t one; once I got home, I used the email address to a manager I’d written to in the past, having sent compliments for excellent customer service) when a staff member came to my vehicle. She told me they remembered that they had a portable debit machine. If I still wanted the car wash, they could bring it out to me. I told her I would be satisfied with that, and she asked me to drive close to the doors, after finding out which level of car wash I wanted. I drove over, and it was the manager who came out with the debit machine. After I tapped to pay for it, he went back in and another staff member came out with an invoice printed out with the code, and my receipt. The first person and the manager acted a bit like I was a leper, but the guy who brought me my receipt didn’t, and I really appreciated that.
With two vehicles in front of me, I had just enough time to get the car wash before my appointment at the garage!
All that for a $16 purchase. :-/
When I did get a chance to send an email to the store manager, I did say I appreciated the efforts, and that I understood the mandates put retailers in a really horrible position, while not giving them the information they need. I also mentioned that I am “fortunate”, in that my medical exemption is for something physical. If it were related to trauma, being confronted like this could have triggered someone pretty badly. I know people who are terrified to go out anywhere right now, not because they are afraid of the virus, but out of fear of something like this happening to them. The same anxiety issues that cause panic attacks if they wear a mask is causing panic attacks over the possibility of being abused for not wearing a mask. :-(
The garage, on the other hand, was completely different. There weren’t even any signs anywhere, and the owner doesn’t wear a mask, himself. Physical distancing is easy, and he is very thorough about hygiene. As we were chatting, I mentioned what had just happened, and told him again how much I appreciate him!
I noticed, as I parked my van, that he had the most adorable little picnic table outside, just big enough for two. Being such a lovely day, that’s where I went after I left my keys with him. (It’s not like there are any coffee shops or the like, where I could just sit and wait! They are all take out, only.) I saw a few others going in and out, some with masks and some without, while I waited. It is clearly – and deservedly – a very popular garage.
Since I don’t have rims on my winter tires, it took a while for him to do the switch. I’m going to have to get a spare set of rims. This job would be done a lot faster, if I did! Mind you, tires without rims are a lot lighter and easier to manhandle out of the back of the van, to where they get stored in our garage! :-D
When he was done and I went in to pay, we started chatting again. He remembered a little bit about where we lived and had some questions.
After I double check with the renter to make sure cows aren’t on the other quarter section, I will be giving him permission to go deer hunting over there. :-)
With the days being so short, once I was home, I grabbed a quick supper, then headed outside to putter about the yard while there was still light out.
I just had to go to the outer yard to get pictures of the sunset! It was stunning!
I always get a giggle out of seeing the cat paths! We have them all over, but this one is probably the most well worn! :-D
One of the things I wanted to get done was to cover the roof of the kibble house with a tarp. The rest will be fine until we can paint it next spring or summer, but the roof has screw holes from the boards we took off of it, and I don’t want moisture to get into them. I don’t have proper cordage right now, so I ended up using the cotton yarn I used to make a trellis for the cucamelons. I wanted to make sure it was secured as flat as possible, so nothing will catch and blow in the wind. The yarn isn’t particularly strong, so I was using a lot of it.
Unfortunately, by the time I was finishing up, it ended up a big tangled mass that the cats were just loving! I had to stop and untangle it, so I could finish the job.
About and hour or two later, the girls came out to check on me. :-D
By then, it was fully dark, and I was working by porch light. A pair of skunks had come out and pulled one of the kibble containers to the ground, so I chased them off, but they came back to each the kibble that spilled into the grass. I was too entangled to chase them off again, so one of my daughters did it for me. :-)
Then she noticed where a cat had chewed through the yarn. LOL
My other daughter took over untangling the yarn while I went back to tying down the tarp on the kibble house. The cats had left me just enough to do it!
Well, at least a little bit got done outside before I got side tracked! My daughters’ tulips got a good layer of leaves to mulch them, though we will probably add more before we’re done. :-) The other bulbs should be fine; only the tulips need the extra effort.
If we have time, I hope to clean the ashes out of the fire pit, in case we want to use it over the winter. There isn’t a lot, but with the blocks to hold up the cooking grill, there isn’t as much room for ashes as there used to be.
I’m looking forward to getting back outside tomorrow! :-) I definitely plan to enjoy the mild weather, while I can!
After working on the sun room door frame and the bird feeder, it was time to work on the cat house.
The first thing I needed to do, though, was adjust the counterweight.
I sacrificed another crate to hold the block, then retied it. I had doubled up the rope before and this time, rather than cut it, I folded it into thirds. There shouldn’t be a lot of friction from the block, but I figure the more cords there are, the less likely they’ll end up breaking and falling apart. Of course, the weight being supported by the crates will help prevent that, too.
I then added a couple of bricks into the openings of the block to add more weight before I tried opening the roof up.
It’s a Potato Beetle!
Nostrildamus was in there, too, but he ran off when I opened it up.
Potato Beetle didn’t move, the entire time I was working on things!
With the roof fully open, the brick is resting on the ground. This is exactly what I was hoping for!
I then screwed in the terrarium heater, then used the aluminum lid of a take out container as a heat shield, with washers as spacers to keep it from being directly against the wood.
I then plugged it in and let it heat up, sticking my hand under it every now and then. I’m happy to say that the aluminum didn’t even get warm in the entire time I was testing it, though I could certainly feel the heat off the ceramic bulb.
Which was a good time to install the smoke detector.
At the very least, if something goes wrong and a fire starts, any cats inside will be frightened off long before we hear the alarm from inside the house.
Once I was satisfied that the heat shield was adequate, the safety cage was put back. With the heater being slightly wider than a light bulb, I used washers as spacers to make sure nothing was touching it. I ended up using 5 washers at each screw. It’s a good thing that was enough, because any more, and there wouldn’t have been enough of the screw sticking out to secure the cage!
I also put in the timer, set to turn on/off at dusk/dawn. The sensor is facing the largest window, which is facing East. This will likely mean it will turn on before actual dusk but, in the winter especially, that will be just fine.
Then it was time to set up the waterproof case for the electrical cords. I still intend to pick up a longer extension cord, so that it can be tucked under the roof and out of the snow, but at least we can start using it now.
Once everything was done, the counterweight was as much a help with closing the roof as opening it. The hard part is near the end. There is a notch cut out that has to line up with the roof of the entry that was added on later. Without the counterweight, and two people lifting, the person on the window side of the entry has enough to grip, but the person holding the other side of the roof has nothing to grip without risking smashed fingers – and at that point, the roof drops pretty hard! With the counterweight, not only can I easily open it myself but, as I close it, I can do so gently enough to line up the notch to the entry roof, and let it close gently instead of dropping it.
The only thing left in here will be to plug in the heated water bowl, and that won’t be needed for a few more weeks, at least.
Tonight, the outside cats will have their first night with a heated shelter! It isn’t much; the terrarium heater may get very hot to the touch, but that’s a large space for a small heater. This is okay, though, as being too warm would have a whole different set of problems!
It should be interesting to see how many cats I will find taking advantage of the new warmth, in the morning!
Today I did some work on my mother’s car, to help prepare it for winter.
For those less familiar with some of the things many of us Canadians need to do to our vehicles so they better survive our winters, most vehicles here have, at the very least, a block heater. That’s all our van has. This prevents the oil from freezing and cracking the engine block.
We actually had that happen to us. We were living in Victoria, BC, which is temperate rainforest. Getting snow there is a rarity, and temperatures below -20C/-4F even rarer. An unexpected windfall meant we could afford to drive out to be with family for Christmas. We had no car of our own, so we rented one. My husband called several places and, at each one, told them that where we were planning to drive and asked for a car with a block heater. The typical response was “what’s a block heater?” So we took what we could and headed out, stopping for the night along the way. That night, temperatures plummeted and wind chills reached -61C/-77F. Amazingly, the car started the next morning, but we barely got back on the highway when it started making noises, so we stopped. This was in the days before cell phones, so my husband started to walk back to town, getting a ride from someone (thank God!) along the way, to get help. Long story short, the engine block had cracked (also, a 6 pack of pop on the floor of the back seat exploded. :-D ) and by the time all was said and done, it cost the company some $5000.
A few years later, when we went back to rent a car there again, we learned our story had become legend in the company. Also, the franchise owner replaced his entire fleet, and all their cars now had block heaters.
So… yeah. These are essential.
If you ever see a vehicle with Canadian plates, and the end of a cord hanging out the hood, now you know what it’s for. :-D
My mother’s car, however, also has a battery warmer and, because it was used so little, my brother added a trickle charger, too.
All of which need to be plugged in.
The plug and cord for the block heater in newer vehicles are different. They don’t need to be on constantly to do that job so, to save power, the cord itself is designed to shut itself off about about 20 minutes, then if the temperature of the lines drop below a certain point, it turns itself on again.
When my brother set things up, he used an extension cord they could all plug into, tucked neatly away.
I needed to replace the extension cord.
He also had a wire around the battery warmer to hold it in place. However, with my mom’s car having so much work done in recent years, things got moved around. After the battery died while sitting at the garage for so long, it was taken out to be charged, but I guess the wire that had been around the warmer was forgotten. I was going to use Zip Ties to hold it, but they kept breaking, so I used a Bungee cord; the red that you can see around the battery.
This is the plug for the trickle charger, after I pulled the rest of it loose. As you can see, there’s no way to plug in the block heater or the battery warmer. My mother didn’t drive the car in the winter and, until we took over taking care of it, my brother stored it here at the farm and took the battery into the house for the winter.
Remember how I mentioned the extension cord used to be neatly tucked in, until work was done on the car?
This is why the cord needs replacing.
I had noticed an odd sound a while back (this was before we had the serpentine belt and pulleys replaced) and found a loop of it hanging down, touching the belt. Thankfully, it didn’t get caught, but there was enough contact for the friction to wear right down to the wire. In another spot, it had been caught between something tight enough to cut through two layers of plastic.
We had the same type of extension cord set up in the garage for our own van, so I was going to just switch them out. I had gotten to the point of trying to figure out how to fit the end, with all three plugs in it, in place when I realized something.
Our cord was much longer than the one I’d just taken out! There was no way I could safely tuck away any excess.
Since I couldn’t leave everything half done like that, I made a quick run into town. Of the 2 hardware stores, one was already closed, and I had less than an hour to get into the second one!
Score!!
I have never seen an extension cord for block heaters before!
I could have done with shorter, but that was the shortest they had.
It took a fair amount of fiddling to find a way to lay the plugged in cords out.
More Zip Ties were used to keep things from slipping down, while the new extension cord was set up to exit at the other end.
At this point, I’m not bothering to hook up the trickle charger. It’s not needed right now.
The battery has nothing to indicate which side is positive and which is negative! Only by stretching to see the far side of the battery can I see which connector cable is red and which is black.
I’d used the slots for holding the battery cover in place for Zip Ties to hold the cord. Thankfully, that did not prevent me from being able to fasten the cover back into place.
I then dropped the hood a couple of times to make sure I could actually close it with the end of the extension cord sticking out.
For now, though, it’ll stay tucked away. When we get colder, I’ll hook up the trickle charger and leave the plug hanging out. A lot of public parking lots have outlets available, so an extension cord will be kept in the vehicle in case we want to plug it in while out and about, too.
Aside from that, my mother’s car is all set for winter. :-)
Things warmed up a bit today, and we got a bit of snow. It won’t last long; tomorrow, the temperatures are supposed to dip again.
After some consideration of what materials I had available, today I finally built an insulated shelter for the outside cats, as an extra layer of protection in the sun room, for when things start to get really cold.
The new part of the house was added on in the mid-70’s or so. I still remember bits and pieces of the construction, including the pouring of concrete for the steps at the main entry.
After all these decades, it’s to be expected that those heavy steps would slowly sink, creating a gap.
When we rigged up the shelf outside the sun room to be a cat shelter, there were a few things I identified as potential problems. The tarp is staple gunned in place, for example, and I could see those giving out easily.
What I never imagined happening, however, is what I found this morning.
It warmed up a little bit today, so we got to work on winterizing the sun room. When that was done, I was even able to modify the shelf we have outside the sun room into a cat shelter.
Today, I finally was able to get working on the old dog houses, getting them ready for winter! :-)
The first thing on the list was to take off the tarp I’d put over them temporarily, and take down the rope I’d used to hold it up.
Since I was there anyway, I decided to do something about the fallen tree beside them. It’s too big to add to the chipping pile, so I just cut it into three and pulled the top of it out of the trees it had fallen on.
The Re-Farmer 