yard

No escort this morning!

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This morning, as I headed out to give the outside cats their food and warm water, I was very pleased to see that the water bowl was still on the warming set up!

It was completely empty, but it was there, at least!  Which meant no new ice on the concrete floor.

I think we’re still going to have to increase how often we bring water out for them, though.

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This is one of the water dishes we still use, outside.  You can see the holes made by little tongues, trying to get through the surface ice, to the water below, before it froze solid.

When I go out with their food, they are normally all over each other, trying to get at the bowls of food. 

Not this morning! 

Oh, look.  Fancy tree fruits.

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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, hanging out in the ornamental apple tree.

Towards the end of my rounds, Butterscotch did try to join me, but soon, she was hanging out in a tree, too!

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So what changed, this morning?

This guy.

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My brother’s dog came over for a visit!

He looks so sad that Butterscotch won’t come down for snuffles.

He actually let me pet him, without much stand-offish-ness, this morning, which made me happy. :-)

As you can see by the ribbon attached to his collar, it’s hunting season right now.  In fact, I heard two gun shots this morning, while doing my rounds.  Someone out there is getting meat for their freezer!

While doing my rounds, I went back to see the electric fence the deer broke.  I didn’t like all that wire tangled and looped up in one spot, so I found the broken end and started pulling it back.  The end was near the gate, so there were quite a few holders for me to loop it through, before I reached the full length.  I found an insulator on a post to loop the end through, so it wouldn’t spring back again, then found the other end and pulled that back as far as I could.

The break turned out to be right next to our septic outflow.

Which is looking pretty dramatic right now!

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The ground is too frozen to absorb the grey water, so the ice is extending quite far, already.

I’m guessing the piece of metal roofing was put where it is, deliberately, to prevent excess erosion from the water being pumped out the top of that pipe.

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There are quite a few willows here, including this one that used to be quite massive.  Which says something about how quickly willows can get huge.  My father planted these by just sticking branches into the marshy ground.  Which means these were planted in the early to mid 70’s. 

I am remembering something the younger of my brothers had said, shortly after we moved here.  Something about how he had been trying to kill off the Chinese Elm growing by the septic field, because they were planted too close to the outflow and the roots were causing problems. 

I’ve gone through were a few times over the past year, and there are no Chinese elms growing here.  Just the willows my late father planted.  He planted willows because they are good for taking up water, and would prevent the area from becoming too marshy.  Some of it is lower and forms a sort of pond, when there’s enough rain (which meant there was almost no water at all, this past year), but the outflow is closer to the barn and several outbuildings.

So… I don’t know what my brother was talking about, in regards to any elms in this area.  Odd.

The Re-Farmer

A fine morning!

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Such a lovely morning!  Doing the morning check around the yard does have its benefits. :-D

With the chillier conditions, I’ll be taking on the feeding of the cats again.  The temperature change between indoors and out is not good on my husband’s back.  So I get to add putting out food and warm water to the morning routine.

I’m just not going to be doing it at first light.  The cats are going to have to put up with that! :-D

The nice thing is that, while I’m putting the food out, I’m actually able to pet almost all of them.  Even Rosencrantz or Guildenstern (but not both) will let me touch, for a brief moment, before moving away.  I don’t want to keep the shy ones from food, though, so I leave them alone and move on to the water.  Which now includes knocking the ice out, first!  It was while I was doing that, when all the cats suddenly exploded in all directions!

We got another visitor this morning.

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Productive

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What a gorgeous day we had today!  We actually hit 19C!

I don’t expect we’ll hit above 10C again, for the rest of the year.  It’d be nice, but I’m not going to count on it!

Which meant a final run around the yard.  I took out the string of lights that wasn’t working, then hauled away a few more loads of pruned and cleaned up branches from the spruce grove; what hasn’t been cleaned up are in piles that can stay the winter.  Mostly, I wanted access to the larger, less noisy, wheelbarrow!  The straw around the old dog house I prepped for the cats to use over the winter had settled, so I added three more wheelbarrows of straw around the outside.  I also finally cleaned up the platform for the clothes line.  Some of what was on there went to the junk pile – we won’t be able to get that hauled away this year, unfortunately.  There was a plastic bin under the bench seat on the platform that had some plant pots in it, sitting in half frozen rain water.  The pots went into the shelf we’ve left by the sun room – that thing has been too handy to haul away.  The bin itself was put back under the bench, but on its side, so it won’t collect water.  Bricks that had been lying around went inside it, to ensure it doesn’t get blown away.  One more little shelter from the weather for the cats, though they also go under the platform itself.

The tools and equipment have been put way, but into the sun room, not the garden shed.  That shed will need to be hauled away with the junk, after we clear it out of whatever is not broken in there.  I’ve put the garden hoses in there, but I hope to replace those next summer.

It looks like getting the trees done will have to wait until the spring, after all.  The pump for our well has been making some strange noises when it first turns on, but I’ve never been able to get to it to record it, before the noise stops.  We’ve been listening for it, as it doesn’t happen every time the pump turns on, and it seems to make the noise only after the pump has not had to turn on for several hours.  So, mostly, when the first shower of the day is started.  Before contacting the plumber I emailed my older brother about it.  From the description, he says it sounds like the foot valve is letting water slowly leak down.  If it has long enough time to leak, when it turns on again, it will make the grumbling noises we’ve been hearing, as it tries to prime itself.

If that’s what it is, it’s a job for the plumber, because fixing it would require taking the pipe out of the manhole outside.

I’ve asked the girls to let me know before the first one of them showers tomorrow morning, so I can go downstairs and start recording when the water is started, and hopefully catch the pump making the noise when it turns on.  Then I can call the plumber, play it for him, and it will give him an idea of what it is.

This is one of those things we can’t take a chance on.  If the pump goes, we have no water.  Better to have it fixed now, before winter gets here!  I’m just hoping we can pay for that, and still be able to get me to a dentist. :-(

Renting a wood chipper this fall is also out the window.

*sigh*

20181018.lights.fixedOnce it was dark enough, I went out to check the lights again.  One string shorter, but all are working!

I’m really happy with how the whole fence line is looking.  After I took the broken string of lights down, I took the time to cut away the small underbrush I’d left behind, since I was focusing on getting the fence itself clear of the big stuff.  There was enough of it to be in the way while walking back and forth, with the lights.

That done, I spent some time walking around, just enjoying the warm and peaceful night in the yard.  Gosh, it is so nice!  I really missed this, when living in the city.  You can actually see the stars, and it’s so quiet.  Even when being chased down and having my calves tackled by a Doom Guy. :-D

I played around with the “pro” settings on my phone to try and get some photos.  Here’s one of them.

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You can actually see a star next to that moon!  I’ve resized the image, and some of the detail is lost. The lights on the bottom right are the solar lights I’ve got on each side of the vehicle gate into the yard, and you can see the moon reflecting on the metal roof of the garage.

Anyhow.  As for as outside the house goes, we’re ready for winter.

It’s been a good and productive day!

The Re-Farmer

Prep for winter: dog house for cats

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Today has turned out to be beautifully sunny and warm; the last warm day we’re supposed to get for at least a week.  Time to take advantage of it!

One of my goals for the day was to get the old dog house by the sun room cleaned out, re-oriented and winterized for the cats to use.

Here is how it looked, starting out.

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Here, I have already removed the sheets of aluminum and metal roofing from the top, and the board that covered the top of the opening.

The first thing to do was to clean out the old straw.

It smelled like pee. :-(

In the process, I discovered it was really easy to move, so I was able to tip it over to get the last of the old straw and dirt out.

Which is when I discovered this.

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A board, the head of a metal snow shovel, a toilet tank lid, and a rock.

This was all placed under it to level the doghouse.  As you can see, though, the back end had started to sink into the ground.  The wood was beginning to rot where it touched the ground.

I wanted to change the direction the opening face, as the south facing opening meant the wind was blowing right in.  I considered having it face north, towards the sun room, for maximum shelter from the wind, but after seeing how the ground was uneven, I decided to just turn it 90 degrees.  Not quite as sheltered, but still better.  Plus, we have some ideas on how to provide even more insulation and shelter, later.  We shall see.

I also didn’t want to lay it directly on the ground.  There has been a large piece of thick plastic leaning against the house since before we moved here.  No one has said anything about why it’s there or if it’s for anything in particular.  I think it used to be the cover for the basement window in the past, but the one that’s there now is larger.

So, I claimed it.

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The cut outs are a bit of a problem, as it is just shy of the width of the dog house.  Which means the corner “legs” slide off, one way or the other, easily.  To help with that, I used the two glazed bricks that had been in front of the opening before, and put one on either side, to prevent slippage.  Then, for extra measure, I found a rod that I could insert into the ground against one corner.  The doghouse can still be easily moved, but not on its own.

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Next, fresh straw was put inside for bedding and insulation, and more was added around the sides and back, for insulation.

Coming back with another load of straw to add inside, I found Doom Guy in it, checking it out! :-D

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Finally, the metal sheets were put back on the roof, and the board back over the opening.

It’ll do for another winter – probably several winters – but I certainly hope we can replace this with something better, next year.

Who knows how many cats we’ll have by then!

Speaking of cats, they were all over the place, but that will be for another post!

The Re-Farmer

Prep for winter: the old kitchen garden

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Well, today was certainly a productive day outside!

I decided to see how much I could get done on the old kitchen garden today, and ended up finishing the job!  So I’m happy. :-)

When I came out of the house, I startled cats in all directions, including that new grey ball of fluff.  A few of them even hung around while I moved things around the garden to prepare.

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How long had this been here?

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While walking through the yard with my brother and nephew, we reached the garage, and my nephew noticed this.

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Best guess, it’s been hanging there since this side of the garage itself was painted.

I have no idea when this side section was added to the garage, since it happened during my years living in another province.  I don’t even know which time I lived out of province it got added on!  Suffice to say, probably a couple of decades.

Yeah.  It’s still there.  At this point, it’s just entertaining. :-D

The Re-Farmer

Digging

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In the early light of the morning, I could just barely see something odd in the west yard, through the bathroom and sun room windows.

A dark something that I thought might be a lounging cat or something, at first.  Except it didn’t move.

So I made sure to check when I was outside in better light.

You know those shallow holes I’ve been finding around the yard?

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This one was not so shallow. LOL

I wonder what’s so tasty in our dirt that’s worth this much effort? :-D

The Re-Farmer

Digging

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While walking around the west yard after a rainfall, I found more of these.

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Something is very enthusiastically digging shallow holes in our yard!  Whatever it is has been doing it in different areas throughout the summer.

Best guess, I think it’s a skunk digging for grubs.

Anyone else have an idea of what it might be?

The Re-Farmer

A bit early, isn’t it?

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I would not have expected this many leaves on the ground, this early in the year. :-/

This photo also shows just how little rain we have had this year.  If you look in the back, near the tire planter, there is a definite rectangle of greener grass.  I had set up the sprinkler to water where the grapes are, a couple of times.  Since it was there anyway, I set it to full to water the grass as well.  When I came to harvest some grapes, I moved the sprinkler to the other side of the steps, to water the wilting lilacs at the corner of the storage house.  Just that little bit of watering made a difference!

While I will water the plants, I don’t typically water the lawn.  Yes, we are on a well and water is “free”, but running the water means the pump is running constantly until it’s shut off.  I’d really prefer not to wear it out!

I have been chomping at the bit today, wanting to start working on the spruces.  While it hasn’t been quite as hot as predicted yet, we’re still up there, and the humidex makes if feel even hotter.  I kept thinking, it’s not that hot.  I could probably get a couple of hours in…  I managed to resist working on the trees, but I did go outside to work on the wiper blades on the van.  It’s parked by the house, to make it easier to load up for the dump run we’ll be making later, and I finally remembered.  Our van’s washer fluid sprays out from the wipers themselves, but on the driver’s side, the sprayer was held on with electric tape, which seemed to be blocking it.  The other side was held in place with a zip tie.  I ended up doing both of them with new zip ties, only to find that it just sprays wonky, anyhow. LOL  Then I cleaned up and rearranged in front of the main entry, making the hand rail more accessible.  I didn’t realize how much my mother needed it to get to the door.  The bench I placed in front of the bin we use to keep garbage bags until we can haul them away was blocking her from reaching it.

By the time I was done, I realised that yes, it is quite hot out there, and heavy manual labour is not a good idea.  No matter how fun it is! :-D

Tomorrow will be cooler and…

oh!  My phone just dinged.  A severe thunderstorm watch for today and tomorrow for the area.  Hmm.  What I was going to say is that it is expected to be cooler tomorrow, but it’s Sunday, and I do try to have Sundays as a day or rest, so I wouldn’t be working on the trees, anyhow.  I guess the weather is going to be making sure of that, after all!

Seeing all those leaves on the grass has made me more aware of how quickly time flies.  I want to get as much done in the yard as I can, before winter sets in.

I know it’s a running joke to talk about the weather, but it really is a big deal.  For my neighbouring farmers, weather can make or break their entire year.  I am grateful that our income does not depend on what the weather does, it still plays a big part in deciding what we do, and when.  Something as simple as the leaves coming down early is a good reminder of that.

The Re-Farmer