Another Year has Turned

And all of the sudden, it's 2025!

Blogger tells me that I have done over 2000 posts from my little home here in Kansas, and I wish I still had the fortitude to blog daily.  

My last post was just before Thanksgiving, and now Christmas and New Year's has come and gone. 

Today we sit at 37 at 1:00 PM, but we are headed for single digits, starting Friday, I believe.  I just went out to the shop (barn) and connected a heated water bowl... and now there are two warming cat beds (if they will use them) as well as the hanging chick brooder lamp over the Kuranda bed (used every day). The cat beds are on two by fours, so they are not resting on concrete.  I bought a new heater last year, but it blew a circuit when I tried to use it, so I am depending on the Lasko heater I have used for three years now.  It keeps it liveable in there, but I am really, really worried about the weekend. 

There is Mama, who prefers dry food, and Cleo, who prefers wet... eating in the shop.  Teeny was out of sight of this picture.  She still sleeps in the old woodstove, and it is bedded with deep straw. 

These two prefer the Kuranda bed under the light, but I saw Mama investigating one of the heated beds today, and I am hoping she uses it.  That plastic dish is their water... it was empty this morning when I walked in, because raccoons and possums come in at night.  I cleaned and filled it, but the heated bowl is now connected, out of sight to the left and rear of Mama.  Yes, the doggone wildings will spill it too... in fact, I am thinking I need to move it closer to the drain, but if it is really, really bitter, they won't come out. 

You can actually see behind this finch feeding on the railing that we had a smattering of snow in early December. 

There was a beautiful full moon. 

There are two cardinals in this picture, but I took it of the bittersweet growing in my front hedgerow.  

This was in my memory on Facebook yesterday... our beautiful, beautiful Jester, ten years ago, December 31, 2014.  How beautiful he was, how healthy and happy.  I miss him terribly. 

This is why Chico does not get to be loose, ever, unless I am right with him.  

That's the communications tower right across from my gate, on the undeveloped 26 acres. 

If I had won the big lottery, I would have bought it to keep it free. 

The pair of bald eagles is there many, many days now.  So far, they have ignored my chickens... but... once they take one, that will be it.   They are so gorgeous I can almost forgive them. 

I wish you could have heard this eagle screaming, it was really something. 

I know you all think I'm sappy, but this comforts me. 

I miss all of my babies, not just Jes. 

I had so much fun visiting my Garnett (Ks) grands and my little great grand, Aurora, on the thirteenth. 

Nathan, her dad, and my other grand, Chris, were full of Christmas spirit.  I went down again the day after Christmas to see them with a few extra things for them.  Aurora had a great Christmas! 

Chris and me that day, my oldest grand. 

Chico and I, taken by my grandson. 

Mr. Floofy Ears will have been here a year on January 18. 

You know that I rarely post pictures of my family or myself, but I just thought the end of the year was a good time. 

I leave you all with this... and pray we are not facing hard times in the coming year... 

Thank you, as always, for reading this humble blog, and I will try very hard to post more in the coming year.  I have actually already ordered garden seeds... so it should be an interesting one! 

Looking Back at 2022

Happy New Year, Everyone! 

I checked to see last year's first post... not until January 25th, a month out from Christmas. 

This beautiful boy was still here: 

Rusty was the first feral who lived here.  I took him in with three of his siblings and raised them in the little red hen house until they were old enough to let loose.  Two disappeared early on... but Rusty and his sister Harley were here together for a year... then Harley disappeared. 

When Jack Flash came last year, Rusty moved on, across the road to my neighbor's house.  Now they have stopped seeing him.  Life is so very hard for feral cats. 

There was a second male here, Yeller, when Jack Flash came last year... he has disappeared, too. 

I only posted once during February... this picture of the stubby tailed raccoon that has now disappeared was part of that post. 

I also posted this picture of the eggs I got one day: 

Let me tell you, friends, those days are OVER.  

I have seven hens that will be two in about two months, I am getting TWO eggs a day. 

I still have one old brown leghorn... she is six... who lays about three huge white eggs a week. 

My days of giving away six or seven dozen a week are gone, I'm afraid. 

In March, I was sick for almost two weeks... with flu like symptoms.  I tested negative for Covid and then tested for flu and was negative, but the doctor agreed I had probably had it.  I managed to do chores and almost nothing else. I found out afterwards that it was a reaction to a new medication I had begun taking.  What a relief to know that. 

I was still planning to do quite a bit of gardening... and had grandson Jax load me up with planting soil. 

I started pepper and tomato seeds that I had gotten from Baker Creek.  I was very disappointed in the tomato seeds, the pictures in the catalog did not coincide with what I got. 

I did enjoy growing the peppers, Gorbaci, for ornamental value. 

This year I will not be starting any vegetables.  

In April, the two silkie roosters, Brutus and Doug, managed to kill the last two silkie hens that were running with them.  I had separated two out earlier to use for education at the Ag Hall. 

Beasts. 

I still have Doug, on the far right, and Brutus is with Mary in a separate pen.  Martha, the other silkie hen, was killed by a predator in her pen in broad daylight. 

I am trying to rehome these guys... Doug is a beautiful rooster, but a pain to get in at night. 

I have to carry Brutus and Mary up and down the steps in and out of their pen daily, and 

I am no longer doing chicken presentations at the museum, so it's time to lighten the load. 

In May, this guy appeared. 

Jack Flash, aka The Jackal... caused all kinds of ruckus here. 

He hated Coco, the black porch cat.  He hated Cleo, the beautiful. 

He tried to breed Teenie, my sweet little girl who was neutered and is still here. 

He chased Rusty and Yeller off and tried to chase Bullseye off.  

He was the King of the Place. 

He caused me all kinds of problems.  I had to go way out in the yard to feed Cleo twice a day, and Coco had to eat on the back porch for three months or be killed. 

(I realized there is a Baltimore Oriole on the feeder behind him in the picture) 

In April, these guys came back. 

They were not here too long, this time, and left again a few months later to give the pasture time to recover.  They returned again, and then were taken out in late August when the pasture was pretty much depleted after drought. 

I am not sure if they will be back this year... they were very hard on the pasture, and I am having increasing trouble taking care of the big water tank because of course, I have exacting water expectations. 

In May, these appeared at the foot of the deck... I am praying they will all be back this year, too. 

I had quite the stand of Batchelor's Buttons. 

I did not post in June, I have no idea why.  I get busy... but that's no explanation. I used to post daily! 

In July, I posted a picture of our newest family arrival... 

Our newest little doll, Wyatt, with his big sister, Maci.  These are children of Granddaughter Madison, 

who live at Tanglewood Lakes in LaCygne, Kansas, far from me. 

I love seeing pictures of them, though we rarely meet in person. 

He is now a six month old... sitting up well and has blond hair and looks like his daddy Dorval's mini-me. 

Maci will be starting kindergarten as an almost-six-year old this fall.  It seems like she was just born, where does time go! 

In July, Jack Flash broke my heart.  I had had him neutered and got all his shots. 

I did not have them test for FIV.  

Within a week or so of the neuter... he fell sick. 

I watched him waste for a week and took him down to the vet for a booster which was scheduled. 

The King was dying. 

I held him and sung to him  as he was euthanized for FIV.  The neuter had thrown him into an episode.  I will never get another feral neutered without testing for this devastating disease. 

It took a while for the cats to relax and stop watching for his ambushes.  Coco came back to the front porch and deck, Cleo moved into the shop.  Everyone was safe again. 

The sad thing was, I had really learned to love him and the neutering was my way of making sure he could stay here with everyone.  We figured the testosterone would die down in a few months and things would settle. 

It was not to be. 

Jack fathered a litter of kittens with a cat who was little more than a kitten herself... Mama.  

There were four kittens in my shop for over two months. 

They were successfully trapped by Kitty Cat Connection and went on to barn homes of their own.  Mama was ear tipped and neutered and returned to me, and lives here happily in the shop. 

Jax and I were able to finally clean the shop up again.  (We need to do it again!) 

Doug, the Killer Cotton Ball, styling by the morning glories on my henyard fence in August. 

August 28th, the sheep were pulled as the pasture grass was worn out from the drought. 

They had stayed until early October the two years before. 

In September, I went to Garnett to see my other little great grand, 

Aurora Jane Rose. 

She will be two in May. 

September was also the month that this guy came here... Buddy, whom I also call Big Dog, or Moose.  He was found astray in our county and turned over to Animal Control, thank heavens, because he was starved and road-beaten.  He has stayed here, and has gained forty pounds.  He is the German Shepherd who does not bark!  

He was estimated at over ten years old, which is old for a GSD. 

In October, Wanda started living in the big hen house full time. 

I lock her up every night with the birds, and she does fine in there.  In fact, I was so grateful to know she was warm and dry during the cold spells. 

She has her meals in there, too, and there is a heated water bowl for her. 

She actually sleeps in a kennel at night in a deep bed of straw.  Since there are hardly any eggs being laid now, she has her run of the nest boxes.  She has also gone from wanting to kill me to being a regular purr machine and talking as soon as she sees me in the morning. 

In November, I started seeing these guys regularly...

Notice it is still daylight...

The feeder is no longer in the pasture, and I'll explain why in a minute. 

It was originally put there because I began seeing another cat. I believe now that that cat, whom I call Alien... has a home nearby, because he disappeared during our recent brutal cold snap, and reappeared after. 

I still have chicken carcasses from Sam's to dispose of... and they are going in the north fence line. 

I saw skunks come to the feeder, which I had not seen for years here.  I also saw possums and raccoons and frankly, I don't need to draw any more of them. 

There was still a bit of color in November, but we did not have a glowing fall because of the lack of moisture, I think. 

I had made a decision to have my cataracts removed, and those operations were (foolishly) scheduled for December 7 and 14.  Friends, I did not go into this with enough information. 

I listened to friends who had had it done and loved the results. 

The surgeon explained to me twice that I could have one eye "long" and the other eye "short" and I told him I could wear eyeglasses for close up.  

I did not realize that I would have to actually wear glasses in bed as I read at night (which I have always done) or to even look at my phone during the night if awakened. They hurt my nose... that is all I am going to say. (laying on them in bed).   I have readers all over the small house now so I can reach for them.  

I hate what I did to my eyes. They feel gritty all the time, and you cannot rub them.  I am using the eye drops, which will end in another week... and my eye doctor told me to use eye drops regularly... but I notice last night on the Visine bottle there are warnings against this. 

I see my own eye doctor again on Wednesday, I had a truncated appointment last week but found out that I can wear contacts that provide that "near" and "far" sensation.  The other alternative is to wear glasses full time and have one eye near and one eye far.  

I really screwed myself up.  

As far as "far" vision, I can see clear over to the hen houses and see what is going on on the porch of the big hen house. 

I urge anyone trying to make this decision to get all of the information before doing it.  

On the camera in the shop, I have been getting pictures of a few animals that are going in there at night. 

Oddly enough, there are not hordes of animals going in there.  This big raccoon is one, a large possum is one, 

and this skunk. 

There it is, caught on camera on the 17th. 

Friday morning, the 30th... I found it here... 

It is between the big and little hen houses, and there is a burrow right behind it. 

I believed, when I found it, that it could be diseased and I was immediately afraid of rabies or distemper.  I called the largest local wildlife rehabbers and got no help from them, not even a name to call.  I tried the sheriff's dept, and to be fair, a deputy did return the call... and then mumbled he would try to get the ACO to call me.  

I prevailed upon two friends, who did not want to shoot it. 

It suffered all day long, I checked on it many times.  

In the above picture, it was still able to raise its tail a little. 

As the day wore on, I realized it was not diseased, but was the same skunk as on camera in the shop. 

By late afternoon, it was barely alive, and I lacked the courage to take a shovel and put it out of its misery, I am such a coward.  I could hardly sleep that night.  

I sent some pictures to a friend who is an ACO in Texas and he said it did not look diseased. 

We think now... I think... that it was hit by a car on the road just out of sight behind it... and dragged itself up the bank to the closest burrow, which was under the little hen house. 

Four of those hens and Doug did not come out that day... and their house still smells of skunk, but I have the windows open. 

Thank God, yesterday morning I found it dead.  I picked it up and put it into a bag and carried it down to the woods and put it down there. 

I am going to get a burn barrel where I can burn anything suspect in it, but this skunk was clearly in good health ... and as confirmation, there have been no skunks on the shop camera in the last three nights. 

It broke my heart. 

I forgot to check if it was male or female, and skunks breed in May and June, so I was not worried about babies.  However....skunks also have very short lives in the wild, usually two to three years, like opossums.  

On the way down to the bottom of the pasture, I stopped to look at the possum that died four weeks ago in the dog house in my garage. 

Almost untouched.  Incredible. 

You can sure tell the vultures are gone for the winter, and the coyotes are spoiled. 

And so, another year has passed. 

I am the last of my nuclear family, though I have first cousins who gathered around our family table, but it is at the holidays that I miss them the most, when I think of those happy times of past years. One of my cousins sent me a card that read "I miss those happy days at 240" (our family address).  I do, too. 

We had a quiet Christmas this year with members of the family being affected by RSV and flu... and I am trying to stay away from anyone sickly.  

I enjoy being at home, I am one of those "weird" people... who is happy in my own patch.  I am going to spend this afternoon looking at seed catalogs... just because I am not starting anything does not mean I am not planting.  I had one big planter devoted to herbs the last two years, and that is being dug out and flowers going in.  I am going to sit myself down with the Burpee catalog this afternoon and dream of summer. 

I am looking forward to another year volunteering at the National Agicultural Center  and I am grateful to all of my friends there.... Wayne, Judy, Marsha and all of you who have helped me this past year.  

I cannot emphasize enough that volunteering is needed and so good for the soul! 

I did not hear many concerts this year... pandemic times stopped so many tours and my favorite groups did not come here.  There were a few I regretted not seeing. YES was back, but not close enough for me to get to.  Leaving this place is hard for me now. 

Jester, Zoey, Buddy, and all the kitties of Calamity Acres join me in wishing you the best of Happy New Years! 

Thank you for continuing to read this blog. 

A Month of Thanksgiving

Years ago, when I was still blogging daily... I participated in another blog's "Month of Thanksgiving".  Every day, we remembered something for which we were thankful. I may not be blogging daily, but I am still so thankful. 

Thankful that Keith left me the things he built... Big Henhouse, the arbor, the hayshed... all things that help me daily take care of everyone around here, or bring me beauty. 

Thankful for the dogs and cats that bring such joy to me. 

Thankful that the chickens get me up daily and get me moving! 

The beautiful colors have gone by here. 

The trees are mostly brown. 

On Thursday, we had something wonderful... 

2 1/2 inches of rain!  It rained all day long, it was wonderful!

I left the chickens in, it's hard on the old birds. 

Right now, I have only four birds who are laying daily... I don't know what happened to the other three 18 month old girls, but they are not laying.  Maybe the moult, but everyone appears to be over that. 

I am just glad I will have enough with which to bake. 

Last Sunday, I went to a mini-high school reunion, my graduating class tries to gather 

regularly.  I went with two other ladies.  

We had a chili testing!  It was a lot of fun, and fun guessing whose of the six chilis entered was the winner. 

Here I am with my classmate Larry sampling the chili.  The committee worked so hard to do this, and one lady made about 60 dozen different kinds of cookies and breads for our desserts! 

(don't know why this picture is so red, but I did have a red shirt on, as did Larry) 

It was so good to get out and see everyone.  The day turned out well, too, with about 40 classmates in attendance. 

There's our friend again. 

He has not been coming out so early, though, these past few days. 

For years, I kept a fortex in the pasture with some feed in it for the wildings. 

However, I have made the decision to start dumping the chicken carcasses (from Sam's) in the tree line to the north.  The coyotes can find them there, and there are no animals in that pasture.  

I had a camera there, because I dumped there while the sheep were here... and they found them easily. 

I have some cat food in the fortex right now, for the lone cat that is coming here to eat. 

Last Sunday, I realized the indoor door to the old hen house was agape... I tie it shut at night, because the 

door jamb is not right.  Then I shut the outer door that had a screen in it, and block it with several things. 

Raccoons had pulled the poultry wire back, climbed in, and killed one of the three remaining chickens in there. 

I put a camera in there that night and they came back. 

So... I stapled hardware cloth across where the poultry wire had been.... 

and darned if they have not tried to get in again!  This morning, it was bent back on either corner. 

I have enough hardware cloth left to staple it all the way to the top of the door, which is what I should have done in the first place. 

Then, yesterday morning, I found a piece of the trim laying across the porch of the big hen house, and you can see the corner of the door jamb... chewed almost through. 

I was ready to scream.  I had not been around to the side porch yet... they tried to get in there, and left me two huge piles of poop.  

I nailed that trim back on and then sprayed the whole door jamb with bitter apple spray. 

I am going to Petsmart this morning in a while to see what other kind of sprays I can find to keep them away. 

I blocked where they had chewed last night, and 

nothing was disturbed this morning.  I also put a cement block in front of the pophole on the side. 

I can't believe they didn't shove the paving stone aside and tear the pophole cover off. 

They can't, now.  But friends... it's a pain to do all this stuff every night. 

I had the little hen house blockaded, too.  

It just makes me mad I have to do this every single night. 

I pick up all cat food before dark, and I feed so little bird seed now, there is almost nothing left for the

raccoons. 

The farmer from whom I buy pork told me that they have trapped and killed 38 raccoons in the last few months at his place, they raise 300 hens and the raccoons were laying waste to them. 

You know that I don't kill, but trust me, I am very close to trapping and releasing somewhere farther out, like our county fishing lake. 

Luckily, my traps are on loan to someone catching some ferals for neutering. 

Looks pretty comfy, huh?  

The rescue told me last night that they had only one inquiry for him, and they declined the person. 

She asked me if I was prepared to keep him as a foster (because they will cover his medical bills) and I told her YES.  

He is a doll, but he is an old doll. 

He sheds a LOT and has to go in and out a lot to potty. 

But he is also very loving and good with everyone here. 

 

This baby black rat snake was in the shop this week on one of the two very warm days we had before the storms came. 

I finally moved it to the side wall because Teenie would not leave it alone. 

We grow 'em beautiful here in Leavenworth County!

Sitting in the Window

Friends, I still have post-Covid exhaustion. 

I am trying to keep up with posting, but, my goodness, my yard work is suffering!

I'm glad Jax has been able to help a little. 

Do you see the arbor in the middle?  Keith built that as almost the first thing he ever built here. 

It still stands, though it took a direct hit from a branch this summer, but Ben was able to repair it. 

On either side of it were four beds about twenty five feet long.  One bed was in the shade of the maple tree you see.  The big bush like thing on the left was an oakleaf hydrangea. 

These beds were gorgeous in their full bloom.  I mulched them with straw... you can see it here... 

and they were raised and had to have new bags of dirt poured in yearly.  My gosh, they were beautiful. 

I wish you could see what is left!  There is still one, sort of.... on the side where the maple is.  It is full of 

horrid maple seedlings that I  cut out over and over and over.  But there is still some yarrow growing there,  and the hollyhocks have re-seeded themselves.  All other raised meds were taken out by Ben. I have one left, and Jax is helping me re-do it.  We are waiting until next week, for some reason we are having a blast of summer's heat right now.  It is going to be 99 on Wednesday, the day he usually "works".  

So... I have about fifteen bags of dirt, bought a year ago.  Jax is going to spread them across the bed, rake it smooth... and then we are going to transplant every iris we can find.  I am going to try to buy some more this fall, and we are going to have a beautiful bed of iris in the spring, I hope! 

Meet Buddy, or actually, Big Dog, as I call him.  He was found out in the county on Labor Day, and the kind person who found him posted him... then called the Sheriff, who, God bless the deputy, 

called the Bonner Springs ACO (who is awesome) and she came and got him.  He was very weak, 

almost to emaciation, and could hardly stand.  The vet estimated his age to be around ten or older, which is ancient for a German Shepherd Dog.  The vet believes he is purebred. 

He has had his shots and been chipped, and after three days, he came to me to foster. 

Friends, he is the gentlest boy.  He is not fazed by my littles, by the cats, or by the chickens.  I have yet to hear him bark... the only noise I have heard him make is a groan when he rolls onto his side on the floor.  He had a week of Clavamox for a UTI... and yes, I am crating him at night in Ranger's old crate which takes up a bunch of real estate in the kitchen... but.... he did great this morning while I ran down to the Ag Hall to do something and he was loose the whole time.  I do get up at 1 or 2 and take him out of the crate, let him have a good drink, and then go ouside to relieve himself, then he goes back in and back to sleep. 

The cats nearly went catatonic on his arrival... but Mama Cat now comes up to him and boops him on the nose with her nose!  Our routine is that I get him out of the crate about 5:30, and he goes out on the porch, relieves himself, and I put the cat food out so the cats can start eating breakfast.  They ignore him. 

He lays on the doorstep.  He and Zoey were guarding the door this morning before it got hot. 

We all took a two hour rest this afternoon, then everyone had a snack.  

My friends have been teasing me because I failed with my last two fosters... Zoey and Fritzi.... but.... 

I think this guy deserves a home where someone will cherish him in his final year or two  and devote themselves to him.  He had a lot of people interested in him... but no one came forward to fill out the forms to foster.  

The thing is, I can put him out on the porch when I am getting tired of stepping over him, and know that he will stay close and be within recall.  It's comforting. 

Bullseye was not too sure at first.  I will say that Bully and Molly, the two inside cats, are cautious when they come through the door, still.  I don't blame them, he is bigger than anything ever here... and Ranger has been gone a long, long time.  (Ranger was our black/silver GSD that Keith rescued in the county and we brought back to health.  He was our beloved companion for 8 years)

Our beloved Ranger Boy. 

So you see, there was a "Big" here for years. 

Guess what?  I made another trip to the country last Sunday! 

I went to Garnett, where my two oldest grandsons have lived for years. 

It's about 70 miles away. 

This is Aurora Jane Rose, daughter of my grandson Nathan, who was at work. 

She is just a doll, and so fun to be around.  

Two weekends and seeing my grands and great grands was a lot of fun!

I am including this picture because it cracks me up!  My former daughter in law lives in Garnett, and her partner is a barbecue aficionado.  I could not remember on what street she lived, and she said 

"Just come down the street until you see the giant smoker in the front yard".  

Boy, she was not kidding! 

I had her take this picture just as I was leaving! 

These are beautiful dahlias from the Wyandotte County Master Gardeners garden in front of the National Agricultural Center.  

They make me want to grow dahlias next year, they are so gorgeous!  My friend and fellow volunteer Jan held the pink one so I could take pictures of it. 

The beautiful full moon as it faded this week. 

And the moon setting through my bedroom window as I got back in bed after letting Buddy out one morning. 

This is a gander at the Ag Hall on alert last week.

And his ladies in the shade behind him. 

The gorgeous Cleo likes to watch from afar.... and I am still feeding her at the Little Red Hen House.  However, yesterday morning I saw her come up on the porch to eat, so I know she knows where to find food. 

Molly Ann.  Both she and Bully like to lay in the cool dirt in this barrel planter from which Jax and I pulled the tomato plant. 

Cardinal Vine... a very late planting, I threw a bunch of seeds into a big planter in the only garden bed left - the overgrown one... and what a reward! 

Why did I call this entry 

Sitting in the Window? 

Two years ago, during the height of the pandemic, I bought a desktop computer . It literally sat in the the closet until February or March of this year, when I had the young man from the computer place I use come out and "install" it and hook it up to the printer in my office.  That day, he put the old computer, which had been Keith's.... on my kitchen table to get it out of the way.  He had to connect it for some reason... I don't remember why.... and he left it sitting there when he left that day.  

This is an eight year old HP computer.  

I am still using it daily, I LOVE to sit at the table... watch the garden... I can see the chicken houses on the west side of the yard, I can see the two bird feeding stations.  

The dogs are either under the table or behind me, and it is just so to my liking.  

I had it facing out to the road for a few months, and I could glance up and see the television... but here, the television does not usually get turned on until time for the news.  If I have to print something, I send it in to the "new" computer (which is surely now outdated, too) and print it in the office. 

I like the "new" computer, don't get me wrong.  I had a lap top for a while, but I found it awkward to type on, and I did not like having to balance it all the time if it was not on a firm surface.  Call me old fashioned, I don't care. (The lap top, which was a used refurbished, molders in a closet). 

I like what I like.  

So here I sit, watching the world go by in a tiny fashion outside my window.  

Soon, it will be cold again, and my electric heater sits here, ready to keep me warm as I read and type. 

It suits me. 

Everyone have a great week! 

.