A Balmy Day in February

February 15... who would have thought???

64 degrees!

As Keith would have reminded me, winter is not over yet. 

It's 25 with a "feels like" of twelve right now on Friday morning. 

Here I am on the raccoon cam yesterday morning, 

headed out to do chores in CAPRIS in February, and 

my oversized Mona Pants tee shirt. 

Crazy!

I am back in Cuddl Duds and a sweatshirt and jeans this morning. 

So, I got started... slowly.  

I had lots of help every step. 

I had to watch everywhere I stepped, because spring is springing. 

Every five minutes, I had to stop... dig out a sapling... 

and cut it underground.  Some I was actually able to pull 

out by the roots.  Others were just too thick. 

There is yarrow in this bed at the back, and a 

patch of nice iris.  I left them alone. 

I unearthed some lily corms and could have slapped myself, I 

buried them again, but I think I had better invest in some new lillies. 

I moved over to the vegetable beds to do some 

cleanup.  Remember, I am still experiencing muscle weakness, so 

I go very slowly for the time being. 

Four of the eight beds are in pretty good shape, but I will add

manure and dirt to them. 

The other four need to be dug out. 

I also have a big problem in one of the vertical beds. 

It's a rugosa rose, well established.  

I did not plant this, it came while we lived in the big house. 

I am going to carefully start cutting the canes, which have 

wicked, large thorns.  Then I'll start working on the base. 

The vertical panels tie together at the top bar, and I want to 

use these beds again for climbing flowers.  

I pulled all the canes out of the middle area yesterday.  The far bed 

needs to be dug out, too. 

I'll have the yard service keep all this area cut down this year, when Keith and I 

planned this garden, we did not do enough thinking about keeping the paths clean. 

Beyond that bed lie the "bones" of my 

hoop house.  Some way, some how, I am going to get it 

resurrected.  It may take another year, I have to have 

someone to build the ends again.  Beyond the 

hoop house there are two beds that have iris in them, but 

also formerly, hollyhocks and sedum.  I am going to dig those beds

out and hollyhocks are coming back to Calamity Acres. 

I am never alone.  See that blue thing on the 

ground?  I am still picking up random pieces of plastic that 

appear everywhere.  In fact, this morning, doing chores, I 

picked up another 4 pieces.  Where do they COME from???

Four years ago, when we moved to the big house, 

my friend Georgie sent me some marigold seeds from Oregon. 

I planted them, and every year, saved the seed.  

I pulled this clump from the tomato bed yesterday, 

and I hung it in the henhouse for the time being. 

There will be a full bed of bright red and maroon 

marigolds again this year, descendants of 

the Oregon marigolds.  

This group, and the ones on the deck, will not be filled 

and planted until proper planting time, because of the hens, 

who love to jump in them and DIG.  I'm also 

going to have to put netting on them until the plants get going. 

The alternative is to fence the hens into their own run... but I hate doing that. 

They are happy running all over the yard, and I am dealing with the Poop Factor. 

That's starling poop on the deck, though, they hang out in the big maple off and on. 

As soon as it warms enough, the starlings will be gone to the fields for the summer. 

My daily reward for letting them roam. 

I took this as I gathered eggs last night. 

We see you. 

This is what raccoons do to the water in the henhouse. 

Feral Spooky waited while I cleaned the water and opened a can of 

food for him this morning, he is a smart boy.  I always leave a container of 

dry food, but I put wet food out in the morning and the evening. 

Isn't he lovely? 

Autumn

There are my feet again, those of you who follow me on Insta and Facebook will recognize me in this position, in my recliner. 

There is my sweet little Twinkle. 

I have also written about how he has been scratching and biting me, and someone (Sally) suggested that I discipline him now so that he would not turn into a biting, scratching adult. 

Actually, I have been using a small squirt bottle on him, which we used with
Lilly when she was a puppy, lo, these many years ago. 

What I found was that after a week, he responded better to "NO", than being

squirted. 

Here is the reason he is on my lap, curled up. 

That's Paiton with Autumn, our new family member from 

Kitty Cat Connection. (Thank you, Tammy Potts)  I went over to pick Autumn up 

last Saturday, and she had to spend some time in the bathroom 

getting used to everything.  When I am here, she is now allowed to 

roam throughout the house with Twinkle. 

Oh, we have had some fun. 

They have been up hill and down dale. 

They are not allowed outside, tho Twink has escaped a time or two. 

They are strictly indoor cats, from here on out. 

Lilly is not sure about Autumn,  so I monitor them. 

Jester wants to play so BADLY, and Autumn is not used to 

dogs, so there is a lot of hissing. 

In fact, he is feeling very left out, he was Twinkle's main man. 

He had been jumping and grinning, play with me, play with me, 

for five minutes before I took this, and they ignored him. 

Here is a dorky picture I took with one hand last night. 

I was watching the Voice finale (sort of) and Twinkle climbed up 

into the recliner and went to sleep nestled on me.  Autumn, for the first time, 

came up with him and also went to sleep.  It didn't last long, pretty soon 

they started wrestling again, and they wrestle HARD.  She is just a hair bigger than he,

and gives as good as she gets. 

However, he has not bitten or scratched me one time, now that he has a playmate. He was just desperate to play, before. 

I got Jester up a little later, and gave him scritches until he was almost asleep, 

to let him know he is still MY  main man. 

Here was Spooky in the old henhouse this morning.  I knew something was 

sleeping in the closet... there are two depressions in the deep straw I put in there, there 

is another just beyond Spooky to the left.  No sign of Harlequin, I have not seen her in two days, and you see that Spooky wanted his breakfast, he was telling me.  He was also telling me "Don't come any closer".  

There is also something sleeping in the little red hen house.  I leave about 

a cup of cat food in there every day, just in case one of the other two ferals is still around... I have not seen them in weeks though, and I know my neighbors at the bottom of the hill feed ferals. 

Something eats it, and something sleeps there, but is gone when I go out in the morning.  It is 

cat or possum sized. 

Speaking of the possums and other wildings, I am moving the feeding station off the porch and into the yard by the pasture.  I'm going to move it INTO the pasture once they get used to not finding it on the porch. 

The cats come to the porch every night, despite the fact I feed them in the hen house. 

The water in the warmed bowl will stay on the porch.  One thing I have NOT done is 

started feeding the wild birds on the deck again.  I have enough fun watching them at my feeding station, and I keep water out there. 

It looks like all I shopped for at the commissary today was cat food, doesn't it? 

I stocked up for the next two weeks, and then got everything else that was on my 

Christmas - party list, like bowls and cups, etc..  We have ham and cheese sliders and potato soup on the menu, but I did get a container of potato salad, just in case. 

While I was there, they had a scavenger hunt, giving 10 minutes to get all the items on the list, and back to "go".... to win a big sack of items, PLUS an Xbox One system.  It was fun to see everyone careening through the aisles trying to get their list filled, and fun for the parents.  The store was not too full, either, so it did not put anyone out. 

What a fun way to win an Xbox for your kids. 

Here is a much-cropped picture of the new rooster, whom I am calling Ferdinand, after the 

bull from the cartoon of the same name, recently re-made by Disney. 

Ferdinand was a big, blustering bull who was a baby at heart, and so is this 

rooster.  I had to pick him up and carry him in 3 times, he has never 

roosted inside, his home had other roosters and they beat up on him all the time. 

My friend who gave him to me told me she felt so sorry for him.  

This is how he slept the first two nights.  Now he gets himself turned around in the nest box, and nestles there, next to one of the hens.  I have never had so many chickens who like to roost in the nest boxes, and I have to clean them out every morning.  As I am getting so few eggs, I guess it doesn't matter!  

I thought this was interesting, I always fill this fortex in the morning, 

because the squirrels and little birds drink from it all day, along with whatever chicken is near. 

Those are raccoon paws in the fortex.  Uh huh. 

I used to be afraid to look out because of Cogburn, however, if I even show my face for a minute, I hear tap-tap-tapping at the door.  See the red hen?  She had been tapping.  

They are spoiled. 

However... I am going to start treating them OFF the porch, I have to power wash porch and deck, they are not discriminating when they have to go, if you get my drift!

I end with a Random Act of Kindness.  For years, I have read "Sugar Pie Farmhouse", a blog written by a wife and antiques dealer in the Ozarks, in Branson, who is called "Aunt Ruthie".  She linked to another blog the other day called "MorningChores".... and they both suggested doing this, a random act treating someone who helps you all year, and not just at Christmas. 

I heard the trash truck come up the road on Monday, I am the last customer on the road, and 

they commonly turn in our driveway entrance.  They were there a little longer on Monday morning as they found these on top of the trash bin.  What a great idea from Aunt Ruthie, thank you! 

The mailman will get his on Friday, and I am taking a batch to the feed store tomorrow, they help me all year (the main helper gets a cash tip, too)... don't forget all these folks that help us 

through thick and thin.