Winter Has Arrived

Though it technically is the last waning days of fall, 

winter, weatherwise... is truly here. 

Twelve degrees F out there this morning, friends.  Hard on the diabetic hands and feet! 

I have to come in to warm up in between doing chores, and though it is sunny.... I did not let any chickens out.  Most are just too old.  Many will be in for the duration of the week, when we are plunging to literally below zero temps. 

I am out of straw in any quantity, and it was in short supply this year, but I am going to see if I can get two bales on Tuesday and bed the henhouses a little deeper. Tuesday, because my car is in the shop. 

It is beautiful, I will grant you that.  But gosh... makes it so hard to get anything done. 

Follow up to my two cataract operations... I can see 20/20 now at distance.  I did not understand the importance of making one eye near and one far.... I may have a do-over because I have to whip the readers on and off constantly, I cannot see anything close up. I will be seeing my own eye doctor this week and will talk to her about this whole thing.  I am pleased with the results, though. 

I have been taking some steps to get the cats ready for winter. 

Here are Cleo and Mama eating in front of the heater in the shop.  Last winter I used the little black heater on the left... but it cycles off after 8 hours, and yes, I went out there in the middle of the night to turn it on several times.  I have not even connected it, as you see.  Cleo prefers to sleep in the little bed on top of the chest... the one right behind the heater. 

There is a chick light over the kuranda bed. 

It has actually been on for a month or so. 

I stapled plastic over the doors so that drafts won't blow through continuously, and no, I could not do all the way to the top, but this is helping tremendously. 

IF it warms up next week (after Christmas) I will hire grandson Jax to come and get on a ladder and staple the plastic to the top. Just doing this helped so much. 

Here is Alien eating on the porch two days ago, this was the cat who began appearing in the pasture.  I found him in the shop a few days ago on the camera in there, so I know he knows how to get in where it's a little warmer.  He is sleeping here, though. 

Yes, that is the doghouse where the possum died. 

Speaking of possums, 

here she is after one full week in the pasture. 

Pretty much untouched.  I picked her up and put her over by the brush pile.  If it warms up at all today, I'll walk down and see if she is still there.  This stuff fascinates me... my brother Pete was the same way. It's not ghoulish, we just like to see nature at work. 

Jester had dibs on the warm crate on Friday.  You see I made it like a little cave for them, and they all love to take turns in it.  The electric heater on the left is on low now for a few weeks to keep the kitchen warm, and they love to lay near it.  I do not like having a huge crate in my kitchen, but I DO like making life easier for the elderly dogs. 

This little doll is the best guardian ever,  She stood there on the porch for a long time yesterday, staring into the pasture.  I really keep an eye on her because she is coyote-bait.  

Dear Buddy, whom I actually call Big Moose half the time, is in the crate behind me this morning, soaking up the heat.  In the last week, he has become unable to get on his beloved couch.  He either stays in the crate or on this bed in the living room.  He is such a good old dog, I speculated with a friend yesterday about what could have happened to him.  If only they could talk! 

On the camera in the shop. 

Check out that expression! 

About ten minutes after this shot was made, the camera was knocked over by the big raccoon. 

It did capture this: 

That's Alien, coming in to eat and drink. 

At some point, I will trap him and he will be neutered like all the others.  My traps are still on loan, they have caught a slew of ferals in a colony recently. 

Pauline, a long-time reader of this blog, sent me this bag recently.  I just want to thank you, Pauline, because I carry it in my car and I use it for so many things!  It is light, and is an easy way for me to bundle up little things and carry them in the house, and when I don't need it, it folds flat and can be put nearly under the passenger side front seat for when I need it again. 

I so appreciate your kindness! 

My heart fluttered when I looked outside for the dogs and saw this last week. 

I try to keep a very close eye on Zoey, she wanders to the gate frequently, and in fact, at night when she has to go out, we walk up to the gate in the pitch black dark.  At least Buddy was with her to protect her, but I could see both of them wandering out. 

It is the third Sunday of Advent, I hope everyone is ready for Christmas, and, as usual, I thank you all for reading the blog. 

 

 

Mid-Summer

Friends, I cannot believe it is already mid-summer. 

I have not posted since the end of May, and I really have no excuse except for being busy and tired.  I do try to post something on Instagram daily under Ksredhead1950, and it co-posts to Facebook.  I have noticed that many, many former bloggers with whom I was friends are doing that now, too.  One, whom I have followed for many years, noted this week that she had actually posted to her blog... she had not done so in weeks. 

You can at least keep up with things that way.

Last time I posted, I told you about Jack Flash and the mysterious gray cat that was coming to the deck to eat.  On June 6, I took Jack to the vet here in Tongie.  I had a wellness check done, and then had him neutered.  He got all shots, and had to go back in two weeks to get a second distemper shot. 

He began to waste... he did not leave the porch very often, and curled up in a chair by the door. 

I worried. 

 Molly and Bullseye learned to look at the chair before going in and out.  I picked him up to hold him on my lap daily, and realized he was losing weight and was very dehyrated.  

In the meantime, this little guy had been attacked by something... I think a bobcat... and supposedly had two broken ribs.  I spent a miserable day at the emergency vet... and had to go back that night to get him.  Let's just say, Bullseye is a very expensive pet. 

He spent ten days in isolation.

Bullseye was supposed to have a follow up, so I made an appointment for him with 

the vets in Tonganoxie who had done Jack's neuter... Pleasant Valley Veterinary Hospital. They are wonderful, three young women vets that are two miles from me.  My vet of 40 years is 

18 miles away, and very hard to get into.  So... I took Jack in Bully's stead... and the kind vet tested for FIV, and he was positive.  I could not bring him home, and he was in very poor condition, so I held him as she euthanized him, talking to him and kissing him.  She gave me five minutes with him after sedation, and I reassured him his pain was almost over.  

Here is why I am telling you. 

They asked me if I wanted to test for FIV the day of the neuter,  and I had said no. 

He was feral.  

It was a mistake. 

I would not have spent the money for the neuter. 

I spoke with a friend who has kept cats for many years, and she, too, had a cat that 

was positive for FIV, had not been tested, and had an episode after a neuter, and they lost him. 

I am not saying the neuter did it, but I think the operation trauma triggered something in him. 

Bullseye went the next day for his checkup... and because of Jack's being positive, I had him tested to be 100% sure, and believe me, I sweated.  He was negative. 

Molly goes for shots and wellness on the 27th, and she will also get an FIV test. 

Within days of the neuter, I found this in the shop: 

(Jax and I cleaned the shop this week after Mama moved the kittens to the garage. ) 

Oh, yes, friends.  The mysterious gray cat, still a kitten herself, 

had four kittens in my neighbor's yard and moved them into the shop. 

One guess who the father was. 

 Tomorrow, my job is to trap them, and on Sunday, a 

kind volunteer from Kitty Cat Connection is coming to get them. This is the organization from whence my barn cats came. 

Mama will come to me,  but the kittens will be harder.  Part of the problem is that they have vacated the hot shop, and are hanging out in the hedge or in the garage that sits next to the shop.  Tomorrow morning, their food is going back into the shop, they will have to go in there if they are hungry. 

You know I love cats, but I have been overwhelmed. 

Because Jack was so awful to Cleo, she will no longer come to the deck to eat. 

I watch for her and carry her food to her, but that stopped as of today. 

If she wants to eat, she has to come get it where I put it, and I realized she was hanging out in the Little Red Hen House (where I started her) and I am putting her food near there.  No more walking all over looking for her. 

Like I said, I'm stressed. 

Youngest grandson Jax has been working in the yard and shop for me for the last two weeks, and doing a great job.  I have plenty of work for him for the next few weeks, too.  The oppressive heat here has stopped some of the things from being done. 

I have lost a number of birds in the heat this last month. 

The old birds are six and seven, and the heat is hard on them. 

The main egg layers are the seven young hens I raised last year. 

Big Red was one I lost, and it was totally unexpected. 

This was the Silkie pair I used for programs at the Ag Hall. 

Brutus, the gentle rooster on the left, was lost shortly after this picture was taken, and through my own negligence.  For only the second time in seventeen years, I left a pophole open. 

To make it worse... I left his cage door open, I forgot to go back and close it, and I'm sure he and Mary jumped down during the night.  Something got Brutus. 

I have Pipsqueak with her now, and they and Doug the Killer Cotton Ball are the only three Silkies left here. 

And of course, Pipsqueak attacks me every time I reach in to move him. 

I have made a decision not to replace ANY chicken lost at this point.  It's time. 

Right now, I have just been out to check the little hen house two times in the dusk, as I can hear an uproar going on.  I cannot find a snake or any other predator in there. 

In the big hen house are left only two hens and the rooster, Singleton. 

Doug

Vulture going east. 

Two weeks ago, the sheep flock went home to give the pasture time to recover.  Yes, we have had rain, but they had been on it for two months, and there were fourteen.  

It has come back wonderfully. 

I cut it once, and I noticed today I may have to cut again.  

They will be back in a couple of weeks for another six weeks, I believe. 

Ben is going to devote some time to doing some maintenance things around here that need to be done, and gosh, I am really going to miss his help.

This is a strange bird that appeared in the bird feeder a week ago . 

(Wanda) 

See you all soon, I hope! 

 

 

Paying Attention

Friends, with all the sadness in our world today... wars... shootings of innocents, whether adult or child... we need to focus on the good as much as we can. 

Every new day brings a fresh slate.  We can make it a good one or a bad one, depending on how we respond to it.  Our cares can drag us down, or we can rise above them. 

I am on the "trying to rise" side. 

Please enjoy these pictures I have taken the last few weeks. 

This is little Teenie Tinie, the little kitten who was in heat when she appeared here a few months ago. 

I had her neutered by the wonderful organization "Leavenworth Animal Welfare Society", or 
LAWS, who do free and low cost spay and neuter clinics in Leavenworth, Kansas.

She brought this: 

Jack Flash

He ran both Yeller, and my dear Rusty, my first feral rescue cat, off the property. 

He hates Coco, for some reason, the black female.  He has attacked her viciously. 

He wants in the house, but everyone is petrified of him.  

Cleo, the beautiful calico, will no longer come near the house, and I have to watch for her and take her food to her on the fringes of the yard. 

Jack doesn't know it, but Tuesday morning, I am calling LAWS and discussing how to get him neutered.  IF the neuter does not help, I am afraid he will have to go to the Humane Society as neutered and with shots.  He will let my son and me pet him, and I believe I can get him into a carrier to get him to the doctor. The problem is, I cannot guarantee a day, hence... I need to talk to LAWS to figure out what to do. 

At 4 AM daily, he curls up in the chair nearest the front door... and waits for me to deliver his 

breakfast to him around five or five thirty.  I'm very well trained. 

I was going through the kitchen one day last week and looked out the window and saw this: 

Bullseye was stalking birds. 

Jack Flash was stalking Bullseye. 

They are baccckkkkk.

Two weeks ago, the family to whom I gave my sheep, and who have used my pasture these 

last three years, dropped off a group of ewes to be bred, with their ram and Mama Goat, who was 

here the last two years. 

Unfortunately, 

this kept happening: 

Sheep 204, a Southdown Ewe, kept getting stuck in the fenceline. 

Troy, Kathy and I all cut her out multiple times. 

You cannot tell from this angle, but she was on her knees, caught fast, 

with her butt up in the air. 

Then Mama Goat remembered she knew how to jump the fence in the southwest corner, and I found her in the hen house, inhaling chicken feed. 

So, last Sunday night, Sam, their owner, came over and loaded those two out and took them home. 

There were no more stuck sheep during the week, thank heavens, because it stormed off and on 

for three days. 

It's nice to see happy faces at the gate in the morning. 

There's Mama, I was sure sorry to see her go. 

The finches aren't the only ones using the finch feeder. 

These pictures were taken through my kitchen window. Let me just say that I have never had Baltimore Orioles stay like this year.  Usually they are here on stopover, about two weeks, and then disappear until the next year.  I just looked back to see when my first pictures appeared, and it was the third week of April.  It is now the fourth week of May, and they are still here. 

There is a woodpecker hanging on to the bottom of the feeder... do you see him? 

You can see him a little better there. 

Their color is so brilliant. 

The female Oriole. 

My friends, don't laugh. 

I had a rose-breasted grosbeak for about three days. 

That is he, with his black/white back to you at the feeder. 

I never got a front-on picture of him!  I SAW him going back and forth as I did chores, but just could not get a picture. 

By the way, I am no longer feeding the expensive bird mix I fed the last ten years, I just could not sustain it.  I am buying a Sam's Club Member's Mark mix, it is mostly sunflower, but what I am finding is that the birds are eating almost every single bit of it, there is little wastage.  Sam's was out one day and I bought a bag somewhere else... it was almost 50% wastage.  I stocked up at Sam's, and will continue to do so.  I don't replenish during the day, except if I check in late afternoon and there is nothing left, I will put a partial scoop out because the cardinals feed so late. 

The raccoons are getting nothing but some spilled shells, and... I notice there are not near as many coming. 

Ben, my yard helper the last two years, is working for me one more summer.  He has earned an academic scholarship to the University of Arizona, and will be leaving in August to pursue studies in genetics.  He is going to rebuild this platform feeder that Keith built ten or twelve years ago, giving it a hardware cloth bottom and sturdier frame, as it is now crumbling.  I am so glad for Ben, but also, sorry to see him go. 

I looked out the window to see Coco in the planter last night.  She has wanted in so badly, so about an hour later, I caught her and put her in a carrier and brought her in.  Coco came from a feral colony, and for some reason, Zoey, who likes all the cats, even Jack Flash, does not like Coco.  I put her in my office where there is food, water and a litter box.  She spent the night in there, and about an hour ago, I took her outside, once I was sure Jack Flash was gone.  He hates her, you see, and has wounded her back.  I have been putting medicine on her and will get her to the vet this week if it does not scab over well.  I can see her walking back and forth on the deck right now, as I look out the door. 

We are expecting strong storms tomorrow afternoon, and she will be coming in again for a while to be safe.  Wanda prefers the hen houses, Teenie stays in the shop, and there is a dog house on the porch out of the wind and rain for Jack. 

Cleo is living over in the wild area across the road again, as far as I can see. 

There are two peripheral cats, Lilly and an unnamed gray tabby (who was on the porch this morning), but they usually eat in the garage. 

They live under Troy's storage building. 

The reason we "celebrate". 

Remembrance Day. 

 

Back to the Land of the Living

 Friends, the day after my last post, I went down as sick as I have been in these last ten years. 

It began with cold symptoms, and even though my son and daughter in law had just had one, I had not been around them to be infected.  I had stupidly gone two days without wearing a mask... yes, I'm one of those people... once in the small town where my two oldest grandsons live... and once here, at home, in Walmart, of all places.  

I paid for it.  

The cold symptoms segued quickly into flu symptoms, and I was so weak I spent the larger part of every day in the recliner, with a cat in my lap and a blanket around me.  My youngest son did the necessary errands we needed done, thank heavens.  He also ate frozen food for almost two weeks. I finally ran a fever two days, and called up to the post at Fort Leavenworth and arranged for a drive thru covid test.... negative.  I could not believe it when I was sick a second weekend, still weak and tired.  I managed to do chores every single day, but sometimes, I don't know how I did it.  The first week was beautiful weather, and my grandson was off school ... we had planned to do lots around here, with me paying him for his help so he could earn some money.  The second week was miserable, with rain for four days and cold weather.  

I did finally go to a walk in clinic, and was tested there for flu...negative.  The only thing is by then I was dehydrated, and was told to go to the ER if I could not get fluids down.  I have been drinking Pedialyte. 

But... Wednesday, I was able to get my favorite food down... On the Hook cod, from the fish truck.

I gave most of the fries to my son.  Here, let me say I am NOT  a seafood lover.... but 
I LOVE On the Hook.  That was the first time they had been in Tonganoxie since last fall, and I was able to eat my fish and more importantly, keep it in me.  

Two days later, they were twenty five miles away in Shawnee, and I was feeling better, and drove over for Round Two.  That was the second meal of the week to stay with me.  I felt better after getting something in me. 

On the Hook is based in Colorado, and travels with its' trucks through about seven states, if you ever see them.... pull over!  They sell only fish and chips, but trust me when I tell you it's worth it... they have the best "tartar" sauce I have ever tasted. 

So, now that I am back in the Land of the Living, I am far behind with farm chores. 

Here is one: 

A week ago, my oldest son Jim came out and put holes in that old trough on the sides and bottom for me, and the feed tubs that had been stored in my old garage.  He made drain holes in them, too. 

The plastic planters were there last year.  I am going to dump several of them, they have 

weeds in them and I cannot get a shovel into them... but... for the most part, they just need filling. 

You might remember I had in-ground raised beds, that I had my helper Ben remove two years ago. 

They were always hard to keep weed-free and full.  Keith also did not build them with enough space for the mower in between them, so that was a problem.  

Peppers and small tomatoes are going in these deeper planters. 

Grandson Jax loaded me up. 

I need two bags of manure and two or three more bags of planting medium.  

Here are the last two of the raised beds: 

I covered most of them with black plastic in the fall, weighed down by bags of dirt, 

which I'll add to them.  I am uncovering this week. 

I would like to take what iris I have left and consolidate them all in 

one of these beds.  (I'll take closer pictures this week). 

In the middle ground of the top picture, you can see the feeding platform that 

Keith built so many years ago, and I have something to say about it. 

I am almost at the point where I cannot afford to feed the wild birds. 

I can't believe I am saying it. 

The forty pound sacks of the best blend, Back Yard Blend, have gone to 33.95 a bag.  I am NOT blaming the wonderful owners of my feed store, it is just a fact of life.  Unfortunately, 

I used to buy FOUR bags a week (when it was 18.95 a bag).  I can't do that now, I can hardly justify two with trying to keep up everything else.  So... I am pricing cheaper mixes.  There is waste with the BYB, and I know there will be waste with the cheaper mix... what I thought of doing is mixing a bag of black oil sunflower with the mix.  I am down to one small hanging feeder, and I love watching the birds on it, but it is the most wasteful way of feeding I know... the seed regularly spills all over the ground.  My other feeder is the platform Ben built for me, that I use for finch feeding. (though I just watched a gang of starlings descend on it!!)  In one week, at the end of March, the hanging feeder is coming down for good.  

It's like the end of an era here. 

This morning's dawn.  I get up early, feed Molly and Bullseye, and 

then put dry food out on the deck for Wanda and Coco.  

I ran back in and grabbed the camera. 

Wanda, the Kitten who Wanted to Kill me last summer, and Coco wait every morning now for me to come out the door with the bucket with the canned food in it.  

The beautiful Cleo was out there this morning, too, 

but not Teeny, the little cat who was neutered three weeks ago. 

Cleo lived in the Wild Area all last summer.... but this winter 

has been living in the barn daily.  She is glad to see me in the morning, because I pick the dry food up at night. 

This coming weekend, the things stored in my barn by my oldest son will all be removed, and I'll get in there and clean it out.  My hopes are that I can put two or three cat trees in there, and... get the wood burning stove fixed so we can use it next year. 

I carried the camera along with me when I opened the pophole this morning. 

I have been getting enough eggs from the girls I have left to have given away ten dozen this last week. 

I have three Silkies I keep in a brooder pen in the big hen house.  

Brutus, the rooster, was hatched last summer. 

Martha and Mary were given to me a year ago. 

Every day I carry them down to their pen in the enclosed big hen yard, so they can get fresh air and peck around.  Three times in the last two weeks, I was so sick and distracted, I forgot to put them out.  It made me feel so badly.  

I wish I could afford another small hen house, but .... things are different now with inflation the way it is. 

For now, we will go back and forth.  I can't put them in with the other two silkie roosters. 

My beautiful Zoey, on her big bed where she spent so many hours in January and February, when I use the electric heater for some supplemental heat in the kitchen-living room.  It is on this morning, 

it is a little colder out today.  I think we are in for some cold days and some rain this week. 

The Best Dog in the World, Jester. 

Under Oscar's tree in the north side of the yard, are some daffodils that were planted by someone many years ago.  Every spring, they have struggled up through the tree roots and bloomed. 

This year, I am going to plant a batch so that whomever is here after me can enjoy them, 

as I have enjoyed seeing these. 

Happy Spring, everyone. 

PS

While I was sitting here at the kitchen table typing this post, I looked out the front door to see a black and white bird on the arbor.  I jumped up quickly to get the camera with the big lens... this is what I captured...

Here it is, closer. 

I swear to you it looks like a duck. 

Ducks carry H5N1, which is getting closer to me all the time. 

It flew off right after this, and I did not see it fly to know if it WAS a duck.