Status Quo Days

December, January, and February pretty much make up the winter season on our northern hemisphere agrarian calendar. In our part of the world, that means more indoor time with quite a few lovely afternoons to work outside. Having switched my creative pursuits from writing to weaving, I feel productive in a different sort of way, and it's nice not to spend so much time at the computer.

So while there's not much new news, I do have tidbits to share, such as, I got our Christmas tree up!

I get a live potted tree every year and then plant it afterward. Except that for the past several years I've gotten rosemary bushes that never seem to make it. So I decided to try something else. This is an arborvitae. 

With gift giving days coming up, I've been busy weaving Christmas presents.

 

twill table runner

crackle table runner

woven red plaid scarf

woven gray plaid scarf

The links go to technical details.

Dan spends his morning and evening indoor time woodburning.

The panel is from the bottom of one of the doors he bought off craigslist for the greenhouse. The top was glass panels, which he cut off to use for the upper center of the greenhouse roof. 

In the department of needful things, Dan built something we've been talking about for years; a headgate for the task of trimming the buck's hooves. 

Our bucks are all pretty friendly, but no goat likes having their hooves trimmed and tends to be uncooperative. This time of year they are still in rut, which means they are rambunctious and harder to handle. The bait, of course, is feed, but we have to have only one at a time in the pen. When we're working on one buck, the others want to take advantage of his restrained situation by butting him (and us, if we're not careful.) It's all goofy play, but they are rough and their play is not something the humans want to be caught in.

With feeder. They're always more cooperative if there's something to eat!

The headgate works very well. I just wish I'd remembered my camera the last time we tackled the job.

The chickens are moulting and so not laying at the moment. But the ducks are obliging us with eggs.

These are lovely for Christmas baking.

As you can see, not much exciting going on. We're just enjoying our season of rest. Hopefully, you'll enjoy these parting shots of Riley. 

He loves to play in the water dish, which gets water everywhere.

I hope you all are staying warm and dry.

Status Quo Days © December 2023

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Kitty Beds

We have four kitty beds. Two of them are the personal property of Sam and Katy.

Katy will only sleep in the kitty bed on the right.

Whereas Sam will sleep in either one.

That Sam should help himself to her kitty bed is extremely unacceptable to Katy. If Sam is there first she'll either wait until he moves or bugs him until he moves. She will not simply settle down in the vacant other bed.

Kitty beds are beneath Riley. Being more dignified, he prefers to place himself on a more equal level with the humans - the couch.

Meowy would rather to be outside, but is willing to come in for the night when it's cold out. In fact, we make her come in when it's cold because she's such a featherweight that we don't think she should be spending her calories on keeping warm.

She won't touch a kitty bed. In the past she would spend part of the evening trying to scout out a place Katy couldn't find. They still don't get along, and Katy takes great pleasure in stalking and startling Meowy. Meowy always obliges her with a shriek. The old "ignore her and she'll quit doing it" just doesn't seem to sink in.

What about the other two kitty beds?

They look perfectly good to me, but what do I know? Obviously not much. Even when I put all four by the fire the cats unanimously agree that these two are unworthy.

And that's the way things are.

Kitty Beds © December 2016 by Leigh

at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Queen Check

Yesterday afternoon I opened Periwinkle and Daylily hives to check on the status of the queens. The weather was warm and mostly sunny, and the bees have been here four days; I needed to see if the queens had been released and remove their cages if that was the case.

First I checked on Periwinkle. You can't tell in the above photo, but the bees are building comb along the top bars; something that Warré beekeepers are always happy to see.  The queen, however, had not yet been released. 

The bees had eaten through the candy and she should have been able to exit the box, except for this.

Two of the attendant bees were dead and one was blocking the entrance. I tried to gently move it out of the way with no success, so I decided to remove the cork from the other end. After I did that I took another look, but the queen was gone. Now I was concerned because I didn't want her lost or squished!

Thankfully I saw her dotted back disappearing under the top bars below, but then I was worried I might kill her when I put the top box on again. The only thing I knew to do was to puff a lot of smoke into the bottom box and then slowly side the top box in place. I reassembled the rest of the hive and then wondered whether or not I still had a queen. As I stood there pondering, the hum in the hive began to crescendo loudly, which I'm hoping means they were welcoming their queen! I'll keep an eye on pollen coming in, which will indicate they are busy feeding brood.

Daylily was busy too.

They are also building comb along the top bars and seem to be a little further along than Periwinkle. I have to say that in general, I see more activity around Daylily than Periwinkle.

The Daylily bees had eaten through the candy on their queen cage too, but she had yet to emerge. No dead attendants, so I just put the cage back for another day or two.

It was interesting that with both hives, I used my bee brush to clear the way for the feeder to be replaced. Periwinkle was very docile about the whole thing, but Daylily did not like it! Is it hive personality? Or did the status of the queen make a difference?

The last thing I did was dismiss my snoopervisor.

He was about worthless anyway.

Queen Check © March 2016 by Leigh
at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

So Riley Knows How to Open the Bathroom Door

The other evening I was finishing up my shower when I heard Riley meowing loudly in the hallway. I knew what he wanted - to go outside. "Well," I thought, "he's just going to have to wait." Next I heard pushing on the bathroom door. Because our master bathroom is so small, we installed a bi-fold door when we remodeled it. Riley knew that if he pushed on the center of the door, he could get it open! He peeked in once to see what I was doing, then proceeded to push it open more and let himself in. The meowing didn't let up until he finally got what he wanted.

So Riley Knows How to Open the Bathroom Door ©
Dec. 2015 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Riley Wants In

The improvements on the front porch, although slow, are not unappreciated. The formerly screened in front porch is now open, accessible, and ideal for making feline wishes known.

Riley Wants In © March 2015 by Leigh
at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

How To Keep Your Tooties Warm

Riley, the ordinarily non-cooperative, and Sam, the persistent. 

Two posts in one day! I can barely get one out every two or three days, but how can I not blog about the weather!? After kicking off November with a snow shower, December spoiled us with its springlike temps; during most afternoons we didn't even need a jacket or sweater outdoors. We did get a lot of rain, however, which meant the garden was too muddy to do anything with. That's why we got so much done on the front porch. Now everything is frozen solid. We only got down to 10° F / -12 ° C last night, so I suppose I shouldn't complain. Sam's got the right idea, don't you think?

How To Keep Your Tooties Warm © January 2015
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Color Me Wrong -or- Riley & the Tomatoes

Tomato harvest has commenced!

A variety of Amish Paste, Roma, and hybrid table tomatoes

This is such a relief after last year's piddly tomato yield (only got 4 pints of sauce and even that was a disaster!) That means tomatoes are a happy, daily chore.

My priority tomato preservation job is pizza sauce. It's not really different from spaghetti sauce, we just eat more pizza hence the name. If I have a good picking I like to use my Roma to start the sauce.

Roma juicer

Raw tomatoes can be juiced with ease.

If I want to peel tomatoes for canning, then I freeze the tomatoes whole for easy peeling (beats the boiling water / ice water dunk method). I freeze them too at the beginning and end of the season when I'm only picking small amounts. For sauce I thaw them, cook them down, and run them through my Foley.

Foley food mill

After that the juice goes into the crock pot to be cooked down to thicken.

This is my big crock pot, fount at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore

At this point I add some homegrown seasoning, then I can it in pint jars for those Friday night pizzas. But what's all this got to do with Riley? Well, while I was working away on this Riley was sound asleep in his ManCat Cave.

Riley in his ManCat Cave under the kitchen peninsula where my work stool goes.

He woke up and immediately started asking for some.

"Kitties don't like tomatoes," I told him. But he kept insisting. So I put a little of the discards into a kitty dish and gave it to him.

Riley and his requested tomato

I don't know if he did it to prove me wrong, or because he really liked it, but he polished off all the juicy stuff. He did not eat the tomato peel, but the pigs did.

He never asked for it again, but later Katy came in and begged for some. I let her sniff a bit of tomato but she made a "eww" face and left. I reckon tomatoes must smell good to cats, ya think?

Color Me Wrong -or- Riley & the Tomatoes
© August 2014 by Leighat http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Sammy's Silly Sunday

Sam and Katy are about four months old now and recently had their spay and neuter. Because the procedures were part of their adoption package, I took them to the clinic at the shelter.

Neither kitten was too happy about it. Sam, in particular, reverted to his withdrawn, hissy self. I'm sure all the sounds and smells brought back memories of their being there. After I picked them up and brought them home, Sam was a different cat. As soon as he came out of the carrier and realized where he was, he grabbed on to my leg and gave me a huge hug. He purred and purred. He followed me around and wanted to be picked up and petted. He must have realized he was HOME, forever. He no longer cringes when we reach for him or pet him. In fact, he loves it.

They remain high energy tear-em-ups. One of Dan's (many) nicknames for them are The Hooligans. I told him that if I was still into cat blogging (Welcome To Rascal's World and Little Cat Zee), I'd make them a blog entitled The HooligaNation.

Riley remains completely unimpressed and unappreciative of their presence here. We decided his blog would be called CurmugeoNation. No, I'm not actually going to do it, but it's fun to think about.

Sammy's Silly Sunday © September 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Riley's Wordless Wednesday

Riley's Wordless Wednesday © September 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Expanding the Rodent Control Department

After losing so many baby chicks to a rat, Dan and I discussed the possibility of getting another cat. There are certainly enough rats, mice, shrews, moles, rabbits, chipmunks, snakes, and squirrels to keep more than one cat busy. I looked at kittens on Craigslist, but never reached a decision. The other day, it occurred to me to look at one of our area animal shelters. No, they aren't free, but the adoption fee includes vaccinations plus spay or neuter. This not only makes acquiring a pet more affordable, but also gets them out of a cage and into a home. So, I went looking for a young adult cat and came home with...

They're about 6 or 7 weeks old, a little boy and a little girl. Of all the cats at the shelter, these were The Ones.

Little Girl Cat is friendly and purry; instant cuddle cat, just add lap.

She made herself at home in no time.

Little boy cat is timid and shy.

He was slow to coax out of the kitty carrier. If I try to pick him up he gives me a baby hiss and tries to run away, but doesn't growl, bite, or scratch once I've got him. The folks at the shelter said they were relieved that I took them both. They worried about Little Boy Cat being left behind because he's too scared to be friendly.

He's gradually getting adventuresome.

And Riley?

Not pleased. I put the kittens in the pantry and put up the baby gate to keep them in. This will give them some territory to get used to for now, plus, I hope, let Riley get used to the idea before being overrun with kittens.

Riley quickly hopped over the gate to investigate.

Riley smelled them before he saw them.

Of course Riley only hisses as them. The kittens are both quite fascinated with Riley, and will sit on their side of the baby gate watching him, while he lies on the kitchen floor and tosses hisses at them over his shoulder.

Little Boy Cat came out more the next day, but he still has his safety zone.

 

He loves to play and can easily be drawn out for that. He hasn't purred for me yet but likes having his chin scritched. I've noticed that if my hand is raised too high while I'm petting him, he flinches. I suspect something happened before he got to the shelter that has made him a little gun-shy; nothing that gentleness and love can't cure.

The baby gate barricade was breached after about 24 hours.

They have supervised access to other parts of the house.

Names? We'll have to live with them awhile to figure that out.

Expanding the Rodent Control Department © August 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/