The barn kittens are as cute as ever. We finally settled on names for both of them. The darker female will be Ave (AH-vay), and the flame point male will be Simon. They both have an appointment in two weeks to get antibiotics for their respiratory yuck. Ave looks better, but Simon has a snotty nose. They will receive their rabies vaccinations at the same time, as long as they'll be at the vet clinic anyway.
After years of various delays, today we fenced in part of the yard. The dogs can now safely run and play without worrying about them wandering off. I'm so excited for this! Toby has long been relegated to life on a tie out because his recall is virtually non-existant when he decides something else is more interesting. Now he can run and play and we can play fetch again! I'm sure he will enjoy the added freedom even more than we enjoy not having to stop him at the door to attach the cable. The barn kittens are as cute as ever. We finally settled on names for both of them. The darker female will be Ave (AH-vay), and the flame point male will be Simon. They both have an appointment in two weeks to get antibiotics for their respiratory yuck. Ave looks better, but Simon has a snotty nose. They will receive their rabies vaccinations at the same time, as long as they'll be at the vet clinic anyway. Miss Arya will also be heading to the vet in a couple weeks to recheck her leg. She started limping on it over the summer and over time got more and more lame. When I came back from my summer away, I brought her to the vet. She was diagnosed with both Lyme's disease and Ehrlichiosis (insert reminder here to use monthly flea and tick prevention for any pet that goes outdoors in the summer where ticks are present). She was given five days of pain meds, and a months worth of two other antibiotics - to be given one for two weeks and the other for the two weeks following. The pain meds saw her use her leg again, but when those were done, she got even worse. She now doesn't use the leg at all, her shoulder sags, and it looks like the muscle in her shoulder is completely gone. I worry that a follow up exam will see us facing an amputation. Big dogs don't do as well with three legs, especially front legs. She still manages to go up and down the stairs, she's just a lot slower. I worry that her joints will wear out much faster on three legs, and we'll have to deal with not only an expensive surgery, but ongoing issues with joint pain, arthritis, and mobility. We will see how things go. Perhaps I'm just pre-worrying too much.
I picked up two kittens today to be our new barn cats. They were supposed to both be males, but I didn't check them until we were in the car on the way home. We now have one boy and one girl - both of whom will be fixed as soon as possible. They're currently nine weeks old. I think I'll call the girl Ave (AH-vay). Not sure about the boy yet. They're in a big rabbit hutch in the barn with food and water, a litter box, and they have a blanket and straw in the house part. They have to go to the vet because they've got the sneezes and will need antibiotics. Welcome home kittens!
Gypsy's kittens are eight weeks old and currently living in the house. They're doing great, using the litter box, and eating and drinking all on their own. I should take photos and get them posted online to find them new homes but I've been working myself to exhaustion with my new job and just don't have the energy right now.
The school changed their last day of school up a week, so kids have less time to get missing assignments in but get out sooner. The kids are thrilled. It will be nice not to have to get up so early. I managed to get most of my tomato and pepper plants re-potted into containers. I still need to plant my strawberry plants, my new apple tree, and some flowers I picked up. I'm still not sure where to put the flowers or apple tree but I'm sure they'll find a place somewhere. The cherry tree has blossomed and the blossoms have faded. The apple tree and lilacs are in full bloom right now. It's starting to get hot. The last few days have been in the 80's. Today after work I cleaned out the screen porch and #3 and I got it all set up for Gypsy's kittens. They didn't have access to cat food where they were before and they're just on the cusp of five weeks old, so they'll need to start figuring that out. They now have two food dishes, a water bowl, two different scratch post / lookout towers, two cardboard boxes, four pillows, and a litter box.. I'm sure more will be added as the kids bring more toys and blankets out there to play with the kittens.
Today there were more discussions within our family about the changes going on behind the scenes. Some decisions have been made, and others remain unresolved for now.
I am stressed to the point that my brain is on autopilot because if I think about it too much, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to function. I'm barely getting by right now, but I have kids who need me, and a job I can't afford to lose, so the show must go on. I had the kids bring Gypsy's kittens in for a while again so we could handle them and get them used to being around people a little more. She had four this time. She's always had three, so this is unusual. I gave them all names. Pierre, Charlotte, and Isolde are all well on their way to being friendly house cats. Unfortunately little Eloise is frightened of everything. Every movement, every noise, every new smell, sends her into a crouch and hissing. I spent several hours today just sitting there with her on my chest. She did eventually relax enough to take a nap. Her eyes are always wide with fear of everything around her. She still needs to be with her momma for now, but as soon as the kittens are weaned they'll be moving indoors to learn the finer points of being a house cat. How to use the litter box, how to get up on the couch, how to use a scratching post, and so on. They'll have a two week crash course on house manners and handling and socialization before they will be available to new homes. Luna has a litter as well, this time only four for her. I did peek at them when they were first born. Two white (one male, one female), an orange male, and a black male. Luna hid her kittens last summer when we handled them more than she was comfortable with, so we've been leaving her chosen nest area alone for now. The kittens are tiny yet, so they're not really missing out on anything right now. Once they're a little bigger and the weather warms up, we may try to move them to the screen porch - though Luna wasn't impressed with this move last year. My interest is in keeping the kittens safe and tame. Nobody wants a feral cat. Her kittens have not been named yet. I've been so focused on all the background stuff that I didn't get to winter sow again this year. My mind is honestly so overflowing with things right now I can't even offer more than a passing thought to the lack of plants this year. I know I should take time to get some containers out, even if they're late season. It's still early enough now. Perhaps if I have time between work and everything else going on right now, I will throw a few containers together just to try to get something started anyway. I do love having fresh tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers and beans and peas in the garden, and tomatoes and peppers won't grow unless they get a head start in our short climate. I'm hoping I have the time and energy to do at least a minimal winter sowing attempt to get some fresh food this summer. I've been sick with allergies and sinus issues for the past... I've lost count. Two weeks now? School starts tomorrow, so it should be interesting getting into a new routine with all of the new rules.
Draco went off to his new home yesterday. We will miss him. He's a sweet guy. I am still trying to find homes for the rest of the kittens. but I'm not having much luck. What surprises me perhaps the most is that the littler kittens, the ones that just turned 8 weeks old have not had a single inquiry so far. Two tabbies, and three tabico kittens, all females - not a single person interested in any of them. Weather is cooling off fast. Today I finally gave up and closed all the windows in the house. Tonight the low will be in the 30's. I brought #5's potted vinca plant indoors but between the adjustment to less sun, and the cats kicking a bunch of soil out, it doesn't look happy. I don't know if I can overwinter it successfully. I'll try anyway. Yesterday I cleaned out the big rabbit cage and the screen porch. We've been working on trying to get everything outside ready for winter. We're making progress, but with a majority of the stuff being things Tony has to deal with, and him working 60+ hours a week now, it's hard to feel properly prepared. Having been out of the loop not selling much this year, I forgot how often this question comes up. Now that I'm finding homes for kittens, I'm hearing it frequently, and think it might be a good time to go over the answer again.
I realize that it is exciting to pick out a new pet. I understand wanting to bury your face into a pile of kittens and feel that special bond when the right one catches your attention. I get it. I also know that animal rights folks have worked hard to educate the general public on how to avoid flippers and puppy mills and whatnot by telling people to always ask to come and see, or to ask for photos of the parent animals. I am always happy to supply photos of our parent animals. I'm willing to take additional photos, even videos of the animals someone might be interested in. I have filmed videos of the kids handling different rabbits in the past to help someone decide which had the temperament to be a good family pet with their own kids. I love interacting with people and making sure that what you want and what the animal needs match up. If you want a docile cuddly pet, you aren't going to be happy with a squirmy adventurous spirited pet. It's important to have a good match. That said, no, we do not allow people to "just stop by" and meet the animals. There are many reasons for this, and while I won't go over all of them, I will go into detail for some of the bigger reasons. 1. Biosecurity. In 2017 we had a friend bring her kids for a visit and the kids went through our barn. Soon after, our rabbits got very sick and in a matter of months we lost nearly 75% of our rabbits. Since then we have held a strict "no visitors" policy and have never had another illness outbreak. We don't know what other people could be bringing with them. Some issues can be transmitted by touch or through dirt or feces tracked in on shoes or tires. We have no way of knowing if you visited someone else's farm, if your friend's pet carries something, or if your own pet may be sick. We practice a "rather safe than sorry" mentality and just don't allow anyone on the property. With Covid now, it adds a human component to potentially spreading illness as well. All meetings are in public places, we wear our face masks, and try to avoid physical contact other than handing you your new pet and taking payment. Likewise, we advise you to do the same. 2. Safety. This one was especially huge at our previous home. We would have people come by to meet the available animals or to pick up their selected critter. It worked well most of the time, until it didn't. We had multiple occasions when someone would come by, decide not to take an animal, and then come back at a later date and try to break in. We had things stolen from our yard, windows smashed on our vehicle, we had to replace the locks on our doors when someone damaged them trying to pick them, and we had our wonderful neighbor lady chase off a couple of people who were attempting to look in our windows to see if we were home. One person tried to steal a cat on their way out the door! You will notice that we do not provide our home address here (or anywhere else). We have children, it isn't safe to give our address out on the internet to random strangers. We have dogs, and even though they behave here with us, I cannot guarantee they wouldn't jump on, knock over, or even potentially bite someone if they felt threatened. Likewise, I cannot guarantee that my cats won't scratch or my goose or turkey or other animals won't nip or scratch or bite if someone tries to pet or grab them. I cannot guarantee someone driving up my driveway won't run over one of my animals. It's much easier to arrange a meeting in public. 3. Stranger Danger. Maybe it's just the way I was raised, but "stranger danger" is a great way to sum this one up. I don't know who I'm meeting from the internet. You can fill out an application form, we can chat through email, but that doesn't mean that I know and trust you. Likewise, you don't know us. It's impossible to truly know who you're dealing with in the internet age we live in. I've gotten replies to my ads from out of state, and yes, some of our babies do live in other states because some folks are willing to drive (and in one case fly) to Minnesota to get the pet they want. There have been many news stories of people who've been mugged, raped, and murdered for replying to Craigslist ads and going to random peoples' houses. Please follow law enforcement suggestions - always meet in a public place, and never alone. All of our meetings are scheduled in public places, and while we cannot force you to bring someone with you, we will never meet anyone without someone else in our vehicle. It's a safety precaution. This is also why I am very hesitant when someone asks me if I can deliver an animal to their home. I understand if you are disabled and unable to reach a public meeting spot, and we have done a few direct deliveries right to someone's house, but again, always with a second person in our vehicle. I fully understand if someone decides not to get an animal from us because of our adherence to privacy and safe standards. And if you are one of those people, I wish you well on your journey to getting a new pet elsewhere. For these three main reasons and dozens more smaller reasons, we do not and will not have people coming by the property to look at, pick out, or pick up animals - or anything else for that matter. Even when working out non-animal bartering, we also follow these same rules. Buying a kitten or a bunny? Meet in public. Trading a carton of eggs for some homemade soap? Meet in public. Want to donate something to our homestead for us to use, repurpose, or sell? Meet in public. Can't decide which kitten or bunny you want? Let's chat more about it and narrow down the options and then we can bring the two or three we've narrowed the choices down to along to the meeting in a public place. Alright, so 2020 has admittedly not been my year for blogging or updating this page. We've had a lot on our plates. Not just with Covid concerns and quarantine, but with school largely shutting down early (distance learning was an epic failure), and my husband taking a promotion just ahead of lock down (he is considered an essential worker and has been putting in 60+ hours per week to help cover everything). To say we are exhausted would be an understatement. But 2020 hasn't been without its redeeming moments too. I've made some new online friends that I chat with daily. Despite failing at gardening, we did manage to grow a few tomatoes and strawberries. My parents have a bumper crop of apples so we've been busy making apple butter this past week. I finally managed to run both my phone and my laptop down to the point of breaking so I got new electronic devices. I just got my new Chromebook this past week after being without a computer since May (shortly after my last blog post). I do apologize for neglecting this page. With kids heading back to school soon, I hope to have more time to work on getting things back on track with the homestead and many of the plans we had for it. So what are our plans for the end of 2020 and into 2021? Winter sowing for one. Its a bit early to be thinking of it now, but by February I want to have a small jungle of seeded jugs outside. Hopefully Toby will leave them alone. Last year I only put out two because he kept racing out the door and grabbing them and running through the yard like it was a toy. Didn't seem worth the effort to put any more out. I digress. Also on the "to do" list is getting the old Bonanza shop cleaned up and restocked. I've been making crocheted hats. This month I've made a strawberry, a watermelon, and I'm working on an apple hat now. Kind of an interesting creative outlet just to see where my imagination can take me. We are also having some discussions about livestock and where we want to go with that. Big recent news, our good boy Moose passed away. He was only five years old and had only just two weeks before celebrated his birthday. He was playing outside, he gave me his tennis ball, I threw it, he retrieved it, but instead of bringing it to me he ran headlong into the fence behind me, went into a massive seizure and died in front of me. It was very sudden and unexpected. We buried him in the most beautiful place in the whole yard, overlooking the lake at sunset. I've planted a raspberry plant over his grave as a marker and have purchased some bulb flowers to plant around the raspberry bush to fill in space. Those suggest planting in September, so soon they'll get planted. We have had four litters of kittens on the homestead this year - none of them were with our hairless cats though. Both barn cats gave us kittens and both of the indoor cats the kids kept from last years litter had kittens as well. Sixteen kittens total between four litters. We've decided to keep the spunkiest of the barn cat kittens as a third barn cat (Rowena), and #3 wants to keep one of the kittens in exchange for finding a new home for Martha (her cat she kept back from last years litter). That leaves fourteen kittens to find homes for. We found homes for Percy and Glimmer a couple weeks ago, and today we sent Anna and Clarissa off to their new homes. Now to find homes for Nona, Charlie, Marlene, Draco, Albus, Padma, Minerva, Nala, Kiara, and Sarabi. I'm asking $20 each for them, and all of the money raised will go toward getting the remaining cats here fixed. On last check the vet charged $75 per neuter and $125-$150 per spay. I am actively trying to downsize our cat population. We have not bred the rabbits at all this summer and don't plan to this fall. With Facebook censoring animal sales, it's harder to find homes now. I'm not sure where to list them for sale.
The kitten ad got flagged off of Craigslist after one person got upset that I wouldn't sell her a cat for her to use for breeding. I don't know how many flags it takes to get an ad pulled, but it seems pretty harsh that one offended person can make it next to impossible to find homes for them. I was trying to cut costs by offering them without any vet care. The older two litters are old enough now for rabies vaccinations, but if I'm going to go through the cost and hassle of bringing them all in to the vet for rabies vaccinations, their price is going to go up accordingly. So, if anyone is interested - now is the time to snag a cute cuddly kitten for $20. Otherwise the price will go up if/when they go to the vet. Hopefully I can get back into the routine of blogging regularly. The other day I made a really tasty recipe with chicken thighs in the slow cooker and I hope to share the recipe for future use. Ditto went off to her new home today. The house seems quieter. The remaining kittens seem more subdued than usual. Are they sad she's gone? Or is it just that she instigated much of the running-through-the-house-at-full-speed play time and she's not here to start the stampede? I guess we'll wait to see if they perk up tomorrow. The hamsters will sleep without a watcher tonight. I'm wrapping up the big year-end seed swap for one of the Facebook groups I'm in. It's far too stressful, and I think this will be my last year participating. Every year they add more rules and more hassle to the process. It's getting to be a bit much. I really should have bowed out this year, but I'm going to stick with it and get it done to add some new varieties to the collection. After that I'm going to take a break. I'm stretching myself too thin and I'm stressing out more than I should. Between social things and kids and pets and seed swapping and my own brain being a bit of a butt (stay on task.... resist the urge to wander off.... resist... aaaand my mind has gone off track again....)... I just need a couple days to go nuts with crafting ideas, or watching educational videos, or doing something fun that doesn't involve cleaning the house, replying to emails, or fighting to get kids to clean their bedrooms or go to bed at night. It's time for some re-set time. Like, a few days of reset time. I plan to be a complete sloth most of this weekend. Yes, I'll have to suck it up and catch up on what falls apart while I'm down and out, but it'll be worth it to reset my sanity. We picked up a box of mini Pringles cans for the kids' after-school-snacks. I took one of them (after the chips had been eaten), and filled it with soil, then sprinkled some Tom Thumb lettuce seeds in. I put the lid back on and set it in a window sill. If sprouts come up, the lid will come off and hopefully I can grow my own salad for over winter. I do love fresh home grown salad. Yay for indoor gardening during the harsh Minnesota winter months! Yesterday I siphoned and refilled both the aquarium and the turtle tank. For those who don't know, that's quite a rare occurrence. I only clean out the fish tank maybe once a year, and I only siphon off the debris on top of the gravel. That tank has been up and running longer than I've been alive. It belonged to a relative who left it to me when they passed away. I am honored to keep it running. The tank is 100% natural. I vastly under-stock it, which means the two fish in the 30-gallon tank don't need frequent water changes. The long established beneficial bacteria in the thick gravel takes care of almost everything. Aside from topping off water lost to evaporation and cats drinking from it, and the occasional addition of live bacteria cultures, the tank is largely self sustaining. We have one female bristle-nose pleco who keeps the algae in check (as the tank is in a window), and we have one weather loach (technically a bottom feeder) who cruises around and entertains us. The turtle tank needed to be siphoned as the water was turning orange. I added a piece of driftwood we found down by the lake. I didn't bother to sanitize it because it wouldn't fit in my oven and the shape wouldn't allow for it to fit into a pot to be boiled. Inevitably it leaked tannin into the water. Totally normal, not a big surprise. It didn't seem to bother Minnow, but I want to make sure she had good clean water. It's still tinted yellow, but I'll give it some time to see if the driftwood leaks any more tannin before I change out more water. I ended up taking out eight gallons. She lives in a 55-gallon tank that was about 3/4 full. If I did my math right, an 8 gallon tank change was roughly 20% of the water. I also added more water (now the tank is nearly full) and pushed the driftwood down the rest of the way to fully submerge it. It had about 1-inch sticking up above the water before. It looks nice over all and I think once we add more goldfish for Minnow they'll have a nice natural area that will make a little more of a challenge for Minnow when hunting. Overall, not bad considering I was changing the water with a gallon jug by hand, walking back and forth across the length of the house. Yes, I accidentally created a blackwater aquarium for my turtle. Which wouldn't be so bad really - it does mimic an aquatic turtle's natural environment. This is why I am not overly worried about siphoning it again right away. So long as she seems happy, and she's still eating and basking, it's really more about the aesthetic of the tank. I've been exploring some creative outlets I want to try. The main one I'm really looking into right now is creating aquarium decor. We live on a lake and have beautiful trees all around us. There is ample access to driftwood (pieces weathered by water or by wind and rain on land). I've never worked with silicone before, but I'm still in the research phase of all of this. I've been out of the aquarium world since leaving the pet store job in 2013. I'm quickly getting back into the swing of things.
For example, did you know that plecos need wood in their diet to remain healthy? There should be driftwood in any aquarium that also houses a pleco. The pleco will pick at and clean off the drift wood, and in return will be healthier. Did you know that plecos and cichlids (and lots of other varieties of fish) love to have a cave or a tube to hide in or swim through? I knew this one but it had never occurred to me to actually build one myself. My first planned project will be a simple one meant to build my confidence and give me a simple start with using silicone in a caulking gun. I plan to make an above-water shelf for the fish tank to allow the cats to perch in a safe place to drink from the aquarium. I'm hoping to do this project within the next week, but it depends on if we have the extra money for the supplies or not. Once I've got that project done and I'm feeling a little more confident, I do plan to start trying my hand at a couple different caves and/or other hides with different materials. I have so many ideas! I want to incorporate all kinds of materials that have been suggested in numerous hobbyist videos and forums. I'm so excited. And if all goes well, maybe I'd even offer some of my creations for sale. Again, timeline on this depends on when we have some spare money to buy some supplies. I finally got some photos of the new rabbit. We're still awaiting his official name, as #2 hasn't picked one out yet. He's a handsome bunny, brown eyes, pointed grey fur, and his left ear is torn (old injury). Yes, it looks like he has a dewlap, but when I tried to check gender it looked like a buck down below. Perhaps I'll have one of the kids help hold him so I can check again without so much squirming. All of the former barn kittens got their rabies vaccinations on Friday, plus Netherquartz. He was due by Halloween anyway, and since Mercy already went off to her new home, I had a space open. Either way, they're all set now until January when the little ones are old enough to go in for spay/neuter surgery. Ditto is set to leave on Tuesday. We will miss her. She's been a great companion and we've grown to love her. Earlier this week I noticed the new hairless hamsters seemed to be a little lethargic, so I set up a space heater near their cage (several feet away pointed in their general direction, set to keep the area just a few degrees warmer than the room). They still looked like they could use a little more help, so I took the seed starting heat mat and put it under their cages. It's conveniently just long enough to go under both side-by-side cages and cover about half the space (so they can also lay on the other side away from the heat mat). The way the ten gallon tanks are set over the edge of the cupboard gives the under-tank heat a natural vent so things don't get too hot under there. Since then the hamsters have been active and seem happy. I've named them Carlos and Sally. Carlos prefers to sleep in the pine shavings, despite having half the tank with fabric cloth. Sally prefers to stash all of her food in her little house on the fabric side and sleep there. Sally loves to run on her wheel, while Carlos only sometimes uses his. Ditto spends a good portion of every night sitting beside the cages watching the hamsters. I'm sure she'd love to eat them if ever she figured out how to remove the screen lids. I re-potted several pothos and wandering jew plant cuttings today. I've got four plastic cups that I rigged up with sisal twine to hang in windows, and two larger pots. One has a mix of pothos and wandering jew, the other is just fresh cuttings of wandering jew as the plant is starting to take over the kitchen sink and needed to be cut back a bit. If the plants take well to being in soil, I do plan to sell some of the cuttings. I also took more pothos cuttings and have them in water now to get roots started. I've found the pothos roots better in water, while the wandering jew plants tend to prefer being in moist soil. I'm still trying them in water though as it's more convenient overall.
If anyone would be interested in some variegated pothos, or some wandering jew cuttings, or rooted plant starts, let me know. I'd also be happy to barter with them. The exotic auction was yesterday. I took #2 with me. We saw all kinds of interesting critters, and a vast majority of the people there were from out of state. I only saw two other buyers there that are at the regular exotic auctions. This one was largely advertised to more exotic-type buyers and sellers, and less to the common local folks. You could tell by the types of animals brought in for sale. There was a bottle-fed Eland, a Patagonian mara, an emu, miniature cattle, an Arctic fox, several tortoises, English Angora rabbits, and of course more normal critters too. My eye was on those hairless hamsters though. About a decade ago I was breeding hamsters for the pet store I worked at, and it was so much fun. When I learned about hairless hamsters I did a ton of research on them and wanted to get into them, but couldn't ever find any for sale. I managed to get some tricolor hamsters and was breeding some pretty interesting colors. Then I got into Satins just before the store closed down. With no pet store and no place to buy hamster cages and supplies, people stopped buying hamsters, and the market went dry. I had to sell them all. I loved having hamsters. This is the first time in a decade since I first heard of them existing that I found hairless hamsters for sale anywhere near me. Now, you have to have a quick basic knowledge check here. The gene responsible for hairlessness is interlinked with the genetics for mammary development. This is why hairless female hamsters cannot produce milk, and thus all of their babies die. In order to breed hairless hamsters you have to cross a hairless male to a furry female, and then take a carrier female (furry but carries the hairless gene) and breed to a hairless male. The resulting litter will be half hairless and half furry that carry for hairless. All I wanted was one single male to try my hand at breeding again. Imagine my frustration when I found the hairless hamsters in the warming house... two cages, each with one male and one female. Why would they do that!? The first cage came up and I was quickly outbid and bidding went fast. There were about five people in the crowd vying for them. The first cage sold for more than I could afford to a guy two rows ahead of us. The second cage... I knew this was my only chance. Tony had given me a spending limit (for these hamsters specifically - he thinks they're ugly) and I was pretty sure that wasn't going to cover it. I decided on the spot that I could go hungry and use the money we'd set aside for food to boost my buying power a bit. I bid and hung on for dear life. The bidding wasn't as aggressive this go round, and I managed to sneak away with a winning bid at the highest end of what I could afford. Between the cost of gas, the seating fee, the money we did spend on food, plus the winning bid, we ended up spending over $100 to bring these babies home.
We did buy one other critter while we were there. A lop buck. Sweet looking rabbit, #2 wanted him to pair to his doe (Quince). Quince is half French Lop and part English Lop. This new guy was labeled as Mini Lop, but there's no way - he's huge. He's currently in quarantine (as all incoming rabbits go through), but we already have a cage space picked out and waiting for him in the barn once he's cleared his hold time. I have not snapped a photo of him due to the cage he came in not really allowing a clear photo and not getting him settled into a decent cage until after dark. Back to the hamsters though. The photo above was taken in the car on the way home with them. This is the cage they were sold in. The gel and Live Animal sticker on the side indicate they came from out of state. On our way home we went the long way to stop at the pet store to pick up a female furry hamster. Much disappointment - it turns out the local Petsmart only sells male small animals... Male mice, male gerbils, male hamsters, male guinea pigs... no girls at all. When we got home, my husband got on the computer and found that the Petsmart an hour away does have female hamsters, but we were too exhausted to drive anymore. That's all I remember before I passed out. Husband says I was in a feverish delirium all evening. I didn't eat dinner, I even turned down a cup of coffee one of the kids made for me (and I never turn down a cup of coffee). I passed out on the couch and around midnight my husband had to coax me to go up to bed, where I passed out before waking up feeling much better. These auctions take a lot out of me. For now the hamsters are still in their little box they came in, though now they have food and water. Tomorrow I plan to dig out all of the supplies to get their permanent homes set up. They will be in glass aquariums to keep out drafts, with lids to keep out the cats. Their bedding will be fabric to avoid scratching their delicate skin, and to make cleaning that much easier. Yes, they will have to be separated. They're both young right now. The female is probably just past weaning age. I'm hoping they're not old enough to have bred yet (but yeah, they're hamsters so...). The plan is to buy a furry female the next time we have the ability and time to go the hour trip (two hours round trip) to the other store. Until then, we're just going to enjoy these two and get them used to handling. I think the little girl may be available for sale soon, since she's of no use as a breeder. In other news, today little Mercy went off to her new home through the rescue. We will miss her, but we're glad she found a good home that will treat her well. I've been working more on researching my seed collection. I've gotten through over half of the cucumber varieties now. I love reading the grower reviews when I can find them. It's fun to compare them and get a real perspective rather than the generalized one from most seed companies, which are really only describing the positive qualities to make more sales.
Despite having seeded the aquaponics tank this go round with an assortment of lettuces, basil, watercress, peas, and such... Again, only the basil came up. Don't get me wrong, I do love our home grown purple opal basil. It's my secret ingredient to make all pasta sauces sing. I can't have enough of it. But I'd also like to have some salad, and maybe some chives or peas too. Last time we tried tomatoes and peppers, and they didn't come up either. Probably for the best, since the basil tends to grow so rampantly that it takes over the entire system and chokes out all the other roots in the underwater area. The fall exotic auction is coming up. I really want to go, but I couldn't figure out for the life of me why. I don't need any more critters. I'm trying to downsize. There's nothing I can think of that I'd be looking to get. Until I looked at the consignment flyer. They have hairless hamsters! I always wanted one years ago when we bred hamsters, but none were to be found. Now that I've sworn off indoor caged pets I finally have the opportunity to buy some. I'm sure they'll go for well over my frugal budget. But hey, one could wish, right? I still have all of our old hamster supplies tucked away in the garage. Well, the ones that weren't destroyed in the flood anyway. It's tempting. Ditto has found a potential home through the rescue. I'm so excited! She's set to leave on the 22nd after her vaccinations. It looks like Mercy has a home lined up too, but she may be heading off sooner. Possibly this weekend at the earliest. Yay for new adventures for them. I'm so glad we got to love and spoil them for a while before they go off to new homes. Now if we could just find suitable homes for the four remaining kittens. I say four because I'm still discussing keeping Lucio with my husband. That just leaves Tracer, Hanzo, Genji, and Mei. Tony has requested the days off to go to Galaxy Con. I've never been to a convention before, but this is what #1 wants for her big 18th birthday gift (though Galaxy Con is not on her actual birthday). Grandma is going to pay for most of it. My daughter has been trying to explain to me how other conventions she's gone to have worked. Panels, often led by celebrities, photo shoot times (for an additional fee), autograph opportunities (again for a fee), vendor areas, Cosplay contests, and all manner of other things. I'll be honest, as much as I love some of the celebrity line up (cast of Doctor Who, members from the original Star Trek, etc.), I do not do well in crowded places with a lot of people, nor do I do well in big cities. I am scared out of my mind to have to go to this convention. I keep checking their website hoping they'll release a list of available panels so I can at least feel a little more prepared. Asperger's anxiety kicks in and I spin my wheels. I just hope he gets the time off and we can go. It will be fun, even if I'm stressing about it now. It's a new experience that I can learn from and say that I've done. I've been busy today! I got the new dresser put away, cleaned up and organized my closet, got the seeds all put away, and got updated photos of the kittens! They're ten weeks old today and they each have a very distinct personality. I have updated their descriptions to be more accurate to their current temperaments. In putting away all the seeds, I also found the last two missing pepper varieties.
Today the silverware drawer finally broke completely. It's been hanging on for a while now. Tony was able to fix it with some small finishing nails we had on hand. I'd say it's like new, but everything here is old and I like it that way... so it's repaired and back to working order. Last night / this morning I was up and in pain again. It's been a nice run of several weeks and I thought maybe I'd be finally over it all, but no... Wishful thinking. I took ibuprofen and waited an hour and a half before I was able to get back to sleep. I woke up a little sore, but not in overwhelming pain. Following dinner, I'm having tummy troubles again. I took more ibuprofen but it doesn't seem to be helping this time. This pain bout was preceded by a bad headache (which is continuing now with the tummy pain). I've lost faith that any doctor will take me seriously and get to the bottom of the problem. I'm hoping going to bed early tonight and taking some aspirin or acetaminophen will have me up and moving again by tomorrow morning. Perhaps a hot bath will help to relax before heading to bed. While continuing to clean up, organize, and research the seed collection, I did find the two missing lettuce seed varieties and most of the missing pepper varieties too. Now I'm just missing two pepper varieties. I got the tomato seed bin alphabetized again but haven't gone through it to check to see if all of the varieties are there yet. It's tedious work.
Today I finally had to give up and turn the heater on. Tonight we're supposed to get down to 34 degrees. I closed up the little greenhouse and I'm hoping the plants in there will be alright. I didn't get them transplanted in time and now I'm afraid I'll have to look after them all in the basement again over winter. I've gone back to research the low income spay and neuter clinics (again). We do qualify by the income guidelines, but it's still expensive. There's one that has mobile clinics with limited availability. I could make a dozen trips to various places (mostly down in the cities 3 hours away) with a few cats at a time and it would cost me $770 (plus travel expenses) to get every kitten, both barn cats, and Sage fixed and microchipped. There's another one that used to do mobile clinics but now only offers them down in the cities (again, 3 hours away). They're a bit more expensive but have a lot more open space to schedule more at once. They'd cost me $1,040 (plus travel expenses) to get the same ones spayed/neutered and microchipped. If I went with our regular local vet the same services for the same animals would cost me $1,750.02 plus tax. This does not include any vaccinations. I need to have a fundraiser to get enough to get them all spayed and neutered. Anyone want to donate toward getting ten cats spayed and neutered? The longer it takes, the more likely we are to have even more to have to deal with. I wish our community had a free clinic for spay and neuter surgeries. I think if people could get their pets fixed without the financial burden we'd have a lot less overpopulation. I've found a vast majority of people do want their pets fixed, but can't afford it, or can't take a day off work to drive hours to get to one of the clinics they could afford - which fill up so fast up north of the cities that it's almost laughable that they won't schedule more up here than one every couple of months. And even those are an hour away. Can you imagine if even half the vet clinics picked one Sunday a month to do free or reduced cost spay and neuters... how many people would happily line up? And honestly, as someone who pays for vaccinations and routine care as well, I'd be proud to support a clinic that I knew was helping to decrease the overpopulation problem by offering such a service. How very frustrating that those who could be helping choose to put their profits above what could be a great community outreach. Perhaps I should put more time into getting all the clothing listed for sale so I could advertise all sales going toward the spay/neuter fund... I've got so much to do and I feel like I'm always picking the wrong thing to focus on. Priorities need to be straightened up. Maybe I should just put the seed collection away in it's horrible jumble of boxes, and sort them later. I hate how everything always seems to boil down to money. Why can't we barter for veterinary services? I'd gladly trade some laying hens, some breeding rabbits, some clothing, a crocheted baby blanket, a bucket of black walnuts, some houseplant cuttings, some beefsteak tomato seeds, some handmade jewelry, or whatever else I have on hand for the services I need. Any takers? In the meantime I am continuing to offer the kittens for adoption to approved homes with a refundable spay/neuter deposit. If I can move them into new homes and still be assured they'll get fixed when they're old enough (local veterinary clinics will only spay/neuter at 6 months and will not do any younger), then that sounds like my best alternative right now. I'm also really considering selling out of almost all of the rabbits. Even more than I originally had planned to sell off. Like maybe just keeping 8-10 rabbits total. It sure would cut the food bill and make barn chores over winter a lot less time consuming. If you're looking for a rabbit - check out both the rabbits (for sale) page and the breeders page, see if anyone looks interesting. Make an offer - at this point, with the exception of a few rabbits that I won't sell - a decent offer would likely be accepted. Like I often say - the best way to make money on a homestead is to cut your expenses. My animal feed expenses are closing in on our mortgage and car payment budget - I need to downsize. More good news! Tony was able to find my camera battery tonight. I should be able to take some photos tomorrow to get the website and ads updated. Yay! Can I just say how much I have been enjoying the kitten snuggles? Hanzo seems almost bipolar between playing and sleeping, and he ping-pongs back and forth between the two. Lucio is a quiet snuggler. He purrs but he isn't always as playful (toward humans) as the other kittens. Mercy has such a loud purr and she's a good snuggler too. If people realized how awesome these kittens were, they'd find homes in no time. On a sad note, we lost two birds today. Both to a completely preventable problem. We know that Toby chases and will kill the birds. I suspect the shelter was misinformed on his breed and that rather than Olde English Bulldoggue / English Setter, he likely has a good deal of Jack Russell Terrier in there. He's staying a lot smaller than the other dogs and his prey drive is near terrier level. I've been working on him, bringing him out with me and keeping a close eye on him, and if I can't keep an eye on him, we put him on a long tie out (usually when I'm doing barn chores and he wants to be outside but I can't keep a close eye on him in the yard while I'm in the barn). He's been doing better, but he still cannot be trusted unattended, and he will sneak off if given the opportunity to stalk and chase the birds. He's gotten several since we adopted him in May. Lately he hasn't had the means to go after birds unless one of the kids lets him out and forgets to bring him back in right away or put him on the runner. We know that Arya, my husband's seven month old Saint Bernard pup, also likes to chase and kill the birds - but she tends to be slow and isn't the one who initially catches and kills them, so much as she is the one caught chewing on the remains after the fact. So largely, she's been allowed to play in the yard off leash while I do the barn chores. Today the kids let both dogs out without watching them. When I found out I put Toby on the runner and kept working on the dishes (#3 was outside doing part of the barn chores for me). When I finished and went to let the dogs back in, I noticed that Toby was tied up around a tree, which shortened his range. I noticed Arya was contentedly laying just out of Toby's reach, but I didn't pay much attention because she came when called and I put them all in the house. A minute later #3 stuck her head in to tell me there was a bird body where Arya had been laying. All that was left were white wings. We only have two white chickens, so we looked around and found Betty White (Polish cross) and Katy Perry (Californian). I went back and inspected the wings. They were larger than chicken wings. We went down to the lake to check the waterfowl. Sure enough all the white birds were together in a flock... Ryan, Maeve, and Mavis, the embden geese, Morgana the Chinese/embden goose, and two of the three big Pekin ducks. Arya caught and killed one of the female Pekin ducks. I went out to finish the barn chores and while I was around behind the barn, #3 pointed out some feathers. We followed the feather trail and sure enough, found the remains of one of our big roosters. I can only guess he was chased down and killed when the kids let the dogs run free after school. So, I'm in a big of a conundrum. I love letting my birds free-range. Aside from loosing several ducks to snapping turtles, and a handful of chickens to a mystery predator (which may, in retrospect, be the dogs after all), I've been fairly confident in allowing them free roam of the entire property. They keep the grass mowed around the house and yard, they keep the bugs down, and honestly they're just fun to watch as they wander around looking for bugs and weeds to nibble. On the other hand, I don't believe in putting a dog on a chain all the time or forcing a dog to live at the end of a leash. We have 70 acres, the dogs should be able to run and play, chase balls and retrieve frisbees, explore the woods with the kids, and yes, bark at anyone who decides to come up the driveway. I don't have the money now, but when I eventually do, I will have to choose which project to invest in. Do I give up the free range of the birds and put a fence around the barn to keep them contained? This would leave them very open to aerial predators, and we do have hawks and a breeding pair of bald eagles in the area. The chickens often hide in the brush and tall grass areas if they spot a predator and thus far we have not had major losses. The ducks and geese love heading down to the lake right away in the morning and use it to cool off in hot weather, and to nest in the spring. A fence would only keep our dogs out and possibly ground predators too. We would have to drastically decrease the population of our flock to make sure they weren't too crowded if we had to force them to live in a fenced area. I'm afraid they'd be miserable and would destroy the ground in the area pretty quickly when they aren't able to spread out and forage anymore. We'd also have to dedicate time and energy to mowing the lawn then, which means less flowers for our pollinator friends. On the plus side, it would mean I could have more garden space without worrying the birds would destroy it all. Or do I fence the dogs in? We have a nice bit of yard that the dogs frequent anyway, but fencing it in would mean the dogs won't get the full area to run and play. No more throwing the frisbee as far as I can, or using the Chuck-it tennis ball launcher to give the dogs a good running work out without exhausting myself. It would mean that all of their poop would be contained in a designated area just outside one of the doors, which would require us to pick it up. Often they go off into the woods to poop now, so we don't have to mess with it at all. It would mean a more expensive fencing material than fencing the birds in, but would save us the added time/expense of mowing the area outside that fenced area. It would mean at least three different gates and having to maintain walkways in the snow over winter to allow accessibility to each gate for kids to come and go. It would also mean making it next to impossible to back a vehicle up to the door when we need to haul heavy things (like furniture) in and out of the house - not that that happens very often, but it's still a consideration. The only plus side I see here is that I won't have to worry about them wandering off the property, the kids forgetting to watch them, and they wouldn't be able to run in front of cars coming up or turning around in the driveway. I'll have to discuss this with Tony, and in the meantime I will continue to work with them on training. I'm just feeling incredibly discouraged because tonight I watched Arya stalk yet another critter, then turn to see if we were watching before calling off the hunt. She won't chase the birds if she knows she's being watched. She only does it when she's unattended or when she thinks I'm not paying attention enough to catch her in the act. Toby, on the other hand, he may have the wrong type of genetics to allow me to train him completely out of it. I don't know that I will ever completely trust either of them unsupervised around the birds. I'm usually really good with training dogs, but these two have me stumped. Moose doesn't bother the birds at all and I trust him completely. Does anyone have any training tips on how to keep the younger dogs from killing the livestock? Was it my own fatal mistake to deal with two puppies at once? Is there any hope they'll grow out of it if we keep working on training in the meantime? Tomorrow is Tony's day off. I sat down after kids went to bed and came up with a (long) list of things that need to be done around the house. Some are more time sensitive - like getting the cherry tree planted before it gets much colder, or putting kids' bikes away for the year. Some are regular routine things - like sanitizing rabbit dishes, or cleaning the toilet. Some are big tasks, like mucking the barn, and some are smaller things, like moving the meat bird tractor. Mostly they're things I have either not gotten to, or need help to complete. Ideally I'd like to buckle down and charge through as much of the list as possible, but it is his day off and realistically I'm hoping we can get through at least three things on the list tomorrow.
Also - I found someone willing to barter with me and I am so excited! I'm trading some black walnuts and some of my handmade crocheted dish clothes for a dresser and a privacy screen. We're supposed to go swap tomorrow. We had to re-schedule because originally we'd planned to do it last Thursday, but #5 was sick so we couldn't. I do love to barter, because it means both parties feel like they've made a good deal. I'm excited for two things I couldn't afford to buy new, and hopefully the other person can appreciate the dish cloths and find a good use for the bucket of raw black walnuts. If anyone else wants to barter with me, I do have a barter page full of stuff we'd love to receive... I currently have plenty of rabbits I'd be happy to barter with, and more black walnuts are coming off the trees every day. I've got all kinds of handmade goodies, and I still need to go through boxes, but we have some estate sale finds that will be available as soon as I have spare time to go through boxes and post stuff for sale again. We also have clothing that the kids have outgrown. No baby sizes, but plenty of middle-school to adult range of sizes. I really need to take the time to go through stuff and get it posted in our Bonanza shop. Perhaps once the snow flies and all of the summer and fall projects are done or on hiatus. Alas, if you have something we're looking for, please feel free to reach out and see if we have something perhaps you'd like in exchange! |
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