Memorial Day Weekend

I hope you are having a good Memorial Day weekend so far!  I took a vacation day yesterday so I ended up with 4 days off in a row.  I needed a nice relaxing weekend after a stressful week though.  

This morning, Charlie and I went to the farmer's market together and had a nice time.  I bought a few plants to add to the garden (eggplant, sweet potato, lovage, chives and mint).  Charlie bought a few Rada knives from the 4-H group and some cookies from a local bakery.  I treated him to a cup of coffee   at the Harvest Coffee House and we watched a little bit of a bicycle race that was running through town.  It was a very pleasant morning.  

This week was stressful for me because I lost two chickens from our flock.  The two in the front row on the right in the photo above are dead now.  Prudence, my Speckled Sussex, had a prolapsed vent.  I didn't realize it right away -- I thought she was just being broody -- until I noticed some blood.  I researched what to do, but after bathing her and examining the situation, it didn't look like she was going to get better.  We put her down with quite a bit of sadness.  Poor sweetie.  :(

Then two days later, I came home and found Gertrude, the Buff Orpington, dead in the coop.  There had been no signs of sickness/weakness at all.  I'm not sure what happened, but I'm assuming it was a heart attack.  I am, however, keeping a close eye on the rest of the ladies.

The other sad news is that my gorgeous outdoor cat that we had grown to love has not been around for a couple of weeks.  At first, I was hoping he was just out trying to find a female friend.  Now, I'm afraid he is gone forever.  Perhaps he was injured in a fight, or ran into a coyote.  I didn't see him along the road, but being hit by a car is also a possibility.  Regardless, I miss his friendly greetings and his funny antics.
So, it has been a sad week.  I try not to get too attached to my animals, but it is nearly impossible for me.  I get upset over road killed raccoons and possums and I only kill insects when absolutely necessary.
This four day weekend is just what the doctor ordered.  I intend to relax as much as possible.  I'm also looking forward to a week long vacation in late June.  We've booked an overnight trip to Detroit and left the rest of the week wide open so far.  Hooray for time off of work!

They keep growing, and growing, and growing...

The raised bed garden is still in full swing, although I can tell the end of the season is very near.  The sunflowers finally decided to show their beautiful colors.  I tried growing a giant variety and they seriously are huge!  I'm talking 12 feet tall!  I've also got broom corn that towers 9 feet tall as well.  The green beans have grown up an 8 foot teepee and are finally producing a large quantity of beans.

This was the first time I've ever tried growing okra before and I will continue to grow it in the future.  It is a unique and decorative plant that is absolutely carefree.  I planted the seeds and then next thing I knew I was frying up okra.  They show no signs of disease, mildew, pests, etc.  The unique foliage helped choke out weeds too.  If you've never tried growing them before - I would highly recommend it.

This is also my first time growing sweet potatoes in my garden.  I want to dig them up to see how big they are, but it isn't time yet.  Both the okra and the sweet potato would make an excellent addition to any edible landscaping project.  They are pretty and carefree.

The stray kitty keeps growing too.  He is a very handsome cat and he has a lot of energy!  He is always running around the yard, climbing up trees, jumping on top of the chicken coop, or attacking my leg.  Yes, he likes to play - but sometimes he gets carried away and starts getting too aggressive with me.  I'm hoping he calms down with age.

And finally, here is a photo of the chickens in their chicken tractor.  I think they are just about done growing and they are bound to start laying eggs soon.  They are turning into gorgeous birds, don't you think?

Pullets, Portable Coop, and One Scary Predator

The pullets are growing quickly and developing some beautiful feathers.  They are 3 months old now and so far they are staying healthy (knock on wood).  Their portable coop has been a secure home for them so far.  We have raccoons and possum in the area and so far they haven't been able to get in.
There is one predator that constantly hangs around the coop -- shown in the photo above.  He is the little stray kitty that I have been harboring.  At first the chickens pecked at him when he would stick his paw inside the coop.  Now he just likes to sit on top of the coop instead.
To be quite honest, I think the kitten is just looking for a play-mate.  He has been orphaned and his siblings disappeared shortly after his mama vanished (you can see a photo of his mama here).  He sits on the same back step that his mama sat on to beg for food.  Because his siblings are gone, he pounces on tufts of grass and bats at flowers instead.  I've given him a few toys and I play with him when I can, but he is still lonely.
This evening, when I was feeding the chickens, the kitten was on top of the coop again.  I pet him for a while (something he just discovered last week -- being petted by that big scary human feels nice) and he even started purring for me.  I noticed one of his toes on his hind foot looked wet, as if it had been bleeding or something.  I vowed to keep an eye on it to make sure it didn't get worse, then husked the corn for dinner and left him alone outside.  While cooking the corn, I discovered the cause of the wet toe.  The baby had fallen asleep on the back step and was "kneeding" the air and sucking on his toe.  It was the most adorable thing I have seen in a very long time (since Sassy used to suck her tail when she was very little)!  I'm glad his toe is okay, but I feel bad for the little guy because he obviously misses his mama.  I crumbled and gave him a little bit of milk to comfort him.  Yeah, I'm a push-over.
Anyway, we need to figure out what to do with the chickens this winter.  The coop is too small for them to be closed in and it gets wet inside too easily.  We would like to get a shed, but they seem pricey.  We are, of course, concerned about security for the chickens so it needs to be a sturdy home too.  If anyone has a brilliant solution, feel free to share your ideas.

Coming Soon!

 Hurry up, Springtime!  I cannot wait for warmer days.  I have so much work to be done -- all this snow and ice is slowing me down.  These past couple of weeks I have started gearing up for Spring and now I just want to get started.  Anyway, here is a peek at things to come...

This week I went to Uncle Dave and Aunt Mary's house (our prior landlords) to place my order for chickens.  I could have picked some chicks up at the Tractor Supply Store, but I wanted a few specific breeds.  Dave is ordering his a bit later than normal this year so he doesn't have to spend so much time and energy keeping them warm.  I'm getting 6 chickens total -- 1 each of the following: Barred Plymouth Rock, Araucana, Buff Orpington, Speckled Sussex, Silver Laced Wyandotte and Rhode Island Red.  Sounds a motley crew, doesn't it?  Anyway, I'm acquiring everything I need for their brooder box to get them started.

I've also ordered my seeds for the garden and received most of them already.  I've got more seeds than I have room for in my two little raised beds, so I'm going to have to expand this year.  That means a lot of work -- but what's new.  I've also purchased a bunch of fruit plants and a few hazelnut bushes as well.  We are going to cut down a bunch of box elder trees in the back and clear out a nice area for the mini-orchard.  While we are at it, I think we are going to finally tear down that cute little red shed in the back. With the roof caving in, it really isn't worth fixing up -- so down it must come.  Work, work, work!  I want to get started now!

I'm hoping to have some great adventures this summer once all the work is under control.  Charlie and I intend to do some more fishing this year.  We didn't even go fishing once last summer -- that is just sad.  I'd like to travel to some new places this year as well.

Mama kitty also has some big plans in store for the warm weather.  She is pregnant again and getting fatter by the day.  I'll have to figure out a new shelter for her if we end up tearing down the shed.  Perhaps I could find an old dog house somewhere.
Today I re-filled the bird feeders and have a bunch of happy visitors.  We also had some deer in the yard and I heard a few gobbles from the wild turkeys.  Things are coming to life around here.  Stay tuned for the show!

Farm stand and a couple cuties

Mom and I went to a local farm and nursery during her visit.  I have plans to visit it earlier on in the year next year.  I was pretty impressed with what they had.  There were bins full to the brim with squash of every variety imaginable.  I stocked up on what I thought I'd be able to use this winter.  Next year, I intend to grow some of my own.  In fact, I bought an heirloom pie pumpkin for the seeds as much as for the flesh -- you can be sure I'll be saving some of them for my garden (and still have plenty to roast).  

I also bought some onions (mine didn't grow well this year - I had plenty of pearl onions though) and a huge cabbage.  

Of course, my mother and I cannot pass up adorable kittens without picking them up and letting them know how adorable they are.  There was a whole batch of kittens that lived in the green houses and farm stand.  Aren't they handsome?  For a quick minute, I thought Mom might smuggle one home.  

I spent all day so far just grocery shopping and cleaning up the kitchen.  Oh, and I baked a squash to have later for dinner.  Alas, I have to get the yard winterized -- I can tell that snow is not far off for us.  Time to get moving if I am going to get anything done today.

Happy Halloween!

I've been very busy with work lately -- working lots of overtime.  The paychecks are good, but I haven't really gotten out much.  Subsequently, my blog has been kind of neglected.  Anyway, I'd like to kind of catch up on a few things.
The same day I shot the portrait of Sassafras, I got some photos of the stray cat and her baby.  The baby kitty was finally getting friendlier (it was very wild compared to mama cat -- who rubs against my shins to get food).  Sadly, I found the baby kitty had been hit by a car just a couple of days after taking the photos.  I know that stray kitties don't have a long life span, but this was particularly tragic -- she was just a baby.  :(

(The black one is the baby, and the grey one is the mama)

Sassy doesn't mind that the baby is gone though.  She doesn't like sharing her backyard with the other cats.  Sassy doesn't go outside a lot, and she has always been a scardicat.  She goes outside when I am out there but when the stray cats come around, she goes on the defense.  The day we shot the photos, the kitten was trying to play with Sassy - unaware that Sassy wasn't really amused.  I snapped a photo at the very instant Sassy decided to take a swat at her.  I guess she just got a little to close to my big old cat.

I've been feeding the birds and enjoying their presence right outside our front bay-style window.  I've had finches at my thistle feeder, a couple varieties of woodpeckers on the suet, bluejays going after corn, and chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals, and juncos enjoying the sunflower seeds.  Oh, and a tufted titmouse just flew up to remind me that they like the feeder too.

A pretty chickadee -- when our trees still had leaves left on them.  

All the leaves came down last week with that huge windstorm that rolled through the midwest.  I work in customer service at one of the large electric providers in Michigan -- needless to say, we were busy this week.
Last night I met up with three of my friends from work as they were getting ready to go to the bar.  I had fun taking photos of their transformations.

Getting ready

Elizabeth as a sadistic June Cleaver, Cristin as Marilyn Monroe, and Nikki as a sexy skunk.  We also hung out with Liza (Elizabeth and Nikki's good friend) and some of their guy friends...

Liza as a peacock 

"Where the Wild Things Are", "The Hangover", and a couple of beat up zombies.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

Sassafras -- Autumn portrait

My beloved cat enjoying the season

Sunbather

My crazy, fat cat catching some rays on our retro carpet in the spare bedroom.

Sassafras --mighty hunter

The other day, Sassy battled with a turkey feather.  She spotted the feather in the yard -- stalked it -- pounced -- and then the glorious battle ensued.  The feather gave a good fight, but in the end, Sassy was victorious!  She brought the kill to the door to show off to her humans.  What a brave kitty!

Cutie pie

Ralphie -- the outdoors cat -- Part 2

I didn't want to post this, but Ralphie died last week.  He got very sick.  For a while it looked like he was getting better.  He had started eating again and rolling over for me like he loved to do.  Then he took a turn for the worse.  I brought him inside and put him in the basement (didn't want Sassy to get sick from him) because it was warmer down there than outdoors.  He wouldn't eat and he would barely drink.  He had a respiratory infection and was having trouble breathing.  I made an appointment for him at the vet as quickly as I could, but he passed away a few hours before his appointment.
I think he had gotten into one too many fights with other animals and got sick from an infected wound.  I'm very sad that he is gone.  He was a sweet cat.

Ralphie -- the outdoors cat

This cat seems to love the snow!  Luckily he has plenty of warm fur.  His first few days here were very, very cold.  I kept him in the pole barn for a week ( I didn't want him to run away or freeze to death).  Now he roams around freely and seems to stay fairly close to home.  He is extremely territorial and has been in fights with other stray cats around here.  He also doesn't really like Sassafras.  They sit on either side of the back slider and yowl and hiss at each other.  I think he is jealous of her.  Ralphie begs for food by rolling over in the path in front of me.  It is cute, and he is irresistible -- I can't say no to giving him a scrap-piece of Charlie's lunchmeat.

PEMF and pizza

I went to Grand Rapids today to drop off our tax papers and to visit with my family.  It was a very quick visit.  We had just enough time to check out the treatment that has been helping my Dad recover from his stroke and then go to one of my favorite restaurants in Grand Rapids.  

PEMF -- or pulsed electromagnetic field therapy -- has been helping Dad a lot.  Dad didn't have any loss of strength or any paralysis from the stroke, but he does have problems seeing some things.  He has been getting PEMF treatments once a week and he notices the effects immediately.  He is able to see better right away.  After about 4 days things start to get worse again for him.  My Mom has a friend that just bought one of these machines (they are NOT cheap) and offered to let Dad get a midweek treatment as well.  It looks weird, and I haven't done enough research on how it works, but it has worked for Dad.  

I also got to try it out.  It felt like a muscle twitch in my tight shoulders while I was laying down on a mat with the tube running through it.  I tried the thing on my head too and it felt like a tapping or pulsing on my sinuses and my teeth.  It didn't seem to do much right away for me, but I did have a headache earlier today and now it is gone.  They say it really helps with arthritis as well.  Very interesting!

After that, we went to Marinade's.  It is a small bistro near my parent's house that I adore.  I got a calzone  with feta, kalamata olives, and crimini mushrooms.  Yum!  My Brother and Dad got meaty calzones, and Mom was more adventurous with a little pizza with lemon zest, walnuts, gorgonzola cheese, etc (but no tomato sauce).  She loves that combination.  

As you can tell by the coats we were wearing, it is cold outside.  I'm sure most of the people reading this are experiencing the same thing right now -- but you never know.  Anyway, I thought I would throw in a cute picture of Angel -- another of my folks' cats.  She is a sweet heart.  She loves the window ledge above the radiators in their front room.  If I were a cat, I think I would pick that spot as well.   

A new member to the family

This handsome cat is the newest member to our family (seen here enjoying the happy chicken bones from last week).  A friend from work had to get rid of the cat because her husband didn't want it around.  It is an outdoor cat, but quite friendly.
I've felt bad for him this past week because he was cooped up in our pole barn all day and night.  It has been so cold out that I've kept him in there.  He was used to a heated garage with a spot he could come and go through as he pleased.  Yesterday and today I have been able to let him run around freely.  This week it is supposed to get up to 40 degrees, so I'm hoping to be able to let him out all week.
Anyway, he is an absolute sweetheart and he craves attention.  He needs a good name.  I'm open to suggestions if anyone has a good idea.
My Mom, Dad and Grandma came over yesterday to visit.  It was the first time Grandma had seen the house.  We had a nice day visiting.  I made some potato soup and some bread for a late lunch.  It was a very nice day.
That is about the extent of my excitement for the week.  I have another 58 hour week to work this week. I'm looking forward to some new seed catalogues to show up soon so I can begin ordering.  I am definitely ready for Spring.

Mid December day

The cat continues to adore her sunny spot in the dining room near the slider that looks out onto the backyard. This morning there was quite a show back there. We had the most turkeys I've seen out there yet. I counted at least 23 of them -- they were having a real party! There was feasting and gobbling, males were mingling with females... why, I just imagine that they planned the whole thing in advance and sent out e-vites to all their neighboring turkeys. "Come on over to Shari's backyard, we're having a hoe-down!". Things got a little crazy when one of the turkeys jumped onto the roof of the little shed. I could almost hear the other turkeys cheering him on "Jump! Jump! Jump!" like some drunk teenager about to jump off a roof into the pool at some house party. Well, that is what I was imagining anyway.

Crazy fat cat

Sassafras is running around the house this morning -- I think she has lost her mind!  She starts running in the kitchen on the linoleum flooring and can't get any traction.  She looks like a cat from the cartoons... just running in place with a wild look on her face.  It took her a while to feel comfortable in our house (she is scared of everything and everybody) but now she seems extremely happy to have more room.  She also enjoys the windows.  There is a large bay window in the living room that has a ledge she can sit on.  In the back we have a glass sliding door that gives her a perfect view of everything out back.

She isn't quite sure what to think of the turkeys that frequent the back yard, but she likes to watch them.  In the photo below, I was trying to get her to look at the turkeys (you can see them as little grey out of focus blobs at the top) but she just wanted to roll over on her back and look cute.  Although this photo really shows off how fat she is, I thought it was adorable.  Silly cat!

On a more serious note, I spoke with my Dad last night.  He was very tired but said he wasn't in any pain.  He understood that I couldn't be there (I have a very bad cold right now and can't chance infecting him).  It was good to talk to him.  Thank you for keeping him in your prayers.  There is a long road ahead toward recovery and good health.

color/black and white

Thought I'd share a couple of photos -- two that are very colorful, and one more along the black and white theme.  First, a close up of a sunflower.  Second, the field of gladiolas (gorgeous!).  Third, the baby kitty must feel at home with the two little statues.  They make a cute grouping.

Are you sick of these yet?

I apologize if you are sick and tired of hearing about the barn cats.  I just had to post this photo -- I think they are just adorable.  The one on the left has the most gorgeous face!  The black one is the timid one.  There are two that look like calicos (but I don't think they are true calicos) and one that is black and white (the runt, but least timid).  It appears that a couple of them have the extra toes like their mama.  Dave asked if I knew anyone that wanted a kitten.  He seems to think we have enough around here.  If you are interested... let me know.  I keep feeding them and am getting them used to human contact.  They could probably be tamed in a day or two if you want to take one home...

Garden update and another feline licks her lips

The baby kitties (there are actually 5) have been hanging out by the door of the barn and are starting to eat cat chow and meat.  Charlie had a hamburger he didn't eat at lunch that I fed to them.  They are greedy little kitties.

Here are a couple of photos from the garden.  I spent some time tonight weeding my plot.  Some things are looking kind of sad -- it keeps getting cold at night and I don't have covers for the plants.  My mesclun lettuce blend looks pretty good though.  Uncle Dave hooked me up with some radishes too.  Yum!