One very cool thing did happen today. About 3 years ago, there was a cat at the Grand Valley property. It was black and white, and I called him 'Get Along'. We saw him rarely, just a glimpse, but we kept him fed and I built a cozy little house for him for the winter.
When two trees fell on the old house a couple years ago, it knocked everything catty-wumpus (no pun intended). The house is not structurally sound, and we did not want to waste a lot of money making it that way, because we just needed it to stand upright long enough to protect all the stuff we had stashed in there for the new build.
And remember how I was getting those dvd shelves down from a second floor bedroom just a few days ago? I saw a flash of white in the dark hall from the corner of my eye. I immediately thought 'cat' although I couldn't have told you why. I didn't see anything clearly.
Today, I was taking a load of vegetable scraps up to my compost bin, which I am quite pleased with. I can't compost outside because it attracts bears so I compost inside the greenhouse. The heat that builds up in the greenhouse has really been doing a great job at composting quickly. I added my stuff and gave everything a good stir and came back out, closing the place up behind me.
It's been nearly two years since I last caught a glimpse of him, but Get Along went tearing across the yard. I was so pleased to see him. (Even a glimpse of him).
In the dark hall, that flash of white was probably him, I bet. I'm glad he has found his way inside.
Wonder if the cat is munching on your compost items? Can you bring his winter house over to your house? Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteOh he is a complete feral. He has been living off the land for years. I fed him the first winter. I didn't feed him at all last year because I hadn't seen him and sadly concluded that coyote had gotten him. There are plenty of rodents to keep him fed. I will also start feeding him again.
DeleteHe can't get into the greenhouse when the door is closed.
DeleteWe used to have a few cats like that when I worked on the farm - they used to disappear for a while, then suddenly turn up when least expected. They "get along" just fine without us.
ReplyDeleteThey are as resourceful as any wild beast, I guess. It's just that I didn't even set food out for him last winter, because I never once saw him. I never saw him once this year until yesterday. It was a happy surprise.
DeleteDebby, have you seen this? https://www.roku.com/blog/how-to-stream-nfl-games-on-roku-players-and-roku-tvs
ReplyDeleteOur problem seems to stem from the fact that we do not have a television provider. We have internet only. Fox Sports does Thursday night football, I tried to order them (as much as it rankled me to pay for 'Fox-anything') but because Breezeline does not provide us with television service, we can't get them. Same with NBC sports. CBS sports. Sling seems to be what you need to have and then you place order the other things through that. I tried to order sling, entered all the credit card info, sealed the deal, but never got the confirmation e-mail. Never got the service. If we get Breezeline television back, our monthly bill would be over $200 a month, which seems ridiculous. If it weren't for football, I'd be perfectly content with the situation as it is.
DeleteOoh.. bears and coyote. I wouldn't go for long walks in your woods if I came to visit!
ReplyDeleteIf you saw them at all, you'd only see a glimpse of their backsides rapidly fading into the distance.
DeleteTrench composting also works Debby. I feed most vegetable waste directly to the pigs and hens and ducks and they provide me manure.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with composting in our area is that it will attract bears, and while bears are not dangerous, usually, they do get accustomed to returning to a food 'site' and even protective of it. They get comfortable around people. That is when the problems start. You don't want to encourage them to hang around. I think (hope?) once the compost is done cooking, it can be used like any other dirt. As far as having animals there, I'd never do that. We are not living there full time. When the house is done, I'd like to have 3 chickens, but I don't know that I'd ever go all in for small holding, like this Irish fellow I've read about. Tim is a hunter. With a good garden and a couple deer and a regular supply of eggs, we really are well set for our food needs.
DeleteGood to see him.
ReplyDeleteThat's a brilliant idea, composing in the greenhouse
I'm surprised it didn't occur to me before. I just use a large plastic bin. The heat heat build up cooks the stuff nicely. I find myself wondering how much warmth the composting process itself will bring to the space. I've got a thermometer in there to find out.
DeleteGet Along is staying put, it seems.
ReplyDeleteHe is. That makes me happy, because the reason the property was so 'snakey' was because it was so over grown and rodent infested. The previous owners were throwing bags of garbage into an out building and the rotting food attracted mice. Lots of them. The rotting garbage also generated heat which provided a comfortable home for the cold blooded snakes. That building was burnt down.
DeleteMr. Moon had to ask our son-in-law to help him hook up a Wii system the other day. When I think about it, we boomers have really had a lot to learn technology-wise and honestly, we haven't done so bad but it reaches a point where we need help.
ReplyDeleteCats are wily and often quite self-sufficient, aren't they? Tiny little wildcats.
It's just that I've honestly had no interest in learning anything more than I absolutely needed to learn about technology, so fiddling with it when I am not sure what I am doing makes me anxious. Kind of like you and your medical appointment stuff.
DeletePleased he is still around. You need a night camera! Pictures of cars and bears!
ReplyDeleteWe do have 'game' cameras set up. The latest one sends the pictures straight to Tim's cell phone. We got the hind end of a bear passing in front of it. We also got some nice deer pictures. It's nice to see what happens at night. Our grassy meadow allows a feral cat to slink through unnoticed.
DeleteYou could always go to a local bar to watch if you really need to see a game. Or watch highlights on YouTube after the game - much briefer and more exciting than sitting through a whole game! :)
ReplyDeleteWhoo boy. Tim's not a sports bar kind of fellow.
DeleteMy husband had all the toys that go with the tv. He also had everything from albums and record players to the latest electronic. All I can do is turn the tv on. I give some of it away and the rest needs dusted. I also have a grand piano in my living room that he played, beautiful teak wood. He played for church for 60 years.
ReplyDeleteHe sounds as if he had the heart of a musician.
DeleteTechnology. Ugh is right.
ReplyDeleteLike that cat. He's a survivor!
Maybe we should have named him Gloria Gaynor.
DeleteIt's pretty impressive that Get Along has gotten along on his own all this time!
ReplyDeleteI was impressed. Tim was too. He even, of his own volition, took some cat food up for him
DeleteFortunately, we don't have to worry about bears at our compost pile. But the deer regularly stop to see if any choice scraps are available.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind that. Tim would love it.
DeleteIt's expensive to get all the football games. We lucked out because our grandson got a new, very expensive phone from Verizon and the NFL channel (Streaming) came with it. He doesn't watch football, so he put it on our TV. We have an antenna, so of course we can get the games on NBC, Fox, ABC, and CBS anyway. Thursday night football is on Prime and Monday night football is on ESPN... those two aren't shown anywhere else, even NFL. Any streaming service that gives you a lot of games cost a lot of money. I try to get something that will give Cliff a few more games than the antenna give us because he likes football so much, but I only pay for those during the season and then get rid of them. Our Kansas City Chiefs are doing great so far; the big news now is that one of our tight ends, Travis Kelce, is dating Taylor Swift.
ReplyDeleteYes. That is all over the news here too.😒
DeleteBy the way, this is Donna. I don't know why I'm anonymous now.
DeleteOh good, I'm back as Donna now.
DeleteHa! I knew you were Donna as soon as I saw 'Cliff'! Hugs to both of you.
DeleteI’m with you I’m not being interested enough in all those ‘tech things’.. so many others know how, so…😬And re. Get Along.. I often think of the cats we had when I grew up- they must have mostly survived on outdoor ‘treats’, and maybe some indoor scraps?? Because we never bought any cat food!😂They were indoor/outdoor cats though, and they kept both mice and stray dogs/cats off our property! So sweet that you saw Get Along again! Xo, Ricki
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm an awful sucker. I buy 25 lb bags of catfood. Houdini comes in to visit, but he'd rather be outside, which was unexpected, but he's pretty vocal until he gets his way. He stays very close to the house though, and may change his mind once it starts getting cold out. We also have Smokey and Ash. Who ever drops in gets fed.
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