Cookie, Albert, and I are fast becoming good buddies. They are thriving! They are so happy to see me every day. I left the barn door open today. They played on the path, but never strayed far from the door. The romped and pounced and got underfoot. Loving it!
My sister is meticulous about labeling leftovers in her freezer. She also reuses her plastic bags. Today she brought some vegetable peels for the sheep in one of her reused bags. The label on the bag reads:
crockpot meat –
balls and sauce.
Does anyone else find this hilarious and sick? Or is it just me?
My friend Pam saw my post about Cookie yesterday. She had a stray kitten that had been hanging out at her house. She is allergic to cats and wanted to know if I would take him. So I did.
He is much bigger than Cookie, several weeks older. Still, I think he will be good company for her. I put him in the kennel when I got him home. It was my intention to leave him in the kennel for today until he became accustomed to being here, then let him out to play when I let Cookie out tomorrow. Well, he ate Cookie’s leftover food and then took approximately 15 seconds to figure out how to escape the kennel. “Well aren’t you a real Einstein?”, I asked him. Hence the name Albert.
He kept heading outside and up the barn path. Pam lives just up the road from us and I was concerned he might try to go back to her house. I shut the bottom of the half-door. He then seemed content to hang out in the barn. There are several other less obvious ways out of the barn. Tiggy and the hens come and go as they please. He will find those ways eventually. For now I just want him to get used to the idea that the barn is now his home.
For the most part he gets along well with Cookie. He did not really play with her, as if he thinks he is too old for such nonsense. He did butt heads with her and follow her lead as to knowing when to beg for food or attention. He does not mind her laying next to him. However, when she tries to nuzzle up against his belly he growls and swats at her. I think she is looking to nurse. Albert wants none of that.
I introduced him to Tiggy. As with Cookie, Tiggy showed no signs of aggression towards the kitten. Mild curiosity then ran away when Albert tried to engage him. I feel confident that I can trust Tiggy to not hurt the kittens. Sissy stopped by with Levi and June. Little Cookie’s back arched and her fur stood up. She hissed her tiny hiss at June and June respected her space after that. Albert just laid in his sunbeam. He didn’t even seem to care. Clearly he is accustomed to dogs.
When I finished chores tonight I put Cookie and Albert in the kennel and fed them. They ate together peacefully. Then Cookie curled up in her bed. And Albert calmly squeezed through a top opening of the kennel and was perched on a beam when I left the barn. Sigh. I hope he will still be in the barn tomorrow. We shall see.
A friend of mine found kittens abandoned in her driveway. Tiny little kittens, taken away from their mother and dumped in front of someone’s house. Who does that to living creatures? ASSHOLES! That’s who.
She was looking for a home for them and I volunteered to take them. Tiggy just can’t keep up with the rats in the barn. I have no idea how old he is (he isn’t young) or what kind of life he had before straying onto the farm, but I’m pretty sure he was never in a barn or even outside before in his life. He has adjusted amazingly well and seems to love his new life. But, he needs reinforcements.
So, Shauna brought me these 2 tiny kittens Friday night. She had been bottle feeding the smaller of the two, Echo. She said Echo was the weaker of the two and she didn’t eat much or seem to put on any weight. Sadly, Echo did not make it through the night her first night here. She was just too weak. She probably would have grown up fine if some asshole did not tear her away from her mother too soon. Milk replacer is no substitute for mother’s milk.
The second kitten seems to be doing very well. She is stronger than her sister. Shauna had tentatively named her Goldenrod, but after having her for a couple days I have renamed her Cookie.
She made it through her first night in a strange place just fine. She didn’t need a little kitten bottle do drink her milk replacer. She was able to lap it out of a bowl. That first morning my little nephew played with her for a couple hours and wore her right out. She was sound asleep by the time I finished with morning chores. She ate canned cat food and sampled some dry food as well. And drank some water. She used the litter box without me having to teach her.
This morning she was raring to go. I let her out of her kennel and let her run around. She went about exploring the barn, but always making sure she knew where I was. She was fearless, stalking the broom while I swept the floor. She also kept trying to check out the hens, who tower over her. They freaked out every time she got too close. Too funny. I told her she was one tough little cookie.
I didn’t want to leave her unattended while I was in the haymow, so I took her upstairs with me. She didn’t like it when I pulled down the bales and the crashed on the floor. I looked around and couldn’t see her any where. I called to her and heard a meow coming from the stairs. She was half way down the steps. What a smart little cookie. Hmmm…
A tough cookie, a smart cookie. She is definitely a Cookie. Cookie loves attention. I’m not crazy about her trying to climb up my pant legs. But after I ignored her a few times she settled for sitting on my boot if I was standing still. She doesn’t like to let me get out of her view for more than a couple minutes. She will explore a little bit, then come back to see where I am. If I lose track of her I just call to her and she either comes to me or meows to me.
Tiggy has shown some mild curiosity toward her, but absolutely zero aggression so far. He will sniff her, but doesn’t like it when she tries to get too close. If she shows too much interest in him he runs away. I’m hoping they will become good friends once he gets used to her.
Oh, I really do hope she makes it. Kittens taken from their mothers too soon never have a very good chance. But I think Cookie is going to be one of the lucky ones.
Day 2 of brush hogging the orchard. Things were going swimmingly. Until I got too close to a tree covered in grapevines. Got tangled. It was horrible. I tried to back out but couldn’t. Wheels were spinning. Tried to rock, forward and backward. The more I tried to get out the more I got pulled in. Apparently a thick grapevine got wrapped around the front axle and the more I tried to escape the tighter it got tangled. Had to call my uncle to come pull me out with his tractor. Broken tie rod and bent smokestack. I thought I was doing so well with the solo tractor driving. Was really feeling confident, you know? Not so much now.
What’s for dinner?
I did it. I brush-hogged part of the orchard by myself today. 47 is pretty old for my first solo tractor driving adventure, I know. But it was exciting for me. Hoping the weather will cooperate so I can do some more tomorrow. And the seat is MUCH more comfortable than trying to fit my fat ass on the fender!
I did not get to see my nephew get on the bus at his house this morning, but did get to see him get off the bus at our house this afternoon. Wearing him new Spider Man shirt and his way cool Spider Man sneakers. But he did not seem at all happy. His grandma and I were asking him all kind of questions about his first day back and he would only answer with grunts. Well THIS isn’t a good sign…
Seriously concerned that something terrible had happened I began my interrogation. After putting him on the rack and applying the thumb screws I finally got the following answwers;
He likes his new teacher.
Lunch was cheeseburgers and cheese fries with cheese and ketchup.
He also had chocolate milk for lunch, which isn’t the best milk (Say WHAT?!?!) but they didn’t have strawberry milk today.
The boys chased the girls at recess today and the girls liked it.
He sat next to his friend Kale at lunch.
He doesn’t have homework tonight.
He didn’t learn anything at school today.
And the big tragedy that put him in such a bad mood when he got off the bus? His friend Jayden was NOT on the bus for him to sit with this morning, so he had to sit with William, instead. And his friend Michael was NOT on the bus to Grandma and Grandpa’s house this afternoon, so he had to sit with another kid.
So that’s that. The whole school year is now ruined! Oh, the humanity! And then, to top it all off, he had to stay in the house with grandma and grandpa instead of coming to the barn with me because he had his new school clothes on. I do believe the world is coming to an end!
Farmer Keen 