Still Here!

Thank you to Willow for popping in & reminding me that I've been out of touch; it's a lovely thing to be missed! All is fine....but do you ever feel like time is seeping out of every seam, a steady dripping away like water from a soaker hose? That's how it feels right now.

--Critters are well and happy! Pip will be a year old this month--impossible to believe! Linda brought Pip & her four siblings home to foster on April 12 last year; they were only 3 or 4 days old. Keeping Pip, which was totally unplanned, was one of the best decisions we've ever made.

She is probably the most loving cat I've ever known, and between us, Linda & I have had some serious lovebugs. Her favorite place is on the couch, laying on both of us; she always wants to be touch us both. She wants petting and kisses, but not in a needy way. She's also a...well, a pip, always looking for mischief. Yeti's plumey tail is a toy, as are Lola's legs. But despite our initial worries about Lola and Pip, it's all worked out.

Chickens--doing well, laying huge eggs; sometimes I look at them and just think ouch! TuTu, Octavia and Julia are glad for the warming temperatures but want to know when there will be grass to forage in!

Bees--we were deeply saddened to discover we'd lost a hive due to mice. Linda had a mouse guard up, but somehow it got pried open enough that mice invaded the hive. This was the original hive, so all the more sad. Two hives survived Winter, and she just got two more last week. This is a tough time of year to get them through, but she's feeding them daily.

Planting! We've begun kale, chard, peas, arugula, spinach, thyme, marigolds, snapdragons. A weekly planting calendar is in place, along with extensive plans on what gets planted where, and when we need to build what; for example, we're not starting tomatoes from seed, but instead will buy them from Catskill Native Nursery in mid-May, so we know that in early May we need to build platforms to set tomato containers on between the rows of our younger grape arbor, and by mid-May will need to build the bean & edamame trellises. We're aiming to turn a chunk of yard into a no-mow zone; this year's biggest effort in that direction will be a huge stretch of sunblower beds! We're looking to bring whimsy and joy into our yard along with functionality and (eventually) easier maintenance.

The endless battle with food--a little over a year ago, on orders from an acupunturist/TCM practitioner, I went on a gluten/sugar/processed food free diet because of chronic hives, and stuck it out successfully for about 5 or 6 months. It didn't affect the hives, which went into a remission this past October and then began rebounding last month. It did cause me to drop 16 lbs and become far less bloated. Eventually I returned to all my bad habits again, and last week stepped on a scale at the doctor's office and felt nauseous at the number. So...it's Monday morning, the first day of a new month, and I've rejoined Weight Watchers (online)--hey, Jennifer Hudson still looks great! It's been successful for me before, and I seem to need the regimentation. Doctor told me I must start exercising, and broke it down to as minimal as possible--10 minutes a day, three times a week to start out. Even I can manage that!

We've had hints of sweet Spring, warm sun and blissed-out birds, grazing deer, geese flying over the house by the hundreds, heading north all at once as if they all got the email at one time. The quince is blushing, the Japanese maple is sporting delicate buds, daffodils are peeking out. The season is pregnant with promise, each day a new discovery, and today I feel optimistic and excited about the days to come.

I've missed all of you, and will be making the rounds of blogs this week; I look forward to catching up! And I'll be back posting at the end of the week to talk about....some very special strawberries. Wishing you a week of joy and anticipation in the season!

Sunday Sundries

Happy Sunday! Alas, the day is racing to a close. We set the clocks back last night (okay, actually, this morning). I don't mind the earlier sunset; it suits this time of year. But I do mind the inexorable movement of the clock on a Sunday, ticking us closer and closer to Monday morning. Sigh.

Yesterday we had the pleasure of working at a local organic farm for their annual bulk sale of Winter veggies. It's a fourth generation farm, and they are all so grounded and warm. It was awe-inspiring to see so many people coming to buy cases of organic potatoes & beets & onions, boxes of butternut squash, bags of broccoli and assorted cuts of grass-fed beef to feed their families through the Winter. It's clearly a popular event local folks rely on, and the farm provides free cold storage for some of the veggies. Linda greeted & guided people; I helped with taking payment. It was a sunny, windy, very cold day despite alpaca socks, heavy shirt, flannel shirt and a sweat jacket, but we really enjoyed it! And taking partial payment in the form of squash, beets and stew beef was awesome. The whole day reminded us of the immeasurable impact of farmers. I've told Linda that I'd like this bumper sticker in my stocking this year:

Says it all, huh? 

This afternoon we finally fulfilled a goal of several years. It's one of those things that we talk about every year, but just never quite got to:

 
Under all that straw is a raised bed with newly amended soil (compost-manure mix & aged straw), and planted so carefully in that rich dirt is.......GARLIC! 63 cloves of 5 different varieties (Music, Roja, Rosewood, German White, Carpathian). All Winter it will sleep. In late Spring we'll harvest scapes (remember that pesto I rhapsodized over?), and late next Summer we'll harvest our very own garlic! I look at that bed, neatly (really, it is) mulched with straw to keep it snug, and I think magic. This weekend hit home to us again that if we'd gotten together a decade or so earlier, we'd have chosen a more rural life, not a large scale farm by any means, but one with alpacas, goats, an organic farm stand, and alot more honey bees. 

And speaking of magic, or perhaps the miraculous, here is Scrapper, now a robust 4 weeks old:

  
S/he's a cutie. The hope is that in a couple more weeks she'll be weaned & there will be a litter of kittens at the shelter she can be introduced to so she can learn proper cat behavior, and eventually be adopted. She's come so far, thanks to Linda's hard work and determination....

  The day is fading, the wind is still blowing. I'm going to have some tea, light a few candles, and relax by the fire. Wishing you a peaceful evening and gentle Monday...

Revolving Doors

My sister recently commented that we had a regular revolving door here, and I can't argue that. The batch of four kittens (Bob, Oliver, Cleo & Twink) has grown by leaps and bounds. Late last week, Linda began weaning them...

Here they are, chowing down on a soupy mixture of kitten milk replacement & KMR-soaked kitten chow. The tub is the only place to do such feedings!

Friday night Linda got a plea from the shelter to take on the survivors of a litter found, cold and wet, only a couple of days old. So yesterday the crew of four got turned over to a shelter staff person who will raise them from this newly-weaned stage, right up to crunching dry kitten chow, and then they'll be ready to await adoption. Here they are getting ready to leave our house:

Bob & Oliver

Twink & Cleo (there's nothing wrong w/ Cleo's eyes; that's just a photographic weirdness I couldn't fix w/ photo shop)





And then she brought home the two survivors of this seven-kitten litter yesterday morning. They weigh 2.1 & 2.3 ounces, and it's a victory and relief (won by Linda's dedication & willpower, feeding them every 2 hours all day & night) they're alive this morning. With no further ado, please allow me to introduce

Callie

Blackie








Callie is the weaker and smaller of the two; Linda keeps calling Blackie a 'scrapper' who has already figured out sucking. Callie hasn't figured that out yet, swallowing what Linda drips into her mouth but not sucking. They're so tiny they're being fed with an eye dropper. Before acquiescing to yet another batch of such tiny babies who would need every-two-hour feedings, I made Linda promise she would nap every afternoon. Those of us who had babies remember the exhaustion of getting up so frequently, and we were younger than she is!

Last week we said goodbye to Ms. Mot, whom Linda rescued from a storm drain as a feral kitten 15 1/2 years ago. She began losing weight rapidly, and the diagnosis was lung cancer. She was a gentle, skittish girl whose heart, once won, was yours. Okay, and liberal treats of chicken kept it yours!

She loved being outside, basking in the sun, although as she got older, Winter would find her nestled into a fleece-lined crate, happily hibernating. We knew Spring was truly here when she would appear on the porch rail. She's deeply missed.



So this is our revolving door. But some of those who enter climb into our hearts and stay forever. Pip was spayed last week, but is back home where she belongs, getting into trouble, laying claim to....everything...

including Yeti!




They come and they go. We laugh at them, mourn them, tear our hair out and then snuggle them. Life is more complicated with all the critters, but hard to imagine being without 'em! So go give your critters (or kids) a hug, and have a great day!

Wee Hour Wanderings

My job is often stressful, but there are several periods through the year when the stress ratchets up. About three weeks' worth of those stressful times are made up of 13+ hour days; today I need to be at work at 6:30 a.m., and if it's a really, really good day, I'll walk in the door at 8:00 tonight. So waking up from nerves and whatever else at 2 a.m. is charming, just the gooey butter cream frosting on the cake. Did one of the tasks I'd brought home for the weekend, then decided I'd do a quick post. I suspect it'll be at least a week before the next one because of time constraints (and utter exhaustion; by day's end I'm lucky to be able to string three words together coherently). I've done this enough times it shouldn't stress me out, but it always does...and I'm one of those people who gets teary when exhausted, so I'm praying today is smooth as silk.

Fall is creeping closer. Everything has that blowsy look I often refer to as 'stayed a little too late at the party'. Mama Nature looks a little tired; her mascara is smudged, eyes bloodshot, hair a tad tangled. She needs a good long nap (mmm....sleep sounds delicious right now!), a shower, a strong cup of coffee (I'll share a cup of my Dean's Beans Ring of Fire), a gentle walk on a cool, crisp day. But she parties on, storing up those good times like a squirrel with a new-found hickory tree. Meanwhile I'm looking for the door, ready to blow this popsicle stand, daydreaming about crackling fires, burnt oranges and maroons, pulling out the wool for knitting, spinning & felting again, making soups, lounging about in fleece, cozy group snuggles on the couch with Linda and both dogs & Pip.

Pip is just a couple ounces shy of 4 lbs!!! She's five months old now, and much smaller than she should be, but growing steadily. She's fearless, assumes the world is her catnip toy (this includes our ponytails, Yeti's paws, Lola's tail....) and an incredibly loving kitten. When she sleeps, she positions herself so she's touching both Linda and me. She purrs on contact, and is never happier than when getting into mischief or falling asleep between us on the couch. We love her to pieces, so much so that Linda just acquired cat tv (aka, an aquarium). Yes folks, we now have 'rescue fish'. The neighbors are moving and downsizing in preparation for doing some world travel in another year. Daughter couldn't bring her tropical fish to the new home/new life, so she waylaid us in the driveway yesterday afternoon, and 24 hours later, we became fish owners. Linda had tropical fish while living in Thailand as a teenager, and is tickled pink to take the hobby back up. That brings the count to 2 dogs, 5 cats, 3 chickens (soon to be 5 as we're taking a couple of the neighbors' chickens in the next couple of weeks), and about a dozen fish. Please note: the inn is full!  No vacancy. Really.

So....wishing you all a gentle week with happy surprises and the promise of good things to come.

For All Who Asked....

I give you (drumroll, please)....Pip!

She's 1 lb, 1 oz, and and is finally feeling more substantial, less ethereal. I told Linda today when Pip began actually playing--on her own--that it feels like she's decided to stay on this plane; the last few days we weren't sure of that. She's endlessly curious, follows us like a puppy, and despite the  misleading picture, is still about the size of a chipmunk. She should be well over two pounds, and although she's nearly 11 weeks old, is the size of a four week old. She's getting Nutrical, and numerous small feedings through the day, and we're finally seeing the scale go up daily.

Cuter than a bug's ear, isn't she?