Sit and spin

On March 5, 2022March 2, 2022 By CarynIn Cats, Craft

I did another stake out to trap feral cats, but during the day when my eldest was at school. I set up a bench on the opposite side of the meadow, and brought my spinning with me because stake outs are boring spiked with moments of adrenaline. I ultimately had to abandon the spinning because the cats could see me across the meadow and get spooked. If I sat still, even staring directly at them, they wouldn’t care if I was there. I did eventually trap one, and a feisty black one at that. My eldest came home and trapped a second. She actually trapped two, but the first one was a repeat offender (her ear was clipped, so we’d already taken her in for sterilization). There are at least two more black cats in the colony, and they are definitely the most feral. These poor things will probably go back to their buddies and tell of alien abductions.

Spinning in the meadow (purple arrow points out the live trap)

Muddle

On March 4, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

mud·dle /ˈmədl/ verb

bring into a disordered or confusing state.
mix (a drink) or stir (an ingredient) into a drink.

I like both of these definitions of muddle from Oxford Languages, but today we are specifically talking about muddling an ingredient into a drink. To muddle, it helps to have a muddler, which is a hand-held specialized pestle for gently crushing ingredients in a glass. I made this muddler out of a blank of ash wood by turning it on my lathe. First, I did a sketch of my desired profile, then roughed out the blank, refined it, and sanded down from 80 grit to 600. I used the parting tool to separate the muddler from the blank (which is nervous as this is done while the lathe is turning). I did need to sand the ends to remove tool marks.

Muddler rinsed with water to raise the grain and get an idea of the finished color

This muddler needs a few coats of tung oil and some curing time, then it will be ready to send for testing.

Three more

On March 3, 2022 By CarynIn Cats

We were able to catch three more feral cats and get them spayed (yup, all females again). It took my eldest four hours doing a stake out on the traps and watching from her vehicle to catch them. I assisted, but she did most of the work. We estimate that there are at least ten more. It is a shame they are feral, they are beautiful. This brings us up to 5 neighborhood cats taken out of the baby making ring. If each female can birth 3-6 kittens, that is 15-30 kittens that won’t be adding to the population. Let that sink in. So please, if you feed outside cats, get them fixed. Only feed the cats you’ve decided to care for, don’t leave food outside overnight or unsupervised. Cats are smart and sneaky. As are the local raccoons.

That is my public service announcement for today. More craft posts coming tomorrow.

Eggs!

On March 2, 2022 By CarynIn eggs

We had a record egg day! Eight! My eldest found eight eggs in the nest boxes. We have nine chickens, so all but one laid an egg. This does not compare to other breeds that consistently lay an egg a day, but for my hatchery-quality Faverolle, 36-hour-ish layers, it was a peak production day. Here is an unusual camera angle on my nearly full egg tower, ‘cause you gotta have a pic, and I like spirals.

High balance beam

On March 1, 2022 By CarynIn Cats

Here is Sophie doing her balance beam demonstration over the chicken run. She is now almost completely an inside cat, but when she does go out, this is a favorite move. She was the original cat to figure out the path up there, and I’m fairly certain she kindly taught it to the neighborhood cats. Maybe she hosted a seminar: How to get the best chicken viewing.

Critters and Craft

Author: Caryn