Ice scraper with ice flakes and the reflection of trees on glass
We really don’t get ice here often, but growing up in the midwest I still carry an ice scraper in my vehicle. It came in handy this morning! Yesterday was beautiful until the front came through and we dropped 30 degrees. I’ll be waiting to see what plants made it through. It wasn’t a heavy frost, but there were some very sad daffodils on our way out the door this morning.
The “catnip” that grew yesterday wanted outside, felt the cold, and immediately changed her mind and came back inside where it is warm. Temperamental plants.
Bobcats will also take out chickens. Our trail cam took this fuzzy picture last June (hey, his paws are in focus!). We haven’t seen signs of bobcat lately, but there is no doubting that they are in the area.
Night picture of the same (?) bobcat.Bobcat going the other way, over a month later.
I am not a fan of folding laundry. I am also easily distracted, and getting distracted from folding laundry is REALLY easy.
I have improved in that I now try to wash and dry a load a day. (We have an Aerobic Treatment System at the house, which means if we wash many loads in a day, or run the washer and the dishwasher at the same time, the tank for settling the, eh hem, solids, could overflow into the next tanks and instead of the sprinklers in the back spraying sanitized gray water, there would be… solids. That is pretty strong motivation for not over running the system.)
But folding? Blah. But yesterday was wet so working outside was not happening, especially for painting. So I folded. And because I am easily distracted, I decided to make a video on how I fold/roll towels. Our cupboards in the bathroom are high, and I found that rolling the towels makes them easier to place on the high shelf, and easier to stack. It looks fancy too, so bonus. So here is the video! (And yes, I had fun playing with the title frame.)
And here is a picture of my laundry “helper” because everyone loves pictures of mischievous cats.
Cat helping with laundry by laying in the basket.
But I really want to be outside painting the coop.
Since we moved into this house, we’ve known that we eventually want chickens. At our last house, we would put out bird feeders to attract wild birds to the windows (mostly for the edification of the inside cats, but to also entertain my kids as well). We did not put up feeders at the new house.
Male cardinal picture taken by the trail cam
Wild birds can carry avian bird flu, and if you are raising chickens, I have read that one way to help keep your chickens healthy is to NOT attract wild birds. So no feeders. Now, we have a bit of wooded land, which is happy fun land for wild birds, as our trail cam reports, but we will take steps not to actually attract them to the house or around the coop. Our chicken feeders will be closed at night (which is good to keep out the rats and mice), and I’m considering getting an automatic feeder that only opens when the chickens step up to the plate. Wild birds are too light to activate the lever, and the design keeps the chickens from knocking too much out onto the ground.
Vulture
Now the handsome guy above was doing a great cleanup job on a bit of rabbit. He really seems like he is eyeing the camera, huh?
We also have other wild bird patrols.
Successful hunter, photo credit to my eldest
The outside cats also catch wild birds. In town I know people get riled up about the neighbor cat taking down their window entertainment, and I have to admit finding the bluebird of happiness dead on my front porch was a sad moment, but she is doing her job out here in the country. (I do love bluebirds, and it is sad that this is the first one I saw. It is nice that they are in the area. And the little hunter did get praised for her skills, because we are good cat minions.)
Critters and Craft 