Tag: cat

Towel Rolling

On By CarynIn Life Hack

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.

Wild birds

On By CarynIn Wildlife
Blue Jay picture taken by the trail cam

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.)

Caulking siding

On By CarynIn Coop

It has been rather warm here for the last few days (We hit 80 degrees!). As unlike the arctic freeze my friends and family experienced up north last week as you can get. We have day lilies peeking up through the mulch and the gnats and other bugs are resurfacing. The good and the bad of warm weather.

I took advantage of the warmth to caulk in the seams and screws on the siding on the coop.

Caulking in the seams of the siding

The caulk I used can’t be painted for a week, though, so it is probably good that winter is rearing its head again later in the week.

One wall caulked in

It was so nice and warm I had company as I worked. Sophie, the outside cat, curled up and nearly disappeared under a tree in a pile of leaves. I think grey calico is probably one of the best camouflage colors for cats.

Sophie sleeping under a tree

Spot the cat

And Izzy, our inside cat, enjoyed time in her hammock in her catio. As much as she would love to roam free, she did not grow up in these woods, and I have heard there are cat-killer dogs in the neighborhood. So she has a small outside area that she accesses through a window.

Izzy in her hammock

Our dog was out keeping an eye on me too. No picture for him today, too wiggly.

And now I will return you to our regularly scheduled winter program.

Cats

On By CarynIn Wildlife

Not really surprising that a cat will eat a chicken, or chicks given the opportunity. What is surprising is the number of outside cats that prowl the neighborhood. Our neighbors have a clowder of cats to keep the snake population down, especially the copperheads (yikes!). I’m all for those cats doing their job (although I think there is a speckled king snake on our side of the fence, and I hope he stays because he (or she) also keeps away the poisonous snakes), but it means that we have to plan on protecting the chicks and chickens both from stalking cats and slithering snakes. Here is a photo from the trail cam.

One of our neighborhood snake patrol agents. His name is Rusty.

Cute, but deadly! Hence “Chicken Fort Knox”. We are planning on putting 1/2″ welded wire along the bottom of the runs and skirting the coop to keep the smaller critters out, and 1″ welded wire along the upper sides and top. We will also bury welded wire mesh all along the outside of the coop and runs to deter digging.

We’ve had a gray calico adopt us as well, so we really want to make sure we protect the chickens and still be able to enjoy our outside felines.

Sophie, who decided to adopt us.