Lambs on parade.

The sun is just coming up and it is -3C this morning.

This tree houses many of our resident grey and black squirrels.

The start of the Christmas season is the time for me to bring out my little lambs and dig through boxes for Christmas lights. I will soon string a few lights in the trees and around the perimeter of the mouse-house.  I now have a front gate that will be lit up this year, too. Not just for the beauty of it all but to help us find our driveway easier on those cold, blustery nights. 

The lambs have arrived.

The start of the Christmas season has begun here.

Thank you for all your comments and advice on my neighbours' unaltered cats. I can see that, not only will it be difficult to get through to her about the importance of spaying and neutering her cats, but I already feel that she has cats there for one reason and one reason only. They work to keep the mice under control and that is it. They are working cats and not pets at all to her; she can only touch them when they eat. But, she also doesn't allow anyone to try to befriend them as she wants them leery of humans and wild-life.
She has shelter for them in her barns and hopes they will go in before dark but she leaves it totally up to them. If she loses one in the night she feels bad but takes it with a grain of salt. There's no fretting; it is what it is. She feels the same way about her chickens.

On our last visit, she mentioned that she found homes for all the kittens that were born there last year. Most of the neighbours took one or two. She was very proud of that. :(
My statistics on homeless cats in our local shelters fell on deaf ears.

For now, I will pray for their safety and their ability to know when and how to remove themselves from harms' way. And, I hope that some of my words will linger and perhaps change her way of thinking about their existence and numbers. I think if she would form a stronger bond with a few she might think more about their health and safety.
I hope so. And, I won't give up.

hugs, Deb

'The old ways' with barn cats.

I walked by my neighbour's farm to get to the post box yesterday. I looked up the drive-way and there she was waving and calling me over. We had a chat about chickens and cats and her front yard wild flowers. I mentioned I had ten pumpkins to give her for her chickens. "Ooooooh, they'll love that.", she said. Six of her cats waited by the back steps for the lunch she was about to offer them. "I don't give them dry food, she said. Nothin' in it. I give them real food." She said she had just boiled some eggs for them and the dog and  mixed that with last night's chicken skin and gravy along with bread and a bit of milk. Boy, that brought back memories of my grandmother. The cats were ready and anxious for that meal.

Lucy's cats are cared for like most barn cats I come across. They are fed well, are expected to keep the mice down but are not fixed. :( That's why there are twelve running around and they all resemble each other in some way. Most are grey, some with stripes and some with full steel-coloured coats like Audrey. 

I boldly asked her if she had ever considered fixing her barn cats and her reply was upsetting but not anything I hadn't heard before. "Too many things can happen to them in the country. And the road is so close." No, no...much too expensive and for what?" She quickly jumped to another subject and left my concern for the cats to be my problem. 

She sent me home with a bag full of beautiful tomatoes, ready for eating, from her vegetable garden. She had a great crop just like we did. "Now, be sure you eat them and come back for tea next time", she said, waving as she headed to one of her barns.

I came home troubled as you can well expect. I know it's not my business and how the heck do you change the mind of an eighty year old woman, anyway. Still, I feel I should continue to talk about it; fit it into the conversation somehow. Maybe it will get her thinking and that is the first step, isn't it?

                                         "You are nosy."

"And where's my treats today?"

We are out of your freeze-dried chicken treats, love. You'll have a few less calories today.

                                           "I hate my life...

                                                      =^..^=

hugs, Deb

Kitty Cucumber

One of my readers, Judy from http://shespinswool.blogspot.ca/ informed me that the little thimble from Mary-Lou in my last post was a character from the 

Kitty Cucumber books.

And that reminded me that I had bought one of the books awhile back and tucked it away for the grandittles.
I found it and lo and behold...there's the little character

in so many cute outfits.

Could you picture Audrey in this?

lol

Here's the little school kitty.

I bet there's a few collectors of Kitty Cucumber out there. :)

And here's one of my cucumbers.

Bird-watching.

"Hi Cucumber."

"Beat it!"

"Oh, Audrey."

=^..^=

I'm thinking of all my American friends today.

May the best person win.

hugs, Deb

Our pioneer neighbour & a gift.

We met one of our neighbours today. She's an eighty year old woman who runs a farm on her own strength and gumption. What a pioneer she is; much like my gran was. Twelve head of cattle, eighty-five chickens, a donkey, pigs and twelve well-fed barn cats. Her Pyrenees dog guards them all.

We chatted outside her gate for only minutes before we were invited to come inside her farm-house out of the cool wind. Her home is a renovated clapboard house that is beautifully cared for and decorated. A large stone fire-place keeps her toasty warm. You could see that she loved her home and was very proud of it. She has run her farm on her own, with some hired help,  for years now since her husband passed away and has no intention of stopping any time soon. She filled us in on the history of working her land, trials and triumphs of farming in the Manotick area, and all with charm and whit.

I have a place now to pick up farm-fresh eggs at a very reasonable price, I might add. :) And just try to stop me from visiting those twelve little mouse-chasin' fluff-balls that run around the farm after every leaf that blows by.

I think I have mentioned in earlier posts that around five pm we could always hear the sound of a donkey in the distance. Now I know where he lives and that he is loved and cared-for. It was great to meet another neighbour.
I hope to visit Lucy again soon.

My old step-back cupboard is only getting sweeter by the day. I received a lovely gift from another blogger, Mary-Lou from Patio Postcards http://patioposts.blogspot.ca/, and wanted to show you the new additions. She's from Ontario, too.
The stones are tiny and so much detail has gone into them. 

The kitten is a thimble; cute and handy.

Thank you so much, Mary-Lou for such a sweet and thoughtful gift. Mary-Lou and I have exchanged flower seeds in the past and will continue to stay in touch through our blogs.

I'm off to cat-sit.

Have a wonderful evening.

hugs, Deb

A new (to me) tea-cup

Well, now that November is here, I guess I will have to step-up my tea-drinking.  Oh, what a shame.

I have a new antique cup and saucer to show my dishaholic friends out there.

"Just a minute...I'll find it."

"Hmm..mm..mm."

"Honestly woman, I don't know how you find anything in this mess."

"It's embarrassing."

"hmmm...could I eat that rabbit?"

"Enough, Audrey."

Recently found in an antique shop.

Royal Bonn

Hops Germany

(it looks well-used and well-loved)

I love the saucer and expect it was one of those that was drank from after a tea spill.

It is time to take a break from cleaning up the out-doors (I took down my greenhouse today; my sweet little get-away) and try out my new cup.

Delish.

This sits in my cupboard.

Always a reminder to spay or neuter your cat.

Oh, if only everyone would.

I hope you had time to partake in tea and a biscuit today. :)

hugs, Deb

Taking it up a notch for the birds.

Wednesday was a beautiful day for working outside. We like to have a burn to get rid of brush and the branches that have fallen of late so we did that first thing.                 

He seriously thinks that I can't see him.

There's a new addition at the bird station today.

My neighbour makes these and gave me one to hang at the mouse-house.

Sweet neighbour.

He's a bird fanatic....like me now. :)

I know the fir trees are their first choice for cover when the cold wind blows but this will be available if they want it.

He told me a little wren nested in one of these last summer.

There are very few leaves left on our maples now.

Most are bare.

An onion bag is perfect for hanging suet.

That will bring the chickadees, for sure.

They like the suet cages, too.

Sweetest.birds.ever.

Today there were chickadees, nuthatch, mourning doves, blue-jays and a lone female cardinal feasting along with the ever-present squirrels.

'Bottoms Up'

(nuthatch)

(Chickadee)

(Spoiled rotten cat)

                                      Oops!
                                         ;-)
hugs, Deb

Welcoming November with our birds in mind.

"Welcome,  November"

If you think cooking is for the birds, well, today it was.

Now that November has arrived, it is time to prepare and freeze some home-made suet.

Here's the recipe again.

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup lard

2 cups corn meal

1 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 cups rolled oats

peanuts

bird seed

After the peanut butter and lard has cooked down on low, add the corn meal, flour, sugar and oats.

I let this cool slightly before adding the seed and nuts.

Then add any sugarless cereal you may have such as cheerios, shreddies, special K...

perhaps add some cranberries or chopped apple 

Line muffin tins with saran wrap

fill

pop them in the freezer

Pop the trays in the freezer and, once frozen, you can transfer them to a plastic bag and keep frozen until needed.
The birds will love these and pooh! pooh! the commercial cakes until they are all gone. 
2 fit nicely in a suet cage.

I had no kitchen helpers today. Annie was enjoying the pellet stove in the garage and Audrey dined at her favorite spot.

I'm expecting lots of action at the feeders when the cold winds blow.

These suet cakes are a win-win for our feathered and furry friends.

hugs, Deb