The ark continues to add to its occupancy. Yael (Ya-el’), a 4-week old abandoned kitten has stolen my heart.
I have never bottle-fed anything, not even my babies, so it took a little getting used to, but we eventually got the hang of it.
Yael is a fierce warrior woman in the book of Judges. Her namesake is a sassy little one for sure…I love her spirit!
Bella’s never really been around kittens, but she took an interest and seemed to bond with our newest addition.
I wouldn’t say Yael enjoyed her time in the sink those first few days. Seems like only yesterday I had ducks in there…
Waddling down Memory Lane
From the collective memories of Bandit, Big Bill, and Butterscotch.
Week 1: We are 2 days old and brand new, right out of the box. We mostly eat, sleep, and swim. The ocean has pretty tile.
Week 2: We sleep in Mom’s closet and make a huge mess for her to clean. We get lots of baths.
We also get to swim in any container she can find that holds more than 5 gallons of water. We love water!
Week 3: We have a play-yard on Mom’s trailer, but we don’t like Ruth and Boaz. They scare us and steal our food.
Mom said we can move to the yard when we stop looking like chicken nuggets. Not sure what she meant by that.
Week 4: We outgrew our wicker basket, and Mom has to use her laundry basket to move us around.
We sleep in our own house now, but it’s okay. We’re right outside her window, so she can hear us if we need her.
She says it’s easier to clean up after us this way. We still get a bath every morning, and we love our new place!
Week 5: All of our colors are changing. Big Bill is turning white, Butterscotch is sort of speckled, and I (Bandit) am still brown.
Week 6: Mom got us a bigger pool because we kept swimming into each other, but it gets dirty really fast.
She moved our little house out to the yard, too, and we sleep there all night. No more tubs- I think we splashed too much.
Week 7: Mom is up to something. She brought home a big blue rubber sheet and she’s putting air into it.
She filled the blue bowl with water and now she’s building something next to it. I wish we could see better.
Something is definitely up! She took one of our houses away and now she’s taking our fence. Hope nothing gets us.
You won’t believe it! We have a beach house and a sleep house, with a fence to keep out those nasty hens.
This new pool is the best! We never swim into each other anymore, and we each have our own boogie board!
Week 8: We finally learned to walk up and down our ramp and get in the pool by ourselves.
Food is served pool-side in this resort, so we don’t even have to get out to eat. Sometimes we get floating treats.
Big Bill is a Pekin, so he is pure white, but we are getting beautiful teal and indigo accents in our feathers.
When we’re not in the pool, we like to dabble in the mud for bugs or practice our ballet.
You can always tell when Bill’s been dabbling. Mom says this is why we can’t have nice things…
We like our pool so much, sometimes Mom has to chase us out at the end of the day…and we go!
Every night we get tucked in- with fresh hay, food and water- and a big good night hug. Our mom is the best!
A Fair to Remember
The Wayne County Agricultural Fair exceeded my expectations by a large margin. I’m not a “fair” person, and it was cold!
Hurricane Ian had clutched our Indian summer in his icy grip before heading north, but we had promised Ryan to take him. This is for you, Ryan, with love.
Josh coaches my granddaughter Annelise on how to hit the bag, as Ryan and Dillon look on.
Ryan takes his turn at the bag and shows us what he’s got.
Ryan forgot to mention that he’s well-connected in Wayne County. Here he chats with the sheriff, Larry Pierce.
Joshua tests his mettle at the Sledge-O-Rama and wins his momma a stuffed llama. That rhymes, doesn’t it??
“Oh look. It’s the Blues Brothers…”
There was no lack of food selection on the midway.
If a turkey leg is $17, how much would a whole turkey cost? Trying to do the math.
This has got to be the ultimate photo bomb. Anyone else catch “E IN WINS” (Hurricane IAN)
Watching these planes flying right over the fair was unnerving- probably weirder to see it from the rides below…
Ryan got annoyed at all the photo ops and walking around. He set off for the Sizzler, to do what he came here to do.
When he got hungry, Ryan chose the Grantham Grange booth for his burger and fries.
I wandered while he ordered. I’m sure there’s a tractor fan or two out there. This beautiful machinery is for you.
As the night grew colder, I was ready to get on the spaceship, if they promised to turn on the heater.
It’s finally time for the Ferris wheel, so I can get my last pictures and go somewhere warm. My bed would work…
The pitch black area in the top half of the photo below is the Seymour Johnson AFB, where all the planes were headed.
As we trudged toward our cars I thought how refreshingly wholesome the entire evening had been. Hope you enjoyed sharing our fun.
Our comfortable fall temps returned, but Ian encouraged me to take a good look at my current accommodations.
Though I tried to provide extra shelter pre-storm, Ruth and Boaz didn’t understand its purpose and didn’t use it.
Here comes Ian. I was so concerned with Florida’s issues- checking on my friends there- I never thought to prepare here.
They hate being wet, so when they became bedraggled and dispirited, I penned them up to ride out the storm.
The ducks weren’t bothered by the rain. They stayed out of the pool and huddled together a lot.
Their pool house blew over, but I had tied their roof down and they were safe in the house where they slept. Praise God.
I thought I had done well to secure the shade on my pergola with cinder blocks…
But the wind, at its peak, moved those blocks and dragged the pergola several feet, and the lattice came down, as well.
After Ian, I began to be concerned about the animals. How would I shelter them and keep them warm during the winter?
Although the roof is caving in and it needs to be rebuilt, it did just survive a hurricane. It’s all I have, so it’ll have to do.
My plan was to position their respective housing as close as possible to this woodstove.
Clearly, I needed to add on a covered area to protect my lawn equipment, though I had absolutely no clue how I would do it.
As I decluttered and cleaned the area, I began to notice the crunch underfoot and the thinning trees.
When the forecast called for near freezing overnight temps the following week, my mission became urgent.
Meanwhile, Yael was determined and relentless- demanding my full attention as I tried to focus on the tasks at hand.
Unfortunately, she was also a bully. She pushed all of Bella’s buttons, starting with taking her bed.
When she went after her food, Bella went upstairs. Like an old aunt, she came down only to go out. I brought her food up.
I was exhausted from the middle of the night feedings and needed to get Yael on solid food. It wasn’t pretty.
After I found her curled up in my bed, Miss Yael was confined to the half-bath, where I could watch her like a hawk.
To make matters worse, the water in the ducks’ pool had turned nasty and evil-smelling. I had to drain it.
This was the ducks’ first time outside of a pen. The impromptu meeting around the water cooler was well-attended.
Their assimilation was actually quite remarkable- probably due to their common corn addiction.
I left them to it and scavenged for building materials, praying for inspiration. I had wooden pallets and cinder blocks.
I tried to give those overhead doors away several times. This must be why no one wanted them.
And just in time, we have the quack shack and the hen den gathered around the wood stove under one roof.
There’s certainly some frost on the pumpkin this morning, but it’s warming up and we’re all ready to take on the new day.
Speaking of which, each new day brings new challenges. How we respond to them is what makes all the difference.
I made the difficult decision to return Yael to Annelise, who found her two weeks ago. Who knew this feisty 5-inch feline would be my undoing? In taking on her care the following happened:
- I became dehydrated and neglected my diet, which affected my health. I experienced painful leg cramps that incapacitated me.
- Lack of proper sleep left me mentally incapable of focusing on individual tasks and I just ran around putting out fires.
- I stopped riding my bicycle- which was such a pleasant way to stay limber and oxygenate my blood.
- My peace and contentment evaporated as I tried to write this blog post and deal with the responsibility for the ducks, hens, poor Bella and nurture this needy kitten.
In 10 short days, I had become wrapped around the axle and didn’t know what hit me. As we try to do more with less, something has to give. Let’s face it, if you’re over 40 and healthy, you are working at it. Diet, exercise, low stress, and healthy choices make all the difference.
I chose my mental and physical health and let Yael go. Annelise was grateful that I was able to take her in crisis and nurture her. Yael is now incorporated into a home with two cats and two dogs and loving every minute of it. I can see her whenever I want. I have my life and routine back and Bella has moved back downstairs. Life is good.
My tattered flag is representative of this country’s current administration and brave new value system. It reminds me to pray that we wake up before it is too late. God bless you and may God bless America. MH
We had zero damage at our house.
Praise God!
Praise God 🙏. Glad you are taking care of yourself. As a veteran, please make sure when your take it down you dispose of it properly. Most American Legion posts have a flag burning day. Love and prayers, Dave and Mary Ann
Thanks for the vicarious visit to your farm and your world, Marie. The ducks are getting really pretty. Do you think you have two females and a male? I know you’re counting on getting eggs from them. B’vracha, Liz
Marie! I lovevthe glimpses into your doings up there. Thank you for continuing to share with us. 💓