adorable

I have had a few folks ask after my little August Rose.....so this post is for you dear kind hearts. Sorry for all the recent cat posts, just is a whole big part of farm life.

6 weeks.....it has been 6 weeks on Saturday that this sweet little barn kitten has lived in a cat carrier or a larger kennel on our porch to recover from a broken pelvis. Today, besides the fur that still grows back on the leg that 6 weeks ago was opened to bone, a slight bump on her hip and the fact that she cannot quite raise one leg to itch her ear (so she itches in midair).......you would never know the dire condition she was in when we found her.

We have begun to acclimate her to our two inside cats - McCoy & Shawnee. This will be our next adventure as they have not shared their home for almost 15 years. I hope that in another 6 weeks I might find her cuddled up with them on a chair. She still lives on the porch, but now has time out of the kennel to sleep in a porch chair, healed.

For those requesting pictures of the new litter of kittens.....soon!

Luna

Luna Buna to the Moona....

My Luna climbed the grape vine to the chicken nesting box hung high on the wall of the potting shed. This is is how she greeted me this morning.

Oh my Luna.

with a bird house here & a bird house there

Last count, ten inside and maybe twenty outside.....bird houses are tops around here!
Some have wrens, sparrows and even bluebirds living within, some are now retired to the safety of a pie safe on our three season porch. Love their folksy charm!

my potting shed

On our property is a former chicken coop....now reborn as my potting shed. I use this to store all my gardening tools, my potting table and a whicker couch & chair for one more sweet siting area. When we first began to "civilize" the yard...I would move plants we found under nettle & brush to create the gardens around this outbuilding. Day lilies, peonies, iris all found their way home. I also moved grape vines....and harvest the vines each year. Farmhouse style garden decor has also found a way to these gardens: rakes hung in a row, a hand pump, troughs for planting, even a chicken nesting box hung high. Across from the potting shed is our pasture, look at the third picture and you will see Ralphie the goat trying to figure out what I am up to.

quiet

When given a choice between a social gathering & quiet time.....the answer for me is always easy. It is not that I don't enjoy contacts with friends and such, but I prefer those times to be one on one or in very small groups. Conversations can be deeper, more meaningful. I do thrive on alone time, time when I can reboot in the sanctuary of my farm. I have learned to be right with that....it is just in my nature. So I feel fortunate that this time in my life has afforded me with the chance to have wide open space around me, a porch or deck to seek reprieve on, land to dig my hands into, and kinfolk & friends that understand.
How about you?

Our deck after the rain

August Rose

As this blog provides me with a journal of day-to-day events on the farm....so marks the first time my little girl kitten has been able to climb on her own into my lap. We sit on the porch, fans whirl overhead. Four weeks ago she was hit by a car -- pelvis broken. Two more weeks of cage rest, with time out morning & night. Soon we will begin to acclimate her to our indoor boys. She will travel with Dave & I into our quieter years. We added the middle name ~ Rose in honor of my mom, June Rose.

When you open your heart to other hearts....goodness & mercy will follow.

it was only a matter of time

The look on Dave's face was pretty priceless when I pulled into the farm Friday. "Can you believe it?" or something similar came out of his mouth. That was followed with, "did you get my message?" As I ended my work day out of the office, and since the message appeared to have been left on my work phone........no, wasn't quite sure what was up.

So here is the story:

Dave was mowing the front yard around 1:00. He noticed a vehicle pull over near our little orchard. Likely Dave figured they were admiring his mowing prowess, so on he drove on the rider. The vehicle sped ahead, nearer Dave.....they stopped, so he stopped, awaiting the obvious compliments that would come. Window down, head out of window, they yelled, "There's a bear in your back yard!"

Dave heads around the house.....on foot, to come within 30 feet of a pretty large black bear preparing to climb onto our deck. Dave sees bear. Bear sees Dave. Both likely screamed (I added that) and bear took off through our meadow, through the field, across the road, past the car that had been watching the whole thing......and up into the hills across from our farm.

It was only a matter of time until we had a visit by a bear
-----our distinct hope is that it will be the first and the last.

and the living was easy...

For just about an hour each evening I sit on our porch - tonight with the fans spinning overhead, flag waving in the breeze outside. Our little August, now into her 4th week of miraculous recovery plays at my feet....free from her cage for this hour. And for this one hour, we pretend that there is not a worry in the world....except for where we might find that nickel scoop of ice cream.

kittens

And we have kittens -- seven to be exact.

Our new little ones were born the end of May -- all tucked up in the grainary in the hayloft.  I made my first check of them Sunday, their little eyes are now open, they are all gray or yellow - sweet little puffs of adorable-ness.  However, I was surprised to find SEVEN, largest litter for our Hope yet!  I just kept kissing little noses and counting little tails!

This now doubles the population of our Barn Cats -- too many to keep. 

So -- for the first time ever, I am offering Meadowview Farm kittens for adoption. 

• They will be ready for new homes in July or August.
• They will likely need their new home to attend to any vet needs (depending upon the time frame of adoption, we may end up providing the 6 week distemper vaccine). 
• We will not know the gender -- this is always a bit of a mystery until they get a wee bit older.

If you are interested in adopting a kitten or two or three --contact me at:
                                                                                                Email for a Kitten

                                                             
These are not the kittens, but look so like our little family....

Pinterest Credit




Little update....all kittens are doing well.  For the interim, we will call all the yellow babies by the name, Ojibwa.  We shall call all the gray babies by the name, Sawyer.  Too difficult to tell them apart.

layers

Sunday early morning is my thinking time. Often reflection, often planning, often figuring &
re-figuring. It is a bit of time I carve out each week just for me. It is time I look forward to.

This morning the word "layers" came to mind. Like those cakes we find remarkable on Pinterest....where someone has tinted each layer just a tad darker, with whipped cream in between. Layers. Like how I truly embellish my home, adding one item then another, then one more, building alters. Layers. The "remember when" moments, the lessons learned, the over & over march of seasons. Layers.

I just marked a birthday that surprised me by the number of years. As certain that these layers of years were not perfect, each one is mine. And this morning reminds me that I can choose to tint the upcoming minutes, hours, days, years as I want.

Layers.....this Sunday morning they both perplex me & challenge me.




I found this Steiff rabbit with most of her mohair fur worn off.
I cherish her for that very reason.

dirt under my nails

Summer almost here...can tell when the day ends with tired bare feet, signs of sun on my face & dirt under my nails. Nothing fancy for me ~ garden gloves exist only for the tough jobs. For all the rest, it is just a "dig in & get it done" mode. Such has been this week, time spent in gardens, in the hayloft, at auction. A new litter of kittens has arrived, tucked away in the top of the barn ~~~ haven't yet met them......will leave Hope to tend her babies in this private time that is all hers. I relish that kind of time to ~ which is why these days feel so special, dirt under my nails & all.