Happy Halloween!

I grew two white pumpkins this year, one the size of a softball, the other about the size of a basketball. 

My strange idea for them, I want to make them into eyes, and put them up on my side fence post, so the people going by would see a strange set of eyes looking at them.

I have also thought about finding some purple fabric, or some such, using the little pumpkin, still as an eye, and putting a horn on it, so it's a (sing with me, now), One eyed, one horned, flying purple people eater! 

We usually have 2 kids, brothers, from a friend that lives nearby.  I hope they both show this year, the one is getting to be a teen, and I don't know if he will, but the other is in kindergarten, so I am pretty sure one might show... 

I like to decorate, but it's so sad, parents around here don't want the kids trick or treating, they have school "trunk or treat", where you go there and hand out candy, or school "Harvest Festivals".  Guess it's still fun for the kids, but those of us who had a blast dressing up and handing out stuff at our decked out houses, not so much. 

But, I guess I could deck out my car and go to the school. 

Either way, I have a quick costume for this year.  I have a hoodie, with ears, and it's black.  Across the front, it reads, I am a cat.  I have black pants, and my black fingertip gloves, tada, quick and easy costume.

I also intend to wear it at a local function, where I am actually called Cat.

Hee hee... 

At any rate, I will let you know for sure what I will do in a future post.

Woooah, look at all the pretty colors... ??

For my American friends, Happy Independence Day!  If not, Happy Thursday! 

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Well, it was clean the chicken house day, and I had a mess.  I cleaned, and cleaned.  Without going into great detail, some of the older birds are... prodigious in the EXTREME in voiding... EEEEW, even.  So, I had to clean up, and put down fresh cedar. 

I also had to clean the yard, too.  The brambles and blackberry vines were taking over the whole of the back of the chicken house.  Not good for getting around, and gives hiding spots for chickens... And predators.  And so about an hour or a bit less, everything was whacked down to a reasonable walking area again.  (And I discovered where the blasted broodies were hiding eggs in the yard.  Which are now removed... Sigh.)

When I finish this, I am bushed.  Husband got me a very powerful weed whacker, and I can use it for a limited amount of time, or it darn near rattles my teeth out!  So, after all the dust, pollen, plant bits, and... doo...  I was a mess.  I came in the house, and was ready to clean up.  I sat down to remove my shoes and socks.  This is normally a no biggie item...

Until Ding showed up. 

Yon kitty decided I was eminently sniffable.  And proceeded to do so, from bottom to top.  She was relentless! I would move her from my feet to start taking off a shoe, and she was then up beside me, sniffing my belly and elbows.  She was really into sniffing, going full flehmen, all over me. 

I let her continue for a while, then had to draw the line when she climbed up to my face, and proceeded to sniff and lick same, and tried to even pull off my glasses by nipping them! 

I still don't know exactly what set her off, but... 

We do have wild peppermint in the hen yard.  Considering that, we could have other wild plants out there that 'tripped her trigger', too.  I don't know if peppermint would do it, but it could have been that, too.

Or, she just thought dirty hen yard smells good... With that crazy kitty, anything is possible. 

But, after a shower, and change of clothes, she was back to good ol' "meh" mode...

Veggie P*rn.

Hopefully that didn't get anyone's spam checker in a panic.

Yes, it is the time for the books with all those wonderful photos, luscious, primo, just out of the garden lovelies.  And the veggies, too. HA!

I received my usual bunch, and decided to go with two companies.  Unfortunately, a lot of the companies sending out veggie catalogs have devolved since I first started buying from them.  Some have changed ownership, some have less than charming customer service, some just don't have anything that will grow in this area.  Or at least outside.  (I would still love to grow a Paw Paw, though... But I would have to grow it in the house, I suppose.)

So, I have one order out to Texas, where they have a couple items that looked neat, and I couldn't find locally.  I also have an order out, to a town... Just a very short distance away.  I found out about them almost by accident, at a seed swap.

We have seed exchanges all around nearby, and they have other items, too.  This particular one had tools, and catalogs.  I looked at one tool, and asked how much.  She said, "do you need it?"  Yes.  It was a... Okay, I have no clue what the actual name of the tool is, I refer to it as a dandelion popper.  Husband says it's a weeder.  It looks like this...  She smiles, says, it's yours.  Cool! :)

I then found a table of catalogs, after raiding the seed table, and making my donations of seeds I didn't use.  I found the company, and thought they sounded familiar.  Hmm.  Looked it up, Oh My Word, it's just the next town over!  One of these days I will have to see if I can go there in person, but for now I just order from the catalog.  A LOT from the catalog... I will see if I get a response, the first time I ordered, they have a blank page on the back of the order page. It mentions that they would like to see what your garden is, or put a picture of something, just have fun.  So, I drew my garden, and put in my Buzz kitty, showed our "plant prison fencing" with ravenous deer outside of it.  I received a personal reply with the order saying it was on the wall in the packing area, 'cause it tickled everyone so!

So, when I ordered this time, I put a little cartoon of sorts, loosely based on an actual event.  One of my cats loved to sit in the shade, and had picked a spot under one of the broad leafed veggies, crookneck, I think.  Anyway, one of the chickens was exploring, before I figured out where she was getting in the garden at, and I just watched.  Obviously, the cat thought he was invisible, all that was showing, was a flicking tail.  The hen, for some reason, decided this must be a most tasty morsel.

CHOMP!

Next thing I know, the cat is going straight up through the leaves, screeching, the chicken doesn't let go immediately, and the fight is on.  No one was hurt, much, but between dignity damage, dinner let down, and general mayhem, not much was successful at that point!

The cat was not so inclined to be benign to the chickens after that, he stayed away frome them, and hissed wildly if they came anywhere close.  I covered the chicken "leak" in the garden, and so he was safe from future attacks.

So, who knows, I might give them a laugh, and then I get some goodies from the local area, that I will make into dinner at a later date!  Stickers and poppies and beans, Oh, My!!!

Q is for Queen...

I had this really neat kitty, big old longish haired, grey striped cat, bright yellow eyes.  It walked just like John Wayne, from the back.

So, I named him Duke.

Duke lived up to his name, he'd eat, and fight, and be the biggest, most aggressive cat.  Ran most everyone else off.  He loved me, though.  I would feed him on the bin where we kept the food, and he would purr so loudly, you'd thought his Mom was a Peterbilt.

We'd had him for about a year or two, where he came from was anyone's guess, people were unduly fond of dumping cats out near our place, since we were in the country.  (Snarl...)

But then I couldn't find him.  He was gone for about 3 days or so.  I was really worried, and Mom and Dad even checked the road, a definite danger to our animals there.

Then I saw Duke jump up on the bin like always, purring.  However, this time, I heard little squeaks...

Huh?

I peeked behind the bin, and there, by an engine block, were 4 tiny kittens.  This wasn't a real safe place for them, so we moved the kittens, and Duke, giving them a spot with a bit more warmth, and a bit less mechanical decor.

Oh, and I renamed her Duchess...

How to work on a pattern.

This was my morning, folks.

1. Get pattern out from basket I am storing it in.  Pick up all the extraneous papers that fall on the floor.

2. Find tissue paper to make copy, tape, and tape original to window, to use as light box.

3. Get tape from cat, unpeel drooly part, play with cat, and tape.

4. Go back to window, tape tissue paper mostly to window.  Realize the ripping sound is the tissue paper taped to thumb.  Cat jumps in window to inspect sound.  Put cat down, get new tissue sheet.

5. Get tissue in place, grab pen.  Start to trace outline, cat jumps on sill to watch.  Put cat down, finish one side.  Play with cat some more to celebrate.

6. Finish drawing pattern, carefully remove from window.  Put original away, put away tape, look for pen.  Cat has pushed pen off shelf, rolled it under table. Get pen.

7.  Go to craft table to finish.  Remember I had a large project spread out.  Remove project from table.  Put down pattern.  Cat jumps on sill at furthest point from table.

8. Flatten out pattern, find a few spots that still need tape.  Go get tape, with cat racing me through the hallway so fast she bank shots the corner.  Repeat on the trip back into the craft room.

9. Finish taping, start cutting out pattern.  See cat jump on table, dead center of pattern.  Decide that moving kitten would be disastrous in her state of hyper.  Distract her with a finger wiggle.  She jumps down, I continue.

10.  Finish cutting pattern, start on repeat for other side.  Cat decides to sit on table to watch.  Starts eating other project.  Finally have to toss her off table, so I don't have a destroyed project.

11.  Tape both sides together, check that I have everything even, fold up pattern, it works!  Cat then loses interest.

12.  Wonder how people who don't have "help" get things done...