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.

and this is why

Tomorrow August travels back to the Vet to see how she is progressing. A broken pelvis means 4-6 weeks of containment in a cat carrier on our porch. If we get the green light, she may move to a larger kennel. She has been such a good kitten, so far taking this little "hospital room" in stride. She eats, bathrooms, sleeps. Breaks for a wee bit of attention, meds and cage cleaning are her day....but mostly sleep.  And she purrs. August and I have become pretty close, I think she is destined to live out her days in our home.

I struggle with spending money on a barn cat, but we can.   No Starbucks daily for me, will pack a lunch-thank you very much.....a welcome meow each morning and night is priceless. She is worth it and so am I!

v a c a t i o n

first full week off in a very long time....
one of those weeks where the agenda is not set,
no meetings to attend, no appointments to keep.

I plan to awake each day and ask, "what shall I do today?"

First day the answer at 4:30 a.m. was get your chores done and head to the Elko Flea Market.  The car is still full to the brim from that wonderful adventure, waiting to be unloaded.
Today, the answer was weed the gardens & hang out.....sitting in the middle of the yard was in order - which is where I am sitting now, where I snapped a few pictures.

I feel the much needed rest arriving...and wonder if I would savor these days as much if this freedom was part of every day. Sometimes "just a bit" allows us to not take these things for granted.

So I sit, birds sing, breeze blows, apple blossoms in the air, lilac scent just around the corner.  The kittens run to me where I sit, then get bored and move on. The goats lift their heads from grazing to stare at their lady-sitting, not hurrying about.

Vacation has arrived, and I welcome the reprieve.

 

Vacation~"Stay-cation"

Saturday - Flea Market

Sunday - Begin work on Fall Barn Sale...up in the hayloft fun!

Monday - Rainy Day...movies & naps

Tuesday - Work on my booth at the Hixton Antique Mall

Wednesday - Gardening

Thursday - Antiquing

Friday - Auction

Saturday - Thrift Saling, hang out at farm

Sunday - Relax, book in hand

Monday - My birthday....no better place to spend it but home!

through my window

On the way to morning chores, I turned to this view.
Magic, pure magic.

Sometimes when the view is less then perfect, the best advise is to find another window.

apple blossoms

We will have many apples this year, the blossoms tell us so!

My thoughts to all the families dealing with such loss due to the spring storms today.

on taking chances

I am not good at letting go....actually, in the scheme of "controlling"
----label me a 9.5. ~~~~  O.K.- a 10.

We made an early decision that we were best with house cats...our Shawnee & McCoy, now 14 years old, in the basket below. We could control their where-abouts, we set their pace. Same goes with goats, once we figured out appropriate fencing, we generally know that they are safe and sound. Fencing & the occasional shots fired into the air to scare off marauding coyote, and we were good to go. I had my animals, and assured their controlled safety. As long as I treated them humanely and with love, they rewarded me with their trust & loyalty. It was this easy, straight paved road. Few unexpected turns, all quite neat & tidy.

In our decision, anytime a stray cat came calling, we diverted all eye contact, never fed them and occasionally moved them on to the next farm with the wave of a broom. Outdoor cats were beyond my control, they would mess with my sanity. It just would not happen on my watch, I knew my limits far too well.

But it happened, in the blink of an eye this homeless, scared, timid cat arrived one winter. And she stayed. She began to teach this old soul to take chances, to risk losing control, to let go. It has been hard....yet for every cat we have buried behind the barn, a new kitten arrives to fill the hole left in my heart. Chippewa, Pumpkin, Shadow, Marmalade, Cinnamon, Summer are gone. August is at the vet as I write this....hit by a car, a broken pelvic bone. We will see in the morning what her chances are for coming home.

Yet, for every worry I hold.....I know their lives are free. They run, climb, hunt...and return home to their barn. They sleep on our porch or on old feather mattresses in the barn, have a heater to keep them warm in the winter, and end their day with a shared can of food in vintage dishes. I believe they are safe in the barn when I close the door at night, but know that I am just fooling myself. There are risks out there.

So I have to now work at counting the cats that have found their way into my barn. One leaves, one arrives. Their road is not neat or tidy....but it is theirs. I'll take my chance on barn cats....look them right in the eye, open the barn door and roll out my heart. There are far worse vices to have.

Saturday, May 18:  Addendum....August came home from the Osseo Augusta Vet Clinic this afternoon.  Her road to recovery is long, they said it was the worst break of the pelvic bone they had seen.  We will keep her contained for about 6 weeks for the bones to heal on their own.  We have pain med., special food and antibiotics to help her along.  We have made a "hospital room" out of a lawn mower box.  I keep thinking how she pulled herself to the safety of the outhouse we have in our orchard, that is where I found her.  Such courage!  It also amazes me that she purred, from the moment I found her, she has purred.  I bet my money on that little girl kitten.

barefoot weather at long last

There is just something about sitting on the deck, shoes kicked off. Goats have returned to grazing after months of hay (Ralphie none too happy about needing to now work for a meal). Barn cats snooze here and there. The grass lush, perennials finding their way out to greet the sun, and my dear pansies, e v e r y w h e r e! Birds sing--oranges are nestled in the bush near the meadow for the orioles, thistle in the feeder for the finch, houses cleaned out for the promise of a bluebird or wren. We have earned this, every wonderful moment of it. Kick off your shoes!

how do you define a mother's love...

Several years ago the rains came, inland flooding, roads washed out. Taking side roads, I wound my way home to the farm, bypassing bridges that could no longer be safely crossed. Checking on the animals, I counted little noses, making sure each was safe & sound in their barn. The ground water level was so high that even the creatures of the earth...worms, were abandoning their homes for higher ground. Nature was moving upward, seeking safety.

Peaking in the nesting box tucked under the barn stairs, I anticipated finding momma Hope with her tiny litter, just several weeks old. Empty. Empty. No teeny noses to count - empty. The rains pounded on the tin roof, my heart raced. And then there she was, leading me to a large plastic trash can with a lawn mower grass bag set open & upward inside. Deep within this double boat were three baby kittens. Hope had dropped them inside.

And that is the best way I can define a mother's love.

Happy Mother's Day!

one more little reminder....

No Spring Barn Sale beginning in 2013.

Last year at this time I was in busy mode, getting the hayloft & farmyard up & running for our May Barn Sale.  After two years of two sales, the reality had set in.....this is a huge undertaking! One that was tricky, at best, to align with a full time job rolling out a new program in 10 counties in Western Wisconsin.  So, offering myself a gentle reprieve, but still allowing the fun of hosting a Barn Sale with antiques & vintage finds in our 100 year old barn, we have scaled back to just one sale a year ~ in October.

This Saturday, I will be behind the counter at the Hixton Schoolhouse Antique Mall instead. There will even be a little flea market going on there. Stop by if you are in the area, and do know that I am always willing to "wheel & deal" when I am at the mall!


For all the information on the Barn Sale or Hixton......jump to the right under "Chapters"!

everyone needs a craft room

Most recently I concluded that this was beyond just a want, it was a need. So, the guest room bed was whisked off to the hayloft (story later), tables brought in....and wa la, we have what the heart so sought. A place for collage, sewing, gathering sweet little things. A place to glue & glitter & dream. The floral wallpaper came with the house..........and sealed the deal when we first walked through. Lace at the two windows, all my Steiff in one spot, and charm galore. Drawers, trays, cigar boxes, locker baskets brimming. A view of the apple orchard. All it needs is a slipper chair....in a yellow gingham I think. Me, writing from my room just now.