Learning to Love the Simple Life
The older I get the more I enjoy the simple things in life. Sometimes they’re are a little more work but usually more rewarding. I really love kneading bread by hand, hanging the laundry outside, and sweeping the floor with a broom. I love the quiet time I have during these activities, no loud vacuum cleaner, mixer or dryer; just the swoosh of the broom, the quiet sound of dough, or the breeze rustling the leaves.
It seems like we’ve gotten caught up in having appliances that do chores for us, to save us time and make our lives easier. Then we have to work long hours to buy those appliances and to pay the electric bills to run them. Not to mention, we have to put up with the noise they create in our lives. Doing chores the old-fashioned way helps me slow down and appreciate the little things that might go unnoticed. My chores go from drudgery to relaxing by simply taking a little extra time to do them the simple way. Of course I don’t always do things by hand, but I try to when I can. I sweep every other week instead of vacuuming, I hand make bread most of the time and I line dry the laundry if it’s sunny and warm. Not to mention, I enjoy the lower electric bill and the longer lifespan of my appliances.
Are there any chores you like to do without the help of appliances?
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Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty, Little Ball of Fur
Yesterday morning Mr Chiots and I went kitten hunting in our garage. We wanted to figure out how many we were dealing with and to make sure we had anything off the ground they might get caught up in or injured on. We made up a box as a house for them, although we’re thinking it needs to be smaller and more nest like, so another will be made this week. We managed to catch 4 kittens, 2 gray ones and 2 blackish ones. They’re skittish around people since they’re feral. Two of them were a little calmer, so I held them for a few minutes. We’ll be trying to socialize them with people as often as we can.
The mom is coming around as well. I’ve been trying to stick around when I feed her and she’s now letting me pet her a bit. Yesterday she even rubbed on my legs once. This means she’s feeling much more comfortable around us and hopefully she’ll teach her kittens that we’re OK. This should make her much easier to catch her when it’s time to take her in for spaying.
I called the vet yesterday and they recommended not bringing in mom until the kittens are weaned, which we think will be in 2-3 weeks. We’re guessing the kittens are 5-6 weeks old because of their size and they still have their baby blue eyes (which usually change around 7 wks). By then the kittens will be ready for their first round of shots as well. I’ll talk to the vet since some offices will spay/neuter at 8 weeks and others wait until 4-6 months.
For a while we’re going to have a few more furry friends at Chiot’s Run and we’ll be doing our part by spaying & neutering all of these cats and hopefully finding good homes for a few of them. If these cats hadn’t moves into our garage they would continue to breed at an alarming rate. A female cat can have up to 3 litters of kittens each year giving birth to 2-9 kittens each time. Any female kittens can start having litters as early as 6 months. You can imagine that it doesn’t take long for things to get out of hand. Please take this as a reminder to spay and neuter your pet.
Have you ever had to spay/neuter a stray animal?
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The Word is Out
I guess the word around the neighborhood is that Chiot’s Run is a feline friendly establishment. Remember when I mentioned that we had a feral cat show up last winter? The cat lived somewhere across the road because I would see it heading over there all the time.
We were going to trap it and take it to the vet, but that proved to be difficult. We rarely saw it and it was very scared of us and would run whenever it saw us. This spring we noticed it coming around again and it looked a little chubby. I wondered if it was pregnant. Pretty soon one day it was skinnier than usual, so I figured it had kittens. We decided to wait 6 weeks or so until the kittens would be older then try to trap her to get her fixed. I tried following her a few times looking for her kittens so we could get them fixed as well, but I never was able to find them. I checked all the neighbor sheds and under their porches. Yesterday I came home from the post office and noticed the cat running out of the garage. Then I heard a tiny meow in the garage. I looked around and saw a tiny kitten in our garage. She decided that Chiot’s Run would be a great place for her babies, so she moved them into our garage yesterday. They look to be about 6 weeks old.
We saw them a little later outside with mom as she was taking them for a stroll. I managed to get a few photos from inside. We think there are 3 kittens but we’re not for sure. We’re going to make up a small house in a box for them and hopefully this will make them easier to take them to the vet, which hopefully will happen early next week if we can catch them.
Looks like we’re going to have a few garden/garage cats to help with the chipmunk/mice/mole population around here.
Any new and exciting pets at your place?
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Lesser Known Blooming Trees
Many trees bloom, but often we don’t see their blossoms. Of course we all notice the beautifully flowering small trees like dogwoods, magnolias, and cherry trees. I’m talking about trees like maple and tulip poplar trees. Our small lot is surrounded by HUGE trees, many of them are tulip poplars. They bloom in late May and drop their petals everywhere. We don’t often see the blooms because they’re so high up. We had a big wind storm a week or two ago and a few blossoms blew off the trees. I thought I’d share the interesting blooms of the tulip tree for those of you who haven’t seen one before.
The maples bloom fairly early in the spring before the leaves come out. Their blossoms faded a long time ago, but here’s what they look like.
Do you know of any great blooming trees that we don’t often notice?
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Quote of the Day: Ashley Smith
“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”
~ Ashley Smith
Spend some time today noticing the beauty around you!
