3 Cute Kitties in the Window

3 cuties waiting at the window! 

 
The cat in the middle we call "The Green-Eyed Monster", shortened recently to Monster.  He and his 2 yellow-eyed brothers were given to us as 6-8 week olds, about 2 years ago.  These kittens looked after each other so amazingly well, licking and cleaning, just as their mother had done.  That is, until they all matured about a year later.  Then 2 of them 'disappeared', dead or run off by the dominant Monster, we don't know which but it was a real shame.  There's room on this farm for all of them and more but apparently adult males don't think so. 

Of the 3 kittens, Monster was the best at jumping onto countertops, the kitchen table, getting into food so quickly before you could stop him but over time he has stopped most of that.  He will sit patiently on the floor like a dog and wait for his piece of food.  He's not a house cat kicked to the barn.  He's a barn cat rescued to the house.  The 3 kitties were so tiny when they came and it was early enough in the spring that there was still snow on the ground and since they no longer had their mother and with both racoons and skunks taking up residence in the barn,  I couldn't leave them in the barn at night.  I would step outside at night and call them and they would come running to sleep in the porch in a warm, blanket-filled box, then return to the barn in the morning to get their fill of mice.  Now, Monster comes to the house in the daytime and sits patiently by the door later to be let out.  He returns to the barn at night to chase his favourite dinner and to keep all his girlfriends company!

The other 2 kitties in the photo are barn cats that were given to us last year.  They came later in the spring, there were 4 of them and my daughter started going to see them everyday and feed them so I had no qualms about leaving them in the barn permanently.  The day of this photo, daughter could not make it to the barn at all but had left extra food the night before.  I guess they missed her cuddling and petting so they came to the house to find her.

 I think I've found me a spot to rest awhile.

 First, let me sniff it...

 ...look for enemies...

 ...take a quick bath before bed...

 ...and that's all.  You can leave me alone now.

 Ahh!!!  Peace and quiet at last! 
And that's the life of our house kitty, Lilly (new name, last name!), found here sleeping in her owner's laundry hamper!

Losing the Country Way of Life?

We recive a small local monthly farm magazine called The Rural Voice.  When we got married in '88, this magazine just showed up at our first farmhouse without rhyme or reason, with our name and address on it so I guess it wasn't random but it sure seemed like it.  When we moved 9 years later, it did not show up at our second farmhouse where we lived for 11 years.  I only missed it occasionally, being too busy raising 6 kids and having little time to read it or anything else.  When we moved here to our 3rd farmhouse, it suddenly showed up again which is great as I now have a little more time to read it.

The following article caught my attention and I thought that I would share it with all of you.  The author, Keith Roulston, is the editor and publisher of the magazine.



"August 2012.

WHY THIS DISAPPEARANCE MATTERS.

Harrowsmith magazine disappeared last year - and nobody noticed.

Now those of you who even know what Harrowsmith was might be wondering why you should care.  After all, Harrowsmith wasn't about REAL farmers:  it wrote about things like organics and composting, for heaven's sake.  But the passing of Harrowsmith is important for rural residents not so much in itself, but for what it represents.

It was 40 years ago that James Lawrence, an American who had come north to an Eastern Ontario homestead, started a small magazine for "back to the landers" like himself with articles on choosing breeds of chickens or how to buy a good used tractor.  He named it after the nearby village of Harrowsmith.

The magazine proved popular among Lawrence's target audience but that's not why its disappearance is important today.  The magazine became a media phenomenon because it tapped into the dream of so many city dwellers in the '70's and 80's to return to a simpler, rural life.  Its circulation swelled to over 200,000 as people in city high rises and suburban houses envisioned themselves owning a cow and making their own butter and cheese or growing, preserving and cooking the fruits of an half-acre garden.

Large magazine publishers, convinced Lawrence was onto something, bought him out.  He went off to start a U.S. version of the magazine called Country Life and it was eventually bought by the same Canadian publisher and almalgamated as Harrowsmith/Country Life.  A few changes of hands and many changes in public attitude, and the magazine ceased publication last year with nary an obituary written by the media that once marvelled at its success.

It's the change in attitude that saw Harrowsmith wither and die unnoticed that should concern everyone who cares about rural life.  Where once the country life was something to be envied, now it's something to be ignored.

Fashions change, including the ideal way of life.  The back-to-the-land movement was always naively romantic but not only did many of those who sought refuge in the country return to the city, but the very dream of a country life died.  There was an almost militant counter movement that celebrated urban living - not the pseudo country life of the suburban home with a back yard, but the intensely urban life of downtown. 

When James Lawrence began Harrowsmith in the early 1970's, there were a handful of office buildings more than 40 stories tall in Toronto.  Now those skyscrapers are nearly hidden by a forest of downtown condominium towers soaring 50 stories.  The media celebrates downtonw urban life incessantly.

Much as real farmers shook their heads and chuckled over the naive back-to-the-landers, they were a significant group who respected farmers and farming.  Those who celebrate intensive urban life aren't really thinking about farming and food beyond that talked-about new restaurant around the corner.

This extends beyond the loss of understanding and sympathy for farmers.  The idealizing of downtown city living and the corresponding unfashionableness of rural life makes it hard for us to attract doctors and other professionals necessary for us to maintain our rural areas. 

This attitude probably affects public policy- from wind turbines to a sense that school closures are an inevitable part of the withering of rural life.  And ironically, people who live in 50-storey condos are often very concerned about nature and see farming as one of the threats to nature.

Maybe someday the pendulum of fashion will swing and rural life will be celebrated again.  Until then, we're on our own."


I can't help but agree with Keith that our way of life is disappearing along with Harrowsmith and who knows how many other country magazines and small town newspapers but I don't believe that our love for the land will disappear along with them.  Reading the many, many homesteading blogs that you all have written gives me hope that this way of life, while diminished, will never quite disappear.

The Cat in the Hat

 This is one of the latest additions to our family.  My 18-year-old daughter went to a local farmer's market last week and came home with this 'free' kitty, about 9 weeks old now, a girl named Nala, at least I think that's her final name!  It changed from Mischa to Cora to Nala but it doesn't really matter as she's usually just called Kitty.  So original!

Since my daughter brought her home without asking first (she's going away to college in a few months so guess who gets to look after her?!  Not that I mind, as daughter got her love of animals from me), I 'let' her pay for Nala's care.  After she paid for 2 litter boxes, litter, a litter scoop and a few toys, she realized that there's no such thing as a 'free' kitty.  She doesn't have to pay for food as we get large bags for all the other cats around here, both house cats and barn cats and she hasn't bought flea collars or medicine yet.  And 'scooping' isn't fun, either.  Glad it's her, not me!  Our other house cat goes outside. 

Hard to believe that this kitty...

...can fit into this hat!

Why I Want to Homestead

I started this 'wanting to homestead' when I was about 7-8 years old except I didn't call it that and as usual, I blame Laura Ingalls for writing those addictive books.  I called it 'I want to live like Laura did' or 'I want to live back when Laura did because I was born in the wrong century', to 'I want to go back in time and be Laura's friend' to, finally 'forget all that, I just want to BE Laura.'   But I really can't 'blame' Laura as I think that 'it' was already in me before that.  We used to go for Sunday afternoon drives through the country and the minute our car left the city, I immediately relaxed, I felt excited, alive, felt such a longing to remain in the country and never go home - I felt at home. 

http://www.designshare.com/

http://www.designshare.com/
Back in the city, I admired the old red brick buildings while walking or taking the bus to school and work.  I could imagine the people being excited when these buildings were first built and the excitement of moving-in day.

 Old churches with first horses lined up outside then later, the brand new, gleaming Model T Ford cars, while beautiful old-time hymns poured from within.  I imagined the school children walking to school on bright, sunny days along dusty roads, chatting with wonderful friends along the way, being welcomed into the bright, stove-warmed (on a bright, sunny day?!) classroom by a cheery teacher who smiled the whole time while ringing the Welcome to School bell.  They would hang their coats in the cloakroom, then sit quietly and obediently in their seats while waiting for their sweet and darling teacher to take her place at the front.  Somehow, their lips never get sore from constant smiling and their hearts just could not contain all of their joy!

Oh brother!  Gimme a break, I was only 7 or 8 years old and knew nothing of the reality of those days.  Some seniors recall their childhoods as exactly that idyllic but many more do not.  Politics was just as alive and well in the church of yesteryear as it is now and brand new cars would only have served to highlight the discrepancy between the haves and the have nots even more.  Many children went to school dirty, hungry and cold.  They were the subject of ridicule and bullying on the walk to school, while at school and on the way home - and the bullying did not only come from the students.  Teachers could be pretty nasty and had free reign with their 'weapons of mass destruction' - the yardstick, the wooden pointer and the belt.  These poor kids often got it again at home that night for getting in trouble at school.  And I haven't mentioned all the physical labour, both before school and after. 

Kids threshing.  http://www.oneroomschoolhouse.edublogs.org/

http://www.nebraskastudies.org/

Even after learning all of that, my yearning for a taste of that lifestyle did not disappear but it certainly did die down.  After all, it was the 70's and we were incredibly modern.  Stop laughing!  We were so!  It doesn't matter how modern we actually were, what mattered is how modern everyone thought they were.  They was so much extra money flying around that the government was building government buildings, hospitals and new schools with innovative ideas.  Still usable buildings were left empty or destroyed.  New buildings were built without the old ones being sold first.  Money was just not an object.  

For grade 6, we started at a brand new school that was not even finished on opening day.  For opening ceremonies that first day, we sat in front of an unfinished stage.  We had a room just for science, one just for art, one just for music with all of the musical instruments for a 60-member band - clarinets, trombones, french horns, flutes, tubas, trumpets and extras of each.  We had a full-time French teacher (Darn!  Although I must say that Madame Smith was pretty nice.)  Books and pencils were bought for us, unlike my kids' schools.  A huge locker room held a locker for each student, pretty much unheard of at that time.  We had a large home economics room with 2 fully-equipped kitchens and about 10 sewing machines that we actually used.  We did a bit of written work but mostly we sewed and cooked and baked.  I learned how nummy fudgy brownies could be as opposed to my mom's cake brownies.  I also learned that there is very little that can be done to make powdered milk taste better, not strawberry syrup, not even chocolate syrup.  (My daughters took home ec in school and pretty much never did any cooking or sewing, just all paperwork.)  There was also a large Industrial Arts room with a band saw, a lathe, soldering equipment amongst other equipment where I learned to make a plastic keychain, a small metal box for holding pens, etc and  large wooden salt and pepper shakers made on the lathe.  2 very large classrooms were set aside for handicapped children as well and they had their own entrance and elevator.  The gymnasium divided into a boy's gym and a girl's gym by a folding door.  It was the width of the gym and folded up into the wall like an accordion with the turn of a key.  Both sides became the lunch room with the tables and benches folding up into wall and out of the way during gym.  The best part of this school was that, during my last year there, grade 8, the school organized the equivalent of a year-end field trip every single month, and it was all free.  Trips to places like Dundern Castle in Hamilton, Niagara Falls, Casa Loma (Toronto), The Hockey Hall of Fame (Toronto), African Lion Safari (near Cambridge), skiing trips, etc. and we could choose any that we wanted.  Unbelievably wonderful and judging by my kids' experiences at different schools, equally unbelievably impossible today.  They seemed to spend a lot of time back then, trying to figure out new ways, more modern ways to spend all of the money, they seemed to just want to get rid of all that money. 

Although it may seem that I'm telling you this to brag, of course I'm not.  I think everyone should have had these opportunities and today's kids should, too.   I've heard of places having school 4 days a week instead of 5, buildings going unrepaired, libraries that do not receive books, art and science barely exist, forget music, home ec and industrial arts.  Class field trips often no longer take place, holiday parties are not done as they might offend immigrants or someone might choke.  There's now a new idea on the go from some parents to stop all pizza and hot dog sales at school during lunch time.  I'm not sure of the why, just of the stupidity of it all. 

I believe completely that the money is still there but the children, seniors, handicapped, preemies, homeless, etc. of this modern world are not going to get any of it.  The weakest, the poorest, the neediest will not get their share.  Why do I think that the money is still there?  Because we never hear of the 'top dogs' going hungry, their children are still attending private school, they still live in their luxury homes, still drive their luxury vehicles, still travel around the world whenever and wherever they feel inspired to go in their own jets ... and then to top it all off, they get a raise!  The things that happen when the inmates run the asylum!!

Maybe we've been pampered for far too long and it's time to stand on our own and do things for ourselves and each other.  No more expecting much from the government, no matter who's running it - after all, an inmate is an inmate is an inmate.  What does it really matter which one's in charge?  With all of the talk of poisons in the air, on the land, in the water, in our food, etc., it would be nice to get away from as much of that as possible.  Independence breeds strength (both physical and mental),  tolerance (you have to learn to tolerate what you cannot control such as the weather), honesty (you cannot lie about whether or not you fed the animals, watered, weeded or planted the garden because the evidence will show itself soon enough), understanding and compatibility (you need these 2 things unless you want to homestead alone, completely alone, forever), humility (again connected to things that you cannot control such as the weather, market prices, etc.), patience (gardens and animals both take forever to grow and therefore, it'll take forever for you to see any returns compared to popping into the grocery store and buying whatever you want off the shelves).  I'm sure that I do not have an over abundance of these qualities, having grown up spoiled and it would certainly do me good to learn them. 

http://www.macbiblioblog.blogspot.com/

Second Farmhouse - Bats and Renos

Hubby had hoped to leave renovating this house for some time in the future - the distant future, like maybe NEVER!  There was too much work in the barn and the fields to be spending time on the house.  The fields and the barns are where the money is made so it would be like a store owner or manufacturing plant owner saying that he would put off opening the store for a year or getting the plant up and running a year from now while he instead gets his house fixed up.  He would still be needing to make rent or mortgage payments, not have any income and any and all investors would be slightly pissed.  For generations, it seems that ALL of the money went to the farming aspect and none to the house.  Just look at the farmouses of the past century - the wives considered it a big deal to FINALLY get a washroom!

The upstairs bathroom and my toddler son's bedroom were definite must-do's but unfortunately, we had to add a third room.  Something flew past my head one night and scared the crap out of me and my screaming scared the crap out of the poor kids (ages 8 and down).  Hubby was in the barn and there was no way that I was doing anything to get in the way of that bat.  That bat was free to fly anywhere he (she) wanted.  Far be it from me to interfere!  Until hubby got in from the barn, that is -- and then he was even more scared the rest of us!  But being the man of the house and all that - ah forget that.  If he could have left that bat hanging somewhere, he would have but he didn't want to get woken up in the night from one of the kids screaming (or me!) and he didn't want to find it in our room in the night so he got brave and went after it. 

Like lots of people, he'd heard that a badminton racquet would work well.  Wrong!  After trying that method for a while, he gave up and grabbed a towel, swung it and brought the bat down quite easily.  Flushed him down the toilet and that was that -- so we thought.  Over the next few weeks, we got 10 bats and our housecat got 1.  The kids and I were hiding down behind the kitchen peninsula while yet another bat flew back and forth overhead and hubby was, of course, in the barn again.  We were down there praying that bats like to fly high only and never along the ground.  There was no use trying to hide in another room because bats can squeeze into any tiny space and besides, we wanted to know where the bat was when hubby came in because they can be hard to find if they land.   We would peek around the corner of the kitchen cupboards occasionally to keep an eye on his flying progress.  We found him on the floor being eaten by the cat (one good reason to run right out and adopt a cat from a shelter, as if eating all the mice in your house wasn't already a good enough reason!).  There's no way that the cat jumped into the air and caught him so we figured that the bat must have flown into the ceiling fan in the dining room and been knocked to the floor.  I still give full credit to the cat because if he hadn't been there, I would have had to do the dirty work and no thanks! 

I don't believe the old story that bats try to avoid people.  I'm quite convinced that 'our' bats loved to dive-bomb us outside, expecially if we were on the trampoline.  The kids didn't pay much notice to the bats outside but the first time that I got brave enough to jump on the trampoline near dark was also my last and no one can convince me that they were not after me!  Anyway, after 5 or 6 bats, we got to be old hats at bats flying around, we had stopped screaming every time we saw one and we learned to walk around with our heads held high (meaning we were looking up!) while scanning the ceiling and top halves of every wall.  I still get squeamish to this day however, if I hear anything resembling the sound that they make.  If you make 'fish lips' with your lips then make a smacking sound or put your lips and your hand and make a slight sucking sound (I know, I know - that sounds weird!), that's how bats sounded to me.  And I still hate them. 

It took us a while to trace their entrance hole into the house.  We knew by then that there were plenty of them living up in the attic but there were so many places in this old house where the lath and plaster was broken or missing that it was impossible to tell just where they were coming in.  The mystery was solved when hubby saw one actually come through one of many holes in the bedroom adjacent to the upstairs bathroom.  This entire wall had been covered by nice enough looking floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall cupboards and it was only when this bat came out from behind these cupboards that we found the holes (and the beautiful orange and green 60's wallpaper).  So this room also had to be redone at the same time as the other two so in the end, I guess I have to say thank goodness for the bats because now we were renovating a third room!

Sorry, no photos this time.  I figured that you could find your own repulsive photos of bats if you wish.  I just don't have the desire to look at them right now.  They still have that 'ew' factor for me!  I might have stopped screaming every time one flew by but...

Happy Valentines Day!

Vintage Valentines from a simpler time.

http://www.zazzle.com/

http://www.vintageholidaycrafts.com/

http://www.collectibles.about.com/

http://www.collectibles.about.com/

Farm Memories

Remembering the farms of family friends takes me back to a different time.  A time with little TV and NO internet.  The only TV came from the old TV antenna and gave you only a few channels, usually 1 clear one along with a few fuzzy ones unless you had the 'rabbit ears' and then you might get 1 extra channel.  For the farm kids I knew, a few fuzzy channels wasn't enough to make them want to stay inside.

What's left of our old TV antenna tower being used to help support the stove pipe and the white internet dish(?) and also works well as a ladder to the roof.  Another era has left us. 

Help a bit in the garden, do a bit of yard work, help in the kitchen and the field...yeah, these kids had to help but there was plenty of time left over for fun.  I didn't know anyone with the proverbial 'swimming hole' but one friend lived right beside the river and I swear I spent the best 4 hours of my life there.  It was summer and we waded through the creek from their house down to the river with our rubber boots on.  The river was only about 1' deep so we followed it for a few hours.  Managed to get wet and cooled down along the way and dry off again before we were done (it was hot!).  Eventually the river dried up completely which was surprising as it could often be a raging torrent but it was late summer in a hot, dry year and just perfect for us.  We walked along the dry riverbed a while further then decided to head for home but we took a different route back.  We headed through the bush (woods), through sunny field after stunningly-beautiful field, stopping to chat with the cows grazing and finally, up my friend's back 'amazing laneway' that wound its way through their fields and back to the old farmhouse.  If there was a cloud in the sky that day, I didn't notice it as it certainly did not darken the beautiful, sunny day.

 http://www.photos.jibble.org/

Dry riverbed similar to 'ours'.  http://www.bigskyfishing.com/

The laneway was amazing because it was such an easy place to walk, through the tractor ruts, as opposed to a field.  It also held 'nature's treats' along its fences.  The obvious would be raspberries, wild and normal grapes amongst other berries but this was also my introduction to gooseberries.  Nowadays, I cannot imagine eating pie with 'green things' in it but my friends' mom made gooseberry pie and gooseberry jam (or was it jelly?), I ate both with great gusto, especially since I had helped her pick the gooseberries along the 'amazing laneway' and it was another of my best afternoons - ever!

 Old farm laneway.  http://www.geolocation.ws/
The old farm laneways that have remained unmannicured are the best as their old berry bushes and vines remain intact and can continue to produce for decades.

Gooseberries.  http://www.venturacottage.com/

Gooseberry pie.  http://www.forums.homestead.org/