I took an old cupboard from home and turned it into a cat apartment, named Villa Catatonic. LOL When the cats are in there and curl up, the only movement they maybe make is a swath to a bug. Hahaha. But for sure they love it. The deck looks much better with the cat house. More tidy. I also wrapped it into tough plastic so no wind can come through, or rain. It was fun to make it and easy too.
Cats are fun and good to have. They have killed lots of mice, voles and moles so far, but the sad part of their nature is that they also kill little birds. One of the cats got one of the parents of the baby Eastern Phoebes. I think they got the babies too. The nest is empty. I’m sure it was Dizzy. She climbs up straight to the wall. When I’m around, she won’t, as she knows I don’t like it. But I was gone all day, being at home. The other nest under the 5th wheel has eggs and I really hope that these babies will survive with the cats around.
This week we have a nice half moon. Sometimes it’s like orange! Beautiful. We also had some thunderstorms and rain. Yesterday afternoon there were moments it really poured for a few minutes. I think just enough in total for the gardens. Which is great because today it’s hot hot hot here. 26 C. It sure is summer!
Daily I do my little chores, weed in the garden when needed, wipe the horses when they need it (they come running into the arena and call me, when the flies drive them crazy), and I walk lots, watching the birds and try to get them on a photo. Not easy. Most are still so shy. It’s so funny when I go for a walk. Scruffy comes first, then soon the cats follow us. It’s so nice to see them having fun and running in the big fields. One time when I came back from a nice walk in the back of the cabin, I missed 2 cats. So I called them, Hunter and Dizzy, and there they came running all the way back from the field. I don’t like them to be so far away from the cabin. Hunter was bitten by a fox one time, and I had to go to the vet with her. So I’im very happy they come when I call them. Of course I gave them a treat. Coming home must be fun, right?
I also had a few times a salad with my own grown spinach leafs. Mmmmmm! The best! The leafs grew so big so I just snipped them off the plant. New leafs will grow again.
Sunday I was in the mood for something. I was thinking...hm...what do I have around? So I made a apple/orange dessert pie. I had some Graham Crumbs, a few apples, oranges and mandarin, some butter, sugar and a spoon of raisons. I cooked the apples and raisons for 10 minutes in some mandarin-orange juice. I made a crust with some butter and the graham crumbs mixed with cinnamon. Poured the apples on top of that, made a glaze of orange juice with sugar, and topped it off with chocolate. I had some bakers chocolate that I melted for on top. It was SO delicious! Yummy! So I bought the ingredients again, for when I get into the mood again. Hahaha. I had dessert for a few days in a row. A good way to get rid of left over fruit. LOL And my own recipe. Not from the internet. the whole cabin smelled so nice. Very homey.
I saw a Blue Jay attacking a hawk! It happened so fast, couldn’t make a picture. But the Blue Jay definitely won. The hawk had to fly off. And he was much bigger then the Blue Jay, but that Jay was vicious! It’s nice to know there is a nest close by. It’s hard to see in the thick grown woods what nests close by.
The quinoa seeds I planted did sprout and are growing. YAY! This is fun. Never grew them and I really hope to see the beautiful flowers. Also 4 pumpkins popped up. I lost the ones I started indoors, because of that frost we had. So I put new seeds in the ground in the flower garden area. And wow, they came up! Very happy. I seeded some squash too, and some perennial flowers.
I work almost daily with the horses. They are both doing really great. Best time to work with them is around 7.30 pm, or before 8 am. Just because of the flies. It’s pretty warm lately, and the flies love hot weather. but when it cools, they are gone. At night I always see fire flies. I just love to watch them. It’s amazing how they can give such a bright light! Speaking about light....Monday night I saw beautiful Northern Lights. It was like fire works at times, SO amazing. I watched it for an hour. Then it clouded over so show was over.
I had solar string lights in the cabin, but I thought it would be nicer to use them on the deck. So I untangled them and put them on the railing of the deck. I had one string that I used outside, but it didn’t work anymore. I took off the round balls and put them on the lights of one of the strings I put up. It looks so cool! The deck itself is really lit up at night, which I like. Nice to sit there sometimes in the dark evening, listening to the night sounds, drinking a glass of wine. And of course put up a lot of Off for the mosquitos. Hahahaha.
I’ve finished the book Not Without My daughter, and really enjoyed reading it in English. Then I started One, Two Three, from Eleanor Craig. Beautiful true story about the rescue of a mentally challenged, sort of feral kind of child. Very impressive and touching. Now I’m reading Circle of Children, by Mary MacCracker. About a teacher who works with emotionally disturbed children. So far very interesting! It’s really nice to read instead of watching tv all the time. I always loved to read, but I have to admit that with a tv around, it’s sometimes just easier to crash on the couch and watch that, instead of picking a book and read. Now books are my tv. LOL
Sometimes this week I was wiping the horses with bug repellent. They were SO impatient to be wiped, and pushed against the gate. So I started to wipe them from over the fence of the arena. I wasn’t looking where I was standing. Once the horses were done and all calmed down again, I walked back to the cabin and took my vest off. I noticed an any on the floor, and another one, and another. They were crawling up on my legs of my legging! Oh so yuck! Amazing little creatures, but not on my leg or in my home. I swiped them off my legs, and jumping around.
I can assure you, my dance was NOT a happy dance! I must have stand on an ant nest while wiping off the horses. I know there is one nest next to the fence, and normally I don’t go there. I probably did this time. Bbbrrrrr. Creeped me out. Hahaha! Yeah, so much fun living in nature huh? Hahaha!
Normally the horses don’t like me to use a spray bottle. They always walked away from it. But when they are in real distress like this week with the flies, and I run out of wipe, I used Off on them, and they didn’t move an inch! They just knew it was helping them to get rid of those nasty flies.
I heard the hummingbird a couple of times, but never see him. He’s so fast! But I enjoy the other birds in the yard and their singing and calling. What a joy. It got pretty warm the last few days and I napped in the afternoon, when all animals were resting or sleeping. I’m one of them now. Hahaha. Last night no evening walk, because of rain on and off, and a little bit of thunder. Oh what a wonderful smell after the rain. I just love that so much. Wednesday morning I got up around 5 am, looked outside and there was a thick mist. The morning sun was shining on it, and it was just gorgeous. But it disappeared really fast though. I should have gotten up earlier.
Cats are fun and good to have. They have killed lots of mice, voles and moles so far, but the sad part of their nature is that they also kill little birds. One of the cats got one of the parents of the baby Eastern Phoebes. I think they got the babies too. The nest is empty. I’m sure it was Dizzy. She climbs up straight to the wall. When I’m around, she won’t, as she knows I don’t like it. But I was gone all day, being at home. The other nest under the 5th wheel has eggs and I really hope that these babies will survive with the cats around.
This week we have a nice half moon. Sometimes it’s like orange! Beautiful. We also had some thunderstorms and rain. Yesterday afternoon there were moments it really poured for a few minutes. I think just enough in total for the gardens. Which is great because today it’s hot hot hot here. 26 C. It sure is summer!
Daily I do my little chores, weed in the garden when needed, wipe the horses when they need it (they come running into the arena and call me, when the flies drive them crazy), and I walk lots, watching the birds and try to get them on a photo. Not easy. Most are still so shy. It’s so funny when I go for a walk. Scruffy comes first, then soon the cats follow us. It’s so nice to see them having fun and running in the big fields. One time when I came back from a nice walk in the back of the cabin, I missed 2 cats. So I called them, Hunter and Dizzy, and there they came running all the way back from the field. I don’t like them to be so far away from the cabin. Hunter was bitten by a fox one time, and I had to go to the vet with her. So I’im very happy they come when I call them. Of course I gave them a treat. Coming home must be fun, right?
I also had a few times a salad with my own grown spinach leafs. Mmmmmm! The best! The leafs grew so big so I just snipped them off the plant. New leafs will grow again.
Sunday I was in the mood for something. I was thinking...hm...what do I have around? So I made a apple/orange dessert pie. I had some Graham Crumbs, a few apples, oranges and mandarin, some butter, sugar and a spoon of raisons. I cooked the apples and raisons for 10 minutes in some mandarin-orange juice. I made a crust with some butter and the graham crumbs mixed with cinnamon. Poured the apples on top of that, made a glaze of orange juice with sugar, and topped it off with chocolate. I had some bakers chocolate that I melted for on top. It was SO delicious! Yummy! So I bought the ingredients again, for when I get into the mood again. Hahaha. I had dessert for a few days in a row. A good way to get rid of left over fruit. LOL And my own recipe. Not from the internet. the whole cabin smelled so nice. Very homey.
I saw a Blue Jay attacking a hawk! It happened so fast, couldn’t make a picture. But the Blue Jay definitely won. The hawk had to fly off. And he was much bigger then the Blue Jay, but that Jay was vicious! It’s nice to know there is a nest close by. It’s hard to see in the thick grown woods what nests close by.
The quinoa seeds I planted did sprout and are growing. YAY! This is fun. Never grew them and I really hope to see the beautiful flowers. Also 4 pumpkins popped up. I lost the ones I started indoors, because of that frost we had. So I put new seeds in the ground in the flower garden area. And wow, they came up! Very happy. I seeded some squash too, and some perennial flowers.
I work almost daily with the horses. They are both doing really great. Best time to work with them is around 7.30 pm, or before 8 am. Just because of the flies. It’s pretty warm lately, and the flies love hot weather. but when it cools, they are gone. At night I always see fire flies. I just love to watch them. It’s amazing how they can give such a bright light! Speaking about light....Monday night I saw beautiful Northern Lights. It was like fire works at times, SO amazing. I watched it for an hour. Then it clouded over so show was over.
I had solar string lights in the cabin, but I thought it would be nicer to use them on the deck. So I untangled them and put them on the railing of the deck. I had one string that I used outside, but it didn’t work anymore. I took off the round balls and put them on the lights of one of the strings I put up. It looks so cool! The deck itself is really lit up at night, which I like. Nice to sit there sometimes in the dark evening, listening to the night sounds, drinking a glass of wine. And of course put up a lot of Off for the mosquitos. Hahahaha.
I’ve finished the book Not Without My daughter, and really enjoyed reading it in English. Then I started One, Two Three, from Eleanor Craig. Beautiful true story about the rescue of a mentally challenged, sort of feral kind of child. Very impressive and touching. Now I’m reading Circle of Children, by Mary MacCracker. About a teacher who works with emotionally disturbed children. So far very interesting! It’s really nice to read instead of watching tv all the time. I always loved to read, but I have to admit that with a tv around, it’s sometimes just easier to crash on the couch and watch that, instead of picking a book and read. Now books are my tv. LOL
Sometimes this week I was wiping the horses with bug repellent. They were SO impatient to be wiped, and pushed against the gate. So I started to wipe them from over the fence of the arena. I wasn’t looking where I was standing. Once the horses were done and all calmed down again, I walked back to the cabin and took my vest off. I noticed an any on the floor, and another one, and another. They were crawling up on my legs of my legging! Oh so yuck! Amazing little creatures, but not on my leg or in my home. I swiped them off my legs, and jumping around.
I can assure you, my dance was NOT a happy dance! I must have stand on an ant nest while wiping off the horses. I know there is one nest next to the fence, and normally I don’t go there. I probably did this time. Bbbrrrrr. Creeped me out. Hahaha! Yeah, so much fun living in nature huh? Hahaha!
Normally the horses don’t like me to use a spray bottle. They always walked away from it. But when they are in real distress like this week with the flies, and I run out of wipe, I used Off on them, and they didn’t move an inch! They just knew it was helping them to get rid of those nasty flies.
I heard the hummingbird a couple of times, but never see him. He’s so fast! But I enjoy the other birds in the yard and their singing and calling. What a joy. It got pretty warm the last few days and I napped in the afternoon, when all animals were resting or sleeping. I’m one of them now. Hahaha. Last night no evening walk, because of rain on and off, and a little bit of thunder. Oh what a wonderful smell after the rain. I just love that so much. Wednesday morning I got up around 5 am, looked outside and there was a thick mist. The morning sun was shining on it, and it was just gorgeous. But it disappeared really fast though. I should have gotten up earlier.