Cat Scratch Fever - Leather Furniture Restored...Somewhat

Recently, Pretty Princess sent me a link to a blog about using extra-virgin olive oil on leather furniture to hide scratches.  She is the one who insisted we move our mean cat, Coal, from Kansas to South Carolina where he took out his anger at being left at home while we made a trip back for a visit so I guess it's fitting that she helped find a reasonable restoration.  

If you want to know more about Coal who eventually moved back to Kansas before we did (lest you feel badly for the bully), you can read these posts:  

• Our Christmas Mira-Coal
• Free Bird
• Coal Embraces Farm Life
• The Grumpy Cat
• Where Are They Now?

Anyway...I tried it out and am pleased to report that it does help hide the scratches.    In short, I simply used an old tee-shirt with some olive oil and rubbed away on the scratches (Some were Coal-inflicted and some were just wear and tear).  The scratches are MUCH less noticeable and I can recommend giving it a try.  On some of the deepest scratches, I employed a little shoe polish but in reality, the EVOO alone did just as good a job.

Here are some before and after pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Turbine Trouble

Our small farmhouse has four turbines on the roof (among other things).  They are designed to take the heat out of the attic space.  I guess they work.  I haven't checked the attic temperature to see and don't plan to.  I will just take the experts' word for it.  I think I need to qualify my statement that they work...they work when they are working...if you know what I mean.

We recently experienced the "Blizzard of Oz" which was snow accompanied by some really high winds and I found one of the tops of one of the turbines in the front yard.  It was broken and bent.  Pop is the one who knows about these things, not me; and since he was out of town, I called to tell him to see what needed to be done.  I did know that without the twirly-gig top, rain (and possibly other things) could get into the attic.  Before I called him, I checked the weather forecast and was relieved to see that there was 0% precipitation coming while Pop was gone.  I mean, it is cold and windy out here anyway, and I'm sure it is even colder and windier on the roof.  Please...don't make me go up there!

Well, Pop doesn't believe the weather forecast all the time (neither do I, but I sure wanted to this time) so he told me I would need to go up there.  He said I would need the BIG ladder as it was the only one safe to use...I would need to take some plastic up there...and secure it over the gaping hole left by the missing twirly-gig.  I told him I wasn't sure I could handle that ladder.  He said maybe I should call EJ to see if he could come out, but after talking to Farm Chick, I learned that he has been working a lot lately.  Hmmm.

Okay...so...I put on my fancy pink farm girl coat and my roof shoes (okay, there's no such thing...I put on my hiking shoes coz I figured they worked well at Yellowstone and should keep me from slipping off the roof), and I put on my "Handy Grammy" attitude.

The ladder wasn't as heavy as I remembered it.  I carried it out of the pole barn and put it against the house (carefully avoiding the snow).

I gathered up black plastic, some wire, my wire cutters, and my work gloves and went out there.

I stuffed all my supplies in my pocket since I was nervous about climbing the ladder anyway...and climbed up.  I also had my phone in my pocket to take pictures...partly to share this adventure on the blog and partly so there would be some evidence of what caused my accidental injuries and/or untimely death if I didn't make it.  I'd hate for my family to think I was just partying on the roof.

So I carefully climbed up and took a picture of the turbine missing its twirly-gig.  As I took the picture and assessed my position on the ladder versus the roof I wondered how in the world I would safely get on and off.  I am much better at getting on the roof than off.  Getting off scares me a little.

I decided to move the ladder over near the chimney so I could at least have a chance of grabbing on to something if I needed to.  I congratulated myself on not being too hasty and thereby hurting myself.

I couldn't avoid putting the base of the ladder in the snow but I decided that would be okay.  Falling off the roof into the snow surely wouldn't hurt as badly as falling onto the hard ground, right?  So up I went.  I felt like Dr. Seuss' Yertle the Turtle...being on the roof offers a nice view of the farm and the neighborhood.  Okay...I had my bearings...I was up safely...I had the things I needed to affect a temporary fix.  I documented the broken turbine when I realized I was not on the roof alone.  Our ladder-climbing farm cat, Snowball decided I could use some help.

Silly kitty.  

She did her own survey of the damage. Yep...here's the problem.  She quickly lost interest and did her own version of Yertle the Turtle.

So I got busy and put the plastic over the hole and wired it on.  

Then I headed over to work up the courage to come down the ladder.  Snowball came over to the ladder too; although I don't think she was ready to come down from her rooftop experience.

It occurred to me that I was not only going to have to get myself down from the ladder...I had to get Snowball down as well.  So I clung to the rock (not kidding) and got myself in place and called the silly kitty over.  She objected a little but I grabbed her and held her close to my chest with one hand and spoke softly to her as we worked out way down (okay, maybe I was talking to myself).  

We made it!  Pop will be so proud of me when he gets home and sees my handiwork...and the blog post...and me in one piece.  Whew!  Handy Grammy strikes again!

A Pole Cat at the Farm

Not a smelly skunk or musky weasel critter...Just Ranger...Pole Sitting.

A "Tiger" Tail with Superheroes

Tiger makes his entrance at Four Sisters Farm...and into the hearts of some young superheroes.

Like most farms, Four Sisters Farms enjoys having some farm cats around.  You may have read stories before about some of them (cats eating cupcakes, flying cats, checking on cats in the middle of the night, cat poo, grumpy cat, and even a cat miracle). Seems like the cats are ever-changing...some come...some go...there seems to always be a new litter.

Sometimes we get to play with and handle the babies like when Lou Lou came to the farm to help with four little ones that we thought we wanted to tame...and we did. But that is another story.

Not all the superheroes really like cats and kittens.  In fact, one of the superheroes is pretty much petrified of them.  He is convinced they will "get" him.  So he watched from the safety of the house as his mom and siblings held and petted little kitty Tiger.

We figured out that something happened to Tiger's momma kitty and he got hungry enough and brave enough to come to the house where the older cats are fed every day.

After the superheroes first met him, they were playing and exercising in the yard when Rock Star kept hearing a faint mew.  So they went to see what was going on and discovered their new little friend, Tiger had fallen into a window well and was stuck.  They had to save him!

I was inside snuggling the littlest superhero and didn't hear the commotion.  It was all over by the time she knew what had happened.

Rock Star got down into the window well and rescued little Tiger.  Now, first of all, she is the least likely of the four sisters to do anything with cats because she is allergic to them.  But save this little kitten in distress, she did...but then SHE was stuck in the window well.  She sent the superheroes in to tell me what was going on but all I got out of them was that the kitten was stuck.  I thought they were just excited about the kitten...something was lost in the translation.  So Rock Star got more of a workout than she bargained for and fought her way out of the window well.  We had a good laugh at my inability to figure out what the kids were trying to tell me.  I might have understood Lassie telling me Timmy was stuck in the well better!

I guess all is well that ends well, and thankfully this story did end well.  The superheroes and Rock Star made a new friend and the superhero who was afraid seemed to conquer his fear enough to come meet the new little farm dweller.  He even managed to snuggle him a bit with his mom's help as I snapped some pictures.

Of course, I had to come meet the cute little fur ball too.  Hello, Tiger!  Nice to meet you!

Random Moving Notes

1. My beloved Keurig stays UNpacked.  I will need my coffee on moving morning.  She may possibly ride in the front seat of my car...right next to me...with a seat belt on...

2.  My children can definitely feel the stress of moving.  They have zero patience for each other.  It is my job to make sure my patience level does not under any circumstances fall to zero.  That would be a catastrophe.

3.  EJ and I are sleeping on a Queen size bed this week.  Our King is prepped to move.  Now I remember why I love the King.  That is all I am going to say about that.

4.  Poor Bubba has developed a wicked rash.  We are unsure at this point if it is Chicken Pox or just a random virus.  He is being super tough through it all.  I am assuming it will spread through my boys like a wild fire and then head straight for their cousins.

5.  We ordered the Big Table from a local wood worker/carpenter.  (more like Artist who makes furniture)  He will have it completed later this summer.  We are thrilled.   Once we get moved in, I need to start finding the dinning room chairs.  I can't wait to have that project completed.

6.  I finally talked EJ into a new Washing Machine.  I have hated my washer for four years.  I am certain that it hates me back.  I asked Grammy if she wanted to keep it.  She said "No Way" and ordered a new Washer/Dryer for the farm.  She is a smart lady.

7.  Daisy and Huckleberry are moving to town.  Turning country dogs into town dogs makes me really nervous.  I told EJ they have to have a visit to the vet before I will take them into town.  They need an update on their vaccines and a good scrubbing.

8.  I am pretty sure the kitty cats are all staying here.  They are barn cats.  They like the country and they roam around.  I don't think my new neighbors would love them roaming around like a bunch of hobos. 

9.  I got a steal of a deal on my new refrigerator.  It was marked half off in the "scratch and dent" section of the store.  I could care less that there is a dent in the freezer door.  My children will bestow a whole lot more dents on that thing immediately. 

10.  I have managed to keep the eating out to a minimum by cooking last weekend and placing the food in disposable containers.  Now we are just two days away from the move.  This will no doubt begin the week long eating out extravaganza.  Don't judge me.

That is all for now.

No, it's not.  I forgot to say... 

The twitch in my eye that took up residence about a week ago shows no sign of leaving.  Clearly I have stress issues.

Poo Poo and Other Cat Problems

At Four Sisters Farm we have farm cats (aka barn cats). They are a necessary part of farm life and they are pretty cute. Right now there are four cats - you've probably already met Ranger. For a while he was the "lone ranger" when all the other cats disappeared. He's big, he's fluffy, he likes people, he tolerates the dogs, and he LOVES to eat...a lot and the other cats have been taking lessons.

When Ranger became the lone ranger, the Farm Hands decided to go get more cats. They came home with the next two cats pictured above. Their previous owners had sent them packing to the Humane Society. They never *fully tell you what kind of problems the previous owners had with these "rejected" felines but it is very suspicious.

Then when some friends moved away from the area, they had several kittens that we had offered to take in. Darling little things. Wild in varying degrees. Wild enough that I had our family "Cat Whisperer" (Lou Lou) and her BFF come to tame them and they had great success. You don't see pictures of them because one met her demise under the wheel of a pickup, a second one hitch-hiked into town and decided to stay, and the remaining little darling tries to be invisible and uncatchable as much as possible (which is why you don't see a picture of the little beast).

What seemed like a good idea to me was to keep these sweet little critters in the garage so they could adjust to their environment and not try to make a run for their former homes. EJ set up a communal food dish and litter bucket for them and all seemed well for a time. Then the weather turned cool and I got the bright idea to keep them in the shed to shelter them until spring...you know, when it would be warmer and the little cats would be larger. That's when the serious poo poo problems began. The little darlings seemed to be going number two excessively...in no time at all, they rendered their litter pan overflowing and trying to clean and refill seemed impossible. They started going in other places...like in the sawdust under the table saw and in small amounts of dust that had blown in under the garage door. Ugh. And the SMELL!

EJ tried to help me out. He said that we should just not feed them in the garage. But the little dears are hungry and they love me when I feed them. So for now, I'll keep changing the litter boxes...note that I said BOXES...I figure I'd rather change several litter boxes every few days than to sniff out and clean up the piles everywhere. I even figured out a way to recycle some boxes so I can just discard the mess - box and all. Spring can not come too soon this year. Then the little beasts will be big enough I won't feel badly for them. I'll happily feed them near the back door...and they can clean up their own messes! Yes, EJ, you were right. I've learned my lesson. As for now...cover me...I'm goin' in!

Grammy's Workout

Since I've been living on the farm, I haven't worked out...okay...actually, I have an aversion to working out at all...much unlike nearly all of the Four Sisters Farm family...like Pop who believes in a consistent workout involving strength training and aerobics like running, EJ who loves to run - a long way - like miles, DW who is training to run farther than she's ever run before, and Farm Chick, Pretty Princess, and Rock Star who faithfully go to the gym to hit the treadmill or eliptical. (shudder)

Today, it occurred to me that although I don't run or go to the gym, I am far from sedentary. I enjoy being outside and working on things. So if I'm outside and working, doesn't that mean I'm working out? It's just semantics really, right?

Anyway...I decided to run you through my workout today. You might want to try it and see if you can keep up. Keep in mind that this was just the morning routine (try not to feel sorry for me).

• I began with Flexibility Training - I climbed up and down the porch railing to install steel "eyes" on the roof line trim boards for hanging plants, Christmas lights, etc. repeating this up and down process until the entire porch has enough eyes (it's a big porch, okay?).
• Next I moved on to Strength Training - I loaded firewood into big wagon and drug the wagon to the back door; then carried the wood down the stairs to the fireplace...repeating until the wagon was empty. Next, I grabbed a sledge hammer and pounded the pieces of old damaged firebricks into small pieces in the driveway. (I noticed the dogs backed way off when I started this routine!)
• Then it was time for Aerobics - I watered all the animals by making trips between the well house and the hydrant. Dogs - check! - 1 and 2 and cats - check! - 3 and 4 and chickens - check! 5 and 6 and ...well you get the idea. I'm just glad we don't have a horse, cow, pig, goat or other livestock yet...I'll have to work up to that but it's good to have goals.
• Next, I moved on to Step Aerobics - I began in the basement and carried up a load of laundry, washed it, moved it to the dryer, carried up the next load, etc. and when it was all clean, I carried it all back down the steps and put them away. Granted, it's a slow moving kind of step aerobics but it does involve steps.
• After all that, I went for Advanced Aerobics - I chased the one crazy chicken who "flew the coop" while the water in the chicken watering thing was being replenished. (Note: all the other chickens were being good and patient through this process.)

I think if I keep it up I'll be really fit. Now if I can just "exercise" self-control and limit my portions of Farm Chick's awesome cooking!!

Where are they now? The Failure Edition

The Ducks?  They are dead.  Sorry, I can't sugar coat that one.  I don't know what happened to them but they didn't make it. 

The 4 Wheeler? It got ruined when the pull cord broke off.  Pop sold it.  Maybe there will be another one in our future.

The Cats? Well, we are down to one...The "Lone" Ranger.  Everyone else is missing.  Even Coal the mean cat.  He must have finally used up his 9 lives.  We think we still have some barn cats but they don't let us near them.

The Dogs?  They are still trucking along.  Even Daisy the dunder dog who I ran over and then nursed back to health.  She and Huckleberry are still happily living the farm life.  If only they could learn to control themselves when it comes to the trash.  I don't want to discuss with you how many times I have cleaned up poopy diapers from the front lawn.  Somehow those sneaky little buggers get into the trash even though the bags are in the carts.  I think they get a little help from Ranger.  Perhaps they share in the loot.  That is majorly disgusting when you consider that the "loot" is doo doo from baby diapers.  Seriously, find a new hobby.

"There is blood!!!"

Bub screamed from the front porch. I grabbed some tissues and tried to stop the bleeding that was coming from his lip. Then I hollered for his momma (DW).

DW calmed Bub and then asked the obvious question. "What happened?"

Bub said, "Bubba told me to throw Ranger (the cat) in the air! He scratched me when he came back down."

I guess when 4 and 5 year old cousins get together you never know what little experiments they will conduct. This one obviously failed.

For Lou Lou...

Dear Lou Lou,

I'm sorry I ran from you on Saturday. I was still kind of scared of people. I have been getting lots of love from Aunt Farm Chick, Uncle EJ & Grammy. Next time you come I will try to be more friendly.

Love,
Spitty Kitty

Letters from Prison

Hello all, I have taken some time to collect my thoughts from the jail that they have so unjustly put me in. Yes, this is Daisy the so called "dunder heed". How slanderous is that?!! I'm on a short leash these days...if you know what I mean. So between my naps (which are frequent) I have had a chance to create my defense to these trumped up charges.

First, my accusers don't want to take me to trail for fear that they might lose because they have no witnesses. I know, I know Grammy would come to the stand first as the first "witness" however what has she really witnessed? NOTHING! She only saw me and my neighborly friend...we'll call him "Mr. Clucks" (names have been changed to protect the innocent) out on a nice "walk." We happened to be discussing the overpopulation of cattle in our area at the time.

Second, ask the prosecutor if they have EVER found the body?!! NO, it's all circumstantial evidence. These cases are rarely won, again another reason they want to just put me in a "Gitmo" and let me age slowly.

Lastly, it couldn't have been me because, as we all know, I have a bad leg. I believe that we have the documentation to prove this. How could I have done this crime?

Here's my suspicions. I believe it was those crafty cats. Those things have been out to get me from the word go. I think that it was a conspiracy with Ranger as the leader! And I think that it's dangerous to be letting our kids be around such a crafty criminal. I mean, who really wants to have their kids around these hardened thugs?

The first chicken that was hurt on our property was hurt at night before all the problems that we had that following day. Well, I'm kenneled at night so you know that it couldn't have been me. This supports my idea fully, along with common knowledge that cats "hunt" at night. Plus, have you seen the size of the rats that Ranger has killed? They're about the size of a small chicken! Coincidence? I think NOT!

I have snuck into the house unnoticed to post this while the farmers weren't looking. I would like to use the comments under this to be my petition to free me from my en slavery!


FREE DAISY

FREE DAISY

FREE DAISY

Dear Lou Lou

Thank you for turning 8 and having a party at the farm with tasty cupcakes with purple frosting.

Sincerely,
Trigger the Kitty Cat

P.S. Huckleberry thanks you too.

The Grumpy Cat

You remember Coal the cat. He is our most grumpy resident at the Farm. Even though he doesn't like children he insists on hanging out on the front porch (their play area). When friends are over we remind them not to pet the "grumpy cat."

Yesterday, I was on the front porch hanging out with the cowboys. Bubba went to pet Coal (who was already starting to growl...yes this cat growls) when I reminded him not to mess with the grumpy kitty.

Bubba said, "Mom, coal just needs his Pop."
"Do you think so?" I said.
Bubba said, "Yes, and he misses his Grammy too."

Crazy Lazy Cats

I do not want to sleep in a box,

I do not want to sleep on a tractor

Sam I am....

Are you sure, because they, for some reason, are really comfy!

Coal embraces country life...

Free Bird

We were hoping to let the chickens free range but we were unsure of how that would work. They already have their coop and yard to play in but we wanted them to get out and eat more grass, bugs, etc. Give them a little room to roam. However, we were concerned about these guys. We certainly did not want a farm tragedy.
Huckleberry, a face only a mother could love!

We were also worried about all the cats. As you can see Ranger has been dreaming about getting his paws on the girls for a while now.
One afternoon while EJ was outside and could keep a close eye on everyone he let the chickens out. They LOVE the freedom and the other animals seem to leave them alone. Check them out...

Look, Coal has a new BFF
Trigger has an identity crisis
and this chicken just had a heart attack!

Farm life. It's growing on all of us.

Saturday at Four Sisters Farm

Bubba, our oldest Cowboy, woke up feeling pretty bad. His brother had a wicked cold last week and now he is fighting it off. Being sick really messes up the agenda of a busy three year old. I guess little brother felt bad because he hung out with him and watched an exciting episode of the Wonder Pets. "This is serious!" (only Wonder Pet watchers will understand that one)

Meanwhile, their Daddy and a friend loaded up more compost (aka poo) and put it on the garden.

Wubba had to try his hand at scooping poop. He was grinning from ear to ear. So proud to help Daddy!

Next it was time for a chick check. The girls are lookin' good and feelin' fine. They were enjoying the sunshine for a while. Still no eggs. We are hoping they will start laying soon.

Bubba just wanted Daddy to stay home the whole day. He was pretty upset to hear that he was leaving again to get another load of compost. EJ gave Bubba a big hug and assured him that he would be home soon.

And finally, the big news of the day...Coal has accomplished his hostile take over at the farm. He hissed and batted away the other cats (& dogs) from the cat food until he has finished his supper. I knew he would eventually regain his rightful place on the throne.