Our very predatory cat, Shenzhi, is always bringing live and dead small animals into the house. We tolerate this because if we didn't allow her to hunt freely, we'd have rodents in the house and in the barn, spreading disease.
If we're going to have a cat, we need to get the use of a cat. Otherwise why have a cat?
But I was a little peeved yesterday to have to set this small bird free with an open wound Shenzhi had given it. She'd bought the bird into the house, but then lost hold of it. When I caught it, I saw the wound.
Poor wee bugger. And nasty, murderous bl**dy cat.
In other news, the truck is all back together with new leaf springs, brake drums, and muffler, and fresh anti-rust paint all over the rear end. It isn't finished yet, though. We're still waiting for a new flex hose, and there's a tiny bit of muffler pipe on the top of the join that I can't quite reach with the stick welder, so I need to make up or buy a new welding cable extension.
I need to get the truck out on the flatter hard standing where I can jack up all four wheels safely, then I should be able to reach it. That will take either another twenty feet of direct current welding cable, or twenty feet of 220-240 volt power extension cord.
I made myself moderately miserable trying to get at this small weld yesterday, on my back in my hot woolen welding jacket, in 90 degree heat, with the frame of the truck pressing down on my chest, the welding cable wrapped around my chest, and the welding helmet sitting skewed on my head because of the tiny amount of space between the truck and the ground.
Actually, what I really need is a lift. I need a lift in my nice clean, epoxy-floored, custom designed, three-bay, general-purpose mechanical workshop, but the lift alone (never mind the workshop!) would cost about $2,000 more than the extension cord.
Which might be more than the truck is worth right now.
The last bit of news is that he spell of hot humid weather finally broke yesterday afternoon and the nasty muggy mid-western air cleared right out, to be replaced with some nice cool Canadian air.
We could use some rain too, but for now we'll settle for finally being cool.
Haggis is happy about this. he's been in minor respiratory distress for days now, unable to stop panting even in his sleep.
We call this panting Haggis "huffing" and it can be pretty annoying, since it's louder than the radio, than TV, or than our own conversation, so Haggis generally gets banished to another room or the porch.
Being a sensitive kind of dog, actually a bit of a mummy's boy, he doesn't like being banished very much at all.
But he "huffs" at about 80 decibels.
Noisy dog! Go to the porch!
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Welcome to our Farm Blog.
The purpose of this blog is for Aimee and I to communicate with friends and family, with those of our students, and other folks in general who are interested in homesteading and farming activities.
The earliest posts, at the very end of the blog, tell the story of the Great Farm, our purchase of a fragment of that farm, the renovation of the homestead and its populating with people and animals. Go all the way to the last post in the archive and read backwards from there to get it in chronological order.
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