Yet more snow yesterday. Here are some photos of the chickens enjoying some salad treats in the veggie garden:
Snow & Ice
Cat update for week ending March 2
Some interesting encounters this week at the cat house.
But first, a couple of cats looking out of the shelter; I enjoy the eyes in the window:
Cats snuggling:
Yet more snow:
A pile of all five cats in the shelter:
A couple of cats watching a raccoon:
A “SLOW, WATCH FOR FERALS” sign in the driveway, flecked with snow:
Snow:
A cat with snow on their back:
Did you watch the video on YouTube of cats playing in the snow?
Another raccoon encounter. This time Poppy had enough, and went out of the shelter to hiss and swipe at the raccoon, and then retreat back to the safety of the shelter:
Another cat then ran up from behind the shelter and did the same from the other side:
A screenshot of my iPad, showing cats in all four cameras:
A Steller’s jay bird flying in for a drink from the heated water dish:
A cat climbing the tree next to the shelter:
Another raccoon visit, watched by a couple of cats:
The alien orange cat visited a couple of times:
The reverse angle:
Cat snuggles:
A cat watching a deer:
Pepper the shop cat watches a moth flying by:
Pansy, the other shop cat, reaching for some food:
Three cats playing on the driveway:
The alien orange cat came back again early this morning:
The cats inside quickly evacuated:
The orange cat went inside the shelter, and Poppy followed and expressed her displeasure at the invasion:
There was much hissing and growling, culminating in a little swiping and rapid exiting:
But let’s end with more snuggles:
Video: cats playing in snow
On the Dejus YouTube channel: a video of some feral cats playing in the snow.
Yet more snow
We got a couple more inches of snow this morning.
Beehives and trees with snow:
Berry cage with snow:
The shallow (foreground) end of the pond is frozen, but the deep (back) half is liquid:
The back lawn covered with snow, with the brown gazebo in the distance, and the old chicken coop on the right:
The flag is snagged on a branch, with a little snow on it:
Cat update for week ending February 23
Did I say “last of the snow” last week? Maybe not:
Cat footprints in the snow, going to the back door of the shop:
A cat stretching in the shelter:
Porcini on the awning, Poppy below:
A cat intently watching something. Probably me; that’s about when I finished setting up the new cameras:
The alien orange cat visited again:
And explored inside the shelter, too, which I bet our colony wasn’t happy about. They weren’t home at the time, but would have smelled him (fun fact: orange cats are almost always male):
Some raccoons also visited, as happens all too often:
Porcini in the feeder, hoping for a late dinner:
I mentioned yesterday that I set up new cameras, and am temporarily using the duck house camera to watch Pepper in the shop. She has a cozy nest high up on a shelf in the front of the shop, on top of a pile of foam, a large dog bed, and a heating pad:
This day (Wednesday) was Pepper’s 4th birthday, or at least as observed; she is feral, like the outdoor ones, rescued from the streets, so her exact birthday is unknown.
All 5 outdoor cats enjoying the shelter:
Cats eating breakfast:
Another shot of Pepper sitting on her heating pad nest in the shop. I temporarily renamed the camera in her honor:
Three cats in shelter… but notice the cat-shaped shadow on the back wall?
Yep, that’s from a cat out on the awning, looking in the window:
Moments later, a cat looking out the window (cropped and zoomed to be more visible):
Four cats outside the house:
A closer shot of Pepper in the shop; sometimes she gets too warm on the heating pad, so moves off it. Here she’s surveying the shop from her high perch, looking for rodents:
But she doesn’t stray from the heating pad for long. Having been working in there (building the duck house), I know how cold it is:
Another snuggle pile of four cats:
And all five:
Bonus snow
We got some about an inch of unexpected snow yesterday. Some pictures from this morning.
Chickens in the veggie garden with snow:
Beehives in the snow:
Snow sliding off the greenhouse:
Brown gazebo with snow:
The pond isn’t frozen:
Cat update for week ending February 16
We start this Caturday with some lingering snow, and a cat peeking out of the shelter:
The cats have been somewhat absent during the day this week, though did show up for food, and occasionally spent a night in the shelter. Here are all five cats in there:
Birds in the snow:
A bird on the heated water dish:
I set up the old automatic feeder in the back of the shop, so I can eventually control the amount of food Pansy eats, since she’s somewhat overweight. Initially I had both feeders there, so Pepper still ate back there. A few days later, I moved the manual feeder and a new water dispenser to the front of the shop, where Pepper lives. So this is probably the last time we’ll see Pepper in the back:
I’ve got some new cameras for the chickens and ducks, so will move the old camera from the old chicken coop to the front of the shop, to watch Pepper’s food. Probably more on that next week.
Here’s Pansy, eating from the auto-feeder. Currently it is dispensing too much food, but I’ll slowly reduce the quantity to match the level she eats, then a little less over time:
Back outside, here’s a cat drinking from the heated water dish, while another eats their dinner. This is the last of the snow, too:
A cat having a good stretch against a tree:
Dinner queue. I don’t usually show pictures from this time of night, since the contrast between the darkening outside and the lighted feeder area doesn’t work that well in pictures, but hey, something different:
The theory with the feeder light was that a bright light would deter the possums and raccoons, since they can’t see in that brightness… but they just feel around for the food, so that didn’t work. I suppose I could turn the light off, but I haven’t; it might help a little, perhaps, and makes it easier to see things via the camera in there.
Two cats on the deck after dark:
A cat eating, when a raccoon turns up outside. The cat kept eating, then quickly evacuated when the raccoon got closer (there was no food left):
I think this is the first time I’ve seen a rabbit on the camera:
Three cats waiting for breakfast:
The breakfast rush:
Four cats:
Finally, some disappointed alien visitors. A small possum:
An orange cat:
A bigger possum:
A raccoon:
Chickens in the snow
The snow is melting, helped by the rain. It was fun while it lasted, but I’m ready for it to go.
Our chickens would prefer no snow too; they don’t like walking in it.
Here are a bunch of photos of the chickens in the snow, from yesterday and today:
Cat update for week ending February 9
It’s a snowy Caturday!
We got a trace of snow last Sunday. The area around the cat house is somewhat sheltered by trees:
Looking across the small pond to the cat house, with a dusting of snow:
Lots of cat footprints in the snow on the path to the cat house:
Another angle of the cat house through snow-covered branches:
A view from the driveway through the fountain garden, with the cat house visible through the trees in the middle:
Some snowflakes on a cat in the feeder:
More snow overnight:
A bird making poor life choices, snacking in the cat feeder; fortunately for it, nobody was home at the time (I do have bird feeders too):
Porcini looking from feeder:
Pommie with her tongue out, drinking from the heated water dish, about the only non-frozen water available:
Cat tracks in the snow across the driveway:
The cat house with lots of cat footprints out front:
The side of the cat house, through snowy trees:
A cat on the front path, watching me:
Just for fun, I made a couple of very rough mini-snowmen by the cat house. Here a cat is poking at one:
A rare sighting of a cat-head snowman:
Three cats:
Five cats toasty inside the heated shelter overnight. That makes me happy:
We had more snow overnight:
Likely more snow on the way over the next few days, so there will probably be more snowy cat photos next week. Stay warm out there!
Sunny snow
We haven’t had any more snow for a couple of days, but it’s been below freezing most of the time, so what’s here isn’t significantly melting. The forecast calls for more snow this weekend, so the current stuff will solidify into a layer of ice, with fresh snow on top.
Here are a few more snowy pictures, from yesterday and today.
Gobs of snow on a dogwood tree:
Snow on the beehives, with icicles hanging off the roof. The snow is melting above the brown one in the foreground, which is a good sign of warm bees inside. It isn’t melting as much on the other hive, which may mean they aren’t doing so well, or the roof might just be a better insulator:
Looking up at the ceiling of the berry cage. It’s holding up nicely so far, though I worry about its capacity to cope with lots more snow. But I’m not going to try cleaning it off; I want to see what it can handle, and will repair later if needed:
A close-up:
Some interesting graupel patterns on the frozen pond:
The pond and snow-covered trees beyond:
Me shoveling the snow from the driveway, so Jenn could go out (the car is parked inside the shop, for now, though she’ll start parking it in the breezeway next to the shop, so I can work on the duck house in there):
Snow shovel:
Icebergs sliding off the hoop house:
Morning sun through the trees:
Sparkly snow:
Frozen garden ornament, with the brown gazebo in the background:
Interesting morning light, with sparkly snow, and snow-covered trees beyond the field:
Frozen small pond:
