Saturday Farm Report

It's a cold but sunny day on the farm today. It's about 14 degrees, and we're headed all the way up to 19. Some flurries are expected, but there's not a cloud in the sky, so, we'll see.

We've been adopted by a new kitty. Burr is a young female, with a lovely black coat, a bob tail and a notched ear. Mary was able to live-trap her yesterday, so she went in for a rabies shot, a deworming and as much of a checkup as you can do on a feral cat! It was enough to ascertain that she's female, which we had guessed. It's likely that the notched ear means she was trapped before, spayed, and then released as part of a TNR program. She was uncooperative enough that it was impossible to find a spaying scar, but she is at least feline-leukemia-negative and vaccinated against that, distemper and rabies. I can let Mary pet her now! We're really happy to have her. Our outside cat, Dinah, is getting old enough that she likes to hunker down for the winter. Burr has moved into what used to be rat tunnels under our chicken house, so that should move them on to other, less feline-infested fields! She seems to be a decent hunter, and not totally unfriendly. She lets Mary touch her, and follows Mary around during chores, "talking" to keep her company. She must have had some human contact in the past. I just hope we haven't been adopted by someone's beloved kitty!

(I know some will wonder about taking a feral cat to the vet. I don't feel comfortable having animals on our farm like cats or dogs that aren't protected against, at the very least, rabies. That's just the kinda farmer I am. While she was there, it wasn't that much more money to have her tested and vaccinated for feline leukemia and distemper. In the future, I'll do those shots myself.)

Today Farmer John headed off for paying work, and Mary is waiting on her invalid mother. We are watching movies and playing in the cyberworld. Some laundry will be done, and I'll be teaching her to make homemade pizza later this afternoon. I'd like to do some Christmas shopping, meaning pick out some things and send minions to pick them up. We'll see how that plays out!