Cats of the Farm: The Pride Goes On

[dressagetraks]

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Back to the hut project. The skylight isn’t done yet, but you can see where I’m going. It will be much more braced and sealed, including from underneath; this is barely half done. Again, this is plexiglass, not glass, for safety. The blood is from me. I got a new saw before tackling the skylight (which required a harder cut for the shaped opening) in hopes that it would be sharper and cut better. It is. It does.

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10542511}[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10542512}[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10542513}[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10542514}[/ATTACH][ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10542515}[/ATTACH]

[dressagetraks]

Evening project hour. The hinges on this half are done, and skylight #1 is almost completed. There will be another plexiglass part on the top side to help keep rain from collecting.

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10543153}[/ATTACH][ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10543154}[/ATTACH][ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10543155}[/ATTACH]

[dressagetraks]

Skylight #1. We are prepared for rain tomorrow. Keep in mind that the hut will be painted. It is intended as a functional building, not an architectural statement, but it won’t look this rough when done. The stains are from my sawed finger two nights ago; I was trying to keep it from bleeding all over everything while I hurriedly got to a stopping point, but I didn’t totally succeed, as it was dripping very freely. So I officially have blood and sweat (no tears so far) put into this project.

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10543704}[/ATTACH][ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10543705}[/ATTACH]

[Marla_100]

Is anyone sleeping in there yet? I can’t wait to see those pics of all the troops in their little bunks. Any straw yet?

[dressagetraks]

No straw yet. That will be the last step when the whole roof is tight rather than just half. They are definitely in and out of it.

[CanadianTrotter]

Owww…watch it doesn’t get infected!

[dressagetraks]

There’s a stiff cold wind blowing out there, and when I went out, only Cotton was on the porch, but in the ensuing breakfast stampede from various cat holes around the farm, three cats came from the direction of the hut and jumped up on the porch from the side. There’s nothing else of shelter in that direction until you get to the woods. I think they are using it, even incomplete.

[dressagetraks]

Slowly we progress. I have that fourth side trimmed down now, plus further caulking and bracing inside.

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10547535}[/ATTACH]

[Marla_100]

Looks like it’s going well. Have you kept track of WHO is using it yet?

[dressagetraks]

Short of setting up a game camera out there, I can’t be sure. I have seen Cory, Bagheera, Cotton, Rascal, and Satin in it, but those were times when I was working on it. They were at least supervising. I’ve been hoping that one side effect of the extended construction process is that it will pique their curiosity and get them used to checking it out. Of course, when the straw goes in, it will become even more desirable, but that’s the last step.

[dressagetraks]

This came up on memories today from a few years ago. My favorite picture of me and Rascal. I love this cat; she’s a thinker. I remember during Cat Lady’s month-long hospitalization, Rascal was the one who obviously wanted me to explain things. Everybody else when I showed up each day was purely “Feed me! Pet me! I haven’t been fed/petted since yesterday!!!” Rascal would sit there with an obvious expression of, “Something is going on, and I don’t understand it. Facts are missing here. If you try a little harder, maybe we can explain this.”

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10547954}[/ATTACH]

[Marla_100]

Have any of them ‘slept’ in straw before? Reason I ask is my two can be outside napping on a cold day on cold ground or
porch and I have never seen them cozy up in the stalls where the haybales and loose hay are kept. I always thought they
would have snuggled up in there, but never.

[dressagetraks]

I’m currently feeding alfalfa cubes, but they have been in hay when I had hay bales.

Regardless, that’s one point of the shelves. The straw will be in the bottom. If they prefer no carpet, that option will be available.

[Larksmom]

Rascal was the one who obviously wanted me to explain things. Everybody else when I showed up each day was purely “Feed me! Pet me! I haven’t been fed/petted since yesterday!!!” Rascal would sit there with an obvious expression of, “Something is going on, and I don’t understand it. Facts are missing here. If you try a little harder, maybe we can explain this.”

That happened to me when I lost Gatsby. Dickens was horrified. It grieved me to see his sweet face. I feel it was like God trying to explain to one of us why we got cancer, or our spouse was taken. I wanted so badly to explain to him. He was heartbroken.

[Marla_100]

Have you made those little door curtains yet? :lol: With the new cold front moving south you may need to.

[dressagetraks]

The inner bracing is all done on the hut. At this point, it gets a lot harder to get inside as my step ladder will no longer fit. I had the ladder outside and step ladder inside for me to get across the wall, because it’s too high to step over. Now interior work is done. Will start skylight two next. The second half of the roof is laid on (it’s heavy enough it isn’t going anywhere) and had been removed for work sessions. When the skylight is done, it will get hinged and really fastened down. And then, after that, I do the porch.

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10549672}[/ATTACH]

Also, I was playing with Cotton in a tree afterwards. The poseable cat (in a tree. He is not this compliant on the ground).

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10549673}[/ATTACH][ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10549674}[/ATTACH]

[CanadianTrotter]

Cooooootten!!! :applause:

[Marla_100]

Cotton is such a specimen!!! Beautiful, healthy kitty.

[dressagetraks]

Pothole in the hut plans for tomorrow. I was tied up today, went to visit my nursing home friend after church, and planned a good hut session tomorrow, but when I got back and fed, Bagheera had a golf ball-sized swelling on his back that is obviously tender. He is of all of the outdoor cats probably the one with the most edge on him and the most likely to get into a tussle with any strange cats (or other critters). He gets along with his pride all right but isn’t too sociable with strangers, and I am under no illusions that I know the full count of everything I’m feeding out here. I do occasionally see strange cats in the woods. Bagheera has picked up abscesses before, and I think he’s obviously got one again. He did eat tonight and was mobile, purring, and talking, so I don’t think he needs urgent attention, but he was clearly uncomfortable to exam.

So I’ll take him to the vet tomorrow. Since I don’t have an appointment and they are booked up a few days in advance on regular appointments, I’ll take him to the 8:00 a.m. surgery drop-off. They can usually work a cat in for a quick look if they have them there available whenever one of their multiple vets on staff gets a few minutes in between surgeries. However, that means that I’ll have two trips to town tomorrow, taking him in the morning and then picking him up later. Two trips to town on a working day pretty much shoots project hour. Plus vet bills will make it not that fun a day, for me or for him. I have lectured Bagheera in the past that getting into a fight with hobo strangers in the woods is what leads to abscesses a few days later. He doesn’t seem to register the connection, though. Just looks at me with those golden eyes and rears up on me and purrs. It’s very hard to lecture a cat while they rear up on you and purr.

[dressagetraks]

Sigh. Yep, that looks like an abscess to me. It’s higher than it looks; I had a difficult angle because every time I got closer, cats thought I wanted to pet them.

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10550334}[/ATTACH]