Look What We Found......

A couple days ago we were outside with the dogs and Sasha kept whining and trying to look under the flap of the "boat house" (one of those heavy canvas half circular storage thingies that we keep the boat our friend gave us in).She eventually got in there and kept whining. Every time she would go out,it was the same thing,so we knew something was in there. Rick decided to put out the Have a Heart trap yesterday to see what he would catch. We figured it was probably a cat,as we have many cats in our neighborhood. They like our yard because we keep cat food outside for Molly Bruce,our outdoor cat. When Rick went out a few hours later to check on it,this was inside:

A wee little kitten!!! We brought him into the mudroom at first,and placed a towel over the trap. Later we put him in out cat carrier with a towel for some comfort, brought him into the kitchen,and gave him some water. Cow milk is not good for kittens. Early this AM we could hear him crying. I wrapped him in a towel and held him for a while. He was very docile,which was surprising for a stray cat.Chances are pretty good that he is the offspring of a tiger cat and a gray- beige cat that have been hanging around,and that they had their litter in our boathouse. He looks like our cat Moxie that was killed by a car,and he is so darn cute that Rick and I had to keep him. Rick has felt bad about letting Moxie get out,and I think this was his way of making amends. I told him it wasn't his fault that Moxie got out,it was an accident,and it could've happened to any of us,but he still felt bad. He did inform me that "this is the last one." 

While I was on the computer this morning, I had him wrapped up in my bathrobe.

We called the our vets office,and set up an appt to have him checked out,and they were able to take him right away.  Everyone in the office fell in love with him. They estimate him at 7 weeks. He has fleas and round worm,but they gave him some Revolution that will take care of all that. The Revolution was a free sample,and they also gave us free kitten food (wet and dry) and it came in a cute little canvas tote bag. He was also tested for kitty leukemia and feline AIDS.He has neither. He was also given a distemper booster.

I joked with the Dr that we should own stock in their practice,since Sasha,Samson,and Smokey have all been there for appts within the last week!

Today is sunny and nice,so I am going to clean out the old garden and set it to bed for the winter. After that,I am going to cuddle with our new little family member. We have debating on a name for him,but we may just wind up calling him Moxie 2.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!!

Whole Lot Of Shakin' Goin' on

I thought that the weather was going to be warmer this week,but yesterday it brisk and very windy. I took a walk around the yard and it was fabulous having the leaves shower down around me. I thought you might like a peek at our foliage. It's not as pretty as in the past,and the wind took many of the colorful leaves off the trees,but there is still some pretty colors nonetheless.

               This is a nice chunk of color across King's Highway:

                    There's still some pretty color up Avon Lane:

                   We have many white birches on our property line that glow a brilliant yellow in      the sunlight:

             The photos don't do the lovely yellow justice:

              The maples are pretty in red,yellow,and orange:

You can see in this photo how some of the trees are now bare,but some are still pretty:

The foliage will be gone soon,and all the leaves will turn brown. :(

Last night,we were surprised by an earthquake. Mind you,in NH,we aren't on a major fault line,like the folks out on the West Coast,so when we get tremors,they are very light and very rare. I think in all of my almost 45 years I have only felt three mild tremors here in NH,and they only felt and sounded like a heavy truck going by. When we lived in western MA,Zach and Rick were up in NH and I was home in bed when I was literally bounced up and down. It was an earthquake tremor that was in the fours,so I know what it feels like. Rick,Brother B,and Zach have never felt one. So last night,when I felt and heard the rolling rumble,I thought,"That's an earthquake." Everything started shaking,and it then sounded like an underground explosion. "Earthquake!" I called out ( I was reading in the bedroom). Rick rushed in and asked,"Are you alright?" "Yes, it was just an earthquake tremor." I followed him out of the bedroom and he and Brother B had flashlights ready to go outside. "It's only an earthquake tremor," I assured them. "Is that verified?" Brother B asked me as they went outside. "No,but I know it was an earthquake. I've felt it before." I don't think they believed me at first. Rick and Brother B were outside making sure everything was OK. Apparently they thought that there was some explosion somewhere. Then the NH channel came on and announced that we did indeed have an earthquake registered 4.6 on the Richter Scale. The epicenter was located in Maine,about 30 miles from us,but the whole state felt it.

As soon as the surprise of an earthquake at that strength subsided,I immediately thought of Rick. "I bet he had a flash back," I thought. He came back into the bedroom and started gathering a pillow and blanket. I asked if he was alright,and he said yes,but I could tell by his face that he was shaken up. I hugged him and said,"You know that you are safe,right?" He started to cry. "Yes,but the sound was like bombs exploding,and it also sounded like the Bradley's going by. It also sounded like when they would shoot up buildings and the buildings would collapse." He also refused to take his Valium,which he uses to sleep with the sleep apnea machine. "I have to be alert," he told me. "You know you don't have to protect us,it's OK," I tried to assure him. " I understand that,but I have to do this,I have to be able to wake up quickly, in case," he told me. He went and slept on the kitchen floor in between the table and the wall.He started napping in  this little spot when I wasn't feeling well and was laying down in the bedroom. He didn't want to bother me with the sleep apnea machine noise,and because Brother B was watching TV in the living room,he didn't want to bug him with his loud snoring. I have tried many times to tell him to just lay in the bed,it's no problem,but he still used this little nook. It did surprise me because it was still early ( only 8:00 PM by this time). I asked him if he wouldn't be more comfy in his recliner,and he said when he was in Iraq they didn't have mattresses in the shacks ,and he felt more comfortable laying on the floor. When I woke up this morning,I noticed that the dining room table had been pulled closer to the wall,so he had an even smaller area in which to sleep. "Did you do that to create more of a safety zone,like a barricade?" I asked him. "Yes,"he replied. "I had to do it."

If you live in the NE US or in NE Canada,did you feel the earthquake?

A Hard Frost

We knew it was coming,and that we were actually overdue.

Our first hard frost of the season happened Friday night. The temperatures went down in the low 20's. Of course, Rick and Zach were camping out all weekend with the Boy Scouts for their annual Fall Camporee,so needless to say it was a wee bit nippy for them,but thankfully they had warm clothes and sleeping bags. It was windy all weekend,which made the temperatures even colder. Sunday morning it was pouring out,so they had closing ceremony at 8:00 AM instead of 9:00 AM. We made sure there was hot coffee and cocoa waiting for them,and we did start the wood stove up so they could have some nice heat to warm their bones after being out in the cold all weekend. It was the first time we started up  the wood stove this season. This week is suppose to be a nice week-only a chance of rain today with temps in the 70's,and the rest of the week is going to be sunny,which is good. Our poor chicken run is still a muddy mess,because the weather has been rainy and chilly all last week. At least now it will dry out and we can get it de-smellified ;)

Once everything is dried out I can put the garden to bed for the winter. 

We brought our cat Smokey to the vets today to be neutered. It was his first trip to the vets and he actually did OK. We brought Samson and Sasha last week for their check ups. Samson is having hip problems so we give  him meds every day to help with the stiffness. We discovered that Sasha has Lyme's Disease, but it doesn't bother her at all. Her joints are fine and she is not suffering from any symptoms,which is good.

Last week when I went for a walk I saw a turkey in someone's yard,and as I walked by I watched her pecking at the ground.We are not raising turkeys anymore,so if we want fresh turkey for Thanksgiving,The Men will have to hunt one. Further down the road on my walk,I noticed an old cemetery. I love old cemeteries and of course,had to walk over to check it out. As I climbed the small embankment,I heard a rustling off to my left,and I just caught the flash of the white tail of a deer as it jumped into the woods. The cemetery consisted of four stones-two adult sizes and two child sizes,which made me rather sad. There are quite a few family cemeteries around here-in the woods,on the side of the road-and coming upon one always makes me wonder about the families. Sometimes their homes are still standing,sometimes there is just a foundation left. What drove them off their property? What killed the little ones? Were they farmers? Trappers? Hunters? All three? When the resting places become overgrown,and the stones broken,I feel so terrible. At one point,these were living,breathing,humans who laughed,cried,and loved. Now they are forgotten. It's so very sad.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!