"New" equipment

It has been raining for the past couple day here. I haven't been able to do much outside, so I have done a FEW little things in the barn.

We also made a trip to Beatrice to take a load of scrap metal to the salvage yard. Under "normal" circumstances, the money would have been enough to use for things we need around the place. Since gas is now $3.45 a gallon, most of it went into the tank. It was still a nice outing and we stopped to pick up a few things we needed.

This morning, I went to a neighbor's house to help him move a couple of things in his shed. He uncovered a still good rear tractor tire that his dad bought in 1947. It was still a good tire, but the rim it had been on was long since rusted to death.

He told me I could have a couple of things out of there . One is an old hammer mill grinder. I am hoping it will work for a couple of projects I have in mind. The other is a three-point sprayer he had made for his tractor several years ago. It is smaller then the towed one I have, but it is also more maneuverable in tight spaces.

It is awfully muddy over there, so I will probably have to wait a couple days before I can get them, but he needs them out as soon as possible.

I haven't been able to work on fence since Tuesday because of the weather, but have got most of what I ABSOLUTELY need to do done. I hope to be able to get back to it this next week - if it doesn't rain.....

The cats are at it again. They must be Democrats, just like the chickens. Evidently, it DOES take a "village" to raise children - in the cat world. We haven't seen one cat's kittens, but she (and the real mom....) split time caring for the one set we know where is.

We USED to know where Deb's cat had her kittens - until I forced her to move them. I have a "Kid Can" in one of the stalls in the barn. I use it for newborn goats. It is made from a plastic 55 gallon drum with a light in the top to give off a little heat. The kids crawl inside through a hole in the side. It has been unused since mid March....or so I thought....

I was searching the barn for "stowaway" nests that the chickens had begun to use. I figured that the kid can would be an EXCELLENT choice for a hen to make a nest. It provided a safe, hidden spot to lay an egg. Since the hole for the kids was turned to the corner of the room, I had to turn the barrel to see inside. I expected to find a nest, maybe an egg or two, or perhaps even a hen on a nest. Instead, I found one SCARED cat and 3-4 babies. Her eyes were WIDE open and she looked at me as if to say "HEY! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING"?.

The next morning, when Deb came out to milk, I told her that I had found the kittens. I took her to the kid can and, remembering the momma cat's eyes, I fought the top lid for several minutes to get it open. I FINALLY got it opened, and we peered inside and gazed upon an empty 55 gallon drum. I scared her enough that she moved them during the night....

We ALMOST had a dead cat today. I collected 6 eggs from a nest in the barn so the goats wouldn't step on them. I had a couple of things to take care of, so I put them in a small bowl I had handy, and set them on one of the feed barrels I have. I went to work for about 5 minutes when I looked over and saw a cat with her nose in the bowl. I snuck up behind her and saw that she had broken two of the eggs and had eaten most of the two.

I grabbed the cat, "roughed her up" a bit and tossed her out in the rain. She is just lucky I was in a good mood. That was her ONE and FINAL chance. If I see it again, the cat is headed for a "higher plane of existence".......

I noticed that after her flight on "Air Kitty", she avoided me the rest of the day....