Thank you

Thank you for all the kind comments, regarding the passing of our pet cat. There are much less tears now, and acceptance without feeling guilty. Although, the reason I have been absent from my blog of late, is because I have a cold/flu. Actually, we all have it!

During my sabbatical however, I received notification that my former free Photobucket account, is now requesting $400 per annum, to share my photos with third parties - in this case, my blog.

If you see that annoying image from Photobucket, from any post during 2008 - 2014, you now know why. I'm either going to have to upload six years worth of photos (again) to other free photo hosting sites, or consider starting my blog, completely from scratch.

Either task will be an undertaking, better started when I'm well. Have any of you been hit with the same problem, due to Photobuckets recent change in policy?

As far as problems go, these are really minor ones. More an inconvenience than anything else. The passing of time, some rest, laughter and regular cups of warm cocoa, will see us all through.

Sad Saturday

RIP, Muesil, 24 June 2017

It was an ordinary day, like any other. Until it wasn't. After a bizarre set of circumstances yesterday, we sadly had to have our cat euthanased. It's too difficult to talk about, in more detail. Other than to say we love her and miss her, after four and a half years, in our lives.

Recycle waste

I'm always on a journey of discovery - learning new ways to deal with old problems. I like to extend potting soil I purchase, for propagation and plants I keep in containers.

I use coffee grounds, from my husband's work, to help in this endeavour. I've also been known to use sand and compost too. All of which, can set like concrete if it dries out. Which means, dead plants.

I found a solution, in a waste product I have to deal with every few weeks...

Vacant for cleaning

We once had two guinea pigs, but one passed away, last year. Now we just have the remaining one to look after. She lives inside for the most part, and I bring fresh greens, a couple of times a day. We buy wood shavings from the local produce store, to line the bottom of the cage. Which I then have to clean out, every few weeks.

Previously, I dumped the spent shavings in the compost, but we gave up making compost in piles. We prefer to place all our food scraps, either in the chicken coop, the worm farm, or in the banana circle. But then one day, I decided to experiment with this waste product, in a different way....

What is this?

It's a terrific soil extender, for my potting mix. I had about 15 litres of a bag left, which I already extended with coffee grounds and old bark - sitting in a pile for years. But it was also setting like concrete, when it wasn't kept moist. Most plants like to have damp soil, but not drenched, so I had to fluff the mix up with something else.

I used about half of what was in the cage, to match how much potting mix I had. Then I mixed it all together. A wheelbarrow came in handy, for ease of mixing, and so did my son's smaller shovel (a Christmas gift, for gardeners in the making).

Ready to use

I stumbled on this trick, several months ago, and it keeps the moisture in the soil, without needing to be drenched all the time. Plus it doesn't set like concrete, should it dry a little - which can be damaging to finer plant roots.

Finally, I get nuggets of guinea pig poo, and guinea pig hair, as slow release fertiliser. So I'm pretty happy to have discovered this new way of recycling waste. I like how it's performing in the pots too - the plants are doing so much better.

Effectively though, the money I spend on the guinea pig food and shavings, are extended into my nursery and potting culture. I don't have to buy as much potting mix now, or any slow-release fertiliser. Nor do I use as much water. Incremental savings add up over time. It makes sense to simplify what we buy in, to do as many jobs as possible, on it's way out.

Do you have any secret ingredients, you use to extend potting mix, or a useful way to recycle waste from the home?

What to do...

What to do on a lazy Saturday afternoon? We don't normally have these together as a family, because life often takes us in different directions. But this afternoon, just kind of happened. One minute I was in the vegetable patch, then David and Peter joined me.

Log bridge

We decided to walk to the gully, out the back together, and spied some lovely orange fungi of some variety. It likes wood, moisture and a little bit of light. This was growing on an old log bridge we don't use much any more - hence why the fungi is growing on it.

Another log bridge

Then we meandered to a bigger log bridge, further down, where David put up his feet and Peter practised his climbing skills. Then I pulled the camera out, and called them both to look at me. I couldn't have timed it more perfectly.

Hello

We weren't doing much. It's strange, because we're busy most of the time. Someone coming. Someone going. Lots of work to be done. But this afternoon, like the fungi which appears on a log, we found ourselves just hanging out and interacting with the things around us. No agenda. No list of things to get done. Just being together. It was a lovely way to unwind the day.

Trapeze artist

Our cat, Muesli, is never far away, when we venture in the backyard either. She loves to find the highest place, and perch herself from it. Like climbing on top of these old pallets, near the log bridge we were playing on. We consider her like our third child, but I'm sure she thinks we are her pride of cats instead. Especially when we can be found climbing on things too.

Then it was back up to the house, and David decided to mow the lawn. I found myself cleaning the small swimming pool, with Peter's assistance.

Guess who took this picture?

Peter actually took this picture, as the camera was hanging from my wrist at the time. What started as helping to hold the pool skimmer, became clicking the camera instead. He somehow managed to switch it on. Such a spontaneous moment too. A toddler playing with the camera on my wrist. Me, cleaning the pool. I had no idea how it would turn out, but it caught the moment perfectly.

After skimming the pool, Peter and I wandered to his older sister's favourite playing spot. Or at least, it used to be.

The pond

Where else would you find inquisitive children, but at the pond above the house. It has all sorts of interesting sounds, insects water skating, and just perfect for throwing sticks into. With the recent rain we had, its now full and slowly brewing the next batch of tadpoles.

To our surprise, Sarah soon came out to join us at the pond. We talked about how she used to try and catch tadpoles with her little net. Then it wasn't long before she was enticing her brother to play chase.

Freshly mown lawn

Of course, Sarah has always been an excellent beetle catcher too. She loves bugs and critters - the kinds of things that made me squeal, if they got too close. Her brother is much like me, as Sarah enjoyed showing Peter the beetle she had caught. Whenever it tried to fly away, he would squeal with excitement.

Sarah, being the confident beetle wrangler she is, always managed to catch it before it took off again. You'll be happy to know, her love of bugs means, she always lets them go in the end.

So that's what you do, at Gully Grove, on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Some times.

Natural sequences

Natural Sequence Farming, are techniques discovered by pioneer farmer, Peter Andrews. His intent was to demonstrate a way, farmers could make products on their land, without relying on expensive inputs or practices which would ultimately destroy their land.

I love everything Peter Andrews has been calling people to pay attention to, but I'm not a serious farmer. Sadly, not even to feed our own family, let alone making money to feed others. But I know a natural sequence when I see one, and I just had to share it.

This is a spoon drain which is in front of our house. Its on a small incline to drain water away from the front of the house. It attaches to a swale (level on contour) which has a lot more greenery because the water isn't designed to drain away.

Due to the draining nature of this spoon drain, however, its mostly sandy soil and will hardly grow anything. But then this happened...

Care to take a stab at how these green clumps have suddenly emerged in our spoon drain? Clumps two and three, were the initial ones to form, but then clump one became the main festoon of disturbance to the soil.

Any and all guesses are accepted. But I bet you didn't say, it's our cat's toilet!

I have been watching this development since we started to let our cat venture outside. Because she was effectively raised inside as a kitten, when it came to letting her outside, she would always come back in to use her kitty litter. Nature eventually dawned on her instincts though, and she decided this nice sandy area, would make a great toilet.

Our cat wouldn't just do her business here though. She effectively became an earth mover too! Scraping up the sand to cover her kitty-business, which formed blockages in the spoon drain. When the water came in, it was held back a little with most of it getting away. But the organic matter in the sand, along with the moisture, formed little islands of greenery.

Much to our cat's dismay, her lovely sandy area is turning into a jungle! That's why clumps three and two were initially abandoned, to start clump one. I imagine she'll be moving to other sandy areas in this location, and I'll have a lovely swathe of greenery, to show for it.

I'll be picking some of this grass soon to feed the guinea pigs. While I may not be a farmer, in the traditional sense of the word, it seems my critters are into natural sequence farming regardless!

A winter interlude

Being a nearly teen, Sarah can spend hours in her room at a time. But then she can suddenly appear again and do something spontaneous. Like volunteering to take her little brother outside. They like to sit on the grass together, taking in the sunshine. It must be a winter thing.

Three little garden gnomes

There's plenty of time during the school holidays, for cheeky smiles and plucking the lawn. Peter loves to pull the grass and throw it around. Sarah watches him quietly. Even the cat joins the circle of lawn appreciation.

Piggy in the middle

That is until Peter decides to get closer. He's really gentle with our cat, except when he starts screaming at her. It's a game. He screams and the cat runs - Peter then laughs. Muesli ignored him for the most part, until he got too close...

Hasta la vista, baby

She decided to take-up a more comfortable position, and looked back at her lawn plucking, and occasionally screaming, friend. When I saw them all together on the lawn, I just had to get the camera. A lovely winter interlude of distraction.

Where am I?

My name is not Wally, and I don't have a red 'n white skivvy on. But there has been some serious mojo withdrawals going on lately. Perhaps it had to do with the fact, David and I planned to have a sloooow two days off together. Sarah is on holidays so no school-hour rush, and we're stocked with food, so no trips needed into town for groceries. We were going to spend those two days, David had off work, planning how we'd spend Easter.

Well, David's car got a flat tyre on his first day off. No problem, we'll deal with it the next day - when we also had an appointment with a solar specialist at home. We're not getting panels installed, just doing research. But then our cat got attacked by another cat in the afternoon, and David had to now get his car tyres replaced, take the cat to the vet and I had to try and cancel the solar specialist appointment.

Of course, I wasn't given a contact number and I forgot to ask for one. Nothing showed up on the google search I did on the company, until 10 minutes before they were due to arrive. I had to search for about an hour on the internet, while juggling a rambunctious baby and a cat that was demonstrating more distress, as David and Sarah tended to her before rushing out the door together.

David's one flat tyre, became 4 new ones. Our cat was mercifully treated and able to come home, and I managed to juggle a rambunctious baby (will he ever sleep through the day again) while trying to pay attention to the solar specialist I couldn't cancel the appointment for. Oh and there was the major clean-up of sawdust shavings Peter managed to get all over the floor and himself, from the guinea pig cage, whilst I was distracted with the aforementioned specialist. I looked like a petting zoo keeper, as I saw the lovely visitor out the door, with my sawdust covered skirt and baby animal clambering at my shirt.

I'm not complaining, but piled up like that, life can sometimes suck the mojo right out of you.

I think I'll try curling up in the corner to recuperate with the cat. She probably had the worst day of all.

Click to enlarge image, if you're not squeamish

Love you lots, Muesli, our miracle cat with a thousand lives. Now schooch over for some cuddles.

Catastrophe

We broke open some of our homegrown bananas this morning, only to have our cat, Muesli, sneak a sample. Banana skin - yuck!

 Brave kitty

Don't worry Muesli, the fruit inside didn't taste that much better. It was just a little too premature. I loved the texture and smell of the flesh, but it needed a few more days to ripen. Thankfully we have a large stem of bananas to get this taste testing right!

The little things in life

It's been hectic around here lately...we have a sick patient. Namely, our orphaned cat, Muesli. Did you notice the name change? Sarah said it one day, and it kind of stuck ever since. That's not the only thing which has changed about her though. Notice the feminine change in reference too?

 Such a young wee babe in the beginning!

"He", has turned into a "she". Or more specifically, the vet discovered our little oversight when they took x-rays of her legs and pelvis recently. What had lead us to the vets, you may ask? Well...

On Sunday night, we were all seated at the dinner table having a chat, when the inside guinea-pigs, suddenly jumped in their cage as if they got a scare. Immediately afterwards, Muesli started to hiss and scowl in a way we'd never heard before. I first thought she was choking on something, but it soon became apparent, her back leg wasn't touching the ground. She was in so much pain, all we could do was pick her up and nurse her.

We're assuming she tried climbing the guinea-pig cage, and lost her footing when they got spooked. No-one saw it happen, even though we were only metres away.

Growing quickly, and loving to play hide-n-seek!

The next day, she was still in a lot of pain so we took her to the vets. Three- hundred dollars and four x-rays later, we learned Mew was a girl (oops) but also there were no broken bones. It sounded like good news at the time, but they also suggested the growth-plates between her ligaments could be damaged. This was something x-rays would not be able to detect. Surgery was the only means to check.

Rather than take that costly option first however, they gave us medication for inflammation and said to bring her back in a week (or sooner) if there was no sign of improvement. The medication did its job, and Muesli was soon on her feet again using the kitty litter.

 Before her injury, she loved hiding under the couch

ambushing any feet passing by

Three days later however, she suddenly started her hissing pain again - only this time, it was her front paw not touching the ground. It was directly opposite the leg previously injured. All that progress, only to lead to her becoming an invalid again. I was bringing food and water to her, and taking her to the kitty litter - which she didn't seem to be using. Her stomach became bloated too, so I planned to take her to the vets the next day.

But that evening she got up and miraculously used her litter again, and even started rolling her toy balls around the kitchen as we played with her. Things were looking good again. Was this finally the road to recovery, for our little Mew?

The next morning, I was informed by David and Sarah, when she started scratching around her kitty litter again, she made her pain-hiss again, crawled out of the box and started to crawl with her belly touching the ground. She basically didn't move for the rest of the day.

 When well, she always found interesting places to sleep...

At this point, I was ready to throw our bank account at the vets and tell them to do whatever was necessary. Something told me to hold back though. Does that sound callous? Perhaps the $300 x-rays had something to do with it, and the reality that surgery may not detect anything either. But I had a suspicion (a hunch if you will) that nutrition was playing a crucial role here too.

We'd been buying pet-mince since she started eating solids. We were wary that dried biscuits contained a lot of empty calories (fillers) which carnivores simply don't need, and tinned food was full of unmentionables. David worked in an abattoir before, and you don't want to know what they put down the pet-food chute. But I knew the mince I purchased from a reputable family run business, probably wasn't nutritionally sufficient either. I did plan on upgrading to something better (home-made) but unfortunately the injury came first.

Click on image to make larger - guinea pig cage in the background

before the accident

I was concerned about the medication too (another hunch) especially after the second injury to her front paw. I took a chance and stopped her medication after 5 days (as specified by the vets) but didn't take her back. After her second injury, I started to feel like maybe we weren't taking her nutrition seriously enough. But also, the medication was masking her short-lived "improvement". She was compounding her injury, placing strain on other ligaments, rather than improving. I didn't want to jump the gun on another run of "quick" but ultimately ineffective treatments.

She needed something else - something which didn't necessarily hinge exclusively on what came out of a bottle. She needed "time", realistic observation and better nutrition.

With the rain mostly gone (it set-in for a few weeks) I carried Muesli into the sunshine for 5-10 minutes a day. I took her around to plants to smell and even plucked some grass for her to chew, which she really enjoyed. That was something Sarah loved to help with also, feeding Muesli grass if she wanted any.

 She licks it straight from the spoon and loves it!

I started to give her one teaspoon of Cod-liver oil per day to increase her vitamin-D in-take and healthy fish oils.  Plus her daily meals now consisted of diced lamb heart, lamb kidney and the gelatin (aspic) derived from boiling chicken bones. Marrow-bone is great for building healthy cartilage.

Poor Muesli, didn't like it when I took her off the medication though. That was the hardest day for both of us! She kept biting her foot and getting cross with it. She could barely use the back section of her body. I suspected this would be the case when I withdrew the masking effect of the medication.

Pain from injury isn't just there to make life uncomfortable - it's a direct signal to the body to leave that part alone, in order for it to heal. We were masking that signal to Mew with medication however (a young kitten wanting to play - who always played) which probably only caused more damage.

  Not roaring, just yawning, after a nap in our spare room

she's sitting up for herself again

After her first uncomfortable day without medication, she was much more cautious on her feet, which was easy to assume was little improvement. But by the next day, she was sitting up, and even progressing a few steps. Then she'd sit again and even lay down if it felt too uncomfortable for her. This is how an injury should be given the chance to heal, so that its not aggravated further.

I'm very grateful for the vets, the x-rays, and indeed the medication for those first 24-48 hours after her initial injury. I'm glad we discovered it wasn't a result of broken bones! But I've also learned to listen to my instincts too. Sometimes as pet owners, we're far too impatient with healing and the pain our dependents suffer. Of course we don't want needless suffering and will medicate as required. But how much do we over-medicate, at the expense of realistic observation? Sometimes we have to listen to what their bodies are telling us, to find the best treatment long-term.

Laying on my chest, as I write this entry at the computer

she's looking out the window

Muesli does seem to be slowly on the mend. We are giving her plenty of food her body can use to heal itself, and PLENTY of love too. She's becoming quite demanding, so that I can only type with one hand on the computer sometimes, as I cuddle her with the other. If there's one thing I can give, it's plenty of love and comfort when a dependent in my care needs it. Yes, it takes more time out of my day, but it's also precious time that means a lot.

I will take her back to the vets if there is no steady improvement, or indeed, if she seems to go backwards. For now though, we've decided to give Muesli more time to heal (off medication) before we seek a second round of veterinary advice.

Muesli has been through a lot in her short (nearly 14) weeks of life, and I hope she's got a lot of life left to live. We'll do the best we can to give her every chance of healing.

One week of Mew

It has officially been one week since we located a wee kitten inside our garden wishing well. It's been a big learning curve of feeding with a syringe, moving to a bottle, and with plenty of kitten napping in between. I guess kittens are just like babies in that regard.

Photo compliments of Sarah

We had to start feeding him with a syringe because that's all we had at the time. It was the perfect size for his small mouth but it was certainly an art to keep him interested. He recently graduated to a small bottle which is a lot kinder on his mouth.

 Photo compliments of Sarah

We always know when he's had enough milk, because he becomes drowsy and cannot keep his head up for long.  Small kittens sleep a lot.

Little pudgy boy

And who couldn't resist an afternoon siesta, with a full belly and a warm friend to curl up next to. He dreams a lot and wiggles his wee paws. We like that he's growing a round belly, as we are not so worried he's being underfed.

Peekaboo...

So we decided to name him. David wanted to call him Wishes (as he found him in the wishing well) but the two girls in the house wanted to call him Mew - as that's all he says right now..."mew-mew-mew". He is developing a rather loud purr at the moment too.

Rather than have to choose between either name, we decided to call him Mew-Wishes. That way, we can call him both names OR we can call him by either. Maybe when he grows into a cat, we'll morph his two names into Mewichious?

At the moment though, he's our little Mew. And just because we're corny...

~ Mew Wishes you a Merry Christmas ~

I had plans...

I had plans to write another post in the new series I have currently going, but then something unexpected came up. Something really unexpected.

Our ornamental wishing well

A surprise arrived in our wishing well in the garden yesterday evening. Of all places, it's not where we expected to find what we did. David went outside on dusk after the rain had eased, and startled one of the local cats, which suddenly jumped out of our wishing well. Curious, he popped his head into the well and saw...

 An unexpected interloper

She must have been moving her litter, or maybe this was the only one - but we guessed she chose the wishing well as it had a cover from the rain. As it was nearly dark we brought the little guy inside as we thought we knew who owned the cat.  After a phone call to the neighbour we discovered it wasn't their cat, but they directed us to another house further up the street.

David got in the car and drove there, but it turned out it wasn't their cat either. So now we are left hand feeding the new arrival. We haven't seen the mother back since. Today we visited the vets to buy the proper kitten formula, and he seems to be eating with a healthy appetite.

I really wish people would de-sex their animals. Though the fact it arrived in our special wedding day, wishing-well, has more than "surprise" written all over it.

Macy, come home

This is not how I imagined we'd bring you home, sweet girl of mine. When we left you with my mum all those years ago (she had a fence to keep you safe behind) I imagined we would keep our promise, and build you a fence at our new property one day, so you could come for a visit...

Dear Sweet Macy, home at last

I knew I couldn't take you from my mum permanently, because you two had become such close friends and she needed you. You kept her safe on her property, just as you had kept us safe as a family in suburbia - watching the back door, always protecting. But I always hoped too, one day, you could see what we were doing here at Gully Grove.

Before I got the call on Monday, that you weren't well, I was in the garden on Sunday, moving rocks. Something told me to start the second wall. I don't know why, as I didn't have the energy to start another rock wall. Yet I started to pull weeds to dig the trench nonetheless. By the end of that day on Sunday, I stood back and saw how close we were to the top. One more tier up, until we could start fencing the back of the house. I thought of you sweet Macy, we all did. But it was Sarah that mentioned your name first.

So how was it on Monday afternoon, we discovered you were so close to the end? Mum was upset over the phone, and I knew we had to come. David called work to let them know he wouldn't be in the next day, as we were going to collect you for your last visit to the vets. But Macy, your time had come. Within the hour we received another call. We were told you walked up to your favourite place in the world, your camp bed, and tried to get up. You didn't quite make it though. You fell asleep for the last time, beside it.

Mum lovingly placed you on your camp bed afterwards, wrapped you in your blanket, and we brought you home the next day.

Over an hour's drive away, when we made it down the last of our winding streets, I couldn't hold back the tears. I had imagined this day would come, the day you would see Gully Grove for the first time, but not like this...we tried girl, and I know you don't blame us.

Rest on, faithful friend

1999 - 2012

We buried you under the mulberry tree, with your camp bed. Your ear poking up in that way it always did. We cut off a lock of hair from each of us and buried it with you, along with some nasturtiums and mulberry leaves, which would be your companions at Gully Grove for ever more.

The sun that lit your grave at 2pm on Tuesday, the time we finally lay you to rest, came from the West. We had faced you to the east, so you could see the sun rise every morning, and hopefully touch some of the beauty we have seen here, every day. The sun passes through the tall gums in winter, and peppers the ground with light.

I visited your grave this morning, and saw the light had greeted you (as I'd hoped it would) because you always found the first patch of sun in the morning, to warm yourself with. How could we point you in any other direction?

Family

We did get to see you that one last time, on Mother's day recently. You pushed your whole body into me (as you always did for a pat) you licked Dave's hand (as you always did for a scratch) and you covered Sarah in dog kisses, to hear her squeal in delight, as you always loved to make her do.

How is it, five years passed by so fast, and you were twelve and a half? Not a bad innings, but still hard to believe the part we loved most about you (your infallible heart) is what finally gave up in the end. Now, every time the mulberry leaves fall in late Autumn, we will remember your last journey home.

You are finally here, girl, and we love you.

New kids accessory

It's called a giggle-chick. Simply attach the chick to your kid's shoulder and wait for the giggling to commence. Minutes of non-stop fun to be had by all. Chicks even get to explore the tangles of whispy hair for a tasty ear to nibble.

Advisory warning: beware the poop! Batteries not included.

Our dog Macy

While at Nanny's for her birthday, we caught up with our old dog, Macy. She's part German Shepherd and part Rotty. Note the Shepherd floppy ear but Rotty short, stout nose.

When we initially moved into our new house, we didn't have any fences (still haven't) but Nanny moved to a remote property herself. Luckily she had fences, so offered to take care of our dog until we got our fence up. She doubles as protection for my mum, but today I realised she wouldn't be coming home with us.

While excited to see us and practically knocked us over at first, it was my mum's side she inevitably found herself beside. I couldn't miss it because once upon a time, she use to do that with me when Nanny came to visit us.

But I'm really happy, not sad about it. We still cook her meals and mum freezes it at her house. We've even converted her Pomeranian to the benefits of homecooked meals. Normally a fussy eater, her Pom always licks the plate clean with our food.

Thought I'd introduce you to one of our beloved pets, that now lives with my mum. It comforts me to know that our dog is loved and looked after, but in turn, she also looks after my mum.

Spare tyre

Ever wonder what to do with a spare tyre?

The last remaining tyre from our wall project became our daughter's - but she's more than happy to share it with her Panda cat.

What must go through a cat's head after seeing something they simply have to sit in! Empty cardboard boxes are generally his favourite, but this object obviously had to get the Panda booty treatment too. He likes it!