Those critters!

There is a big difference between critters and varmints: critters are animals you have that you want to keep, varmints are animals you have that you want to get rid of. I love deer and bunnies, but to tell the truth, their recent behavior in my garden has made them varmints! They ate my broccoli, cabbage and collards down to nubs, even with protective fencing, and deprived me of my fall garden. By spring we will be better prepared with an expanded wire fence and electric fence.

But this post is about critters, not varmints, and how they benefit us and our family. Alli, our kitty, is foremost on my list of useful critters.

She is ten years old, has survived many a fight and having her back leg bit completely through, breaking the bone. It took her three days to come home, and by that time she had a  horrible infection and the bone could not be set, so Dave and I washed it out two or three times a day with warm water and iodine and kept her confined. Boy was she mad about the cage. She healed up so nicely that you would never know about the leg, unless you looked at her when she was walking and noticed that back leg was crooked. Even at her advanced age she is perky and still a terrific mouser and chaser down of voles. We get our fair share of presents! But the things I love most about kitty is what she does for Dave's mom, who stays with us during the winter. Because Nana is available all day, she is now kitty's best friend, who lets her in and out when she meows, keeps her feed bowl full and provides hours of petting and a soft lap to nap on. Nana even puts down her crochet hook when Alli comes to call.

As you can see, she even helps when Nana has a grandchild to hold for a nap. Alli wasn't always to have "her" napping place taken by someone else! However, the day  Nana went back up north for the summer, Alli laid in her chair all day, waiting for her Nana to come back. She had a rough summer without someone attending to her every desire, but she did make it and is enjoying Nana again. There are lots of studies out that suggest having pets is good for the elderly; it gives them companionship, and if they are involved in pet care, they have a sense of purpose and once again have someone depending on them. It can help make a long day more purposeful. Our situation is an ideal one because the animals are really ours, and in the long run, we are responsible for their upkeep and care; I wouldn't suggest just getting a companion pet for someone who lives on their own because it might be more than they could handle and become a burden.

Kitty is the main pet that Nana cares for, but she does keep food and water out for the "puppies" who are entering their fifth year. They aren't siblings, but we got a puppy for each of our kids at the same time; not our brightest moment.

However, we have two energetic dogs who spend part of their time outside and part of their time inside with us. The especially like to visit Nana, who has a tin of treats on her table, and makes sure everybody gets their biscuit every day. We do have to make sure they have settled down so they don't accidentally scratch her, she does not heal as quickly as she used to. Everybody loves Nana. She always has time to pet the Lab, who would sit and be petted all day if we didn't take her outside; Winry has learned some manners and no longer jumps up (or not often) but sits, impatiently wiggling, until the person she is pleading with notices, or until she gets too impatient and barks.
We will be adding more critters to the farm in the city in the next few months, critters with a bit more purpose, such as egg laying, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they impact our family. So far the addition of two dogs and a cat have been a good thing, though not without problems, I hope chickens and bunnies are just as beneficial.

Flowers for Nana

Dave's mom, who is 85, stays with us during the winter, and although she is mobile, she doesn't go out much so I try to make the view from her favorite chair as interesting as possible. The violas above are one thing I have put in my herb bed to provide interest; they will be pretty for much of the winter and also in the spring. In hindsight I should have gotten pansys because the blossoms are larger and easier to see from the house. Next year.

I moved the birdbath around to the house side of the rosemary bush so I could put the cold frame on the south side and also moved all but one of my perennial herbs, also for the cold frame, but they provide a little visual interest too, at least until they get frost bitten. So far they have survived back to back 27* frosts, so they are doing pretty well. I need to harvest my chives before they die back, but they are so nice and green right now!

The next thing I added were some bird feeders; she loves to watch the birds! At her house she will have twenty or so hummingbirds buzzing around her porch in the summer. That is the down side of her only being here in the winter, no hummers. But between the birdbath and feeders she sees a lot of birds and enjoys them. Another up side is that the feeder is above an area that I want to mulch, and sunflower seed hulls make excellent mulch. We should have a good inch of mulch by spring!
Now, the reason that I thought about all this today is because while I was at Lowe's today buying stuff to make the hoop house (I'm so excited!) I saw crocus bulbs on clearance. The end of November seems late to be planting spring bulbs, but really, it has been so warm that they might have started growing had I planted any sooner. So I bought a bag of bulbs and planted them in the herb garden and along the driveway, since she and Dave walk down to get the mail every day. I'm sure they will be a delight to all of us at the beginning of March when we are all sick of dead trees and brownness.  Shhhh, don't tell her, it's a surprise!

Let Us Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is in the air; the preparations have begun, the food has started to accumulate and we (hopefully) have turned our thoughts to what we are really thankful for. I could make a long list of little things that I am truly thankful fur, such as flannel sheets, yellow leaves on the hickory tree and carrots pulled right from the garden, but I'm going to go for my top five, because the list could get unreasonably long, and everyone would fall asleep reading.

1. God. I could leave it right there, but I don't feel I would do Him justice if I did. I am thankful to God for His protection and comfort in my life, providing me with sustenance, family, health and a place to call home. I have felt, since I was a small child, that He holds me in the hollow of his hand, protecting me and guiding me if only I have the sense to pay attention.
2. Family. I am thankful for my husband of twenty-one years, our two girls, our parents and our siblings. I love them all very much and  they have made me who I am (for better or for worse!). I am thankful for the foster children who have shared our home and lives over the years. I am very thankful for our Church family; we are far away from our biological families and they fill that gap for us over and over. We have several "moms" and "dads" there.
3. Friends. Many or our friends are from Church, but we have others from different areas of our lives. We have friends that we have camped with and had Thanksgiving with since 1999, watching our kids grow up and change over the years. We have friends who have provided respite care when we have had a special needs foster child. We have friends who we have shared joys and sorrows, triumph and disappointment, good times and bad. We have friends. Plural. What a joy.
4. The Farm in the City. Christened thus by Dave's Dad when he first visited a decade ago, we are finally trying to fulfill that vision. I covet the days when my feet don't stray from the property and look forward to spending more and more time here. A place to call home, what a blessing.
5. Food. I love food. I am so thankful that we have plenty and I know there are others who don't and who are working just as hard as we are to make ends meet. Let me remember to share the bounty of the Farm with those who don't have opportunity to grow their own.

So there it is, the Farm in the City top five things to be thankful for . Of course there is always the wind in the trees, the clothes drying on the line, the cat sunning herself, the trains passing behind our property, the dog jumping through the kudzu, the stars in the sky......amen and amen.