Wednesday, June 08, 2005, 13:13
A Mother's Work is Never Done . . .
Last week I had to put up some rabbit wire along the fence in the barn so the three little kittens that belong to our wild black momma kitty wouldn't accidentally wander under the fence and get under the horse's feet. The kittens are now five weeks old and are starting to explore.
Monday night, I had to move Kajun's water tub. In the summer I fill a 20-gallon blue plastic tub with water so Kajun will have plenty of water to drink when he wants it. The tub has always been on the other side of the fence in the barn, tied to the post so Kajun won't tip it over if he drinks it down to the bottom. Actually, I'm not so sure it's *Kajun* who tips over the tub. I think it's more likely to be our Springer Spaniel, Charlie, putting his paws up on the edge so he can get a drink.
Anyway, I had to move the tub. I walked into the barn, and there, hanging on the rabbit wire about six inches from the tub were two of the kittens. So far, they haven't wandered more than 10 feet from the nest where they were born, but the rabbit wire is well within their range, and -- since they are cats -- they are learning how to climb already! As I watched the kittens climbing up the wire, I had a sudden vision of them crawling *over* the wire and tumbling into the 20-gallon water tub.
Every year I find at least one barn swallow, usually a young one, although sometimes I will find two in a season that have fallen into the water tub and drowned. I do not want to go into the barn and find that a kitten has drowned in the tub. So, I baled out the full tub, watered my plum tree, tomato plants and peonies, and moved the tub farther away toward the gate. Moving the tub, of course, now means that I have to drag the hose around the tractor in order to fill the tub for the horse, but I would rather do that than have the kittens fall into the tub.
Tuesday morning the kittens were climbing on the rabbit wire again. They haven't made it over the top -- yet. And I hope they don't make it over the top, although I suppose at some point they will. I have cautioned Kajun to keep an eye out for kittens on his side of the fence.
Maybe I need to put up a second section of rabbit wire on top of the first so it's higher and harder to climb over. A second section will make it more difficult for me because I always crawl through the fence right there to bring hay for the horse. I would rather have it be more difficult for me to crawl through the fence, though, than to have the kittens land on the ground inside the fence and then not know how to get back until someone rescues them.
A mother's work is never done. (sigh) And they're not even my children!
LeAnn R. Ralph
Monday, June 06, 2005, 18:40
I'm Back!
The book signing at Simon's Specialty Cheese in Little Chute on Saturday was fun. I talked to people from several different states: Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, New York. I signed a half a dozen books, which, for a book signing, was a huge success. It's common for authors to sign one or two books and consider it to be a success. Unless you're someone extremely well known, like Stephen King, or Bill Clinton, book signings often do not move more than a few books. That's why many authors do not do book signings. They're not worth the time and the expense. I wouldn't have done this one, either, except that my husband's family lives in that part of the state, so it gave us a chance to see some of our family.
And now, after driving almost 500 miles on the weekend, it's "catch-up" time. I've got laundry to catch up on. And dishes to catch up on. The lawn needs mowing, too -- again -- but I've got to let the grass dry out first. We had thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday, and when we came home yesterday, we could tell it had rained very hard recently because there was water standing everywhere, and the shoulders of the road were washed out in places.
My mother-in-law and father-in-law have a deep purple lilac growing in their yard, so we dug up a couple of shoots of that to transplant. They also have a bridal wreath bush, but the bridal wreath doesn't send up shoots, so it was harder to get a sprig. They have hostas, too, not the variegated ones, but the deep green ones. Their plants have to be the biggest hostas I have ever seen. When we got home yesterday, in between thunderstorms, we planted the lilacs, bridal wreath, hostas, and some lily-of-the-valley we got, too. Time will tell if any, or all of it, will make it. I hope so, though.
It's funny what a difference a few days can make. Now that it is warmer, the seeds we planted in pots are growing at an amazing rate. The pumpkins are up and have leaves that are hanging over the pots already. And my tomatoes and egg plant are sprouting. And so are my watermelon and muskmelon. When they get a little bigger, I will set out the tomatoes, egg plant and melons and see what happens. (The pumpkins are Randy's, so he's in charge of those.)
Okay, time to get a move on! Projects are waiting. Including working on my next book!
LeAnn R. Ralph