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Archive - January, 2015

Heart-break For Baby, the Farm Cat

January 28, 2015 in Fresh Off the Farm with 0 Comments

The warm bath and the subsequent rub down with an old towel helped her look more cat-like instead of a rumpled mass of flesh. Her eyes were bright and healthy-looking. She did not like the bath, but it helped.

I made a soft bed for her to lie on and set it beside the warm wood-burning furnace. I found her old litter box and a nice cushion that she had used in the old days when she was a house cat. I washed and filled her old dish with food to eat and milk to drink. She gladly filled her tummy.

It was still not apparent to us how she had gotten hurt. Nor did we realize the extent of her injuries. I went to the basement to check on her quite often.

I caught her grooming herself. She was actively trying to fix her open sore. We medicated her her with antibiotics to help her with the healing process. Taking her medicine was not her favorite part of the day, for sure. But all of these things must have helped her.

In the early days of her recovery, she kept quiet and quite still most of the time. She took time to work briskly at cleaning her wounded leg. The smelly, black-looking flesh transformed into clean, red muscle tissue. I did not understand why she would not leave the wound alone to heal, but later we decided that her active cleaning action removed the infected tissue.

I bathed her a few times. Following one bath I noticed that her underside was split open. How that broke my heart! I could not see how she could heal from that large rip in her hide. We noted a protruding bone in her leg. It was broken. Her situation made my heart sick. I almost despaired. Our veterinarian was due to come to the farm on another errand so, we considered putting her to sleep.

To see one of Baby’s haunts check out this card. http://angelatsansone.com/store/products/calf-shed/

For a lighter view on cats, visit http://www.jhphotograph.com/blog1/puppy-love-farm-cats-and-dogs

photo credit: liakapelke via photopin cc

Baby, the Missing Farm Cat!

January 22, 2015 in Fresh Off the Farm with 0 Comments

I have a story to tell you today. This story involves our farm cat, Baby. I have told a few stories about her in the past, but this is a little drama that may be of interest to you.

My daughter rescued Baby as a kitten from a bulldozer. She soon became my daughter’s beloved pet. But when my daughter married, she left without Baby. So Baby had to adjust to farm life outdoors.

Not all cats thrive at such an assignment, but Baby did. She weathered the elements well, but she did not figure out how to handle mice. To survive she ambled to the house for a handout often.

One of Baby’s favorite perches was on an old plow beside the farmhouse’s front door. In November, I noticed that she was not hanging around any more. Since cats keep their own schedules, I was not alarmed. But after four days of not seeing her at her regular place, we began to question what had happened to her. The days were cold and snowy and Baby was unseen.

Then one afternoon, my husband came in the basement and called to me. He carried in his arms a clump of something he had found. It was Baby! He found her lying in the straw in one of the farm buildings. Her leg was mangled and she had lost a lot of weight. She had an open would on her hind leg. I cleansed a bucket and filled it with a soapy bath water. Baby went into the water with no fight or fidgeting at all. Perhaps she knew I was trying to help her. As I lowered her into the bath water, I could smell the wound. “Infection,” I feared.

Find out about another cat at this website, http://wernercreekfarm.com/tag/farm-cats/

If farm animals are your passion, visit our product list and find our card, Faithful Cow Dog.

photo credit:Bretta Grabau

Parent-Friendly

January 19, 2015 in Family Ties, Fresh Off the Farm with 0 Comments

I had the delight of hosting my daughter and her young son at the farm last week. Having not had his first birthday, makes the little one quite dependent on others. As Grandma, I got to play with him a time or two.

At meal time, he sat in an heirloom, caned high chair. Finger foods were plentiful for my little offspring. They rested scattered on the food tray of the old high chair. The height of the chair is functional, but as you will see, it makes for trouble . . . sometimes.

During this particular visit, the good thing was that his eye/hand coordination had developed quite well. Picking up a piece of cereal and looking it over before putting it in his mouth worked just fine. Along with the eye/hand abilities, he practiced making verbal sounds like, “D”. I encouraged him to say, “Daddy.” However, that word was still a bit too complex for his young mind and body to perform.

Innocently, I started playing a game to help him use his D-sounds. When he dropped a piece of cereal or a utensil, I said a noticeable, “Oh-oh.” My grandson’s eyes dropped to find what had fallen to the floor. Studiously he exclaimed, “D.” I chimed in with him to say, “Down.” This scenario happened repeatedly. As a grandma, I thought it was fun to play with him this way. After all, he was learning a lesson on “Down.”

And now we get to the bad thing. The review went very well. He enjoyed dropping what Grandma picked up for him and I enjoyed the, “Oh-oh!”, and the “D…D” exchanges with my grandson. But now Mommy and Daddy have to put up with this funny little game, too. They find it tiring.

I guess Grandmas can get away with a few things when the kids do not always live with her. But I will have to remember to control the games I teach him in the future. From now on I will consider whether or not the game is Parent-Friendly.

Babies are precious. You might enjoy a card that shows such beauty. Find it in our product line.

If you are looking for a mothering-site try this one. http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2014/03/motherhood-mondays-baby-foodan-epiphany.html

photo credit: brendan-c via photopin cc

Memory – A Winter Picnic

January 8, 2015 in Family Ties, Fresh Off the Farm with 0 Comments

Has the long winter gotten to you? If you have very young children in your home, try the excitement of a winter picnic. We had fun with it when our children were small.

You need to work on the menu, the serving place, and the “setting.”

My home is not terribly big. I decided to use my biggest room for the serving place. I chose a blanket we use for sitting on the grass as my “picnic tablecloth.” I served the food on paper plates as we generally do for picnics.

The menu is yours to decide. Whatever your family typically enjoys on picnics will add to the aura of your experience. We had “Fun Buns” and gelatin. Fun Buns are a yeast bread baked in a 8-9 inch round cake pan. After baking, slice the bread sideways to make a top and bottom of the bun. Barbecue, pizza burger or cheese burger fillings go great for the sandwich filling. Before serving, cut the bun/sandwich in wedges.

Typically for a picnic, the setting has trees, flowers, rivers or ponds and even some small creatures. So, for our picnic, I looked for ways to emulate such a view. I placed our indoor plants in conspicuous places where the family would see them on our picnic. Because some plants did not have blooms, I stuck stems of artificial flowers in with the green plants to spruce up the scenery. I gathered small mirrors into one place to fashion a ”pool.” Bath toys served as fish or ducks for the “pond.” I gathered various armfuls of stuffed animals hid them behind furniture and lamps. After eating, we went on a safari hunting for the animals. We all had a fun time with our pretend “winter picnic.”