Kitten Update

So, I've been feeding the kitten and speaking gently to him, and can now open the front door and walk out on the porch as long as I do so slowly. He's hanging out around the house constantly and you'd swear he was my cat.

Here's Inka sitting on the window sill with Ripley

and Ripley complaining he wants food ...

If I put the food in a bowl the kitten doesn't get as much so I just threw kibble all over the porch. 

Yep, he's pretty cute/

I'm making good ground with him, hopefully it will continue!

Little Black Kitten - Inka

About three days ago, my cat Ripley brought home a friend - a little lack kitten. The little fella is pure black with a tiny white patch on his chest. I would guess he's about 10-12 weeks old. I fed the kitten as he was obviously hungry and put some wormer in his food as its important that kittens get dewormed. The kitten is very shy and would run away every time I cam near, but would always come back.

For the last three days, the kitten has been sleeping on my porch (he has claimed the chair as his own), eating with my cats and hanging with the hens. My cats and the hens seem to have totally accepted him as part of the household ... yet, I still can't get near him!

Yesterday, the little bugger even jumped up on the window sill and meowed for food!

I have been slowly working on being able to get close enough to the kitten to catch him, but he still won't let me get closer than five feet away. I would really like to catch the kitten to ensure it is wound free, to start taming it and to find out what sex it is. I really don't want an unfixed female cat hanging out here having kittens! Not cool!

As,it doesn't seem right to keep calling him, "The black kitten", he (and I say he, cause I'm praying he's a he!) will hence forth be known as "Inka"

Hopefully, I'll have good news to report about Inka in a day or two!

Rollie and his new friend Inka

Inka stealing corn twist that I had thrown out for the hens.

Broom Corn

The Broom corn that my friend planted in my garden is growing magnificently and I would assume its getting close to harvest time. So, I figured I should Google it and find out a bit about it

It is used to make whisk brooms and corn brooms

A ton of broom corn brush generally makes around 80 - 100 dozen brooms 

It grows to be 6 – 15  fifteen feet tall.

It is a a variety of sorghum 

It can be used as a low budget food for livestock, but is generally not edible

Broom corn has been used for broom making since at least the 1500s.

It grows and looks much like sweet corn

It is very hardy and easy to grow; it is drought resistant and can easily tolerate poor soil

Here's a great in depth article on Broom corn to check out:

http://www.rootsimple.com/2011/09/broom-corn-or-is-it-broomcorn/

Garden Harvest

Oh boy! I sure have been busy lately! I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a few days, I suck :(  I've been checking out a new writing site and it has been consuming my online time.

So, I bet you are wondering how many garden is doing :) Don't worry I took some pics! (I bet you didn't see that coming!

Romano beans, they will be ready to harvest soon!

Watermelons - They are getting bigger!! 

Pumpkins- They are all turning orange! I'm so excited!

Today's harvest: yellow and green beans, tomatoes, turnip, cucumbers and carrots!

My freezer is slowly starting to fill! I'm planning on making a giant pot of garden veggie soup later this week. :)

Homemade Swing

So we finally got around to putting up a swing! I love swings they are so relaxing and fun :)

The swing is adult size, so its big enough for larger adults. I'm thinkin', I need to make a cushion for the seat so it more comfie. Maybe I'll cut up a yoga mat and have it so it Velcros on and off.

The swing seat came from a bench that got broken at a party last year. The rope is climbing rope that was donated by a kind friend. The rope is strong enough to hold 500 pounds, so it should hold if a couple of drunken friends try to use the swing together - cause you know they will! We just drilled some holes in the seat for the board

We hung the rope on a very sturdy branch

Its wrapped around a couple of times to ensure it was safe

I was having fun swinging on it :)

My son Travis, not so much! He doesn't like swings :(

The Growing Garden

Sorry I haven't blogged in a few days, my family hosted our annual Naughty Nymph Charity Party on the weekend, so I was crazy busy before, during and after it. The Charity Party was a huge success, we had over 70 people out over the weekend and raised $250 for the Sarnia Sexual Assault Survivors Center!

Blogging is not the only thing that fell behind over the last week, so did the garden! It is now back to being a weedy mess :( 

However, despite the over abundance of weeds, the veggies still grew like crazy!

I didn't think I was going to get any cantaloupes this year, but yay! some actually grew. 

Green peppers, finally starting to grow

Pumpkins are looking great!

The tomatoes are growing like crazy and the plants are so big they are falling out of the cages. The tomatoes are taking a long time to ripen this year, but they are slowly starting to go red! Tomatoes are one of the biggest things I grow as they freeze well and I use them frequently in sauces and soups. Cooked tomatoes are extremely healthy (Cooked tomatoes are healthier than raw tomatoes are), but buying canned tomatoes suck, as the acid in the tomatoes takes the cancer causing crap off the inside of the can. I try to grow enough to last the year. 

The broom corn is looking great! Broom corn is not edible, it what corn brooms are made from. 

The squash is growing like crazy! 

Watermelons!

Today's harvest - lots of beans, peas, some Swiss chard for supper, lots of onions and some of the warped cucumbers. I made the other yellow misshapen cucumbers into dill relish and it turned out great! Now between the radish relish and dill relish I should have enough relish to last the year!

Flowers in the front garden, so pretty :)

Pumpkin for Dogs

Pumpkin is an excellent natural way to help a dog with constipation or any type of bowel blockage. My Chihuahua tends to suffer from belly and poopie problems a lot and pumpkin is always a huge help.Last summer, my Chihuahua swallowed some stuffing from a toy and had to go to the vet. The vet said if he didn't pass it, he would have to have surgery. I gave him about a tablespoon of pumpkin three times a day, and after three days he had passed the toy stuffing! No need for surgery!

Unfortunately most of us don't have pumpkin on hand all the time and end up buying a big can that only gets half used. I saw a suggestion online that I thought we excellent - pumpkin ice cubes! Simply take some pumpkin, plop it in a ice cube tray, when frozen, just pop out and put in a freezer bag. :)

They look a little funky, but they work great. Now I will always have pumpkin on hand for when my furbabies need it!

Old Carpet

The upstairs carpet in the house I rent was really nasty. I really should have removed it last year, but was waiting until I had the time and money to replace it. The other day, I finally had enough of it and removed it all. The under pad was so old it was basically all dust when the carpet was removed. :( Yuck

So, I removed all the carpet in the hall and swept up all the dust and then washed the floor, several times.

So, now the upstairs smells MUCH better and is a cleaner environment, but obviously the floors really can't stay as they are.

So, I'm thinking I have some high quality floor paint, I'm gonna paint the floor to seal it in (and make it look better) and then caulk the edges to help cut down on dust, bugs, drafts etc., and then get some runner carpets. Much easier to keep clean. 

I'll let you know how the painting etc goes :)

Catnip

Catnip is a perennial herb that is part of the mint family. It grows 3-5 feet tall and its branches are covered in hair with oblong scalloped leaves. It flowers are white with purple and are seen from June through September.

Catnip originates from Europe, Asia and Africa. Settlers brought it to North America. It has long since naturalized throughout the continent and grows quite prevalent. Catnip grows best in full sun but can easily tolerate partial shade. It also does well in almost any soil type. Catnip is easy to grow and propagate, be it from seed or root division. It grows well in planters, pots, window boxes and gardens. The catnip leaves and flowers are harvested in July and September and should be dried in the sun. They are best stored in paper bags.

Catnip can be used as a spice to flavour soups and stews. It has an unusual yet lovely flavour.  For humans, it is mostly used as an herbal tea to help many health issues. Some enjoy a little lemon and/or honey in their catnip tea.

Catnip has anti-spasmodic, diaphoretic, carminative and astringent properties and is also a mild sedative. It has many old folk remedy uses. Teas can be made from it to help with digestive upsets and gas, spasms, colic, bronchitis, colds, headaches, morning sickness and a sleep aid. It has also been used to treat enema and to help detoxify the body. Catnip is said to also help with cancer.

Catnip is considered an aphrodisiac for cats. However it is estimated that 15-20% of cats do not even respond to it. This seems to be a genetic trait in the cat. As catnip triggers sexual behaviour in cats, most kittens, below six months of age, will not respond to it.  Cats do not eat catnip, it is the scent that affects them. The big cats like lions and tigers also enjoy catnip.

Not all catnip is equal. Every plant has different levels of potency. Furthermore, how the catnip is processed, dried and preserved makes a difference on its potency levels. Most commercial catnip is not the highest quality as much as its potency is lost while it is being processed, stored and shipped. Once the catnip leaves have lost its color and/or scent it is no longer suitable for use in cooking, herbal remedies or for cats. Catnip is easy to grow, even for those living in apartments. The best catnip is that. that you grow yourself.

Freshly harvested catnip

I was told by an experienced herbologist that catnip should be harvested pre flowering for medicinal purposes and after flowering for cats. The pic above shows catnip harvested after flowering. 

Dried and cleaned catnip

Rifle vs Crossbow

After dealing with the poor little skunk with distemper last week, it got me thinking that perhaps I should buy something encase it happens again (the skunk was the second animal to come into me yard in the last year with distemper), I asked on Facebook everyone's opinion on the two and which they thought was better and was answered by a myriad of answers. I noticed that the majority of the people (not all, but the majority) that said rifle were people that had not hunted before, while everyone that said crossbow had been hunting in the past. Now, I'm not looking for to go hunting, I'm looking for something to kill a diseased animal as quickly and painlessly as possible. I'm also not looking to shot anything from a distance or that is moving quickly. I'm looking for something that will kill a small animal from 4-5 feet away.

As I don't know a heck a lot about rifles or crossbows (I have a longbow I can use, but have never used a crossbow and am not a big fan of guns at all) I spent a few hours today googling the two:

Crossbows:

• You do not need a license to own a crossbow (Unless you want to hunt with it) 
• There is a 58% higher chance of wounding an animal instead of killing it when using a crossbow compared to a rifle.
• Crossbows take more time to become proficient with than rifles do
• Crossbow practice can happen in the backyard, rifle practice cannot.
• You can legally hunt in Ontario with a crossbow (With a license) but it must have a certain amount of draw to hunt deer, moose and bear
• Crossbow hunting is banned in several provinces due to it being the "perfect poachers weapon"
• A crossbow is basically silent
• A 45 pound draw hunting bow has the killing ability of a 30-06 rifle
• Some animal right groups like PETA say a crossbow does not kill as quickly as a rifle so is therefore crueler than a rifle; however, hunters disagree.An experienced bowman can kill just as efficiently with a crossbow.
• Single hand crossbows are illegal in Canada 

Rifle:

• A gun license is required for a rifle - It costs $60 and lasts 5 years. A test must be passed to get a rifle license
• Generally (But not always) a rifle is more expensive than a crossbow
• A rifle is easier to learn how to use than a crossbow is
• To practice with a rifle you need to go to a gun club (which will cost money)
• A rifle is damn noisy when fired and a neighbor may call the police (You wouldn't get in trouble for shooting a diseased animal, but who needs the extra headache)
• Rifle needs proper locked storage which is an added expense

Lots of pros and cons for each. I think in the end a crossbow makes more sense. I'm not planning on going out hunting, and from what I've read a crossbow will give just as quick of death as a rifle will. I think in the fall when I have the time, I'll head out to some sporting stores and see what I can find. I believe we are all children of the Earth and its our responsibility to take care of all of our brother and sister animals the best we can. An animal with distemper is in pain and could spread the disease, the right thing to do is give it a quick and merciful death. 

Working Online - Art

One of the major ways I make money is by selling greeting cards and art designs on numerous sites online. The sites that I sell on are all POD (Print on demand) and I get a small commission every time someone buys something with one of my designs on it. I often get asked what sites I sell on (as other people are interested in giving it a try), so I have compiled a list of the sites I am on:


https://www.zazzle.ca
Zazzle – I make the most money on Zazzle (and Greeting Card Universe). Its a fairly easy site to use and pays via Paypal. You have to fill out a tax form, but their is no tax number required.

http://www.cafepress.ca/
Cafe Press: I like Cafe Press, but not sell much on it. I haven't made enough to get payment from them, but there doesn't seem to be any tax number issues.

http://www.wordans.ca
Wordans: I just started here. The site is super easy to se, but all files must be in PNG format with a transparent background. I've sold a couple of things already, but not enough to get a payment.

http://www.greetingcarduniverse.com
Greeting Card Universe: I make the most sales on GCU, but you have to have a IRS tax number to get paid. I take my earnings in cards and then sell the cards at fests/events

http://www.123rf.com
123RF: You can sell clip art and photography here. I've sold pretty good here and goten paid no problem. You have to scan/upload photos of ID to prove you are Canadian.  Clip art must be submitted in both EPS and Jpeg files.

http://cutcaster.com/
Cutcaster: I sell clip art and some photos here. Haven't sold enough to get paid, plus you need an IRS tax number.

http://www.redbubble.com
RedBubble: I joined it several years ago and never got around to doing anything on it. I'm a little bummed at the lack of options on the site, but its at least fairly easy to navigate.

http://www.imagekind.com/
Imagekind: I haven't sold much on here, but its a good site for selling photography on. Imagekind is owned by Cafe Press

There are certainly many more sites that are similar, but I haven't tried them yet ...perhaps in the future :)