Cleaning up!

 I'll have to celebrate the baseball game! We stayed up to watch. I struggled to stay up the night before. My dad would have been so happy! I tried to go to bed early the night before, but that didn't work. You can't just go to bed in the middle of a high stakes ball game.

This is Toronto. Familiar territory for me, as I lived downtown.

At Yonge & Dundas Jays fans are obeying the pedestrian scramble, as is the custom & returning to sidewalk each light cycle.

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— Shawn Micallef (@shawnmicallef.bsky.social) October 21, 2025 at 12:00 AM

I used to play softball. Those days are gone! I used to bike, but began getting tendonitis! Ah, youth...

 Aster couldn't find her ear bud case. Under the seat cushions, I thought! AHA! I ended up vacuuming the whole thing, after I spotted what was there. Oh my.  No ear buds. I used a stick to sweep under the couch, then couldn't get up off my knees! I've arthritis in both from two separate falls. One must laugh at our foibles. 

 This was an interesting photo. I moved the heavy metal planter. I don't know how I took this photo???

The planter with a fresh coat of paint. The wood pile is covered.

I repainted this statue. Her skirt was faded. She'd fallen over, too. I blame Butch raccoon! 

Joke of the day! This is Canadian N I.C.E.!

Sunday tales

Such a lovely day on Sunday! The high was 27 ℃, and it was a good day to work outside. 

 Out the Back 40, my little Aspen grove is doing well. The Spongy Moth caterpillars stripped them, but they came back.

2020

2025

I toodled down to the owl tree, looking for owl pellets. Instead, I found some mute (the white stuff), no owl, no pellets, and some feathers I cannot identify. 

I keep thinking they look like skunk tail fur, but who knows? 

I was so proud of myself.  The water fountain was clean and dry. Might as well cover it up. We'd expected high winds, and rain. The only way to keep it covered is to wrap the Christmas lights around it. 

All done. I plugged it in, hoping it would work. It's on a timer. I couldn't tell in the bright sunlight. At dusk you can set it to stay on for 2, 4, or 6 hours. I set it for 6. In hindsight, what was I thinking?! 

All was well. We watched most of the baseball game Sunday night, Oct. 19. I flaked out, and went to bed to unwind and read. Somebody came along with updates on the game. My bed faces out through the Muskoka Room, the lights were staring me in the face.  My brain was back in gear. I got up to watch the rest of the game. 

Back to bed. Then, I remembered I hadn't taken my pills. Back to the kitchen. 

Back to bed. The lights were still on. I tried to remember what I'd set it for. I remembered: 6 hours. What time is dusk? Um, 7:30. I cannot sleep if it is light out. Downstairs to unplug the durn thing. Nutmeg was desperate to go out and play with mice friends, but I won that battle. 

It took me hours, and 4 podcasts to finally get to sleep. I know many of my readers can empathise. 

Anyway, I'm still working on chores. You can see why! 

I new a big storm was coming, and I mulched the leaves along the driveway. Again! 

Crumbly Acres Critters

Time to explore!

I came across this video. We'd purchased leftover pumpkins one year from Miller's Bay Farm (2022) for the deer. They had a bumper crop that year. Peter, the buck was quite keen.  That won't happen this year with a drought, and fewer produce than in other years.

Oct. 16th, I noticed a robin in the bird bath. There was another, then they were scared off by the mourning dove! 

 

The lady beetles gather in doorways in the sun before winter sets in.

   

 The skunk is still hanging around! It's looking for grubs, and digging little divots.

 

We've a dump of rain today. It is wonderful. I roared around on the lawn tractor mulching leaves. Mostly on the driveway, as once it rains they stick.

Our robin pair are still bathing!

Cinnamon gave me a tick. I could feel something crawling, and used the camera to check. We stuck it on a piece of tape. I won. 

We've done pretty well this year. I track them just for data. 

Garbage is out. I didn't get soaked. Let's all have a good week!

No Kings around here!

 It was with great interest that I watched the #NoKings gatherings. The signage was quite something. 

#NoKings 

There were protests in Toronto (100s with Elbows Up posters), Vancouver, Dublin, South Korea, London, as well as in the US. 

You wonder why we care? Canadian snowbirds, off to live in the US for the winter, are being photographed, and fingerprinted. Their RVs searched, after they are registered and charged $30 USD ($42 CAD) apiece for the honour. 

In January, the Canadian government said an estimated 3,600 citizens have listed "X" as their gender on their passports — an option that has been available to Canadians since 2019.

I was watching Flight Radar on No Kings day. I used the filter. These are only government planes, drones and helicopters. 

They were serious! 

Closer to home

Things are ramping up here. Just when I think it's quiet, there is something...  The Blue Jays have been interesting. I think they are looking for the feeders! The chickadees have done the same thing: looking in the window.

I'm not quite ready to put feeders out. There is lots of food. Nature Canada says there was a banded Blue Jay bird who lived 26 years! 

We haven't done 🧸Snuggle Bears in ages! It was a thing. The young grandies inspired Grampa.

The bears had pizza for dinner. I sent the photo to our Vancouver grandies!

Nutmeg thought it was a fun party! 

Our driveway! It is always nice coming home, but this is nature at its best.

Jean had questions about the raccoon release: 

Do they have tags, And do the wildlife people come to check up every so often?

They don't have tags. Sadly, they are often road kill or preyed on by coyotes, owls, foxes. Their lifespan in the wild is only a few years. They are especially vulnerable when they are small.

There isn't any follow-up by RVWS, since they disperse into the forest around us. We may never see them again. Although, how would we know?! We have one raccoon with a bad leg 📹, who travels with another. And a single. Their numbers seem down to me, this year. 

This is the raccoon I spotted on the driveway on the trailcam.

Critter release

We support Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary (RVWS). This is where our Squirrel came from, still named #75. We drove to RVWS in May, took the box, with #75 inside, and put it on the tree. [Crumbly Acres Rehab: #75] I've spotted him from time-to-time. He's been closer to his box as the cold moved in.

We've release some over the years, all rehabilitated after getting hurt or abandoned:

• Sept., 2016, there was a 4-raccoon release . 
• Sept. 21, 2017, we released 8 raccoons and 3 skunks!  
• In October, 2019, we released 4 raccoons, Mary Kate & Ashley, as well as Taco & Burrito. 

I learned a lot from their video! Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary

They arrived:

Three of them came up to the house, after they'd led two back down, 3 came back up! 

We haven't seen them since! Dispersed to the forest to find grub, berries, and sanctuary from ice, rain, wind, and snow. 

I've three more: Video #2, and Video #3 (one had a short tail) and Video #4, videos from them exploring the forest.

Saturday's Critters # 618 < = visit more critters at Eileen's blog.