Winter settles in...

I used the blower on the driveway on Sunday, in the late afternoon. I knew it was still snowing, but it'd soon be dark. Monday is garbage day. When I was finished, it didn't look as if I'd done it! Pppfffftttt! 

The oak tree still has dead leaves!

You'd think, being retired, there is no pressure. I woke up knowing I had to put garbage out. PRESSURE! Checking the temperature, it was -17 ℃.  (This morning it is -19℃!)  I never sleep well, knowing I have a deadline! 😆 

It was bitterly cold. Taking off my gloves for a photo, my fingers froze! 

There were coyote tracks all across the driveway. This shows the coyote tracks checking out the path the voles took across the driveway! This is what coyotes eat, for the most part. 

We haven't seen deer much. The snowfall brought them out. I noticed one our the front window.

The 5 deer checked the deer feeders. Nada! I sent JB into town to get some deer feed. We don't feed them much, but they get a mouthful. It means we can see them, which warms the cockles 💖. 

I built these troughs in April, 2015 (to replace ones the previous home owner built), but they are wearing out. Maybe that is a spring project! 

They emerged slowly from the forest.

It wasn't very deep snow. I was done in no time. 

🎁 It's my birthday this month. We bought me two new trailcams. They are inexpensive these days. Most of them seem to be cellular, meaning you have to buy a monthly plan where the camera will upload your images directly. 
I find going out to the forest means I am getting fresh air and walking. Plus, why should I pay them for this? I need more SD Cards, though. I keep dropping them, or they wear out, or I put them in pockets and can't find them. Sigh. Ain't old age fun?! 

I am really excited! 

This new trailcam has sensors on either side (see arrows), which helps trigger the camera and capture the critters better! That is the theory...

 

Book Review: Agent of Change

I have ordered a couple of Canadian books, the latest is Agent of Change, written by a Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) agent of colour, who spent years working for them. Huda Mukbil is an amazing woman, who fought to change the Canadian spy agency. The culture of this spy agency arose from a white male dominated, RCMP-retiree group. It was based in police and military attitudes. It's is a darn good read.

Mukbil was the first Black Arab-Canadian Muslim woman to work for the agency. The men were afraid of her. These men blocked her from any significant jobs with seniority. She hit the glass ceiling, blocked by men jealous of her expertise and competence. She was an asset, highly vetted (herself and her family and friends, as CSIS does), who worked hard to sussed out terrorists. 

She speaks four languages, and understood her culture. She gave lectures to CSIS colleagues, adding to their knowledge and understanding of 'the other.' After beginning to wear her hijab, she faced further bigotry. When managers began to come down on her, they forbade her to go to mosque. 

She was seconded to MI-5 in England, through a request by the Five-Eyes Agency (Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, UK) as they recognized her knowledge, expertise in Counter Intelligence, languages, cultural knoweldge, and skills. You can read some of her story here: Veil of Secrecy: The Muslim Canadian spy who took down London extremists. 

I have read a number of books by women who faced that glass ceiling, i.e., THE RED WALL: A Woman in the RCMP. Also, Donovan, Kelly; Police Line – Do Not Cross.These whistle blowers pave the way for future members. It opens the eyes of we white people who fear that which we do not understand. I taught in multicultural schools. It isn't difficult to learn and understand others. Should you choose to.

📚My Book Review page. I do love reading! Publishers used to send me books to review. Those days are gone. 

This is the weather for reading indoors! The garbage is out. When I arose, I checked the temperature and it was -17 ℃. I went back, hoping by 7 a.m. it'd be a tad warmer. NOPE! It had gone down a degree. 

 

Crumbly terrarium!

Indoor play

I've been having fun getting inspiration from other bloggers. However, Rain is stopping blogging, as have several other people I follow. I volunteer once a week, and haven't any close friends here. It's a small, but supportive community online. Val, at Mulewings, has brought me inspiration with her little figure tableaux pieces. I am going to keep my little set and set them up outside. 

 I wanted to remove my terrarium for our seasonal decor. (I bought it that at an 'antique' store.) Hooper cat had fun with it, back in his time. He was fascinated with it. I stuffed it with fairy furniture. Cleaning the brass made it shine. The plants changed over time, as I found many did not survive. Hooper was quiet keen on them. 

Sadly I cannot keep it up. The copper is deteriorating, water leaking from the seams. The plants just don't have the right humidity balance. I give up. This is a tribute to it.

The decorations manager is fine tuning his decor.

❄️ In Gravenhurst they've a webcam. We used to drive past Campbells Landing Marina between Gravenhurst and Bala, where we lived for a time. I enjoyed living by the lake, except for the jet skis and snow machines.

We've had some snow. Just a few cm over a few days. It is protecting the ecosystem. I noticed that last year we had about as much rain as snow. There is that.

Outdoor play

The fisher has been an inspector, but I think Barry is safe inside. 

 

 The fisher and I inspected Barry's Lodge. I was careful on the ice. This is as far as I ventured. It's not very deep. By the time I got to where I am standing, I turned around. 

Barry, I presume, is safe inside. Barry must have run out of time to gather winter food. I hope he's sleeping!

 

Saturday's Critters

 Before the polar vortex, the critters have been out. It's been a few frigid mornings. More on the way! The birds amuse me. We've three male and one female cardinal. About 6 mourning doves, and a flock of juncos, as well as chickadees and goldfinches. A couple of blue jays, as well.

The coyotes have been frequent flyers. They zip up and down the driveway, and go to see what Barry is up to.

   

 The deer have been quite quiet, for the most part. We have the odd visitor.

   

 Buster loved walks in the snow. As did Daisy. Nutmeg and Cinnamon don't last too long outside, and don't venture too far in the snow. It's like sending youn kids out in the snow, the exercise to get themselves into snowsuits took up a lot of recess time, and it was good exercise.

Daisy even loved the frozen frog pond.

Sound up! I've been trying to teach Cinnamon about the cat door in the garage at the back of the house. Bending over at the door, I was calling. He'd already figured out how and came roaring along the sidewalk, and around the back of the house to see me.

 

Barry Beaver is frozen in, as far as I can tell. For fun, I found a video of a beaver chewing on a small tree trunk. Apparently they hold on with upper teeth, and it's the lower jaw that does the grinding/chopping!

We're going to have to get someone in to take down the leaners. They scare me. Too bad Barry didn't finish the job. I found this video of a beaver. It shows how the beaver uses his top teeth as a lever, and it's the bottom teeth that do the job! 

More critters: Saturday's Critters # 625, hosted by Eileen. I am happy visiting her blog, as she has 'winter birds' that nested up here in winter. 

Polar Vortex & Barry

It's a bit of a shock here. Outdoors, at least. The polar vortex is gruesome for any living thing outdoors. It slowly went down as we were watching our evening movie Thursday. At 4:30 p.m. it was -11 ℃ and it slowly went down. By 8:30 p.m. -17 ℃. This morning I checked the temperature and was -19 ℃. 

📺We were watching a BBC TV series called The Gold this week. A huge gold heist in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England 1983. What a saga. There is suspense, and a female cop in the Flying Squad seconded to the task force. It is based on a true event, the Brinks-Mat robbery. An epic theft of £26 million in gold. My entertainment/activity director found it for us!

🐇There was a line up for the bathroom at 2:38 this morning. I took the opportunity to look outside at the moon. There was poor little Labbit desperately looking for food under the bird feeder. I felt so badly for her.

The indoor fun keeps us amused during these dark winter nights. Joseph Brian continues to redecorate or rearrange his displays. He turns them on at dusk, and off at bedtime. This is iteration #2.

Lots of critters have disappeared. Some for good reason! Barry Beaver is frozen in. This is the path down the hill, in the water to his lodge. This is before, with the spot where he comes out of the water.

and after...

 

Yes, frozen over. 

The lodge is in the middle, in the background. I did not venture down Thursday, this is from Wednesday, when it was a balmy -5 ℃!

Food banks and birds

It's a tough time of year for many: emotionally, and financially. Neil Hetherington, CEO of the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank, speaks to the need. They have gone from from 4.1 million visits per year to 10 million visits. Their  budget has increased from $8 million  to $40 Million  per year. 

These statistics give me pause. He says that 60% of their clients have college or university education, and 50% are employed. The working poor in Canada don't have the safety nets that others have in Canada. I'm still horrified by CEO and professional athlete salaries.

There are many people who support food banks. The government give tax credits to farmers who donate fresh fruit and veggies, but in Canada we are limited in our growing season. 

Okay, I just wanted to put out the statistics here. It gives me pause. There are so many demands and requests for help at Christmas. I am inclined to let those so moved during December celebrations to make donations. I prefer to support organizations monthly. 

🐿️  🦫  🦊  🪿  🦌  🦨  🐀 🐇 🦥 

Back to your regularly scheduled program... 

The birds are hungry. Butch Raccoon is content to sleep in Wednesday's -9 ℃ temperatures. Barry Beaver is under the ice. Not a sign of him Tuesday. 

We've two male cardinals. 

My friend gifted me some new feeders. She has moved to an apartment. We are all grateful.

 

The mourning doves scare everyone when they fly in and land. 

My gifted bird bath draws the birds. The upside down pot hides the cord, and protects it. The brick ensures the squirrels don't knock it off.

I tried to capture the drink and the swallow process. The goldfinch, in its winter colours, wasn't cooperative! They bend, then stretch their necks to swallow.

The Blue Jay was a little better at performance art. 

swallow!

My friend, Kit, posted a photo of 27 swans on the nearby lake. I was in my back 40 looking for owls last week and I heard a honk. A pair of swans flew overhead. I was not quick enough for a photo. Here is a pair from Feb. 2020, at Narrows Lock.

March, 2015

We've two regular Gray Squirrel (black morph) friends, #75 and his buddy. They like to chase up and down the horse chestnut tree, and run after each other.