freeze, thaw, freeze, SNOW!

Let me start with a weather report:

We did Facetime with our Ottawa kids. Jordan gave Aster an interesting present. He switched the heads on these stuffies. Thrifted gifts! They are a hoot!

Aster and Jordan left treats out for Santa and the reindeer! Aster is applying for a student exchange in July, to Ireland! Jordan is looking at a summer work placement in Montreal. All great excitement.

 

The cats are fascinated with 75! He figured out how to leap onto the feeder.  

 

There are three black squirrels!

The wetland near Barry's lodge was wet again, after our rain. 

The fisher was by. Barry is safely tucked inside!

Apparently it was getting a drink or playing in the mud. 

I accidentally set this to take photos, not videos. Oh, well. Here is the fisher!

The frog pond melted and refroze!It's seldom cleared and flat.

 I remember the grandies skating here one year. 

We're back into the snow. You can hear the crunch of snow as the coyote trots on his way.

 

We had a lovely dinner yesterday. Another one is planned for today. I turn 69 today. 

There is snow on the way. We'll see you on the other side.

Merry Christmas from Crumbly Acres!

🎁♪♫♩♪♫♬ It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Things are pretty quiet, aside from the weather. Somebody is putting data together about football game results. Did I mention both my husbands were accountants?! Shiny shoes, and numbers.

Science and technology is grand. I'm watching Santa. First on NORAD, also on Flight Radar.

Flight Radar, it's a hoot!

We'll open the things we ordered for ourselves and gave to the other to wrap, or keep it in the shipping box. At our age we forget what we got, and it is a fun surprise. 

The kids are coming over later, after they have their family Christmas. 

🐇 Labbit has been out under the bird feeder. Last week she was cleaning up under the lilac bushes. (Oh, spring, lilacs!) Tuesday she was on the sidewalk headed for the feeders. The squirrels have been cleaning up pretty well, though. 

The Christmas Bunny has arrived! 

 

 

One year, trying to capture a roving cat (not ours) I tried to trapped Labbit!  Who knew she came up on the deck?

March, 2024

🐈  Another morning I was sitting blogging, in the dark. It was windy and cold again. Looking up, I spotted Cinnamon outside the window on his bench, looking to be let in. I had not let him out! He'd slept with us that night, so he hadn't been out. 

It turns out the basement door hadn't been shut properly. I imagine he went down to use the litter box, and sauntered out the door. I taught him to use the cat door recently, and he took off in the night. I'll have to teach him that you can go in the door, not just out! He was cold.

  

Butch Raccoon visited

 I'm amazed that people have time to visit blogs. I've been sheltering in place! I do enjoy connecting with fellow bloggers. It makes my day. 

First, we had a snow storm Tuesday. JB went out and did the sidewalk. Twice! We are having a white Christmas.

I did the driveway once, just before dark. There was only about 4 cm at the time. It kept snowing!

Mid-October RVWS brought a dozen rehabilitated, orphaned raccoons for release. It was so much fun. There was a trio that stuck together through November. They've appeared on trailcams from time-to-time. 

There was plenty of food, until there was our cold December. They hunker down in the cold, don't truly hibernate. Safe in a tree in the forest. Until our recent melt. 

In our big melt, we had raccoon visitors. Hungry ones! 

Raccoons 1

   

 It's difficult to spot them until you see them moving. I was clued in as the pumpkins had been attacked! JB has been looking forward to these videos. They can get into trouble if you don't keep garbage secured, as well as bird seed. 

 

Something scared them and they ran up the tree. You can see their eyes reflecting the light.

 

One of them sounded the all clear, and they all came back down the tree quickly. This one decided to check out the water barrel!

 

I hope you had a good giggle. It's a busy time of year for many. A sad time for some as they miss family or friends, or old traditions. I hope I helped. 

Barry Beaver's Trees

Barry felled a number of trees, or half felled them. We had a quick freeze up, which interrupted his work this fall. Here he was in late November, busy as a beaver.

Nov. 25, 2025

 Barry Beaver is locked in under the ice. I hope he cached enough food or is napping. The ice melted in our rain. Then refroze. No sign of him. I'd done some reading, and there are some beavers called bank beavers. Not that it is a different species, but some dig out a lodge in the banks of rivers. I've no river, only a wetland. I suspect Barry will survive. 

This is before the melt! 

This is a sample of his work! The widow maker... 

Widow maker for sure.

We had a wind storm go by, as well as rain. 

From the deck I noticed something that was missing! No widow maker. Hmmmmm...

I approached, and noticed this one newly leaning. Uh oh. This was one he'd partially felled. 

It is firmly wedged in the 'Y' of another tree. This is good. It won't budge.

You can see another tree he worked on but did not finish. (Non-mental note!) I'll be careful to watch that one. 

This is to help us remember what it looks like. Still no sign of my trailcam that he stole. Little twerp!

That is a relief. 

Back to bird watching!

The mailbox flag

 Friday, I toddled out to check for my mailbox flag. It was the day of our melt. I had a ribbon tied on the end, but it fluttered away, as well. It had come off in our winds, obviously not secured properly. 

It's a two-lane highway, and most people, when I am out there, pull over across the centre lines to give me space. It's 80km/hour, but people tend to go faster. I could hear the traffic as I struggled with the flag, retying it with a piece of raw hide. I hope that will suffice. 

As I stood in the rain struggling, a car passed behind, and a truck pulled into the lane directly behind me at great speed to pass the car. I could feel the wind, and the noise of the truck putting pedal to the metal gave me a fright. I was shaking. With social anxiety, I have a bad startle reflex. 

It's not the first time.

Ornaments

Daisy used to like my ornaments and the tree. This was in 2016. 

Joseph Brian offered to take some decorations to the second hand store. I am trying to clean out and purge. If you didn't use something in the previous years, perhaps it should be passed on. 

I sent a note in with them: 

These ornaments are very special. When I went to visit a friend for her December wedding in Northern Ontario, 51 years ago. My parents had gone to cut down a Christmas tree. They cut a small one for my dresser. These decorations were on the tree. I added more, as my students gave me some over my 25 years teaching. Dec. 26th I turn 69. 

My cat, Daisy, adored the tree ornaments, and liked to play with them. Until she chewed the lights one year. She is no longer with us. Nor is the tree. We’ve out grown them. We don’t have a tree anymore. 

My kids are grown up. I have 4 grandkids. I hope someone will find these a nice addition to their Christmas. We need to downsize. The best of the season to all of you.

She was a hoot! 
(This cost us several hundred dollars.)

In the meantime, here we are: