Crumbly Acres in snow

Thank you for your kind comments on our trip to Ottawa and Caitlin's concert. It was nostalgic. Life changes so much over the years. It sure brought me back.

 That was a fast weekend. It's good to be busy and out of the house! It's good to be home, as well. 

I threw out peanuts for #75, our rehabbed release squirrel. We released him in May. I am not sure he is using his nest box.

He is a hoot. He grabbed one peanut where I tossed them, and ran back to the horse chestnut tree. Then he buried it in the snow at the base of the trees. He repeated that. Then went up the tree, across to the evergreen, and buried it in the snow under that tree. Again, rinse and repeat! 

Along came his buddy. Honestly, the only the way I can tell them apart is where they go when they are done feeding. This one goes towards the driveway. 

75 went back to the chestnut tree and took out a couple of peanuts he'd buried and ate them. He dropped one whilst eating, and then joined buddy under the bird feeder.

The cardinals are a bright spot of colour.

I don't know if I like the photo of him eating better than his thoughtful pose!

We still have a starling hanging about. 

Their colours are lovely, changing with breeding season.

In May, 2012, I spotted a juvenile European Starling on the gravel near the mailbox. I had help identifying it, as juvenile birds can be such a challenge to ID.

The deer have returned. I love the snow on its face. They've a thick coat that insulates them. 

The one in the foreground has hurt her back left leg. We'll see how she does. 

I've noticed #75 going up and down the trees, finding the bird seed the blue jays have cached in the tree.

   

 Prior to our big snowfall, the fisher and coyote were doing inspections of Barry Beaver's lodge. There was no sign of them after the snow.

 

Trip to Ottawa

 What a weekend! Caitlin, my eldest, had a concert. 

We packed up, gave the cats extra rations. I did the litter box. Joseph Brian isn't a fan of snow. I drove. I took a secondary road, as I thought there'd be less pressure to go 20 km over the limit.

We made it to Ottawa an hour early (12:30 for a 2 pm concert.). (Better than an hour late!) I drove around, and Joe suggested a coffee shop. In we went. We scarfed down lunch, and off we went. Here I am in the big city. I actually wore lipstick! 

Caitlin texted and offered to have JL drive us in, to save a parking space. Ottawa side streets were awful. I was glad to have a chauffeur. We arrived and had a half hour to wait.

It is a beautiful church (BCUS). This church community survived the Great Fire of the 1870. I wrote about said fire in a blog post, following the evidence of it still remaining.

I don't remember the last time I was in a church! 

There was an emcee and she said we were welcome to take photos, but please don't stand up. If we do, she promised, we would have to come onstage and sing a song. "YES!" I called out, raising my clenched fist in a salute, my camera in hand! There were giggles. I've sung in professional choirs over the years, done church solos, etc. 

First up were the juniors! I noticed that for their first song, all scarves were done up the same. By that last piece, their lovingly tied scarves were askew. They were cute.

There is a teen choir, and an adult choir, as well. There are about 120 people in the choir. I used to sing in the Ottawa Choral Society, which had 150 members, but we sang in bigger venues! They were cozy.

We broke for intermission. JL, Aster, Caitlin and Joseph Brian.

Some choir members, including Caitlin, will be travelling to the Baltics in June for concerts. They are fundraising! JL bought us some brownies for dessert. 

It takes awhile for them all to process in. Fond memories for me! The excitement, suspense, hoping for a great concert.

It's a large choir, especially during the combined choir pieces.

JL cleaned off the car, and we made our way home.

Safely home, we had chile and corn muffins, which Caitlin had made in her spare time. 😝

Caitlin showed us her Christmas sweater. It's a thing. I used to have great holiday sweaters, since the little kids loved seeing them at school. Since menopause I am too hot!

I left a trailcam going in the house to see what the cats were up to. I haven't processed that yet. Last time I did that they caught a mouse, which Nutmeg proudly showed to the camera! 

Videos

 

For copyright reasons, I have a couple of snippets: Choir, snippet 1

   

 Choir, snippet 2. I love the fake beard the woman behind Caitlin wore. 

   

 

Book Review: Nobody's Baby

 I read, and finished, Virginia Giuffre's autobiography, Nobody's Girl,  during our (planned) power outage. It is a powerful memoir. While the survivor victims, survivor sisters, as they call themselves, have had their demands answered, I don't know what will happen now. We were talking and Joe says Chump is 'Teflon Man,' and I am sure they've protected him. At least the victims must get some sense of relief that their stories are out there, and there is much support for the horrific actions of these perpetrators.

It is Sexual Trafficking 101, to quote some I heard talking about her own experiences.

Giuffre is pronounced JUE-FREY
Leavitt and other Republicans can't seem to,
or refuse to pronounce it properly.

 The cover ups, the deceit, the lies, the intimidation, the grooming that keep these women in slavery is shocking. I wanted to bear witness. Virginia was very brave to put down on paper the means by which she, a vulnerable child, was sexually abused by her father and a family friend at age 8. Her specific story shines a light on people who operate in the dark. Her author collaborator, Amy Wallace, worked on verifying facts and data. 

Protected by power, influence, and money, these billionaires prey on vulnerable teens. Teens who have run away from abuse (like Virginia), are homeless, and suffering. The predators lure the victims, bribe them, bring them into their tribe, where they are then helpless to escape. There were orgies, and an ectopic pregnancy or a miscarriage. The poor women. These men don't wear condoms. 

The beginning of the book is caught up with the Herstory of Virginia's shabby life. It has threads of her escape from poverty and paternal sexual abuse, to where she finally breaks free from Epstein and Maxwell, and goes to live in Australia with her husband, Robbie Giuffre. She gave birth to three children.

While we keep reading, talking, and writing about '*The Epstein Files,'  it's not just a list of perpetrators and victims. Virginia explains that Epstein and Maxwell's homes contained videotapes, files, airplane logs, large nude portraits of all of the young girls he abused (1000s) that lined the hallways of his 6 homes. They blackmailed the rich and powerful, and trafficked the weak. He kept getting rid of them as they aged out.

 Sadly, once things began to unravel, Virginia was threatened in Australia. They hunt these victims down and get people to harass them to prevent them from speaking of the abuse. A car tailed her, sitting in the dark, with headlights glaring in her front windows. Many victims have no where to go. Virginia found a new life, but was haunted by threats, as well as her nightmares and flashbacks. 

 A Canadian victim (Jessica Baker) of rape said: 

"My life as I knew it was stolen from me and shattered beyond recognition. The assault took away my worth, my privacy, my body, my confidence and my voice."

It's not your fault. It's OK to speak out. Speak truth to power. Virginia has reclaimed her story.

*The Epstein files are massive. When he was arrested, federal agents found a safe with 48 loose diamonds, $70,000 in cash, 3 fake passports: for US, Israel, Austria. A financial disclosure Epstein wrote estimated his net worth as $559,120,954, 6 properties around the world, stocks, equities, and $57 million in cash. 

• BBC reviewed the book
• Wiki has a good summary of the book
• There is some belief that Robbie, her husband, abused her (gift link, NYTimes), as well, but that is before the courts.  
  
  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Breaking Idol | Films - CBC Gem 

Billie Eilish asked an important question: "If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?" There are FIVE ways to accumulate a billion dollars: 1) Profiting from a monopoly 2) Insider-trading 3) Political payoffs 4) Fraud 5) Inheritance Billionaires are the result of a failed system.

Saturday's Critters & Snomageddon

I went out to use the snowblower... Can you see her?

I use a combination of bird seed. Cracked corn for some, black oil sunflower seeds, and a mix. It's a dance to find the best mix. I went into Crappy Tire to get some more bird seed. I was in the aisle, making decisions. I was thinking it all through and a man began to talk to me. He explained that I should only get black oil sunflower seed and nyjer seed. He went on to say that he used to work in Home Hardware and he knows his stuff. 

The conversation continued, and I told him that my birds don't eat the nyjer seed. There was a woman in the aisle near us, and we exchanged looks. "I was MANSPLAINED!" I told her.  

Dec. 9th, the starling liked the cracked corn as much as the mourning dove. You'll notice that I have the tray feeder upside down! 

#75 (I think!)

Both cats have had manicure this week. It was time. They are stuck on the front or back decks, bird watching from a nice vantage point. They watch #75. 

 

Barry Beaver is sleeping under the snow and ice, I presume. I didn't get down there last week. Here is the last video I have of him. 

 

Joseph Brian found an interesting article on Beavers on the NYTimes(🎁 article). They mate for life, researchers tell us. In Utah they are relocating them for a good purpose, to create ponds and help keep water in the area. Science isn't dying in the US, despite Chump reigning the south... 

"Beaver wetlands once blanketed North America, helping to shape the hydrology of the continent. But by the late 1800s, the fur trade had nearly wiped out the animals. State reintroduction efforts followed, including by parachute in Idaho in 1948. Now biologists estimate that perhaps 15 million beavers live in North America, down from historic numbers of maybe 100 million or more."

After the storm, it was a nice sunset. I should have knocked the snow off, more snow is on the way, by I hurt my left ankle. sigh.

For more critters, visit Eileen's blog: Saturday's Critters # 626!