Autumn joy

This is how Thursday began: a tad chilly. We expect a high of 22 C., though. Weird variation in temperatures. I could see my breath this morning. Still no rain. I must water the garden today. 

I toodled on down to the trailcams. Hooray for BirdNET. They told me this was the flicker. That makes sense.

flicker 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

It seems logical, –look who I caught on the nearby camera!

 

flicker from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I heard phoebe in the forest yesterday. While many birds have left, or are leaving soon, we have many that stay.

 

chickadees from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I was on the back deck, reading under a blanket. It was too hot in the sun out front, too cool in the shade out back! Cinnamon hung out with me. If you watch the video to the end, you'll see him washing up, and a fuzzy caterpillar was looking for the hops vine. The caterpillar seemed to be following him, and he jumped up in fear.

 

Cinnamon and the caterpillar from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

iPhotos created a movie for me of fall colours. They music they add is quite lovely. 

 

Fall Colors - Over the Years from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The terrarium

 I had a project. It was time to revitalize the terrarium. I bought it at an online auction. Ordering in some fairies, I took out the plastic crap, replanted it with these plants, including polka-dot plant, which keeps growing out the top.

Sadly, the baby's breath died, and the palm plant was keenly appreciated by the late Hooper. I had to remove it. Cinnamon liked the palm plant. I had to move that, too.

In March, 2022, the copper was cleaned up. (I'll have to do that soon on a rainy day!)

Back to the present, everything was assembled on the back deck. There aren't too many days like this. This morning it was 5 C. It was cool on the back deck! I hauled out the dead stuff. Took out the mineral stained soil, and washed the little figures. 

I have this little set of 'kiddy' gardening tools. They are perfect for all sorts of jobs, including this one. 

I decided to order in some seeds. The only wee plant I could think of was Alyssum. They were totally out of the pretty pinks (left), but they had both white a dark pink. 

Look how they came, in a little vial. Planting about half of each colour, I shall hope for the best.

The final task was to spray the soil, to give the seeds some moisture. Next, I washed the glass.  

I usually prepare posts ahead of time. That said, Cinnamon is sitting on my lap, so here is an iPhone photo from across the room. You'll note my felting project! 

That was my project for Tuesday! Let us see what Wednesday brings.

The Autumn Leaves!

I did the lawn Monday. I ran out of gas, and we had to go to the store. Even on that short jaunt, the trees were lovely. 

Percy is still in the pond. The frogs are gathering here. I have to decide when to bring him in. It's still lovely in the daytime. The night time temperatures are above zero. 

OK, I am sure THIS is the last rose!

Monday, I decided to clean out the House Wren box, filled as it is with little sticks. I had to grab the ladder, and use the drill to undo the screws atop the ladder. Whew. 

We are ready for next year.

It looked as if there were two butterflies that used the box as shelter, and hatched!

Charlie spider is still above the front door. There was a visitor our front, an Eastern Comma. I was worried about it, but Charlie seems nocturnal. 

Great excitement with the kids. Josephine participated in a re-enactment on the weekend, and she and her friend put together costumes. Jos took fencing lessons a few years back. They are great thrifters, and have fun with fashion.

Another Autumn activity, they went apple picking! 

More fall chores today! I hope you have a good one.

September is nearly done!

As we head into October, a peek at September rains.  

rainstorm Sept. 17 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I've been having fun with outdoor decor. Scarecrow sits atop the cat. 

Just before I placed her there, I found a dock spider attacking a caterpillar. 

dock spider from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Some birds migrate, like phoebe. I heard one a couple of days ago. 

Some of our birds do not migrate.

I have heard our hawk in the forest. It is a juvenile rough-legged hawk, and has figured out how to fly and eat prey!

The crows and blue jays are having issues. They are calling to one another. It made me think of West Side Story 1961, The Jets and the Sharks.

 

crows & blue jays from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I heard quite a few motorcycles making a lot of noise on the highway on the weekend. For someone with anxiety (triggered by noise), I got so irritated. I am glad to know what the point was. There were 400 motorcycles in Perth to honour veterans.

   

Charlie spider & Susie snake

 🕷️Just for fun, Charlie was on the move. I was worried about her. Her 🕸️ web was damaged, and she disappeared from above the hanging tomato planter. I spotted her above the steps!

It was a tricky spot to navigate. This is what iPhotos says she is: Araneus.

I didn't think that a good spot↑. She was right over the step and on the metal, having trouble negotiating it. I was able to just reach her with the bug catcher, and move her to the tree frog ledge up in the corner. (Installed by the previous home owners, I might add!)  She didn't like it, and moved to above the door.

She was still there, Sat., Sept. 23, and this morning. 

It is a busy spot, the front deck. My Mother's day hanging basket is still doing well. There was a moth beside it. 

Joseph Brian is doing morning walkies outside, around the house, and was looking for a replacement battery for the stop watch↓. He visited several stores in town, but none had it. One young man in a hardware store asked if he had a computer at home. Then, he asked if Joe had heard of Amazon. What a little turd! 

The wooly bear caterpillars are looking for winter shelter. There were several on the driveway.

I was looking at more dead trees I have to chop up and move off the path near the shed. I found a snake. Now, it could be a black snake, but I think it was a more aggressive water snake as it tried to attack me several times. It's difficult to snap a photo when you are laughing. 

It would coil up and launch itself at me. Bold little thing, uncomfortable on land methinks. It'll be looking for winter shelter, as well.

This is our new little aspen grove at the back of the property. It is coming along nicely. The previous owners kept mowing this area, but I've been leaving it. 

The house, from the back 40, nestled in the sunshine.

We sat out with Cinnamon and Nutmeg. They didn't go far. 

I thought I'd had my last rose, but another is budding! Yay!

 

I'm still working on 🍁Fall chores, as well as trying to plan a new 🏡 bathroom sink. I created a page to ponder my options.

 Google knows! I was doing my morning Waffle puzzle, and look what came up. Items on my Rona wish list.