While I was watching...

Trailcam #2 – June 21 23:00 hrs. Junior Bear






They hung around most of the morning!

We've had 17 eggs hatch, the wood ducks are gone for another year.
Wood duck eggs from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Again, at the frog pond...salamander larvae. They are prehistoric-looking! Their gills are on the outside.
Salamanders from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then, the bullfrog tadpoles, who overwinter, are quite large, and pop up for air.
Tadpoles from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Hooper continues to play with Annabelle. When Daisy goes after Hooper, Annabelle comes to his rescue. It's an interesting dynamic.  Daisy is going after Annie much less. 




Then there was action at the trailcam while we were away.
The coyote peed on the ground, right in front of the camera.
Trailcam June 10-11 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

10. Catching up after our trip

Yes, the garden. I am catching up with being away 8 days [Vancouver and kidlets!)]. I weeded Saturday, and Sunday was garden day. First thing, off to get some plants. The nursery had sold about 2/3 of its flowers, nearly sold out. It was hard not buying anything for the garden prior to our trip! I knew the baskets wouldn't last without my being here to water.

On the left, the very green basket, are my sum total of veggies: cherry tomatoes. I transplanted them from the yellow basket into a much larger one.


Then, petunias into the yellow planter (above), for the hummingbirds. A 'window box' of pinks and begonias for the front window.

The deer have trimmed my hostas for me. Normally, they begin with the plant farthest from the house, and work their way into the interior of the garden.

Caught in the act

Friday, June 8th

Recaught in the act, Wed., June 13th! We were watching TV and I saw Daisy staring at something...



Critters everywhere.
The millipede was in the bottom of an old hanging planter I was repotting. You'll notice my manicure is looking a bit rough! I only had it done since I was traveling.

millipede

Gray tree frog hung about here all day!


Butch amongst the yellow devil's paintbrush.


A garter snake slid into a mouse hole to escape from me.

We had a scare Sunday. JB couldn't find Hooper anywhere. He looked on the road and found roadkill. It turned out to be a rabbit, he scraped it up and put it in the ditch.
Tuesday morning, another rabbit as roadkill.

Bunny frontyard from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then, Hooper decided to go on a bender. He was gone from Tuesday night until midnight the next night. sigh. We were worried. Boys...

Good news, our tick count is down. This may be affected by the cats being 9 days in the cat hotel, but... I am hopeful.

9. Friday, June 8th – recovery!

Friday morning, first thing, we picked the cats up from the Cat's Meow, after our trip. (2. Vancouver and kidlets!)

It was a drive... people passing, and cats howling! It was funny, even at the time.
Cats return home from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Once home, they leapt from the car, and headed into the forest.

I spent hours weeding, fixing the goldfish pond pump. Laundry. Lawn. Until I did the lawn, the three cats were not more than 6' away from me! Hanging the clothes up, working on the pond, they followed me everywhere. JB was doing errands, like groceries. No one helped me clean the fridge, though!

The day we left (May 31st), I took a photo of the bleeding heart plant, and the peony plant. You can see the peony bud in the lower right, I was worried I would miss it, being gone from Thursday=>Thursday. When we returned, the plant that had not bloomed in all the years we have lived here (Sept., 2010), was in full bloom. I am so glad I did not miss it!


Down at the trailcams, we had visitors while we were away.
June 2nd, right behind the house. The trailcam is on the dead cherry tree, Junior Bear must have ambled across the deck.

June 5th

June 7th – a surprise, TWO bears!


I haven't seen them on the trailcams since we have returned. Hm.
Down by the trailcam, I just caught the last ladyslipper orchid in bloom.

8. Thursday trip home to Ottawa & Perth

We watched the polls from B.C.

Our last morning of the trip. Meanwhile, at home, we were watching the polls from our hotel room, on the TV. I don't want to talk about it the results! :'(

JB went downstairs and fetched the bag tags and boarding passes, right there in the hotel lobby, and toodled on up the elevator so I could tag our bags. 

YYC > Calgary Airport Authority > Volunteering at YYC > White Hat ...

Calgary has "White Hats", volunteers who meet and greet passengers. They've been doing this for 26 years. What a lovely thing to do, to greet and direct stressed travelers.

Three are many places to visit. I'm sorry we didn't have more time and energy! These ads for the museums are terrific.

I liked this manikin! 

Statues...

Our bags were so full, we didn't have space for souvenirs...

I'd never even heard of credit card knives.

Inside, through security, I noticed a mother with THREE kids, waiting to get onto the plane. She'd missed the early boarding for passengers who required assistance for kids. Happily, the father was in the washroom. I breathed a sigh of relief, and they weren't too, too noisy on the flight, about 10 rows up. (Not like the infant on the trip over!) For JB it's like being at work in the airport. For me, being in public, it's like having to do classroom crowd control, again! (I still have nightmares!)

We paid to have our bags stowed, while others juggled two carry-ons in the overheads. Such stress. It delays getting everyone in and on. 

Promptly, after the seat belt sign went off, the dude in front of me whipped his seat back. I couldn't budge. When our meals came, I asked him to pull up while I ate. He did. Then, he whipped 'er right back after. They are making planes smaller, and I am growing larger!!!

Goodbye mountains!

Human settlement patterns

When I was in gr. 7 (1968), this was the name of a course I took during Saturday morning classes for gifted kids at Castlefrank Elementary School in Toronto. I took the subway to get there. On a Saturday morning. Seriously.

Canada is such an interesting country to cross. Most of our population lives near the border near the US. Heaven help us. Then, white settlers settled near rivers, a major form of transportation for many.

Safe landing, and the baggage was removed. Air Canada carried over 48.1 million passengers in 2017 (44.8 million passengers in 2016). 

I must admit, I did snort. The dude in front of me, who kept his seat so far back, was the last to claim his bags! He's the head, in front of the red sign.

Taxi to the kids' house, where we'd parked, and home again. Our taxi driver TO the airport what a riot. He gave us clues to find our where he was originally from. He had a keen range of historical events, he was from Ethiopia. They are famous for their long-distance runners, amongst other things.

Ta da! Back home there were gardens to check, unpacking, laundry, etc.

@CTA_gc #YVR in-person consultations on new air passenger regulations - 06/18

— CTA.gc.ca (@CTA_gc) June 12, 2018FLying from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Our trip west

Thursday, May 31st 1.  Getting There Off to YVR!
Friday, June 1st #2. Vancouver and kidlets!
Saturday, June 2nd #3. YVR's Queen Elizabeth Park
Sunday, June 3rd #4. YVR, splashing,  sushi
Monday , June 4th #5.: YVR=>YYC, lunch in Canmore, drive to Deer Lodge, Lake Louise

Tuesday, June 5th #6a. Lake Louise and Banff park, 6b. Canmore and Johnston Canyon, Alberta,    6c. The Marriott Hotel

Wed., June 6th #7a. Calgary's Inglewood Park, birding,   7b. The City of Calgary ,     7c. James Joyce Pub