A beautiful day!

 Off we went to Carleton Place. I had an appointment for a haircut. Before and after! Yes, I know. Not much of a change! 

Their water fountain is looking good.

There is an old quarry on the grounds. Often there are birds in it.

From there we went to lunch. It is a nice, enclosed porch. Sadly, for us, there was a noisy group of senior men we had to move from the other end of the room. Joe took out his hearing aids, and that helped. The guys nearest us were dropping F* Bombs, happily Joe Brian couldn't hear them. 😏

They are known for their fish and chips. I should have stuck to that. I think all the protein is deep fried. I took half home for dinner the next night. The pasta was over cooked.

We took a drive around the area. It was a beautiful, sunny day. 

While the restaurant overlooks the lake, we drove into a couple of these developments that aren't on the water. Joe Brian thought they'd run about a million apiece. Yeppers! They are pricey!

 

You can tell by the size of the lots. It's close to the highway and commuting distance into Ottawa. The lots are enormous by today's standards.

One can see how the older homes have trees and gardens.

From there we drove to see the water. Rideau Canal, Beveridges Locks. It was a nice walkabout.

Crumbly Acres critters

I was happy to get out and do the grass! Everything is coming up green. 

The swallowtails and lilacs have a lovely relationship. If I can get a chance to sit down, I can see lots of birds and bees visiting this lovely bush. 

My Cinnamon fetched dinner, he prefers voles (meadow mice). 

Coyotes come and go, talking of Michelangelo!

Porcupines also come and go. This one doesn't 'go' as much as marks the little plants! I presume it is the same one.

May 20

   

 May 22 

 

Hanging out, catching up on Barry Beaver's work, I found some Veery singing lustily. Volume up! 

I'll leave you with hope. Hope for the future.

Fred and the garden

 It's been too chilly to plant my 3 veggie plants: 2 zucchini and one squash. I put them out in the rain. See who was headed over? Fred loves her veggies!

I moved them onto the coffee table.

In the afternoon, in the warmth and sunshine, the kits came out. We still have 3 kits. 

You can see the 3 here. Momma, now that they are eating grass, is wandering further away. She spent a lot of Tuesday under the lower deck. When she wasn't eating my plants.

Momma Fred seems to have moved over to the burrow under the lower deck. Can you see her? 

She is working on my hosta plant. She is leaving the Bleeding Hearts along for the bees!

YUMMY!

The Crumbly Acres camera reveals the early morning action. Fred is quite keen on my front yard garden.

   

 I spent a couple of hours trying to put up some barriers. She's eaten 3/14 of my milkweed plants. Just lopped them off. Who likes milkweed, other than monarchs?

First try was a drain spout, I didn't think that would last. 

 

My next idea, was to raid our dump pile. Using the skill saw, I carved out the bottom of the old hanging planters. 

My next idea was using the netting that I use in the deer fence. That didn't seem adequate, and I added fencing. My petunias are looking good, with the lobelia hanging over.

What could go wrong?

You can sort of see the netting. It is great stuff, and still lets us see the flowers.

Epic fail! Rookie error? I forgot to take into account that they can climb. She just slipped under the netting.

I reinforced it!

I'll try put the surveillance siren on from 6 – 8 a.m., she's there at a predictable time. That MIGHT dissuade her! 🤞