Ecotay Market on Sunday!

JB suggested we go off to the Ecotay Market on Sunday. Sure! He's been scouring the internet for places to go. Even the 🐻SNUGGLE Bears were looking to plan a trip. I'm beginning to feel we should take a trip!

This is the first market I've been to in a long time. I even did my face. Just for practice. Sadly, it wasn't waterproof mascara. You'll see why later. We arrived at the farm. It was dark. We expected rain around 9:30, but thought we'd try it.

Circle D Homestead had a table in the barn. Good thing!

We bought a few things. 

Tasha's Table, though Tasha wasn't there. Hubby stood in for her. He is responsible for the veggies! We bought some spices.

This is Marleen Keenan, of Mar's Lil Shop (below). I snapped a photo of a photographer! Her friend said it was her first show, and I was her first sale! That made me happy. She was happy. I bought some beeswax tea lights. At this point, it was getting darker, and there were a few sprinkles of rain!

Then, a crack of thunder, and a bit of rain. And a bit more rain. Then the clouds dumped on us. It's a lovely farm.

We sheltered in the barn. Glorious rain! Ecotay rain  

We skedaddled. So much for putting on makeup! 

We needed rain. We were happy to see it fall.

We were soaking wet.

This is our haul. Some spices, bee's wax tealights, soap, pickles, reusable face pads. 

If you look just above the placemat, you'll see the thermometer from the BBQ. It has moisture in it. I Googled that, and found out how to get it out. You put it in a covered casserole dish at 350° for a half hour. I'll wait until I have something to cook. That said, it's been sitting on the table for a couple of days and the moisture is gone!

It was quite a storm. Lots of thunder and lightning. 

It was good to get out and about!

Cinnamon's tail

Cinnamon was taking it easy in the heat. He is staying close to home, as well. I think I figured it out.

He was out Sunday night (Aug. 22), and Monday night. I just couldn't keep him awake in the day. We try to keep them indoors at night. Monday he was confined to barracks. Then he slept all day Tuesday. 

Wed., Aug. 26, he was out a half hour, back in sleeping. Now, he doesn't like the wood pellet kitty litter we have, so I think he went out to do his business. Then, he was in all day. This isn't normal. 

We dug up the deworming pills from the cat cupboard, and gave them both a pill. I wasn't sure if he wasn't well.

He seemed to want a walk, but stayed up the hill in the forest watching me go. This is most unusual. Usually, even if he is sleeping, I'll wake him up and ask if he wants 'walkies'. He'll get up and then come out with me. Thursday, he slept with us overnight, which was nice. It seemed a mystery. Thursday, he sat at the top of the hill, and wouldn't venture into the forest. That's a good thing. When I came around, he was on the edge of the forest, but didn't want to go into the meadow.

I thought it through, and wrote down his behaviour, to try process it. Then, I remembered, he was out Monday night, the night the carcass was on the empty lot: The circle of life. I'm betting he had an encounter with the coyote or fox. Probably climbed a tree. 

It took until Friday for him to come walkies. 

He sat here, at the bottom of the hill, on the edge of the meadow, meowing at me in the shade. I'd crossed the meadow.

Along he came... with a pouffy tail. That is a sure sign he is afraid of something. 

He kept up with me. My good little boi!

My poison oak infection is easing up with my meds. Here is one of the culprits. Even though I wore boots, I was careful. My five spots are nearly gone.

I've eradicated it elsewhere. This was mostly poison ivy (below, right, under the tree). I ripped up the vines around 2011. That was an adventure. I ended up at a dermatologist's office, and she recognized the rash right away. 

The poison oak is in a particular part of the forest. I simply wasn't careful this past week. It's good now. It is a specific pain: both painful and itchy at the same time.  It's a pretty forest. The wetland is in the background.

Cinnamon kept up and practiced his tree climbing skills.

Here he is atop the hill (below), our house in the background. Look at the wilted plants around him. We sure could use some regular rain. Our lawn is crunchy. We had 13 mm Sunday.

There are still crows around, hoping for more roadkill. You can see them beyond the dying sumacs.

I love the frogs. If you look closely, you can see about 6 of them, although I've counted 14 at the maximum last week. All but one are facing away from me! The bugs some down the side of the pond, and the froggies go for it.

Bathroom, bears, rain

I enjoy the self-deprecating humour of fellow bloggers. Here is one for you! OK, two stories. I had two jobs: 1) to clean out the water fountain, it gets icky. 2) to wash the bathroom floor. Everytime I enter the bathroom, I figure I ought to do the floor, leave the room, and promptly forget until I enter the room again! Ah, old age rears its ugly head. 

There were only a couple pieces of toilet paper left. I took the old roll off, and threw it into the cat's water fountain. I meant to chuck it into the garbage. No wonder I'm not playing softball anymore! (Actually, that's because of shin splints at the time, but I digress!)

I should have hurried. You KNOW what happens when toilet paper gets into water!

I didn't want cats drinking toilet paper water. I got on that. The fountain is cleaned, dried, and replaced. floor is done, I finally remembered.

We had a bit of a clean up this month, more a decluttering, last time the girls were here. We sent them home with the bin of Lego, to donate as appropriate. The girls just don't play with it anymore. They read. A lot! 

JB kept three little Lego kits aside, and took them into town to a worker he chats with at the park in the early morning. The man has a son, age 8, and JB thought he'd enjoy them. The son made him a thank you card! Isn't that sweet?!

 🐻SNUGGLE Bears

The latest: bear reading a book about bears! "What Bears Teach Us" It's a great book. The photos are amazing.

Her friends wanted to her to read to them. 

Saturday morning, actual rain! Only 2 mm. It's been a really dry month.

You can see how brown and crunchy the lawn is. I went over it with the tractor the other day. In the shade, it is better. The front garden is toast.

I was so happy to see rain, I snapped photos. The poor false sunflowers are drying out. The phlox is doing well.

I went out to water the cherry tomatoes, and found a visitor. The first photos were at 9:24, the last one 10:54. I rather think it eclosed there. That's a long time for a monarch to stay put. I scoured the plant for the evidence, but couldn't find it.

You can see how the wings aren't quite flat. Eventually, they dried and he flew off! You can tell it is a male, since he has a dot near the bottom of the wing.

 We've still got female hummers. hummingbird  

A 10-point buck! 10-point buck  

The Fox was here in the daytime. 

In the backyard, I spotted the merlin. I found this archived photo of a turkey vulture and the merlin. They are so quick.

They just soar. I'm getting better at filming with my reading glasses on! merlin