Rain, Wren, and fireflies!

Now, I do not complain. We were only 23 hours without power at the house. Our kids were 8 days. Some still don't have power in places between southern Ontario and here. Manitoba has flooding, Mexico has flooding, and then there are many countries trying to survive wars, and/or facing daily violence. 

It has been quite the time for us in southeastern Ontario. There are still people without power in Ottawa, although they are 98% up. Ontario Hydro is slowing down some, with individual and smaller spots requiring much attention. 

There were still 11,345 waiting on Wednesday to reconnect to Hydro in Ontario, although only 6000 today. As I write this, 6:20 a.m., June 1st, there is another storm hitting us. I awoke to a big thunderboom just before 6! The radar shows heavy rain, and the lightning map shows quite a bit of action. I received an alert of a severe thunderstorm watch. 

I filled my watering buckets and placed them in the bathtub. Just in case. There aren't the winds of the derecho storm, though, so I wasn't TOO worried! It ended up passing over, but raining all day giving us 18 mm of rain  (25 mm = ~1"). We shall see what June brings.

 The critters are busy. This is a can of fertilizer. I noticed it was knocked over. Sure enough,  Butch raccoon tooth marks! They eat just about anything! 

Out on the back deck, where the mosquitoes aren't too bad when the sun shines, I noticed a wee gray tree frog. It moved, and I noticed a firefly on the other side of the railing. It was moving over to have a snack! The firefly wisely took off. I noticed two mating on the wall later in the day! 

I noticed fireflies at night, May 26 and May 27, when I went to bed near sunset. I totally forgot to mention it to the kids who were here sheltering from the lack of power at their house. 

The front yard looks quite green. On the left and middle ground are the sumacs. On the right, a lilac and a serviceberry tree I'd transplanted here. This used to be a full grove of sumacs. They are dying and not reproducing with age. I am sad. This used to be forest, and the previous owners had cleared this. I'm letting it grow.

I took our old bench out to the end of the driveway. It's on its last legs. A gentleman came and asked for it. He was worried his wife might be mad, but off he went! 

The cats sheltered from the storm in the Muskoka Room! Snuggle buddies. 

I accomplished all sorts of indoor chores yesterday, during the rain. I didn't even venture out, as the bugs are wild in the rain. Next it'll be deerflies! Yay, SPRING! 

The Wood Ducks are due to hatch any moment, I've given up trying to get videos. They are simply too fast. Phoebe is still feeding babies. The House Wren is the best, singing on and off all day. It really is lovely to hear. They are so teeny, only about 10 cm (4 - 5") and have a great song. They have holes in their tongues, the glottis connected to the larynx and trachea, which is how they sing.