Thursday 25 May 2023

Crumbly Acres

There were frost warnings, again. I covered the ivy, but left the rest of the plants, like the eaten pansies! Last night I brought the baskets in and covered the larger planters. They predicted a low of 6 C., I watched as the outdoor temperature kept getting lower and lower. Yep, out in housecoat and jammies to cover them up!

We went to the city for a marathon appointment, again. More on that tomorrow.

 The new aspen saplings (decimated by the LDD spongy moth caterpillars in June, 2021), have done well, and recovered with new leaves. They are twice as tall. The previous owners kept this as meadow, and kept mowing it. I stopped, loving the quaking aspen leaves.


On the deck, a couple of fireflies doing what fireflies do in spring. I keep forgetting to check for them at night. Ain't old age grand?!

These aren't our nighttime fireflies. 

Fred has been a challenge. I put Emily up on a stand. That worked well. 


He is staying away from the deck, lately. This was a few days ago.


He hasn't been under the deck, grinding his teeth on the wood. I did discover he'd dug a den under the woodshed behind the wood, under the slats. The pile of dirt was a giveaway.


JB came home from shopping on Tuesday and saw a dead groundhog on the highway. He asked me to come help get the carcass off the highway. By the time we did so, it was gone. Our County crews are pretty good at this. We were worried it was Fred. It was bittersweet. I saw Fred that afternoon, and was quite relieved. 

April 15th I took this photo of the empty lot across the street. It must have been this one that was hit crossing the highway. 


I was looking to have a new cover made for my bench swing. The old one has a hole, and it leaks when it rains. I've been rethinking it, and maybe I just need a box in which to store the pillows out of the rain. I tried to waterproof it, but the material is flimsy. I was going to ask our local seamstress to make us a waterproof one, but she was terribly busy with weddings!
May, 2021

I was searching online and found some plastic/vinyl ones. The comments were tragic, with shoddy designs. Not only that, but they are sold out everywhere!
Someone wrote:
"This box is super flimsy… we will probably be replacing ours this summer and we’ve only used it one summer. "

The deer remain only on the trailcams out by the frogpond.

doe may 17 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Phoebe has two eggs left of 4, and one has hatched.

phoebe nest shed from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Bear was back, and still itchy. We haven't seen him, except on the trailcam. He's a good bear.

Bear 5 pm may 21 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

9 comments:

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
The Acres are looking lush, and clearly, Fred is enjoying the spring greens! So glad it wasn't him on the road but sad that it was anyhog who was... YAM xx

Jocelyn is Canadian Needle Nana said...

Hi Jenn, as always enjoyed my read this morning of your recent posts. I didn't realize you had 4 granddaughters. How they are growing too. We have one groundhog who is brave to enter the back yard with us with 2 dogs just now. Yes, the mosquitoes are intense this year and we have to use the spray more than we like. We are doing a big cleanup of the branches felled by the last ice storm, sad there are so many, but a good workout. You up a ladder with a saw is so brave.

Barbara Rogers said...

I am so glad Fred wasn't fried on highway! Sorry somebody else was, of course. I like the names for certain animals, wild though they be. I named my cars, all along. I asked my laptop if he wanted a name, since I do spent more time with him than even a husband or boyfriend these days - no answer yet.
If suddenly in typing a man's name should appear...well, I'm open to some kind of AI, the more personal kind I think! "Hal, this door will not oppen, Hal."

RedPat said...

I'm glad it wasn't Fred on the road even if he can be a bit of a pest.

Cloudia said...

Your blog is my favorite nature show! Thanks, Jenn

Elephant's Child said...

Busy, busy, busy.
And how I wish our local council was as good at clearing the road.

William Kendall said...

There is something very calming about watching groundhogs and deer go about their day.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Glad Fred wasn't the critter from the hit and run.

HMM. That box looks fairly sturdy, but if it's shoddy, no sense buying it.

Loved your nature photos and your porn (fire flies).

Divers and Sundry said...

Critters gnawing on things is never a good addition to the house, but it's still good to hear that groundhog wasn't the one in the road. The aspens are such a pretty color green!