Near and far...

 It's a bit buggy to visit the frog pond, but I made it. The muskrat(s) have cleared out the foliage. Sadly, the invasive frogbit moved in. 

This happens every few years. I appreciate their work, as it is great having a frog pond in the forest.

A man and his cat! Nutmeg has taken to going back to bed after a morning snack. Normally, she sleeps here in the evening, on his side of the bed. She doesn't like the murder mysteries we watch. In the afternoons, Joe has to nap on my side of the bed. Until this past week. 

This is unusual. She's decided to sleep on my side. 

🕷Ticks

Since May, we've had 15 ticks. I've had 13, and Joe 2 ticks. It's a really bad year for them. Last year we had 17 between March and November. We're getting there. 

I've been getting a lot of gardening done. It's been wild. The more I clear it out, the fewer bugs we'll have. I plucked another tick off my neck! Can you see it? A little black thing near my ear. I could feel it crawling and batted at it absentmindedly. I took a photo to see if I was imagining it. Nope. Off I went to the bathroom and the tick jar. Take that, you blood sucking thing!

The monarch butterflies have begun laying eggs on the milkweed plants!  Here is the first one I've seen. I've a lovely crop of milkweed this year. 

A/C had a question, What do I do with the deerfly on the sticky patches? 

I peel the patch off my cap, wrap it around a stick, and put it in the goldfish pond. The fishies pluck them off and eat them. It is that circle of life! This was from 2022, before Percy perished. 

We've a big green frog, happily eating bugs in the goldfish pond. 

Downtown Ottawa. This is a great pano the kids took on date night last week.

Speaking of kids, my SIL Jean-Luc is off on a ski trip in Santiago, Chile  – with a buddy. 

This is his view out his hotel window!

From his ride on the tram car.

Aster has been doing her online course. Caitlin and Jordan have been working on getting Jo ready for residence in September. He's booked his room at Queen's. They had ice cream at Ikea! 

Joe and I toodled around Perth at the music festival. More on that when I curate my photos. That is the extent of our travels.