Mushroom murder!

 Fun story: this is a group of wee, grey toadstools. A nice little line. They like the PH levels under the pine tree. Every single mushroom is knocked over. It's happened before. I called it Mushroom Murder! 

I know who I blame! They left another deposit on the deck! 

Here is proof!

This was 2012. Aster inspecting the fungus on the dead roots. Aster is in gr. 11 and taller than me!

Here is a gnarly tree I found on my forest walk. 

Funny what AI 'hears!' We asked the TV thing to find us a TV show:  "Border Interceptors," a reality show from Ireland, like Border Security. Instead, it brought up an ad for 'bed bug interceptors.' One really has to enunciate!

 

The driveway in all its glory...

Autumn chores, I sprayed painted the purple pencil! It looks so much better. Also, I scraped and repainted my bell.

Last two roses for this year... the frost is on the glass outside. Farewell summer, sleep well gardens. See you on the other side!

Deck refurbish

We have three back decks. It's a bit of a mish mash. I repaired the lower deck with Aster in 2016. Then, we replaced it in 2018.  I worked on restaining the upper deck, next job was the lower deck. 

 I'd repaired one plank on the middle deck, but things just wear out! It was time. One plank rotted. The previous owners had a cat and a dog. The yappy dog needed a total enclosure. We do not. It won't keep out Butch raccoon!

Friday night was the deconstruction.

Nutmeg was deeply suspicious. 

Saturday morning, Cinnamon wasn't amused. He was afraid, and hid under the BBQ cover in the corner. I brought him inside.

Cortlin began work!

The cats were OK with it. Cinnamon likes to sit here at the top of the steps.

Cortlin came back to replace two upper deck boards for me. He left his truck here. I texted his mom, and asked if he was one of those men who could take their trucks seriously, or if he had a sense of humour. She said the latter. I guess if you were the youngest of three sons, you'd have to! He liked my joke.

I'll have to stain them, but ironically we've a rainstorm on the way. We haven't had any rain this month. We last had rain September 25/26. 

There we go! 

Monday was a lovely day, and we took off for Brockville for lunch. More on that anon. 

Meantime, my late father would be amazed with his Blue Jays!

October has been busy

🍂 Fall Chores

There is lots to do outside. I'm just taking my time. Someone put his back out and he's still looking after it.

• Tuesday I did the leaves, mulching them and the pine needles, and did some lawn. 
• Switched out the bird bath for the heated bird bath. (Thanks again, AC!) 
• Tried to put the bird feeder stand up. Crooked. Gotta try again. It started raining after I rested. Pfftt.
• I caught another little frog. Almost. No luck. I missed. Twice. Jeremiah sleeps for the winter.

The water fountain is covered, and ready for winter. The pagan lights need some help. A couple of strands are not working. Nothing lasts these days. You have to be really careful in matching the plugs. (Non-mental note!)

 I had wrapped up the bench swing, then the winds blew! I started again and secured it a little more effectively! I don't mind doing a job once.. 😏

Back to it. THIS is secure!

The sun has disappeared for a few days. No precipitation to speak of, but there is a chill in the air. The sun warms me up enough to manage outside, but it's been hiding. I played with these two images. I could not decide which I prefer.

Dark skies! I mulched the leaves again. It is terribly satisfying.

Joe has been watching football on his TV. Nutmeg likes to keep him company. It's not cold enough to put a fire on, but that day is approaching.

Just for fun, a brief power outage. All the clocks had to be reset! 

The good news is that the biting bugs are slowly going to sleep. We've ticks. Nutmeg brought Joe one, and Cinnamon shared another with me. Since they invented the anti-tick goop for cats, things have improved. This year is about the same as last year.