Sunday tales

Such a lovely day on Sunday! The high was 27 ℃, and it was a good day to work outside. 

 Out the Back 40, my little Aspen grove is doing well. The Spongy Moth caterpillars stripped them, but they came back.

2020

2025

I toodled down to the owl tree, looking for owl pellets. Instead, I found some mute (the white stuff), no owl, no pellets, and some feathers I cannot identify. 

I keep thinking they look like skunk tail fur, but who knows? 

I was so proud of myself.  The water fountain was clean and dry. Might as well cover it up. We'd expected high winds, and rain. The only way to keep it covered is to wrap the Christmas lights around it. 

All done. I plugged it in, hoping it would work. It's on a timer. I couldn't tell in the bright sunlight. At dusk you can set it to stay on for 2, 4, or 6 hours. I set it for 6. In hindsight, what was I thinking?! 

All was well. We watched most of the baseball game Sunday night, Oct. 19. I flaked out, and went to bed to unwind and read. Somebody came along with updates on the game. My bed faces out through the Muskoka Room, the lights were staring me in the face.  My brain was back in gear. I got up to watch the rest of the game. 

Back to bed. Then, I remembered I hadn't taken my pills. Back to the kitchen. 

Back to bed. The lights were still on. I tried to remember what I'd set it for. I remembered: 6 hours. What time is dusk? Um, 7:30. I cannot sleep if it is light out. Downstairs to unplug the durn thing. Nutmeg was desperate to go out and play with mice friends, but I won that battle. 

It took me hours, and 4 podcasts to finally get to sleep. I know many of my readers can empathise. 

Anyway, I'm still working on chores. You can see why! 

I new a big storm was coming, and I mulched the leaves along the driveway. Again! 

Forest walkies

Cinnamon was out exploring. I asked if he wanted 'walkies' and he did. We went to the back 40. This is a photo of me standing in the Aspen grove, June 2020. You can see the house in the background.

After being stripped of leaves, the Woolly Moth caterpillars didn't do them much harm. The deer have trimmed these for years!

Can you see how much they have grown?!

Along we went. Cinnamon headed to the wetland, I veered left. Hopeful anticipation that maybe the Barred Owl was there. She was! She kept her eyes on Cinnamon. I approached and Cinnamon ran over to me. It didn't like that. Off she went.

🦉Barred Owl

The lighting is awful, with her backlit. Fortunately, I have other Barred Owl photos. The key to finding them is looking for the white mute under the tree. No owl pellets this time.

They seem to like their regular perches. This ought to be the Barred Owl Tree, since many owls have sat here.

One year they were nesting back here. This is their call, 'who-cooks-for-you?'  – June, 2016

 

Checking the wood duck nest box, I think something has been scratching at it.

A dust bath, and back we went to the house. 

Barred owl sighting!

 The sweet, last warm days continue. I usually spend some time reading on the back deck. I take a break between outside chores. 

The Aspen grove is growing nicely. The previous owners cut the grass here, but after 12 years, I've let it grow. We need trees. They survived Gypsy Spongy moth caterpillars, and are taller than I am. 

The blue jays were having a caucus meeting in the back yard behind the Aspen Grove. What can one do, but go check it out. Raucous Blue Jays usually means a Barred Owl. There was!!!! 

You'll forgive the lighting in the video↑. It's proof of life for our owl.  I've been hearing it in the night through open windows. Such a sweet sound: "Who-cooks-for-you?"

The deck has provided some viewing...

Look at the trees! They are turning and dropping leaves. They are rattling on the driveway. Actually, they aren't necessarily turning colour, just drying up and falling off. There is a big industry in many places, like Muskoka, where 

The Hydrangea, trimmed nicely by deer, has a caterpillar on it.

Another caterpillar: Cucullia convexipennis, the brown-hooded owlet, is a moth of the family Noctuidae.

One must report on this fabulous orchid. The one bloom branch is beginning to dry up, and the blossoms are falling, their lives spent. The good news is that there is a new branch, the dark green one, and I'll have new blossoms shortly. The old blossoms were done, the stem turning brown. I chopped them up. There are already buds on the new branch.

 

I was out doing a walkabout, in the early morning when it was chilly, and found a 🐍 garter snake stuck on some wild aster. It was cold, but alive. This same is true of the frogs, they get cold overnight, and warm up in the day. The reptiles and amphibians are ectothermic or cold-blooded, and cannot control body temperatures.

I wonder what triggers them to begin to hibernate? Nutmeg brought this green frog up onto the deck to get warm. It was cold and stunned. I took it out front and put it with Jeremiah bullfrog. It is too big for Jeremiah to eat! 

The goldfishies are doing well! No leaks! 

I was trying to do my workout, and the TV went weird. I thought it looked like a painting.

🍁Fall chores

I should rent a power washer and clean up the flag stones before it gets cold. And we should stain the decks before it gets too cold. We shall see. 

Have a great weekend, it is Friday. 

Politics, Aspen grove, frogging

Politics: The Speaker

We've been watching parliamentary procedures here and across our southern border. Joseph loves politics, and the political process. He spoke before the Senate Committee on Transportation issues the week he retired! This 🇺🇸US issue is quite unfathomable to me. Jordan looks like a fool, not knowing where he isn't wanted. I hope Congress finds a speaker they can live with. 

Representative Mario Diaz-Balart: “There is a time when you have to put country above ego and self,” he said, adding that Jordan simply doesn’t have the votes to win. “It gets to a point where this now becomes just an egofest.”

Our new 🇨🇦Canadian federal Speaker of the house began to try to give a speech about decorum, and following house protocols and procedures. Greg Fergus was heckled and delayed by Conservatives. They interrupted him, insisting that Wednesday was the day for Opposition Question Period. They argued and argued with this man. 

The Speaker, Greg Fergus

Conservatives certainly are the worst offenders, using pejorative titles for some members, including the Prime Minister, and calling out members when they should be talking to the Speaker, not the person they are trying to offend. Once the Honorable Greg Fergus was finally able to get to his short speech, he addressed the issues, stating that he isn't inventing new rules, but simply wants to enforce the existing ones. 

"Too many Canadians look on activity in parliament with sheer contempt. It is time to reverse this."

– Paul Wells, journalist

🍂 Aside from that, it was a day to continue with outdoor chores on Thursday. It was balmy (18 C.)! I did the leaves, again. Just blew them off the driveway. I am ahead of myself this year. Some years snow falls before I am done. We anticipate rain today, Friday. 

🐸 I had 4 or 5 pairs of froggy eyes on me, watching my every move. I managed to snag three on Thursday. They were less wary than a few days ago. The break from that wicked two-legged attacker was good for them! 

Sadly, my net had a hole in it. One got away. I think it will be tough to get a new one in the stores here. All the outdoor stuff is away. I do have a butterfly net that works, but it has a short handle and I usually use it to capture bats and throw them outside! I need a long handle. You can't order those online.

What worked for the old net was to staple it. I captured three! 

This time I took them out to the back 40, and put them in the wetland. It looks so pretty. I found a spot with a little bit of water for them. They will snuggle in the muck.

Our new little aspen grove. 

Nutmeg up to her old tricks. The birds are too quick for her, though. 

Oct. 11  a.m.  –  7 frogs moved

Oct. 11 p.m.   –  7 frogs

Oct. 12 p.m.   – 13 frogs

Oct. 13 p.m.   –   5     

Oct. 14 p.m.   –   3     

Oct. 18 p.m.   –   5       

Oct. 19 p.m.   –   3  = 43

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.

Fred May 19 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

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.