Walkies in the forest

One of Buster's boys - it must cross the highway to visit.

It was a cool day, which made long pants not so tough to wear. There was a nice wind, too.
I woke Buster up, lazy bum sleeping in the Lazy Boy chair. He gave me a bit of a look, "I've was out late with the boys!" Eventually, he thought it would be OK to go outside and he gave a stretch or two, and ambled towards the door. I let him out, he'd be waiting for me. Off I went to look for the Daisy.

Daisy had been out all morning (i.e., 4:30 a.m.), she had just come in and konked out in Oliver's room. She was pretty snoozy, but I told her we were going walkies. I gave her a scratch on the cheek, a bit of a pet, and off I went. I figured she'd just sleep. Dorah was not on the cat tree, but out and about looking for that dratted chipmunk.

Cannot believe the numbers!

Spraying myself well with bug spray, popping on my handy dandy cap with the sticky tape on back (to catch the deerflies - I caught 28 yesterday!) I headed out, cameras in hand. Buster deigned to follow. Dorah left her prey and bounded over, good to go. Buster, Dorah and I took off down the path. Into the backyard to look for ants, and Monarch eggs on the milkweed. No Monarchs, lots of ants. Down the hill, around the wetland, Dorah hunkered down. I heard a cat cry and wondered if the local barn cat was over. We kept going, across the meadow, off towards The Point, when Daisy bounded out of the grasses. She'd come out after all, using the cat door. What a trooper!

We saw berries, heard the birds sing, Daisy lay await in the grass to pounce on her siblings (but didn't fool anyone)! Daisy kept up with me, Dorah a bit behind, with Buster taking his own sweet time. Eventually, we lost Buster somewhere between the frog pond and the wetland. I don't know if he had a bad experience along there, or has a favourite place to stop.

The girls and I headed off to the far end of the lot, following the shore of the wetland. We found some deer bones, a squirrel carcass, a wasp nest lying on the forest floor, bright orange mushrooms, lots of blooming marsh plants, as well as berries, a possible house for some critter, but mostly horizontal fallen trees that the cats love to run across. When we made it back, Dorah was exhausted and lay down on the asphalt in her doggie pose.

Do you like the changing seasons?

We just celebrated three years living in this home. I am always finding something new to

Buster watches out for his little sisters

photograph!
The garden, well-loved and carefully tended by three green thumb families, is a blessing. It blooms all three seasons. The forest, I adore. Taking the cats for walkies amongst the trees, smelling the moss, hearing the wind, watching for new birds, brilliant colours, keeping an eye out for new critters, is such a rewarding time for me.
I keep on finding new flora and fauna; bugs and birds. I didn't know we had ladyslippers, I didn't see them bloom. The spring bugs were pretty bad.
The stump stabbers were a shock, with their 5" long ovipositors. I found three on the stump yesterday. The asters have lots of visitors. One photo shows a bee, wood nymph and fritillary on the same plant, in the same shot!
The goldfinch have already begun turning from gold to olive green.
The hummers are still here, although it won't be long before they depart for southern climes.
I'm tired of gardening. Fighting with the bugs and the yellow jackets, as well as the poisonous plants, like Water parsnip. I've worked hard, the pots overflow with lovely petunias, but I'm ready for fall.
The berries hang heavily on the trees and bushes. Wasps have created paper nests, our bear has hauled it down from the tree! A silly chipmunk sits on the fallen pine tree, a product of a summer storm. It watched as the cats approached, then ran off, chittering all the way.
People ask if I leash my three felines, but I do not. They just follow me through the forest. Buster will come to the door and ask for a walkie.
Daisy sat on a branch, over the wetland water, her tail getting wet, happy as a clam. Usually, they spread out, but yesterday they all seemed to hang out together!
Geraldine bullfrog is happily rotund, she sits in the dark snapping up insects at the side of the pond. Otherwise, she watches for prey all day from the plant pot. Soon, she will hunker down in the pond, under the ice. She used a green frog as ballast, then hauled herself up into the pot. In late fall she is a quiet, slow-moving submarine, sleepily travelling the bottom of the pond.
Our World Tuesday
Stew is in the crock pot. Biscuits baked.
Fall; bring it on!