There are still a few leaves!

Theft of intellectual property 

I contacted the Catholic school where my milkweed life cycle image was posted is their website – without my permission. I wrote about that Oct. 4th. The principal got back to me that day, he thanked me for contacting them, and said he would contact the gr. 1 teacher who is on Mat Leave. We shall see. 

This other site has it on their page, as well. A moth information page riddled with ads. Ironically enough, this is what they post at the bottom of their page. They have not replied at all.

I wrote them a second email: 

🍁Autumn

Tuesday I walked in the forest to grab trailcam memory cards. 

The leaves are still falling. 

Out back, the first deer we've seen in weeks. I used the zoom lens, which was in the living room where I was taking bird feeder photos. Resting my elbows on the railing, I had to delete a couple of fuzzy ones despite the zoom. Hooray for the tripod. Thing is, the deer don't stay long these days. 

The doe was on the trailcam that faces the spruce tree corridor. I like being

doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🐣Bird Feeders

The chipmunk was around, through the window, out behind the horse chestnut tree. Tricky shot. It was terribly cute, though.

With the zoom and the tripod, the birds are easier to photograph. A blue jay and woodpecker share, although that isn't usually the case.

A junco:

iPhotos tells me this is a Wood Thrush! I'm not sure.

I like to save my videos for Saturday's Critters, but I am a little behind. I was really pleased with this video, as I've three cameras down in the forest. It helps me understand where the critters are going, and where better to place the cameras. 

 

coyotes on 3 camera from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We had a wee porcupette, a baby porcupine, on the frog pond trailcam.

 

porcupette from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Now, black squirrels are fairly common here, but this one was good for a laugh! Doggy digging to bury something. I should warn it that the coyotes like to pee and poop here!

 

squirrel doggy digging from Jennifer Jilks on Vime

A mish mash of tales

Tragedy

I must acknowledge the passing of an 18-year-old young man early Sunday morning on Rideau Ferry Road. A young man on an early morning ride in the dark, the rain, and the cold. Such a tragedy. A young woman on Facebook commented on what a great young man he was, as have other relatives. He hasn't been named in the press. The online comments are heartwarming in his obituary, in that he led a good life. 

🍂 Taking a forest walk, the colours were amazing. This was prior to Thanksgiving weekend, I wanted to enjoy the leaves before they fell.

Down in the forest one of the last mushrooms. Something ripped it out of the ground!

🐦In the meantime, while we were away, I brought in the one (new) bird feeder, just in case. The other I left out. The bears have been good, and we haven't seen any up here near the house. I left the one feeder out front, with a minimal amount of seed, for cat entertainment while we were in Ottawa.

I'd put the one feeder safely in the garage while we were away overnight for Thanksgiving. This is what my mice friends did! They certainly helped themselves! 

Monday was officially Thanksgiving, which we'd celebrated with turkey on Sunday with the kids. I heated M & M's frozen chili in the crock pot, after I put on a fire. As dinner neared, I made 

Proper English Scones

. JB really shouldn't have them, dairy and eggs, but he seemed OK. Maybe his system is handling it! That will change things up for us. He's avoided dairy, yeast and eggs for a few years.

🥀  I brought in the plants Sept. 15th. The Amaryllis (red pot) has not chosen to bloom, despite fresh, summer air. The orchid flowers have only a few blossoms left. With any luck, and patience, it will come back with more blooms.

 

We came home with another pair of Caitlin's home made 2005 curtains! I like the red with the gold. Since their renovations, she replaced hers. They really brighten up our place. There is one pair in the bedroom, and I'm working on hanging this pair in the dining room. I'll have to figure out if I need a new curtain rod, and new rings, or make do with the old. I was thinking of putting my old curtains down in the basement. We shall see. Percy seems to approve!

🍁 Fall Chores: I did some more clean up work Tuesday. The list is coming along. The water fountain is shut down. 

One water barrel has been emptied. I took a photo as I waited for it to drain. 

After my work, I hopped in the shower. Look what I found. Now, without reading glasses, I could not see it well enough to figure out it was a beetle, not a tick, like the one we found on Nutmeg on Monday (in the photo at 11:00 o'clock). 

  We've still ticks. JB bought us some cat goop for them, as ticks can be active when the temperature is above 5 C.  We aren't doing too badly this year, all things considered! 

Just for fun, Caitlin and I play our morning games and post results to one another. We cheer one another on, or cheer one another up, depending upon the results! This one was hilarious as we had the same pattern! The scientist amongst us likes symmetry.

Then, there is Scrabble!

Richard Deer, and other tails

 It's been a tough few days for many. We are doing well, though. We miss our usual Christmas with the kids, but we are warm and dry and have power. Jesse tried to do a Facetime with me on my birthday, Dec. 26, but they lost power and his cell phone was crackly. Whoopsie. It's the thought that counts, plus we had a good chat on Christmas day. There is lots of wind in Vancouver, causing power outages. He texted later and said they had power back. Whew! 

☏ I remember trying to phone long distance to my parents in Muskoka on Christmas morning every year. Often the lines would be busy and we couldn't get through. You'd either wait, or hang up and redial that rotary phone! 

♪ Funny story, when we chatted with Caitlin and the girls Christmas Day, they told me the girls set an alarm for 7:30 a.m., and regaled them with a Silent Night duet to wake them up. Isabelle played her clarinet, and Josephine sung it in German! I was impressed. 

🐾 Monday morning I put the garbage out a bit late, having forgot, but someone reminded me. It was cold. I should have used the snow blower on the driveway. There is a layer of ice from our rainfall, but the drifts made it difficult to drag the cans. There is slush at the end of the driveway, as well. 

Can you spot the cat tracks in the snow? It has to be Oregano. Our cats haven't left the deck. He avoided all trailcams!

I was about to put the garbage out, and spotted my friends. I fed the deer after doing my chore.

morning crew from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🦌 We've buck triplets, and one big buck, as has been the way. We had King Henry visited in January, 2022. Big Jake, in 2018. Big Daddy in 2015. There was Tigger and his brother, back in 2013. 

The coffee was ready when I got back in the house. This was our view out the kitchen window. I've removed the screen, and washed the inside of the window. That helps! I posted the photo on the family stream, and Caitlin named him for me: Richard Gere Deer – a handsome fellow. 

There is much action. Richard simply looks at them and they bolt! Alpha male. The fawns seem to tease him. 

In the afternoon, I got myself dressed, and used the snow blower on the driveway. (Yes, I put the garbage out in jammies!) It was a bit icy underneath, with drifts on one side, but I got it done. 

I spilled some bird seed on the deck. There are lots of little mouse and bird tracks. 

I'd given up putting the trailcams down in the forest. With the load of rain and snow, within 24 hours, I knew they wouldn't show me much. They get ice and snow covered, and fog up. This was fun.

deck birds from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

mice friends from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I put a trailcam on the bird feeder for night action. We have triplet bucks. This is one of them. It is the correct time, but the wrong date! Dec. 26th

young buck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

cats on deck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Our Christmas Dinner was a very respectable turkey TV dinner. JB did well getting them for us. He tucked away a frozen lasagna for me for my birthday, also very respectable. I supplemented it with pickled asparagus as hors d'oeuvres.  

More snow is on the way, but not as much. We shall see what the week brings.

Snowy Crumbly Acres!

Crumbly Acres!

We had an uneventful Thursday evening, watching the buck trio hanging about in the front yard. They can smell the bird seed. They took turns, play fighting with one another. Their antlers seem about the same size, they could be siblings. We've a doe with triplets hanging about. 

This first photo was from last night at sunset. 

At bedtime I took this photo – you can see the heavy snowfall. 

 This morning we awoke to exactly what they forecast. Busses are canceled in Ottawa. Wet snow, as the temperature is hovering at zero C. The rain switched over to snow around Toronto. We knew it was coming, and we were prepared. I went out just before 6 a.m., and the cats were staring in awe. We all jumped when a tree branch broke in the forest, and crashed to the ground. I'll stay out of the forest until this settles out. We've colder weather on the way, and winds.

Can you see the branches touching the ground? That's not good.

Something happened to the bird feeder cover. First I'll have to shovel the sidewalk, then repair it. If it can be repaired. May need a new cover. 

I've work to do!

Ottawa CBC is out. 

I best eat my wheaties for breakfast! But first, coffee. 

Power is out all over the province. Also, in Perth, our closest town.

Our power is flickering, so I shall post this now! See you later...