Summer Solstice!

It's exciting. The news is full of Summer Solstice events. It is National Indigenous People's Day in Canada. There are pow wows on, and ceremonies in Ottawa, but we expect rain here. I don't think we're up to a drive to Ottawa, either. 

We've been playing Wordle, my daughter and grandies. Sometimes I get stuck and throw it out to JB! We've a family Messages link and post our results, cheering one another on. We do Canuckle, as well, but it ends on Canada Day. All of us love Math, and we've added Nerdle to the mix. 

Monday morning, garbage out at 6. Cinnamon and I did Walkies after that. It was cold, 10 C., and still there were bugs – but not many. Of course, the hermit thrush I spotted was happy with the bug situation. Again, archive photo from another Cat Walkies. I realized I hadn't reinserted the SD Card back into the camera! I kicked myself and then laughed.

They seem to be in abundance, the bugs, I wonder why. The trees are producing a lot of pollen, after the stress of the Spongy Moth infestation last year, but I've not idea why the bugs are bad. It's late for blackflies, but I'm still getting some awful bites. They are teeny, and you don't feel them land. I smucked one on my arm with great glee as I refilled the water fountain. They are teeny little bugs with a merciless bite that hives up on me later and is terribly itchy. 

Poor JB walked into the room and stated, "Houston, we have a problem!" Uh oh, one thinks. Now what? He thought there was cat poop in the office. It was just throw up, and the lower half of a deermouse. Whew! He's reading his book on cat behaviour, called Purr, and it has been interesting. 

The Yucca plant is throwing up a stalk. It is getting tall. The other stalk on another plant had its top lopped off with the eavestrough installation. Some blooms were saved. 

The orchid cactus likes the front porch. It gets afternoon sunshine.

My planter at the side of the house. Out front, white petunia. I don't know why I bought white. I like the purples! There is a Sweet Potato vine in the middle, plus the highlight, the pink plant. I cannot remember what it is! Peeking out from the far side is the Lantana.

Now, if I were as skilled as AC, I'd be able to use Photoshop to merge these two photos of my Lantana in the planter. In the first photo the fight side is in focus, the second has the left in focus. Still, eye candy!

Out back, our lone doe wandered by again. I was sitting reading, and I noticed her from the back deck.

doe daytime June 14 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Yard critters

The robins hatched, brood #2 under the deck: July 5th.

The hummingbirds are happy with fresh food. 

The crows still pop around. I threw out part of a bagel. This is a screen capture from the video. It was quick!

The goldfish are good, although with the heat the water is green. I accidentally dropped the fountainhead off of the pump. I won't be able to find it until it gets cooler!

If a tree falls... A dead birch had the biscuit. I spent days cleaning up debris to make walking paths in our first few years here. I gave up, because we've been having highs winds in the past years, and it seems futile. I think it good exercise to step up and over the tree branches. 

Our Canada Day was different here. Out of respect for Indigenous People and the Sixties Scoop, many of us reflected on the past, the present, and the future. This beautiful flag was designed by the late Curtis Wilson,  who lived in Campbell River, B.C. He died of a heart attack.

Curtis "Mulidzas" Wilson (1980-2019) Mulidzas is the traditional name handed to Curtis Wilson during a family Potlatch held in 2001.

The robins were bop-bop-bopping in the serviceberry bush. It is laden with berries.

The sumac are surviving, barely. The wild grape vine is covering a couple of them. The integrity of the entire patch was compromised when previous owners raised the brush in lieu of open field. I've been letting it grow.

 

A coyote whipped by in the dark. Don't blink! coyote  

  

The racoon was doing the worm dance. She managed to find several. I was fascinated. She stomps with both paws to scare them, or something, and tugs the great long things out of the ground. Racoon worming 

 

She was searching in the backyard for food, as well. I'd chucked out a yucky apple. The funny thing was, the camera tipped over and I missed a few critters, I think. The dragonflies, in the daytime, managed to trigger the camera. I was impressed. backyard Butch 

 

We watched the storm come in on the radar last night. It was a wonderful 25.6 mm (about an inch). Thunderboomers in southern Ontario dotted the lightning map.

Monday report: rain, Butch, hummers

  The day dawned. I woke with NO chills, NO headache, and I was so relieved. A bagel! I ate a bagel! It went right through me, but what can one do? 

The day wasn't perfect. As I sat here, trying to help JB find lightningmaps.org, I spilled my entire cup of coffee on my side table. You may giggle. It's OK. I swore. I did. I'm going to have to use some carpet cleaner on it, but not today. 

The only casualty was my fan. Now, we bought this fan on our 4th date in Cuba. I've broken one part of it, but otherwise it is good. It's a wonderful tool, for someone with power surges. I rinsed it off, but may have to do something else with it. Cinnamon inspected it, where it was drying in the bathtub. It smells like coffee!

We took off for a couple of days on Dec. 26, 2002, my birthday, while Caitlin looked after her brothers. They were due to stay with their father later that day. She drove us to the airport, in the minivan. 

Back to the present, I spotted a monarch sipping nectar from a clover blossom on Sunday. So lovely. You'll have to picture it in your mind, as I did not capture it.

We've had some nice summer heat, but today the call was for rain. I made JB go and bring my bench cushions in. Northern Ontario is getting a big storm. 

I decided to read on the back deck. Hoping to jinx it for some rain, I did! Coming indoors, however, it stopped. We are the stone in the river. The precipitation flows around us, breaking up over the land. I made JB put the cushions back out on the bench for me. It was lovely, in the wind, only two mosquitoes, sent to their demise. I still can't sit up for long. 

Having made some new hummingbird food in the morning, I cleaned and refilled the feeders in the afternoon. I'm taking small steps. Well, maybe not for the hummers. It's a big deal! My late mom's hummers used to peer in the window at me, after she died, if I didn't refill her feeders in good time.

My dear friend sent me a surprise. Bless your heart, Nat! She lives in Timmins. What a thoughtful thing to do. You see, I have friends, they are just far away. Bless her!

As I read on my bench I looked up, and there was Blond Butch, and Nutmeg. Cats have always had a peculiar relationship with Butch. surprise! 

 

Up top, on the deck, I'd noticed the cedar waxwings. They nested in one of the big pines one year. What I love seeing is that once the babies have fledged, they fly like a little squadron from large pine to large pine. This one landed in the lilac with another one. cedar waxwing  

We're watching another Britbox series, Bancroft, It's very dark, much like House of Cards, dark. It's a distraction, but it is cleverly written. It's almost like doomscrolling, as things go from bad to worse. Ya gotta love hating the evil female character! As we sat there watching, the heavens dumped rain.

We had 7.6 mm rain in about 10 minutes. Just a little pop-up cell. It was quite something. Today our high temperature is 12 C.  What's with this? 

 Unfortunately, this little storm went on to Mascouche, Quebec, and caused some havok, downing trees, damaging homes, and displacing 50 -100 people. The Red Cross was called in. Hooray for the first responders, too. Smashed windows, crushed rooves, and cars. A two-story house undergoing renos pushed off its foundations. We are grateful to be safe here. One dude opened his window to look, and couldn't get it shut, with debris flying into his house. Whoopsie. Lesson learned.

🍕JB hauled home a Hawaiian pizza for me for dinner. After food turning my stomach for a week, I had a craving. I'm sure there are protocols for those reintroducing their stomach to real food. I didn't follow them.  I was awake until 12:30 with cramps. Small steps! 

Today, with much relief, JB gets his quarterly cancer treatment injection. It's a process. He had a good PSA test last week, no change. He had his 2nd vaccine two weeks ago and, on the recommendation of our GP, and the pharmacist, after phone consults, he can now have his Lupron after this wait. Thankfully, he only has to go to out local GP's office in town, not Ottawa. It's complicated! 

We've no girls this week, as I recover. They had fun on Father's Day. They went strawberry picking, after doing up Papa's hair! Hooray for the photostream where we live vicariously. He's a good sport. They have so much fun. 

Butch, fairy lights, backyard tails

 I was sitting on the back deck, and watched Blond Butch go by. Butch May 16 

I am slowly weaning the birds off the feeders. If I take them down suddenly, the birds go after my hanging planters, searching for food. I put the penultimate feeder on the tree, just to have the birds scrape it clean.  There is one feeder remaining, which I put out in the morning and take in at night. Then, there is hungry lactating Blond Butch. 

I took photos and had fun putting them into a video. This is what she was after! Butch 

She noticed me, and took off up the tree.

 The nests are doing well. The ones that I can find. We've song sparrows, tree sparrows, the crows. 

I spotted the crows in the backyard May 16th📹. 

Phoebe laid the 5th egg May 7th, and they are due to hatch May 22. JB helped me, and I checked the nest out when phoebe was off feeding. nesting critters  

The cats have noticed the robins, peering between the boards at them, but they cannot get to them. The good news is the lilacs are blooming. I walked by the bush, and was surprised by the amazing smell. 

The back deck is buggy. It usually isn't so.  The bugs are really bad this year. Remembering my thoughts from a month ago, April was like May, I wondered about the bugs with the early spring and tried to live in the moment. I briefly spotted a summer tanager, the bug eaters are here, at least. 

I've been struggling with my fairy lights. Going to bed early, as I get up early, I kept forgetting the check them.

 I looked at them in the day and couldn't find an on/off switch. I bought these at an auction last year. I had forgotten to check if they were working in the dark.

I finally remembered by putting my camera on my bed after dinner, figuring it would trigger me to go check them in the dark. That worked, and NONE of them were on. Taking off the top, the silver collar, I found that the rechargeable batteries were corroded. That was an easy fix, I replaced them all. Now, I have 4/6 working. I may have to clean the last two out a bit, as the contacts aren't good.

It's good having gardening and outdoor chores. The ferns are looking amazing. We could use rain. 

I'm not sure if deer go after rhododendrons.  I took a photo, just in case! It looks as if I finally figured out a location for them. We've two, and haven't been able to get them to bloom since buying them. Cross your fingers!

Taking a breather on the lower deck on the swing bench, I saw something moving. Gray tree frog. 

I thought I was being watched! I put a hummingbird feeder on the back deck, she was eyeing me to see if she was safe. hummingbird  

Regarding new fish, It's the problem with the supply chain, methinks. I've had the goldfish reproduce in past years, Yam, with the common goldfish, but they never survived in the fish tank. I brought some in and gave Caitlin a dozen one year and they all died. 

I put on bug spray, to check on the lady slippers in the wetland. It is a must. From there, I went searching for my dowels. I found one yesterday. Not the nail file, though!