Crumbly Acres frog tales

The cottagers have fires on in these cool nights. There are so many fires across Canada, I have to stop worrying about that! 

I have a frog tale. 

🐸The frog pond is dry until we get more rain. (That usually happens in October/November.) 

Vernal frog pond in the forest:

The leopard frogs, wood frogs, and others are happy in the weeds and the grass. Until they aren't. I've been 🐸moving frogs from the goldfish pond to the frog pond after frost. I'm wondering is they all dug into the mud they'd protect one another.  They freeze and thaw in winter, which kills them. I moved 154 last year. 

I was watching the goldfish pond, planning out the goldfish transfer to the indoor tank. The frogs begin to move into the goldfish pond for hibernation. The big bull frog sits in the foliage and waits for prey. I'll have to let them be. We've no water near us.

MiniFred has been around. I worry, as this burrow, the part under the deck, floods in spring. I think it is attached to the rain downspout. 

Tall Anenome:

When we locked down for COVID, the grocery store gave me this in a wee 4" pot, and I've managed to hold on to it. Another fall chore, moving the indoor plants indoors! I keep checking the long-term forecast.

The wasps have made homes in the bird house! 

We sit on the back deck when we can. Today it should warm up. I carried this friend in on my sweatshirt! I cannot find any in my photo archives. Interesting critters.

Double-toothed prominent moth caterpillar

Here we go. A new week. The garbage is out. It is a cold morning. It was 8 ℃, I bundled up. 

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. 

Goldfish, a turtle, and SAD

My fierce shopper went into town for a secret mission, as well as a not-so-secret mission. His first mission was dropping off our goldfish, who is a victim of the bully, Percy goldfish. The local pet store said they would take it for us. 

Goodbye, goldfish!

goldfish from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Hello Percy! This is from Oct., 2022. I'll bet he's grown. I can now bring Percy in next month, or whenever it get cold.

On the way, JB found a turtle on the highway, on its back. JB keeps a box in the back of the car, usually lined with a plastic garbage bag, just in case he finds a turtle. We take them in to our Vet, dead or alive, as they will harvest eggs, if the turtle is carrying them. And/or send them to the official turtle rescuers, if they need extreme help, via relay drivers. It is a great system.

Dropping off the turtle, he did some secret errands. Later, he picked up the turtle, as it was fine. He brought it home, for a photo-op, and it was released. He was certain the turtle was good, as driving home it was quite anxious to get out of the box!

Excitement over, I filled the fountain, and inspected the canopy where a lovely caterpillar was regretting its place in life.

We've many sphinx moths and this one sheltered under a piece of wood. I tried to capture a closer photo, but it flew off in disgust!

 The week is done! We've our Ottawa kids visiting tonight. We've been happy to find some motivation and have made some plans, and preparations. I wondered what was happening, between the gun range issues, and COVID, it is just depressing. I looked up Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which in winter is a result of little sunlight. 

I was listening to a radio interview, and missed some of it. It is Summer SAD. Hallie Cotnam, the radio host, sent me this information. 

Here's where summer SAD differentiates from winter: SAD....according to our guest:

The summer version is more excitatory in nature. You might sleep and eat less, and be less comfortable in your skin, be more irritable. 

This is known as melancholia agitate... or agitated depression.

And he shared some advice from mindfulness teacher Tara Brach:

RAIN: Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture.

Recognize the symptoms of agitated depression that are common around this time of year. Just recognize them in yourself. (Sometimes our feelings seem to hide inside other people -- be aware of your projections too). 

Allow the experience. You don't have to judge or diagnose it, push it away or fix it. 

Just give it space to feel seen. That's what people do with those they love -- so why not love yourself?

Investigate the experience with interest and curiosity. 

Nurture your hurt. Sometimes when we recognize our pain, our first instinct is either to run from it, or to fight with it. But when the pain is in side of you, there's another option. You can love it. 

Welcome home to our travelers!

 I usually finish off with our Fearsome Foursome Flyers, but they arrived home safely Friday night. Today I can welcome them home. They'd like to do laundry, but the stairs to their basement were being done on Saturday. Groceries are done, and they can sleep in their own beds. 

airplane wheels from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

They toured around Boston, after arriving from London, and Singapore before that. Quite the journey. You can get there from here, but it was epic. 

Boston Harbour

Things are growing nicely here, in the rain and sunshine. Except for the one hosta! I'm glad I kept my fence up... The one in front, outside the fence, was trimmed. The one inside – protected.

The first is out front, the second nipped hosta out back! Such is life, living in a wetland.

They didn't get my lilies! 

The roma tomatoes are doing well, but slowing down. 

The nights are getting cooler, and we are heading to the other end of summer. I have been behaving, and staying off my sore ankle. I did wander down to the trailcams Saturday. I wore my foot brace, shoes and socks. The only thing that hurts is going down a set of stairs. 

I'll leave you with a beautiful caterpillar.

caterpillar from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

On the deck and down under

You'll recall we visited the Stewart Park Music Festival July 14 - 16th this month. It was sad to read that there have been some reports of COVID breakouts amongst musicians, volunteers and attendees. Maybe a couple dozen cases, but who knows? Our health unit isn't testing anymore, nor tracking cases other than in long-term care. It really is disappointing. We are fine, having just walked around briefly. 

It has been glorious in the safety of the back deck. The foliage is amazing. We were graced by the presence of a Question Mark butterfly. They, and the Eastern Comma, like to lay eggs in the vine, on the yummy leaves.

Look at the size of the leaves! 

It really is wonderful to see who exists in this habitat. These two hung out there all day.

This is, I think, a Tiger Moth caterpillar. They have various colours, so it is tricky to identify them.

This one has morphed. I am way too tired and stressed with all that is going on to do any research. We will be happy to see whomever visits us. There are lots of them on the hops vine.

caterpillar from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

It is Tiger Lily season! I have mercilessly picked off the lily bugs, and the plants have survived. They make me so happy.

Then there is Fred. They have dug another entrance hole under the deck. That makes 3 entrances. There is a well-trod path to the lilac tree which provides safety.

Fred July 21 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

P.S. We're back in the smoke.

🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬

The Fearsome Foursome Flyers are in Australia. Meanwhile, at home, their kitchen renos are coming along. The other gramma is there, taking photos and monitoring progress for them. They have walls and a new half wall, plumbing and electrical are done!

They headed off to Bondi Beach, but first visited Vinnie's, AKA St. Vincent de Paul. This was their plan, to buy some warmer clothes for the trip, and leave them behind. It makes packing much easier! 

bondi beach from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

It makes me happy seeing them enjoy the beach!