We made it to Friday!

 It has been quite the week. Trump has been indicted. 😼 Things are awful in Ukraine. 

We've had a reprieve from the smoke from Quebec, and Ontario fires are getting under control, although there are 34 fires in northeast Ontario. We are very lucky, here.

More smoke later today, though. It's coming from the north, now. Some weird counterclockwise front from the maritimes. I cannot complain, as many have lost homes, or are displaced across Canada. 

This is worth a listen.

200+ South African firefighters landed in Edmonton, Canada to assist in the fight against the raging wildfire. 🇿🇦🇨🇦pic.twitter.com/flXKqlvYxG

— Made In Canada (@MadelnCanada) June 8, 2023

Still no rain for a few days. It has been cloudy and cool, which has helped in this situation. I am watering outdoor planters once every two days, whereas in the heat it was daily.

I strolled around the garden Wednesday, wearing my N95. I am playing with my iPhone. I think it: peony 'Yellow Crown'. The smoke lessened Thursday, but I was fatigued, and feeling a bit of vertigo. I took it easy. Happily there was 🎾tennis to watch, in between indoor chores. But, I should be gardening!

Thursday, I thought better about my photographic choices, and did better. I pulled up the netting and held the flower. That is much better! There is another bloom, well-hidden, and a bud to come. 

My lilies are growing, protected by my Lee Valley netting. I have high hopes! I haven't seen any deer about, but I am ready. They are likely have their fawns now. There is lots to eat, besides my plants. 

The cherry tomato plant is doing well! I'm thinking I will need to support the plants! Tying them up last year didn't work well. They sagged and sat on the soil. My indoor orchid is tipsy. It, too, needs a bolster. I am working on that.

Our nesting birds have been busy. The robins are gone. The phoebes under the upper deck continue to feed their nestlings. The cowbird, laid in their nest, seems to have flown away to another lilac tree. I've been wrestling with Siri to get a one-handed photo. It isn't working too well! 

According to my notes, they hatched May 25th, and should fledge in 15+ days. That would be June 8th. Any day now, and I'll be able to stack my wood. 

I post an archival photo to help get a picture. 

Isabelle (gr. 8) and Josephine (gr. 10) are finishing up school events. They are housed in Bell High School, where their mother and uncles attended. The school is now a joint space for the high school and middle school. There was an art show. Both girls are excellent artists. 

Isabelle's piece is the lower right.

Josephine's artwork is the skull, on black.

I'll leave you with critters. We've had many bugs, setting off the alarm. 

bugs from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

What a pain, the camera is so slow!

coyote June 1st from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I've been watching for Fred Groundhog, they seem to have vanished. I did get a skunk crossing the lower deck! I haven't seen one in the daytime in ages.

Skunk from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

UPDATE: I began writing this previously. Fred turned up Thursday. Dunno what they are up to. I did barricade them out from under the propane tanks. 😜 

What a day of rain!

Firstly, to answer a question  re: 🐻 BEAR WATCH... (<= I keep track of sightings just for fun.)

I don't worry too much about the bears in the forest, CanadianGardenJoy, as they are good bears and know to fear humans. It is very rare to have a bear attack in Canada. Soon they will settle in for winter and I can put out the bird feeders. I've come across a couple of coyotes and a large fisher over three separate incidents. They run away quite quickly!  They tend to skirt the land, on the edge of the forest overlooking the wetland.

If you haven't seen it, the bear scratching her back📹 on the tree was a hoot! Then, there was Junior Bear last spring, 2021. I found an old shot from 2018 where the bear was just off camera!   I'd forgotten about that one.

I am noisy with Cinnamon doing walkies, I talk to him the whole time. That said, we're very vigilant down in the forest and he warns me if something is there. OK, he doesn't warn me so much as watch, and pays attention to things he doesn't understand, and I know I am safe. Funny story: once walking Daisy, she paused, looked off into the forest, and ran like heck up a tree. It was just a doe, probably running from a coyote. She was the canary in the coal mine.

That was a storm. Tons of rain all day, then more in the evening. The thunder and lightning makes you think about how small we are in the big world.

My goldfish pond was overflowing. The eaves drains into the water barrel, which drains into the pond. I wish we'd had it in July, when we needed it!

rainy day from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

 My hanging basket has been host to lots of critters, hummingbirds were the first, and now caterpillars. I think they are some sort of tussock moths.

I must have tossed a cherry tomato over the lower back deck. It sprouted! 

 

This is a big old dead pine tree makes me sad. They just aren't growing that big anymore. It's lost its branches. This tree is on lot #3, at the far end of our paradise.

The tree is dotted by woodpecker holes! 

I was thinking about cutting the lawn, but I realized that the wood frogs are all over it. I'll wait until I have to mulch the leaves!

We still have our Rose Mallow Hibiscus in bloom.

Up at the house, more rodent holes, the second dug out by the coyote or raccoons.

Then there is this, just to make you laugh! Poor Heath Hiscox, paid big bucks to be overseas covering this solemn occasion. Her camera operator did their best, but the selfish, silly man tried to make his point! 

There we are, Happy Tuesday. It's meatloaf day!  

Nothing like putting something in the oven to warm the house on these chilly days.