Odds and sods

 That was a storm on Friday. After dinner, we watched episodes 3 and 4 of GONE. Being happy go lucky, we watched 5 and 6! I love the layers of clues, the accents, the scenery. It was filmed at Downside Catholic School in the UK. 

"– inspired by the book To Hunt A Killer by former detective superintendent for Gloucestershire Police, Julie Mackay, and ITV crime correspondent Robert Murphy, with both Mackay and Murphy consultants on the series.^[2]  Wiki  

GONE

We'll often watch a foreign film with translation. We just finished Fosca Innocenti 2022  and it was one of those light, joyful, mysteries. Almost a RomCom. The lead female is the Commissario in this TV Series from Italy. The characters are gender diverse.

She's not a size 2 actor, nor heavily made up. It is refreshing. We've been discussing it, how the make-up, the barely clad people of the American shows, is left behind in the dust in comparison. Filmed in Arezzo, Italy. 

Well, back to our little piece of heaven. The frog in the goldfish pond is against photos. Can you see his little eye balls?!

I wasn't that near to him, but I caught his legs in the photo! I am slow to respond. 

I snapped a photo another day.

Another throw back to cottage life. Caitlin hung up diapers! I have been looking for this photo for days... 

Barry Beaver seems ticked off still. All the trees he'd prepared to chop down fell in the July 1st storm.  We had our path cleared July 30th. I haven't seen Barry since then. I noticed that the duck weed and frog bit hadn't budged. 

Aug. 12

There seems to be some action, Aug. 13th.

 

The Freds seem to be slowing down. The cool nights are doing it, I think. A bit of a shock this morning!

MiniFred peeks his head out. Auntie Fred is minding her own business. They are solitary critters, I've read. I've seen proof as Auntie doesn't go under the deck. MiniFred stays away from the shed.

That sweet little face!

We have lovely afternoons on the back deck. Joe pulled up a chair for Cinnamon. 

As we sat there, I spotted the resident hawk flying at eye level towards us, then it veered up over the roof. I was too slow to spot it and capture a photo. However, this one is a frequent flyer. 

I've noticed several millipedes wandering across the driveway. Three or four, methinks. It's a bit odd. 

Of course there are things that are on the hunt in the night. Finally a half-decent image grabbed from the video of our regular fox visitor.

Cottage life

August flies by. Our kids are canoe camping in Algonquin Park. They took Aster and one of their friends. Jordan breezed into town to attend a pool party, then bussed back to Kingston. He had work on Monday and couldn't go. We all miss our cottage, but there are other adventures to be had.

Time for a bit of nostalgia. Mom and dad bought the land in 1960 for $1000. The cottage was built in 1962. Mom and Dad built an extension, and retired there in 1991. I spent every summer here, not many friends around, and I became a loner.

1962

Joe and I moved here in 2006. Mom had died and dad was in long-term care. He passed in 2007. 

Mom wanted a fish pond. They hired someone to build it. I was able to maintain it for the 4 years we owned the house, but then the motor leaked oil into the pond and I could not clean it. It isn't the type of pump the contractor should have used. I had to fill it in. Sadly. We lived there from 2006 to 2010., then moved here to Lanark County. 

I miss the big skies and the sunsets.

Back to the present, and Crumbly Acres. We are still in cottage country. Instead of a lake, a wetland, and far more critters.

We've had lots of videos of Fred. Butch is a visitor, as well. 

I decided to tip the camera up, back to where it has been. 

I managed to capture us rehanging the squirrel nest box! It was on the tree that fell in the big July 1st storm. I figured I'd just rehang it. It was empty, and might host somebody.

Sadly, it is only the beginning of August, but my cherry tomato plants and my zucchini have just about given their all. 

We had big storms go by last night. I did some iPhone videos. It was really interesting, except for the mosquitoes. More to come!
 

Saturday's Critters & Snomageddon

I went out to use the snowblower... Can you see her?

I use a combination of bird seed. Cracked corn for some, black oil sunflower seeds, and a mix. It's a dance to find the best mix. I went into Crappy Tire to get some more bird seed. I was in the aisle, making decisions. I was thinking it all through and a man began to talk to me. He explained that I should only get black oil sunflower seed and nyjer seed. He went on to say that he used to work in Home Hardware and he knows his stuff. 

The conversation continued, and I told him that my birds don't eat the nyjer seed. There was a woman in the aisle near us, and we exchanged looks. "I was MANSPLAINED!" I told her.  

Dec. 9th, the starling liked the cracked corn as much as the mourning dove. You'll notice that I have the tray feeder upside down! 

#75 (I think!)

Both cats have had manicure this week. It was time. They are stuck on the front or back decks, bird watching from a nice vantage point. They watch #75. 

 

Barry Beaver is sleeping under the snow and ice, I presume. I didn't get down there last week. Here is the last video I have of him. 

 

Joseph Brian found an interesting article on Beavers on the NYTimes(🎁 article). They mate for life, researchers tell us. In Utah they are relocating them for a good purpose, to create ponds and help keep water in the area. Science isn't dying in the US, despite Chump reigning the south... 

"Beaver wetlands once blanketed North America, helping to shape the hydrology of the continent. But by the late 1800s, the fur trade had nearly wiped out the animals. State reintroduction efforts followed, including by parachute in Idaho in 1948. Now biologists estimate that perhaps 15 million beavers live in North America, down from historic numbers of maybe 100 million or more."

After the storm, it was a nice sunset. I should have knocked the snow off, more snow is on the way, by I hurt my left ankle. sigh.

For more critters, visit Eileen's blog: Saturday's Critters # 626!

On land and water

There is a wee cottage for sale on a nearby lake. I am always shocked with house prices. It is a two-bedroom/one bathroom/four season cottage for sale. It's $599,990! It's on lake water, no well, and there is a water treatment system. 

It's the bungalow on the right for sale.

The cottage on the right is the one for sale.
(This is from a canoe ride in 2014.)

This is the satellite photo. It is the one middle left for sale.

In 2015... housing prices are ridiculous. Thankfully, our kids in Vancouver are in a housing co-op downtown. 

For sale! I tracked it down.
343 Mile Pt. Rd. only $459,000
Only 2 bedrooms

Back to the land...

The coyote  is just a shadow in the dark. Now that the bugs have lessened, I imagine there will be more critters out and about.

 

The great crested flycatcher. It's a great challenge trying to videotape them.

  

 

Butch is still running through the forest. There was a lag between momma and the 2nd (or third) sibling coming along. "Momma, wait for meeeeee!"  butch 

 

We were sitting watching our post-dinner TV when I saw the Common Mullein plant swinging left to right, and back again. Running to the front window, I was fascinated. woodpecker 

We are Windsor Fine, upright and breathing!

 Caitlin came over, as I wrote previously [Slow recovery continues], to do some chores for me when I was ill [I am a wreck!]. She said we were 'Windsor Fine!'  AKA – upright and breathing. I promised a story.

 On a Friday night in 2006,  I'd moved to Bala to provide care while my father was having radiation therapy for his brain tumour, and my mom was dying of cancer. Mom's tumours were spreading, she'd been pulled off chemotherapy, as it was making her too sick. 

I knew I had to go to Toronto for my mental health, but mom had a bad morning that Friday. I called the doctor, he came and said she was palliative. (My mom thought we should call him to 'find a solution.') She was so secretive about her health issues. Her best friend didn't know she had cancer. I called Home Care, who'd been providing housekeeping help, and arranged for a nurse to be there for a few hours until my brother arrived home from Toronto. He was staying with Dad in the cancer lodge, where they house people from away getting treatment (radiation). 

Off I went to Toronto, a drive south for a couple of hours. The nurse was there in Bala, and I was confident all would be good. Robin and Dad were on their way home from Toronto. I was giving three Curriculum and Technology workshop to female teachers, sponsored by my teacher's federation. It was an honour to do so.

My poor Mom thought the ER could help her. Unbeknownst to me, my brother took Mom to the ER Friday night, as she wanted them to fix her up. My brother, Robin, left Dad at home asking a neighbour to check in on him. He took Mom into the ER. Mom spent the night there, with Robin returning home late. There was nothing they could do. What a breakdown in communication. I was presenting that evening. 

 They lived on Windsor Drive, in Bala. At the time, Dad had a brain tumour, and had delirium from a UTI. It was not pretty. He would get up at 2 a.m., leave taps running, and tried to light a fire in the wood stove in the wee hours. Anyway, the neighbour told Robin she'd checked in on Dad. He was sitting all alone on the couch. She told Robin that Dad was 'fine!' For years, now, when we ask one another how we are we say we are 'Windsor Fine,' upright and breathing. It's a standard! 

This was the house and the cottage.

We lived there four years. The kids would visit and stay in the attached cottage.