Fall chores

UPDATES: 

1. Our American cyclist/visitor, Rick, made it to the St. Lawrence River, cycling from Ottawa. 
2. Jordan has safely arrived at Queens University. Caitlin, JL, and Aster drove him there. (Our other 3 grandies begin school this week. )

I am working on 🍁Fall Chores. There may be some warm spells between now and fall. I keep records, since the change in temperatures really impacts us. Also, it's good to know the patterns of the seasonal changes. The big thing, for me, is bringing in the goldfish. 

We've got someone coming to pump out the septic tank, someone to check the chimney, and clean the fireplace (every two years). 

This is something I forgot about. The down pipe came off this year in March. I fixed it, but not very well. It was cold that day. The bugs are bad in Spring and early Summer, and now is the time. 

Our Gray Tree Frog was there supervising. 

Joe spotted me on the ladder, and assisted by handing me the drill. I dropped the drill once, it landed on the flowers, the battery popped off and ended up on the ground above the old drain spout hole. Sigh!

The Hibiscus are falling over with the rain. Soon they will be done, too.

I am tracking all sorts of 'last spotted,' although these two I only heard and did not see. (Hooray Merlin app!) These are photos from May, when they returned to us from the south. It was warm enough to sit reading on the back deck, albeit under a blanket!

Great Crested Flycatcher:

Also heard, the Northern Flicker. This is one of the woodpeckers that migrates. It prefers to forage on the ground, and soon ours will be frozen!

Northern Flicker in Spring

I found a Monarch on Friday, Aug. 29.

 I've been watching a series: The Spy. It takes place in Portugal, during WW II. Caitlin and Jean-Luc went to Portugal for their 20th wedding anniversary this year. 

Joe and I are watching Munch. It is fun, and a light mystery. A great way to end the day, in between tricky tennis tournaments! 

Fall chores

I am slowly progressing with fall chores... 

• Remove vines, wash rails, glass
• Shut down fountain
• Heater in bird bath
• Goldfish into the fish tank
• Move Muskoka chair to shed
• Bring battery in from lawn tractor (Dec. 19th)
• Burlap on bushes
• Rake middle deck
• Drain hoses, put them in the shed
• Fix the eavestrough downspout
• Cover fountain
• Clean up gardens

The goldfish are in, but I had to put a barrier in as Cinnamon likes them. We're down several, but no one seems to be able to get in new supplies. They are fancy goldfish, not Koi, but by July [Critters are all around us!], I was down to six. 

Soon, I will dead head all the plants. I still have petunias!

I washed all the glass and the railings, taking down the vines. It was excellent exercise! The vines grew right up to the roof. They are wilting in Autumn, having served their purpose, and hosted many critters.

UPDATE: downspout

I rejigged the support straps. I added one, moved another down and the other up. There was blood! Those straps are sharp. We really need larger downspouts, what with the dumps of rain.

I used a rivet gun to firmly attach two sets of pieces. I just don't have the arm strength, though.

Birdbath

One morning I awoke, and there was ice on the bird bath. I put in the heater. It's tricky, since the raccoons and deer like to disconnect it from the extension cord. 

This is what Nutmeg has been up to.  I am hoping she can't catch them. 

Nutmeg birding from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo. She usually grabs rodents, at 90% or her catch. Very few birds, and some snakes. 

Water fountain

Oct. 18 there looked like rain. We change up our days, well, I do, to plan my outdoor chores. I'm still waiting for the fountain to dry before I can cover it up. 

Not a drop of rain! Then, Oct. 16, we had 12 mm. I'm back to square one, waiting for it to dry! It's decent to have projects!

Rake middle deck & drain both hoses...you can see why.

Every morning I trek on down to the trailcams. It's good exercise for a senior, as it involves up and down hill, stepping over forest debris, which sharpen my balance. JB continue to walk 2 or 3 times around the property for exercise and stress relief. His rotator cuff is still giving him horrible pain. He is at physio as I write this. He has exercises, which he does faithfully several times a day.

We had winds, which took down the leaves. I did grab photos, though!

The clouds

Ms. Maintenance Project

I get a thing in my mind, and it seems good to go! Rideau Environmental Action League (R.E.A.L.) sells water barrels in Smiths Falls. 

The downspout was a bit of a wreck. They just cut a flap, and screwed the spout to it. I'd repaired it a few years ago. It wasn't in the best condition. I did some research, and found a connector. JB took the info to the store and got it, after a grumpy hardware sales clerk was called. She didn't seem happy to help a customer with a $1.39 piece. Poor JB!


I neglected to do enough thinking. There is a reason there are elbows, enabling you to secure the downspout to the wall.


After the storm passed (see below), I realized the water barrel wasn't totally flat. Back to square one. I shall have to dig out a patio stone from beside the shed and place it on that.

 

Back to ...

We had some rain. There was a possible tornado south of Lake Simcoe, lots of thunder and lightning. That gave us 9 mm rain, which we welcomed.



Here are some images from further west.

Edit of today's tornado-warned #onstorm as it approached Sunderland, BW to bring out the lowering of interest (above pine trees right of centre) that was associated with couplet on radar pic.twitter.com/Is3OJbDdtt

— Travis Farncombe (@tjfarncombe) August 18, 2019

Storm August 16th just west of Paris #onstorm pic.twitter.com/puRAB8B1Xl

— Mark Benest (@markb0113) August 18, 2019