Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃

Here it is Thanksgiving Weekend in Ontario. We will be on our own, as Josephine is nearly better, but still taking it easy with COVID. She is mending! 

Thank goodness for our acreage on which to wander. 

The day began with a sighting.  JB was looking out the bathroom window and spotted a grouse! You can sort of see it through the screen...sort of!

 

They are beautiful birds. This one (below) hit the front window Nov. 2014. I think it was being chased by the hawk. It hit with a loud thud, moving quickly. I felt so badly. The colours are lovely to see.

 

I was booked to have my Spikevax last Thursday, the one that has both COVID and OMICRON fighting capabilities. JB had his two weeks prior. I was booked, but I was throwing up (anxiety?) and wisely cancelled until this week! Off we went to Smiths Falls. 

It was 10 minutes. My arm was not sore. I had zero symptoms. What a relief! When I had booster #1, I was in bed 4 days and lost 8 kg., sick as a dog.

It's a mass of colour. We will enjoy it while we can.

Soon the locks and the Rideau Canal will close for the season. Tourists will go home, boats will get on their coats.

It's a pretty drive, with homes, farms, and a variety of people.

I was asked if I ate the horse chestnuts I gathered, but I do not. Thing is, not even the raccoons like them – and they will eat anything! (Except chestnuts!) There was a chestnut explosion:

I love the colour and texture of them. The raccoons did the same thing in October, 2021.

 

Somebody went out and bought himself a new fall jacket! The weird thing – there was a cigarette butt in the pocket. 

I put up a feeder, as the chickadees were searching for it. 

The lady beetles are looking for shelter!

I've gotten out my pooter. You can suck on the short end, and place the long hose beside the unwanted bug. There is a mesh over the one end and you suck the bug into the jar, where it remains until you put it back outdoors!

While I was trying to capture the goldfish, the lady beetles were buzzing, and they were biting. Needless to say I did not sit out and read that afternoon.

lady beetles from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Fall colours, foliage

 The colours change one day at a time. 

We're up to 18 frogs in the goldfish pond. I do have to remove them as the freeze/thaw of our current Climate Change patterns just kill them. It's my fault, as the pond isn't deep enough, but the froggies don't know this.

I've a plan. I have to bring in the goldfish first, which requires a nice day. I cannot remove the frogs now, as it scares the fishies. It helps to have a semi-warm day for the fish. Then, I can whittle away at the frogs. I've been very cold working on the pond in past years, and it's no fun. It looks like the middle of next week would be a good time.

Back to my wandering...

This is interesting. Maggie Magnolia has these red things. I looked it up and magnolias do produce fruit and there are seeds inside.

Maggie Magnolia dates from 2012: Mother's Day. JB even wrote me a poem! I had to plant it myself, which was a challenge. The deer quite like it, since they are native to Ontario. This is why it is well-wrapped with chicken wire. The first photo is from 2012, the last two 2021/

Cinnamon appeared, and helped me. Somehow. OK, maybe he just distracted me!

He was awfully tired in the afternoon.

It was a lovely day. The windows I cleaned are sort of good to see through, I guess I could try again! As I sat here, I noticed all the bugs. The orchid is still blooming and growing well. The orchid cactus (on the right) is indoors, and nicely pruned last month. 

I gave away a bunch of leaves to a friend. I hope he enjoys them. Last time I rooted them and gave them away on Barter Board, but that was a pain-in-the-butt, with people showing, not showing, and all. The second photo (below) is just prior to when Butch Raccoon knocked that plant over and broke the pot!

In the evening, I waited for the sun to shine on the shed sumac, but I missed. Still, not a bad shot!

UPDATE: I know there is an app for this, but I hesitate to load up my phone! Caitlin looked it up for me. They are groundcherries, genus physalis (AKA bladder), in the nightshade family. I looked up nightshade right away, but couldn't narrow it down. Yam suggested nightshade, as well.

I finally did me a sketch! It was based on my photo.