Up in the air, on the ground, and in the oven

We sat out back, me with a cover over my sunburned shins, having a chat and bird watching. After JB's fall in town, he was taking it easy. He skinned his knees, thankfully he was wearing his jeans. 

Back in the old days I'd put Noxema on sunburns. All I had was another cream, Nivea, which helped.

An Ornge emergency helicopter, went from Ottawa to Pembroke Hospital, and back to Ottawa. I guess we have to appreciate our minor issues!

This pilot was having a blast!

All of the critters are working their way through their cycle of life. Even the ticks have reproduced. I was bitten by another tick nymph. It is reacting like a blackfly bite, itchy and oozing. 

After Fred trimmed Emily, the pansies are doing well in her elevated position. I will have to watch, though (non-mental note), the planter doesn't have a drain hole, and the pansies were drenched and not liking it. 

I experimented with the camera and the phone camera! You can see the firefly on the one flower.

The ivy looks as if it wants to fly!  The buttercup, not so much.

I just had to capture it bubbling just before I took it out! These are the joys of spring in Ontario: rhubarb and strawberries.

strawberry-rhubarb crisp from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I really have to do something about this garden. The daffodils bloomed nicely. It gets so dry in summer, and we haven't had much rain. I'd love to put in some plants, but the soil needs amending.

Fred was trimming it. 

We have to be pretty quiet, as Fred spooks easily. June 22

Fred from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Babies are blind, pink and hairless, and are called pups, kits or cubs. They have 3 - 6 pups, but can have up to 10. That'll be fun. They are weaned after 44 days, however, and are solitary critters. They won't hang around. 

Crumbly Acres

The fireflies are still out and about. They are wonderful to see in the dark. Here is one in the daytime.

My new Pride flag has arrived, as well as the pronoun buttons. I'm sending them to Ottawa as there is a school friend who uses THEY/THEM.  This is why I am practicing using they/them for Fred. It is good practice if you want to live in the present era.

You can see the trailcamera, and Fred is directly behind the table. I paused my workout to watch them.

That was the last time the trailcamera worked. I'll have to think of something else. OK, it was the second last time, but I thought I'd show off JB's shiny new shoes!

I remember being in my 9th month of pregnancy, and just feeling like a whale. Jesse was 10.5 lbs. when he was born. Fred is so ready to be unpregant! I understand how they feel.

 

fred groundhog from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I've been spending many an hour on the back deck. With the solstice, my legs were in the sun and I didn't think about it. I managed to give myself a sunburn for the first time in years. How dumb was that?! 

Under the deck, the phoebe nest has 4 eggs.

 

Doing a walkabout, I found a red-eyed vireo nest on the ground. They have been all around.

🕷While the deerflies have begun, the mosquitos, blackflies and the deerflies aren't visiting me while I sit and stare at the wildlife. I managed to bring in a tick, it was a nymph and embedded in my hand. It was removed and dumped in the tick jar with rubbing alcohol. Serves me right for wandering.

The serviceberries:

June 20, eating the serviceberries! This is from the deck, through the glass. I was afraid to move and scare them off. They are frequent visitors.

cedar waxwings from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Yesterday, the robins joined them. More on that tomorrow!

Summer is here!

 The water lilies in the goldfish pond are blooming. I love them! They remind me of Muskoka.

Having carefully protected the robin's nest, I thought we were home-free. They are back, exploring the nest. There is one unhatched egg. I wonder if I should remove it? 

Speaking of removing it, JB took a tick off himself. Not engorged, so I think we're good. He saw the GP today, a prescheduled appointment, and was given doxycycline as a precaution. It's protocol around here. It makes you sensitive to sunlight. One dose, and you take it with food. 

He had his quarterly Lupron injection, and that was done in the office. We're good for another 3 months.

I have a new library book. Book #1 wasn't in, but I'd reserved #2, at the same time. JB picked it up for me. We'll see how this series goes. One good turn : a Jackson Brodie novel #2. 

There is no way I can get night photos of the fireflies, but they do like the hops vine during the daytime. The durn thing is on the white railing, and it's not easy to get a photo. This is the best I could do. 

I continue to remove 75 caterpillars a day from the hops. It makes me feel better. I'm wondering about some sort of trellis up top here. Any ideas, creative people?

You may wonder why I'm babying the hops so much. Firstly, it's a major part of our back deck in the summer, and it attracts so many critters. I'm looking forward to question mark, eastern comma, mourning cloaks, the io moth caterpillar, tree frogs, etc.

At this point, I'm pretty sick of caterpillars, as are many of us in southern Ontario. I'm back in the land of the living, although my headache came back yesterday afternoon. JB fetched me a Tylenol immediately, and that helped. He also wanted a hamburger for dinner, so he brought home two. I manage a half of mine. Sleeping 6 hours in a row, I'm feeling rested, but not pushing it. I'm down 5 kg. now, and my appetite is returning. It is a great relief.

Just when I thought...

Iridescent blue underneath!

...I'd documented all the critters out and about, I discover a new one.

Yellow head

Ctenucha virginia [CHEN-OO-CHA]
Iridescent blue - which warns predators about its bad taste! My Bugs of Ontario book tells me that this type of blue warning system is unusual this far north.

 
Virginia Ctenucha from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
I was out getting a video of the firefly when I spotted this lovely moth.

Of course, I have no photos of the fireflies, but I managed a video last night. Don't blink, though!
Firefly from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
About to turn in for the night, I spotted a Firefly in the front garden. I risked the bugs to capture a view.
In the meantime, Phoebe is still feeding 5 babies, and the bugs are quite numerous, flitting about in front of the camera!


Phoebe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Bless their little Phoebe hearts! It's a bad year for bugs. They have 5 babies, all happily thriving in the shed, despite 4 cats.

Nighttime firefly

Finally, there was a firefly on the window, too. I wrestled with the camera and did not manage to get a photo of it in full green lighting up!