Crumbly Acres & miniFred

The big news. Our new friend, Rick, made it home to Lansing, Michigan. His cycling trip was about 1500 mi. long. The last part was on a train! Jeannie wrote about his homecoming!

New news, this is the last time we saw miniFred, Friday, Sept. 12th. (I think Momma Fred is sleeping in her winter home. That's been her pattern for three years!)

MiniFred's doing weird stuff with the tarp. Momma Fred dragged it into the hole I covered up in the summer. That's where the coyotes get in. MiniFred moved it... 

The youngster was dashing in the wood shed, grabbing leaves, and taking them into the burrow for a fine winter nap. They are true hibernators and once they are down, they are down until spring.

Joe sat and watched for miniFred on Saturday, no sign of her! He had a lovely sit, though. I put the garbage out at 6:00 a.m. and it was 8 ℃, no wonder she's sleeping. 

#75 has been out and about. He's a released Gray Squirrel (Black Morph).

 I found one on the trailcam way down in the forest.

I've a story about watering my hanging planters. The water was coming out really slowly. I unscrewed the pouring spout, and found a Gray Tree frog hiding in the water bucket. 

Joe went to Smiths Falls, and on the way home he brought some strawberries for us. They have a special type of strawberries that are ready in summer, not spring. Yummy! 

It is wonderful getting food from down the road. Today I'm going to get some pumpkins, as we've family coming!

I've a plan to bring in the fishies. The well water takes a long time to warm to room temperature. I filled it 1/4 on Sat., Sept. 13, adding another 1/4 on Sunday.  

Town is a bit of a mess, with roads being rebuilt. 

The trees are beginning to turn in Perth.

First World Problems

 I like bacon. Moderation, right?! I'll often cook up a package, and have a couple pieces on my bagel in the morning over the week. Cream cheese and strawberry jam, too! 

You can bake it, or broil it. This is the way my mom cooked it: broiling, except closer to the broiler.

I like to do cook my bacon with a little electric pan I bought at an online auction! I love this. I pack the cooked bacon in a container and pluck them out in the morning. 

What I noticed is that it took me far less to cook it all. I went on line to look it up. They are about the same price, but one has 500g in it! My package has 375 g in it. I didn't remember, but this began in 2014 when there was a pork virus. 

Bacon packages shrink as pork prices soar

2014–Packages of bacon at stores such as Cantor's Meats in Winnipeg have slimmed down from 500 grams to 375 grams in recent months, in an attempt to limit price sticker shock. 

Noticing that I went to a local store's webpage. 

I know, first world problems! 

🐸I am excited, as I won a draw. We were out and about doing the Western Chorus Frog survey in April of this year after a break. They had a draw for swag, and I was the winner.  

I was a worker this week, too. This branch was likely to whack me if I didn't take it down.

Hard to say when we'll see the first frost, meantime...

I thought this was funny! You can read about the bike and vehicle turnovers. 

Ticks

After heat and drought, Cinnamon brought me a tick on Wednesday. They seemed to have died down. It was a nymph, really teeny. Such is rural life. We stuck it in the tick jar, with some rubbing alcohol. 

It's not been too bad for ticks. Ticks will be around until frost. 

🚲P.S. Our cyclist friend, Rick, has made it a long way. Bow, N.H., with some more to go! You can follow him on Facebook. Or read about his adventure here in Lanark County! 

P.P.S. miniFred has settled into a routine. She shows no signs of moving out. Unlike mother, Fred. 

She get up around noon, and seems to wait until things warm up from our cool nights.

Signs of a Beaver

Cinnamon and I went to the back 40. Roaring across the yard towards me, he had to stop for a pee!

We checked out the owl tree, no owl. He kept yelling at me to follow him around the wetland shoreline. OK, must be important. Look what I found, lots of evidence of a beaver. It wasn't recent, I don't think. The wood chips weren't that bright, newly chipped colour, but darker. I wonder if this happened in the spring...  

At this point in the year, the water is really low, the frogbit sits in the deepest part. There is no way a beaver could survive this over winter. 

Signs of miniFred! 

Meanwhile, back at the house, Sept. 5th, miniFred had some grooming to do. She isn't waking up until the afternoon, I guess she'll hibernate there. 

 

Crumbly Acres frog tales

The cottagers have fires on in these cool nights. There are so many fires across Canada, I have to stop worrying about that! 

I have a frog tale. 

🐸The frog pond is dry until we get more rain. (That usually happens in October/November.) 

Vernal frog pond in the forest:

The leopard frogs, wood frogs, and others are happy in the weeds and the grass. Until they aren't. I've been 🐸moving frogs from the goldfish pond to the frog pond after frost. I'm wondering is they all dug into the mud they'd protect one another.  They freeze and thaw in winter, which kills them. I moved 154 last year. 

I was watching the goldfish pond, planning out the goldfish transfer to the indoor tank. The frogs begin to move into the goldfish pond for hibernation. The big bull frog sits in the foliage and waits for prey. I'll have to let them be. We've no water near us.

MiniFred has been around. I worry, as this burrow, the part under the deck, floods in spring. I think it is attached to the rain downspout. 

Tall Anenome:

When we locked down for COVID, the grocery store gave me this in a wee 4" pot, and I've managed to hold on to it. Another fall chore, moving the indoor plants indoors! I keep checking the long-term forecast.

The wasps have made homes in the bird house! 

We sit on the back deck when we can. Today it should warm up. I carried this friend in on my sweatshirt! I cannot find any in my photo archives. Interesting critters.

Double-toothed prominent moth caterpillar

Here we go. A new week. The garbage is out. It is a cold morning. It was 8 ℃, I bundled up.