On Crumbly Acres I Tremble

 These are our neighbours, I 'spose. Those who begrudge their fellow citizens a social network. It's a common sentiment by some. 

Others believe we need to feed, clothe and house the poor. We need a minimum, living wage. I was on a board where their ED was moving away. Others on the board wanted to increase his salary. There is a lot of networking and pressure.

One of our Canadian cartoonist, Michael de Adder. 

The US Ambassador to Canada is a bit of a turd, too. Rather a typical, arrogant MAGA. 

We didn't! We're just not buying them! 

I was interested in this decal on the back of the van. Maximum capacity, 11?!

🎯 Former OPP Gun Range <= here is my long tale

To sum it up: "The existing by-law does not permit a shooting range or gun club at the property."

We have big news around the proposed gun range nearby. The landowner has been relentless, BUT the law suit has been withdrawn. He has an American litigious mindset. (He is a dual citizen.) It turns out that he has sued our township of DNE, really pissed that he didn't get his gun range. There were some issues around the history of the former gun range. 

It was based on a deposition by someone who claimed to shoot there in the 70s. It was contradicted by another person who was allowed to hunt on the property back in the day, and swears there was no gun range prior to the OPP taking it over in the 90s. The OPP have stopped using from the location when the property was about to be sold. 

💰DNE is going to sue for costs on behalf of taxpayers. Never mind the time and energy our elected officials and staff have spent on this issue. Or the 500 signatures on the petition against rezoning. I summed up the timelines, and it all began in September, 2022. 

Happy Dance!

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Crumbly Acres in winter

First, the bad news.

🎯 Former Gun Range

Monday, the owner of the property beside us is back at it. A friend emailed, notifying us of the court docket. He has more money than sense. He is appealing the denial of his property rezoning to the Ontario Supreme Court! Court appearance: Monday, Feb. 10th.  

'WHYTE V TOWNSHIP OF DRUMMOND/NORTH ELMSLEY, CV-23-00000114-0000, family court room'

🐣🐤🐥I was asked if there is bird flu about. We are sitting on 16 acres, the neighbour has 120 acres, and the next neighbour, 600 acres. That said, they've found bird flu in Toronto. These are scary times for such. Neither our premier, nor the US are happy to track such things. The new US Department of Health has RFK Jr., who doesn't believe in tracking diseases, vaccines, or COVID!

🔥 💨 I was up at 3 am with the smoke detector chirping. The battery is getting low. I removed the battery, in order to get some sleep. I'll put batteries on the shopping list! 

🌤 It's not all bad news. The sun rose, as it tends to do, and my friends showed up. This was 8 a.m., Feb. 6th. It's fun playing around with settings. 

 🦌 🦌 🦌 🦌 🦌 🦌 🦌 🦌

There are storms coming. I suggested that we need to 'get more gas for the snowmobile.' I am losing it! We don't have a snowmobile. The wetland isn't suitable for such travel, with plants sticking up all over the place!

wetland walkies, March 4, 2012

I do need to refill the gas can for snowblower. 

Saturday morning:

🌳 The oak tree leaves are finally falling. Our oak trees drop their leaves mid winter!

"Many deciduous species are marcescent (Wiki), not dropping dead leaves until spring."

I was following the deer tracks, and found the leaves blown into a line in the groove.

We have two young oak trees. They are about the same ages, I think. Not yet old enough to produce acorns.

They are lovely trees with beautiful leaves..

We had 6 cm snow last night. I'll have some work to do today, but first coffee! 

Property for sale!

🎯 Gun range & wetland news <= the full story

The community fought against rezoning, and were successful. No gun range. I've heard he is planning to appeal to the Ontario Supreme Court, but he hasn't got a hope. 

Another story

The dude that bought the former OPP gun range land for $606,000 then divided up his 120 acres into 4 properties. 

The 3 new properties were labeled #1688-1, 1688-2, and 1688-3. The original property, #1688, now consists of a road going back into the wetland and surrounding the 3 properties. The wetland is where the OPP gun range used to be.

 This is #1688-1, which sold in May 2024 for $121,000, and now houses a trailer. You can see it is very close to the big house on the middle section. Too close for my taste, especially with heaven knows who hunting out back on the wetland. (We can hear them from here. 😣)

Property #1680 (formerly known as #1688-3) is for sale. Again. It sold (in Dec. 2023) for 

$135,000 – after being listed for $165,000, lowered to $140,000. It is now listed for $159,900. 

 

The shed on the right is part of the property for sale. There is an outhouse, as well! The building on the left (see below) belongs to the main house, the top floor apartment is being rented. It is huge and has been renovated. It was in a sorry state.

The house is an interesting property in the middle of the three. It is up for rent in November or December. 

The realtor's website said the property owner is selling #1680 due to health reasons. That is a shame. 

Aug. 17, 1680 sold for $99,999 $87,000, taxes $1200/year, 124 days on the market.

Gun range update

The Proposed New Gun Range – an update... it's been a journey, since Sept. 2022! 

I was asked about the status of the defunct gun range. They have been remediating the site (getting rid of the heavy metals), although there is no information to local residents about this process. 

Things have been quiet after our township council voted to reject the rezoning required for this new project. That said, the land owner is looking for people to verify the history of the former OPP Recertification Range. There is no one to vouch for this, because it did not exist prior to the OPP and Mel (the land owner, and my hospice client, now deceased) created it in 1986. 

I think he is appealing this ruling to the Ontario Supreme Court. It's his last resort. All of us believe he's not got a leg to stand on. 

It was written, on my private Facebook page, suggested he is trying to rewrite history!  She is the person who looked at historical satellite photos that shows it did not exist prior to the 80's. 

Alternative Facts!

🐛 🐛 🐛 🐛 🐛 

September brings wonderful sights and smells. The caterpillars are heading for hibernation. 

This is what the Jack-in-the-pulpit plant looked like in spring. They are doing well. I'd bought them in May 2015. They've all died down. Their missions accomplished for 2024.

The jack-in-the-pulpit gave me some seeds. I tossed them under the tree in the front garden. (Hope I don't forget!) 

A rainy day, I guess it is indoor play today! 

A storm rolled in!

UPDATE: The Proposed Gun Range <= the whole saga

The person who bought the former gun range property is re-appealing, although I don't think he has a leg to stand on. While I am on it, he has officially severed three properties. He has sold Property #1, having sold #3 in December. I presume the old farmhouse on lot #2 is still being renovated. It was in sad shape. There is an upper story apartment.  It is still for rent, for July 1st. 

• Dec. 9th – Property #3 sold Dec. 9th for $135,000 (lowered from $165,000 to $140,000). It is 1.9 acres.
• May 2024 – Property #1 has had its price reduced in December ( $185,000:  $144,000: $130,000).  It sold for $121,000. 

Anyway, back to my story. We'd planned to eat dinner by the water. That didn't happen, as a huge storm rolled in. I love the clouds.

I set up the videocamera:

I was sitting on the back deck, when the storm rolled in. The live map of lightning strikes did not bode well for sitting on a patio for dinner.

storm rolls in from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

After the clouds rolled in, there were 22 vultures flying!

 

22 soaring vultures from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

If you like a good storm rolling in, here is one! The thunder was lovely, the wind blew, and the clouds were amazing.

June 20 storm from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We drove to Rideau Ferry to meet a friend for dinner. There are a lot of signs up regarding a cycling tour. We had to stay off the roads Saturday! I still cannot understand how and why the "Say No to the Gun Range" signs weren't allowed on country roads, but this is acceptable. I tried to look up this event, but they are a bit vague! 

Off we went. This dude was merrily making his way, with cars veering over the centre line to avoid him. I'd be scared!

I didn't take photos of the afternoon, but we were forced to eat indoors. This usually only happens in winter! I prefer the outdoor patio, or the screened in annex, but they wouldn't let us sit there in the outdoor porch either. 

My other disappointment is the new menu. They do not serve pasta any more! It is my favourite. This was March, 2018. We often eat here.

We arrived at 4, and a table beside us was reserved beside. We were actually sitting in the alcove  (file photos!), behind where the server was standing. I'd asked for a quiet corner, but that was not to be. There was a woman in the group, with that female laugh, loud and obnoxious. I have a bad startle reflex with noise. I had to plug my ears. JB actually took out his hearing aids, it was so loud. That is the issue with hearing aids, it amplifies all the sound, not just the conversations at our table. Even the server had to being raising her voice with the noise from the group.

It was difficult for all three of us. We hurriedly asked for the bill and headed home. What a day! Saturday I cooked up a couple of hamburgers. It was peaceful as we watched Escape to the Country!

Percy, Cinnamon, spring flowers

 Yes, we won and the appeal was denied for the gun range. The bad news is that the landowner told staff he would appeal the Ontario Land Tribunal decision. It's not over. You can read what we went through to prevent this in our backyard. Too bad the township can't recover costs from all this litigation. Our tax dollars at work. 

Back to real life. We continue to monitor Percy and his two pond mates. He is a sitting duck, you see.  

I tossed in the cedar logs to give him some protection. The pond temperature rose from 2 ℃ to about 4 ℃, the last time I took it.  By the end of the day, Percy followed the sun in the pond, he was a bit more active. 

Percy & Cinnamon from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The Scilla luciliae is blooming on the lawn. It is scattered, and looks so pretty. However, you know how short a time spring flowers last!

Actual crocus! 

This tree has two interesting galls in the trunk.

We had a lovely walk. 

The lawn is greening up. I've uncovered the water fountain. Next project: clean and fill it. 

My client cancelled on Tuesday, I took the opportunity to do a bit more outdoor work. Our temperature rose to 24 ℃ by late afternoon. 

We had the bunny out front, and Fred groundhog out back. Busy times. 

 

The phoebe pair are choosing a nest site.

I've no idea what they were doing overhead, but I ran out back to watch it. 

Easier said than done!

This morning, I played around with a panoramic photo. I'll get better with practice, I suppose! 

A moment later, I tried again.