Crumbly Acres: KEE POUT

Just when I thought things would wind down, Fred is winding up. Fred took her kits to burrow #4. It is beyond the edge of this section of the yard, with two entrance/exit holes. The first photos shows Fred in Spring. 

Now, all the foliage is out. That is sanctuary for a groundhog.

It is a clever location, with the bracken hiding the exit/entrance. 

I was doing a workout when I spotted a kit at the daffodil garden. It was smaller than Fred. I thought of Eileen who sees song birds out her window.

This shot I quite like, with worried Phoebe atop the purple pencil, watching miniFred down below.

It was raining on and off, and chilly. Neither of us were feeling 100%. My Wild Parsnip poison boils are still on my arm. I peeked out back, checking things out. Fred has been munching on my Hosta plants. Usually, it is the deer!

I admire her tenacity!

 

 I watched Fred hop up the stairs, and slip under the gate. I wasn't sure where she was headed.

I slipped out the front door, ran around the house, and found her in the act. 

Chewing on the garage door frame. 

I put a log with a brick on top, blocking the area of interest. A trailcam would let me know what was going on.

Caught in the act, again.

Later, I found coyote was on the frogpond trailcam, with a muskrat in its mouth. Oh my. Fred was wise to move her kits. Coyote seemed to show it off to the camera.

One needs a sense of humour! I ordered a book for Joe, and the man delivering it chucked it on the chair. Fair enough! Either he wanted to save time or he thought this was to keep humans out. That was the day before.

I thought we had to laugh over this. So much is going wrong in the world I have to remember there are good people in the world. 

The Kee to Bala was the great band venue one attended on Saturday nights in Muskoka. For many, many years at the cottage, there was a privacy sign across the busy highway. It said KEE POUT! 

My poor UPS man. I was down at trailcams, but Joe greeted him. He said he read the sign, figured out he was neither a groundhog or a Fred, and climbed over. 

And, in good news, I was trolling around on the lawn tractor, and that disturbed #75 squirrel. He's still there! He whipped out of the box and up the tree, leapt to another tree, most disturbed. 

Saturday's Critters # 598 <= Visit Eileen's critters here!

Welcome home to our travelers!

 I usually finish off with our Fearsome Foursome Flyers, but they arrived home safely Friday night. Today I can welcome them home. They'd like to do laundry, but the stairs to their basement were being done on Saturday. Groceries are done, and they can sleep in their own beds. 

airplane wheels from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

They toured around Boston, after arriving from London, and Singapore before that. Quite the journey. You can get there from here, but it was epic. 

Boston Harbour

Things are growing nicely here, in the rain and sunshine. Except for the one hosta! I'm glad I kept my fence up... The one in front, outside the fence, was trimmed. The one inside – protected.

The first is out front, the second nipped hosta out back! Such is life, living in a wetland.

They didn't get my lilies! 

The roma tomatoes are doing well, but slowing down. 

The nights are getting cooler, and we are heading to the other end of summer. I have been behaving, and staying off my sore ankle. I did wander down to the trailcams Saturday. I wore my foot brace, shoes and socks. The only thing that hurts is going down a set of stairs. 

I'll leave you with a beautiful caterpillar.

caterpillar from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Hostas, Hydrangeas, and Hummingbirds

What a relief! We had rain. Finally. There was thunder and lightning nearby, but the storm seemed to skim to the north of us. Even Ottawa had rain. Finally, at bedtime, Josephine came upstairs and said she heard rain. They are with us for the week. More on Gramma Camp tomorrow!

Hydrangea, common names hydrangea or hortensia, is a genus of over 75 species of flowering plants native to Asia and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Korea, and Japan. Most are shrubs 1–3 m tall, but some are small trees, and others lianas reaching up to 30 m by climbing up trees. They can be either deciduous or evergreen, though the widely cultivated temperate species are all deciduous.

I transplanted it from another garden that I wasn't going to water. Every year the deer prune it up. I realized that if I let it grow some, the deer will nibble the edges, but won't be able to reach the plants in the background.

The hosta, however, is right there for the taking! One must simply laugh!

I decided to try and grab a better photo of the hummingbird and Tiger Lillies.  

The ribbon outlines the chicken wire, meant to keep the deer out! It rather ruins the composition, but what can I do?!

I couldn't choose just one, I just loved her antics! This, I think, is the best one.