Jake, et al

Nearby, 2 km away, the first bear has been sighted and trapped.  There were two, an older female and a younger bear with blonde on its butt. Time to bring in the feeders...
Walkies have been fun.


The dock is holding up, despite our 36mm of rain over the last few days.


In the morning sunshine, he rested. April 18, 2019. Our snow is gone.
Jake from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Jake never did leave me even one antler. They lose them in January/February and will regrow them shortly.

Robin nesting from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.


Pileated woodpecker from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Frog pond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Time flies when you're having fun

Where did the weekend go? We did some Facetime with the grandies in Vancouver. I made Bryony laugh!


I visited on Facetime with our other grandies, in Ottawa, as well. They went to Winterlude, all the way across the river in Gatineau. They did a zip line. I could so do that, but it's 2 hours into the city, and crowds give me the heebee jeebies!
The first photo is Josee (blue pants). The second one is Izzy (lime green pants). What a beautiful day, albeit -20 C. or so! You just have to dress for it.  Papa did a video, and I captured screen images. I live vicariously through the kidlets...

Winterlude Zip Line from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The weekend over, Monday, that was a day. I've been learning more about our new smartphone and our plan. It's a learning curve. It's been a battle to add hubby to the plan. Dealing with businesses, its driving me nuts.

Non-dairy cheese

I've found a wonderful product. It's almond 'cheese', although they cannot call it cheese,  and comes in a variety of flavours. I found that one package had some mould on it. I sent an email to the company, and they asked for the lot #, as well as the location of the store where we bought it. The person explained that the product should be frozen at the store, until they want to put it out for sale. They will send me a refund, too!

Winter Storm

We shall see what happens, but they are predicting Snowmageddon. Hubby was expecting friends for lunch Tuesday, while I was at my client's house. His friends cancelled. I ended up washing floors and doing carpets anyway. For posterity, I suppose.
With the impending snow storm (25 - 40 cm!) , JB went into town to finish off errands prior to said storm. Gas for the snowblower. Returning library books, getting new books.

I watered some plants. He brought home some lovely tulips.


Also, he was heading back into town, and I sent him into the 2nd hand store to pick me up a Valentine's Day present! It's filled with silk flowers, 45 years old, and I'm going to make a fairy garden with real flowers, the terrarium is filled with silk ones. I need a new project. I wonder if Hooper will get into it?!


They were looking at something in the basement, I know not what.

I've been working on small jobs in the house. I was all set for this one. Just a minor issue: I cannot find the piece of material I'd found to use on it. (Don't tell the kids!)



I spotted big Jake without his antlers, and decided to go for a snowshoe, prior to our storm, to see if I could find an antler. Sadly, their territory is far too large. It was a good hour of exercise, however, in crunchy, knee-deep snow. They predict snow, ice pellets and, then, rain. I hope just snow. That I can manage.

Here is Jake showing off a couple of years ago, just teasing me with one antler left! I never found the other.

Jake; archive photo

I was up late (according to cats) and they were jumping on us in bed. After they were duly fed... I looked out back. Today, Tuesday is to bring a major storm. "Red sky in the morning is a sailor's warning!"


This is our volunteer day: hubby dispatching Meals on Wheels, me visiting, and giving respite. We'll see how all that works out.

Snowshoes!!!

Wed. morning, Jan. 30th, I popped out to grab the rain gauge from the deck, to check the snowfall. The little tracks in the snow were so cute. Poor critters out there in the cold. The polar vortex extends down into the USA.

In the dark of the morning, I could see tracks. I examined them in the light of day, and I'm not sure. Something in the rodent family, with something running sniffing its path. It wasn't Hooper, he hadn't been out overnight.



It's a goodly distance for a small track. Perhaps our weasel.

This is from December.


Red squirrels are everywhere. Here, near the water barrel, leading to an actual hole in the snow. The snow has a base of about 30 cm.


This tree is still splitting. It will fall into the wetland, it won't harm anyone. It creaks in the winds.


It's so dark, but looking for tracks is motivation! Once you get going, you warm up.


This is our island in the middle of the wetland. It's a busy crossing, a path all the critters use. You can see the fox scat, and then the turkey tracks.


A deer bed, they nestle in the snow.


This was in the middle of the frozen frog pond.


My trusty snowshoes.


I'm thinking these are turkeys, strutting their stuff, dragging their wings, as they do.


The purpose of the trek was exercise, as well as fetching the trailcam SD cards. This guy I filmed out the kitchen window. He's shed his antlers. I was hoping to find some. It's good exercise.



Jake is still carrying his.
Trailcam Jake from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The bucks stop here

After a morning blizzard...

Our frequent visitor, this week, seems to be Jake. I don't know if it is, or not, but we'll go with that. The dang things refuse to wear name tags!
I saw them hanging out back, and hubby went outside to put out some feed. They watched for him, eyes glued...





This was in the morning, before the sun cleared up. These two play fight a lot. I think it is Jake, and a younger buck. Rutting season was in November/December, and now the females will be taking care of little buns in the oven until May-ish.

P.S. I heard from Daisy's new mom. She is going to call her Daisy May. This is sweet. Daisy knows her name, I'm glad she didn't totally change it.
She didn't eat anything the first two days, and hid in her new room, but emerged yesterday and got up on the window sill. She's going to be an indoor cat, now. I'm sure she will adapt.

Daisy and I wetland; tree climbing from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This was our last play. She prays, as always.
Daisy from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.