Tree work is nearly done!

 The horse chestnuts are coming along. I see our black squirrel and the Dratted Red Squirrel up the tree after them.

I am so feeling better! I did some serious yard work. The front yard was a bit of a dark mess, not actually darkness. The Maple branches were encroaching. I was in danger of decapitating myself when zooming around on the lawn tractor. 

BEFORE:

The Maple, below on the left, shades the Catalpa tree that died, and regrew from the roots.

AFTER:
There is much more air flow under the Maple and around the Catalpa tree.

I screen captured from the Dashcam from the other point of view. Maybe I'm just trying to convince myself I actually did some work!

Unfortunately, I ran over a large sapling I'd dug out of the garden last week. Then the chopper blade stopped working. Oh, dang. Deciding against putting it away in the shed, and tucked it under the tree beside the house. Hhhhmmmm. Figuring I'd have to call our repair man, Bob, it was a good spot. Walking away, it occurred to me. I'm not mechanical, not at all, but I thought it through and gave it a good look. The belt was off of the driver! I fixed it. I gave myself a pat-on-the-back. Finished the job!

A view along the flag stones below. Non-mental note! A view from the end of it, and the front porch. It was very satisfying taking down the deer fence. 

I even managed to lift the bell back up into its rightful place.

Work to be done: branches to cut up for kindling or the brush pile. 

A bit of work cutting them up. I've two batteries for it. Once the first one runs out of juice, I take a rest!  

The only disaster was a scraped foot. My most recent blackfly bite is under the bandaid! I decided to read and rest.

And, I'll leave you with a memory that popped up on Facebook. This was 19 years ago! Joe and I visited Jesse in PEI where he was performing in Anne & Gilbert, the musical.

Smoke, pollen, lawn tractor

 🔥The smoke is awful all over. Tuesday morning, I walked outside and the smell was terrible. So many people are helping with the fires, though. One thing I never thought of, but some provinces are helping by replacing equipment. Thing is, if a fire crew is facing a sudden wind shift, they run, and have to leave equipment behind for their safety. 

Centennial Lake was been evacuated. It is horrific. It is about 80km northwest of us. Greater Madawaska is on alert. 

The photos and videos are shocking.

 

Monday night, I noticed the sun shining on the floor. It is orange from the smoke from the wildfires. The second photo was through the bathroom window and screen, but I wasn't going to go outside in the smoke and bugs!

Tuesday

Pollen

I've mentioned the white pine trees. They are in bloom, and the yellow pollen is EVERYWHERE! This had fallen off the tree, but you can see the pollen that fell off when I plunked it on the table.

🚜 Lawn Tractor

Hoping for rain to come, I thought I'd do the lawn. Thing is, they'd moved the seat when they did a tune up. I toodled around on it for a bit, but kept sliding on the seat. I gave up and went indoors. We can't find the manual, but I knew I could find something online. I took a photo with the cell phone, and by the time I went indoors to check it out, it was uploaded.  

 A YouTube video told me that I'd done the right thing, removing a large nut and washer, but I did not notice the lever on the right hand of the seat. 

Ta da! I motored on around wearing a mask. They are wonderful. Between the smoke, the dust, and debris, the mask really helped. 

You can see how dry the lawn is, in the panoramic photo taken with the phone. We had 1 mm rain Tuesday, June 6th. It didn't help.

🎞We've been watching a show, One Lane Bridge. On Season 2, it is essentially a murder-mystery, but the scenery is amazing. The lead is Dominic Ona-Ariki, in this New Zealand production. It was filmed, primarily, in Queenstown. One Lane Bridge spans the Dart River.

"The show follows events around the latest in a mysterious chain of deaths which have occurred on a one-lane bridge near the town of Queenstown.^[1] The series is also notable for its inclusion of aspects of Māori spirituality as a core part of the plot, such as the notion of matakite, roughly equivalent to divination." WIKI

Cinnamon really enjoyed the show. It was a chilly night, with a cool front moving in from the north, which brings the smoke. He got cozy on my lap blanket. It would have been a good night to open up windows, but we are keeping the smoke out.

We had a visitor!

Our lawn tractor needs servicing, the battery won't start it. Bob came and took it away Friday. Our tree people come back on Tuesday. Barring unforeseen circumstances!

Sunrise on Saturday! It had rained overnight. It was 8˚ C., then warmed up to a very humid 21˚ C., which is a bit much!

Our visitor

🐻First our grandies stopped walking to school through the forest after the ice rain, too many hanging branches in the forest. Now, there are bears in the area! I love that: Do not panic! Indeed. Do not run. They will chase you. You have to be as big as you can. Bells Corners bear update: 

— Ottawa By-law (@OttawaBylaw) April 21, 2023

Speaking of bears, I've been watching for them here. We had rain Saturday morning, and I eagerly looked out to see if the goldfish pond, fed by the water barrel attached to the drain spout, had filled. It had not. I went out in coat and jammies to check. This is what I found... 

 

I had to haul out the drill and reattach the spout to the drain spout. The stick sticks out just in case another chipmunk decided to go for a swim. It wasn't pretty the last time that happened. Oh, the smell.

Back to the garage to fetch the screwdriver and drill. I hooked it all up again. Hoping for the best. The trailcam, just to the left of the water fountain on the septic bed in the background, was out of juice. I'd hoped to see evidence of the culprit. No such luck. 

 

Down to the trailcams I went. This was another sign. I am sure I didn't leave it crooked!

 

He snuffles at the tail end of the video, where he rearranged the camera. They are curious, I think.

After my confirmation of Junior Bear, I looked at the bird feeder again. It looked great from the window, but from the side, it definitely had a lean to it. I'll have to put it away. Bye bye birdies!

It wasn't as bad this time as last time it happened. The new pole is higher, and Junior Bear couldn't get leverage. 

We spent the rest of the day cleaning out the garage. I like to get the bird seed out, which dratted red squirrel has scattered getting into the storage cans. Also, the salt from winter has been accumulating, and I rinsed it out with the hose.

🍕For dinner JB fetched us pizzas. We were pretty tired. He is able to eat a vegan one, which we discovered lately. It's been great. Mine was Hawaiian!  

Outdoor birds and work, indoor plant

The Common Yellowthroat was singing in the lilac bush. I zoomed in as best I could, but I'll have to rely on an archive photo for a better view!

I captured the yellowthroat high in the tree canopy. 

common yellowthroat from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I think this is our nesting pair. It was so funny. One had words for the other one, chasing him off. I wish I spoke robin! 

two robins from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Finally, a better photo of phoebe on her nest.

Home maintenance

There are so many now compicated chores! A neon light bulb went out in the garage. That was a project. JB had taken the car in to have the summer tires put on, he combined trips. The store had a sign to go directly to automotive, if you need it. The auto repair door, a separate entrance, had a sign telling you to go to the main door. When he phoned, he was told just to go in the garage door.

He lined up where he went into the store and fetched two new light bulbs. The old ones have last a long time. They still have lots of sawdust on them. The previous owner built furniture in the garage.

Of course, I had two stored in the basement, but they were 1 1/2", not the 1" we needed.

I've been weeding. It is endless. I gave up and chopped down a dead sumac tree, blocking a path.

This one is a little more treacherous. It may have to wait.

We had our lawn tractor worked on. I wanted something different to do. I really like riding around on the tractor. It's a meditation of sorts. Concentrating on the grass and weeds, trying to avoid plants. (The milkweeds are beginning to grow!)

New blades and a new battery. Next fall I'll take the battery in. Mr. Mechanical Bob told me how to do it, just before he hauled it away. Remove the black cable first, then the red one. Assembly is the reverse, the red, positive on first, then the negative black one. Sigh. I'm nearly out of gas, too. Another chore.

I spent a happy hour on the tractor, trying not to kill the daffodils.

Refinishing

This was a nice project. I'm having trouble finding motivation, you see. Others are cleaning, organizing, doing gardens. I like refinishing furniture.

 The cat, I bought on sale somewhere. This is an old table my parents had.

My assistant.

These chores done, I was trying to figure out what to do with the terrarium.

I've been watching my terrarium. I should have been watching it more closely, but the outdoors calls. It's a pretty plant.

"Polka Dot Plant. A polka dot plant (hypoestes) is a small colorful plant native to Madagascar"

I don't know. I could trim it, but it's kinda quirky. What do you think?!