Git yerself outta the gutter!

 I needed to clean out the shed eavestrough. An annual chore. 

The easy part was getting the ladder out and up. Next, I waited for Joe to come home. 

ladder up

Up I went. I have bad knees, and once I made it to the top, I couldn't step-up knee-up! I thought I might just turn around and sit, then stand up. I got stuck. My big butt! I laughed so hard, as my attempts increased. 

Joe could barely look, fretting, but he was moral support. Bless him, he was too worried to laugh with me. I was roaring. 😆😜😹 Picture me, my butt stuck between the ladder prongs. I had to turn around and back up the top rung. It was filled with dead leaves and pine needles. My gloves were a mess. 

The Aspen trees still have some leaves. Poor Joe was cold. I was tromping around and heated up.

I need to reshingle the wood shed part of the roof. (Non-mental note.) 

The previous owners seem to have reshingled the top roof. Not the lower one. It's falling apart. 

ladder down

I was a bit stiff by the time the ladder was put away. Walkies were a good idea. The frog pond is good with several inches of water.

We've more rain on the way. I'm glad the shed is done. 

It'll be indoor play today. At least I think it's rain. Could be snow. Snow tires go on next week! It is November, and this is the way it goes.

And still the leaves fly!

 We've still a few leaves. I think I spotted my last snake, Oct. 20,  when I blew the leaves prior to our rainstorm. We are getting down to single digits overnight. They get close to their wintering spots in preparation. The prairies was hard hit with snow. I am not quite ready for that, but neither were Albertans, I'll bet. 

Today we are going to be warm, though, with a high of 19 C. Plus rain. You never know who or what will be out and about! More frogs, I am sure. I moved another yesterday, and counted at least 10 more. 

The catalpa tree leaves are massive. Amazing trees. They are the last to come out in spring and the last to fall off in the fall.

JB out doing walkies.

It was unusual, but Oct. 23rd, I looked out the kitchen window and saw 4 deer. We haven't seen deer other than on the trailcams all summer. JB had walked right by them, concentrating on his feet on the slippery leaves. They watched him intently. I called his attention to them!

Can you see the trailcam beside the deer on the right? This is what I captured!

deer friends from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

While JB was out getting groceries, I did some yard work. I moved all the logs behind the fence, ones too big to fit into our wood stove insert.

I ran the lawn tractor and blew leaves off, again, know rain was on the way. The tractor won't hold a charge, I had to plug it in, again.

 

Finishing my chores, I drove the tractor into the shed. Look who was watching me! They like the shed.

 

deer mouse from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Leaves and hornets

 HORNETS!

As I was walking towards the shed, I noticed what I thought was part of a wasp nest on the ground. My thinking is that a critter got up there! I don't know, it could have been our fisher, weasel, or other nocturnal visitors. 

The pieces were all scattered under the nest. This one wasp was the only one I could see.  All the cells look empty. It appears as if the queens have mated and the new queens have gone underground as is their way. 

Also on the ground was a little red-eyed vireo nest. 

Falling leaves

The leaves are well on their way to leaving us.  

My SIL says they look like cheesies! 

I was all hot to trot and mulch the leaves with the lawn tractor. Sadly the battery was dead! I plugged it in overnight and it was good to go. There is no point in raking, just mulching! 

There were several wood frogs I had to avoid. Critters everywhere...

It is difficult getting work done! This looked like a buccaneer. 

 

airplane from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

October is done!

The horse chestnut tree still has some leaves. The lilacs have lost quite a few.



Now that the leaves are down, I can see where they nested. I was oblivious, of course.



This is what the trees looked like!

Also, in the front yard, I noticed that the elm that was dying of Dutch Elm Disease, which we had cut down, has started throwing out some branches.



Happily, the frog pond is filling up. I'd say there is a layer of about 20 cm or 8" water on top of the muck in the bottom where the critters are sleeping. We had ~35 mm rain last night. I'm anxious to see how it looks today. We have fierce winds, though.



I mulched some leaves and made a path. This way it isn't as slippery as we walk the paths. I don't do much raking, there really isn't any point. This is fun, though.

 

I caught myself on the tralcam. I got stuck, at the end!

mulching leaves from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

What a lot of rain!

This morning it turned to hail. 

Serious fall clean-up

The colours keep on going!



They are nice and bright on a sunny day.


I've been working hard on the yard. Moving the half barrel, using the tractor to flatten the dirt. This is where Isabelle helped me plant 70 daffodils.

before


after


Another frost warning, so in they came.

We've had an uptick... 'scue the pun!
Hooper has been bringing them in: 🕷️TICKS 2019. I used the anti-tick stuff on him yesterday.


That said, the tick totals are way down this year. Only 37. You can see how it compares to other years.


The dirt is moving. I haven't had much motivation, but I threw 4 or 5 loads around. I'm having some hip issues.


The fungus and toadstools are fun.


I began preparation for the fake tree. I turned it upside down and screwed the base to the top. I'll have to fetch the branches from cold storage.

The emptied goldfish pond. I'm hoping for rain to fill it up some.

Happy fall!