Good news

OK, short walk on the sidewalk. I'm hoping for pumpkins! I haven't been able to grow them for years. There is something satisfying about planting and harvesting. I've not felt bad about it, as I've never been able to grow enough to make a difference in our household. We've lots of farmers around us, with good, fresh produce. 

I want pumpkins, just not on the sidewalk.I gently moved them aside.

Petunias and Basil.

Lilies

You'll forgive me for long posts. I am bored. Haven't visited trailcams in 2 weeks. Can't discuss issues with Joe. Here's the stuff I'm thinking about. 

🌪 Tornados

We had more good news, aside from not getting a hit by a tornado! People in the area are not so lucky. That said, people listened to the warnings and headed for basement. Thing is, some cottages don't have them. There is lots of damage. We are very fortunate that no one was hurt. It's nothing as bad as Jasper, Alberta, which has been devastated by fire. 

Ottawa Citizen article July 25

 There are citizen tornado reports from Scotch Line, Christie Lake, Bass Lake, and Otty Lake. Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University will be coming to the area Saturday to check the damage and give a full report. Don't you love science, information and data?!

⚽ We are so discouraged with the soccer news and our women's team. Heads will roll. That said, we are grateful to have Hydro and could watch the game. I had two bouts with coughing in the morning. This is an improvement. There are other side effects of all this. I'll risk being crude, you let me know, but I am finding irony where I can. A cough + diarrhea + hemorrhoids ≠ a good situation. If you know, you know. 😣

Water is important. There is lots of science around the study of water. It flows down, fills a container, etc. What I have learned: secure the lid properly, i.e., screw it on all the way. Cue laugh score! Also, when you are having a coughing attack, do not flail your arms and knock your glass over.  Yes, I spilled water twice. 😏 You may laugh at this point. 

I came up with a new chair cover as my chair was wet. 

 

We love our cats, BTW. The peculiar Republican VP candidate Vance has been explaining that single women with cats shouldn't be political leaders. They have no investment in the future, he says, as they continue to mispronounce her first name. (Comma-La, as she writes in her memoir.) Them's fightin' words. Their theory is that they need white people to have more white kids to MAGA. Yes, the great days when there was slavery and all that. Republicans are doomed. 

VP Kamala Harris is a step-mom, who co-parents, and has been lauded by her husband's first wife. She performed her step-son's marriage. Welcome to 2024 dude! The back lash is huge. They are toying with Beyonce, Taylor Swift, lots of women's groups, childless female leaders with cats, who are rising up in solidarity. The future is bright.

😷 COVID

I had a bad morning, still coughing, using the puffer and Symbicort. My nurse friend warned me that I shouldn't use the puffer any more than 8 times a day. I used it 12 times the day previous, still coughed my guts up, unable to get the phlegm out. I cried, Joe fretted. I phoned the doctor's office in the afternoon. He wouldn't see me. He only works Monday to Friday morning, and is on vacay next week. The receptionist told me to go to the ER. I cried, and coughed some more. 

Joe and I discusses what to do. They weren't sympathetic in the ER last Monday, but I didn't have any coughing spells there. I'm sure they thought I was a freak. I just wanted to know if there was anything else they could do. He suggested a nap, and we'd think things through.

We both lay down, and slept for two hours. It occurred to me that I cough more after I talk. I stopped talking for the rest of the day and evening. Do you know what? That did it. I had some minimal spells, but for the most part not that gut wrenching cough as I struggled to breathe. 

Thank goodness, Joe's COVID symptoms are far less than mine. He's been my hero. We'll get through this. He's tired and weak. We are hunkering down. He still has sniffles, but they are improving.

P.S. My cough is lessening, but I getting sinusitis today. 

I did it!

I have scraped and cleaned the aquarium. The caulking is now done. My able assistant held the caulking gun for good for me as I rotated the thing to be able to reach each corner. Then did two more corners. It'll have to cure. It is special aquarium caulk and won't harm the fish. Next step is to fill it and see if it holds. 🤞 Fingers crossed! 

My personal assistant is slowly improving. He has a 4-week appointment to check on his progress. He may have his 4-week dose of Doxycycline extended to 6-weeks. I think they are finally getting a handle on this bacterium. 

We found a bug on the back deck when I was working on the aquarium.  It is a Sawyer Beetle. It looks prehistoric. Yes, JB's t-shirt is on inside out. That way the tags don't scratch the back of his neck!

 

That was a lovely, sunny day! We deserve them. The Eastern Question Mark butterfly egg has hatched. I can't find it, but it is there. If someone hasn't eaten it!

I did some macro photos. It is tricky. 

My rose!

 

Trumpet vine

Evening Primrose! It has spread.

I risked life and limb going down to the frog pond. I had on long pants, and a sweatshirt. Even so, I brought a tick back. When I arrived a duckling took off into the native phragmites. Surveying the pond, it looks as if something was after it. I'd say a coyote. 

frog pond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Daylilies, and Clover!

The birds continue to devour the serviceberries. It is so much fun hearing them twitter away in the bushes. 

I'd spent the morning transplanting daylilies into the backyard. It wasn't quite as hot as the day before, which was a good thing. I should wait until fall, or after they bloom. I should put down a wee jag of topsoil, and turn over the soil, but that isn't going to happen with my foot issues. I needed some garden therapy. 

I wanted to do something with the back, and daylilies are a hardy, drought resistant plant. We've only had 4 mm rain this month. I've paler ones out front. 

The brighter orange ones are out back. I'll move some of these later!

JB brought some garden soil, which I tucked in and around the transplants. I was careful to avoid the spent daffodils. 

My lilies are doing so well. I am pleased with my netting. Thing is, Clover deer must have gone over the rainbow bridge, as she was the one who munched them in the past. She hasn't touched the hostas, either. 

July 2021

It is deerly season

October, 2022, Clover and her male fawn in the yard.  

clover & fawn from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

 My lonely hibiscus was droopy, and I had to water it. Even the rose stem was drooping. Afterwards, it perked right up. We had 3 mm rain in the evening, which is most welcome.  

Summertime

 The summer motors on. The horrid humidity broke, which was welcomed. I ventured outdoors and cleaned the water fountain, goldfish pond pump, and watered some. The deerflies are the worst right now. My hat patches work fairly well, except if I bend over to do my chores. They fly right up my dress and bite the back of my knees. 

You cannot see Percy, but he is there. I hope he isn't growing any more! I'm still not sure how I will handle bringing him back in! The brown-eyed susans are happy in the sunshine.

 

The lilies are wonderful to see. 

We haven't seen any sign of Clover, who quite liked them. This is from a couple of years ago. She is why I put up a fence. The rest of the deer have taken off to summer habitat. 

Strawberries are nearly finished for the year! 

We've news on the defunct gun range. I've heard dump trucks trucking gravel in. The OPP have an agreement to remediate the heavy metals in the soil, and to remove the berm around the site. There are tons of crap in the soil from the OPP using it over the years. It is shut down forever. 

The rezoning was denied, which means he cannot apply to the Ontario Firearms Officer for a permit to have a gun range. He has appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal, but that could take years. In the meantime, he has decided to have an Open House, with shooting demonstrations.  Lovely activities for an otherwise peaceful Sunday afternoon. I hope the people in the church nearby have finished their services for the day. One person wrote"  “Come out and get educated” sounds like a threat!

We've registered a complaint with the township. I don't know how you can have shooting demonstrations when our township has clearly rejected the gun range application due to noise and adverse effects on the rest of us. Such disrespect for us neighbours. He continues to mock the liberals and 'elites,' despite owning multiple parcels of land (for this one he paid $606,000), and being a landlord. He has successfully gotten a land severance for three parcels, carved out of the wetland acreage. One of the lots is for sale. Would you want to live here when anyone could come and hunt on the property behind you?