Does and bucks

Sunday there were more bucks with lost antlers! This is Prince William. He's probably lost this antler in the past 24 hours, and we won't be able to identify him. 

Joseph Brian was out feeding them. You can see them waiting and watching from down the hill. They each get a mouthful, not much in the grand scheme of things, but since we feed the birds...

Hurry up, man! 

This must be the last of the trailcam videos of bucks with antlers. 

buck cedar corridor 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Sadly we've a buck with a dislocated ankle. We'll see how he does. At first I thought it was a doe, but Joseph Brian spotted antler buds. He could run, which is a good sign. We shall watch for him. 

doe dislocated ankle from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Maggie last about 9 years  (2011 - 2020) with a similar injury. We made sure she got her fair share of rations:

Maggie in 2020 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Not a good Monday. I was feeling dizzy and nauseous, visited the loo frequently, and had chills. I cancelled my Tuesday afternoon client, JB cancelled his physio appointment. I went to bed and had a nap. JB has a persistent cough. What a pair! This morning I am better, but I'll take it easy. 

Winter is here!

I was out doing the front walk. No more than that. It should rain on Saturday! 

Looking up the driveway, I spotted a doe. She has a limp. She wasn't afraid of me. I knew she was a regular.

Hauling out a deer feeder, I threw a handful of bird see there. She is one we've fed before, she wasn't afraid of me at all. I feel so badly for her. 

She went straight for the feeder – after I pulled it out.

I suspect that this is our deer friend, Maggie. Or a new one with a broken leg. We'll call her Maggie!

It snowed some more. Not a surprise, as it is December. What weather we've been having. Snow, graupel, then rain. Clouds across the continent.

What worries me is the rain expected on Saturday. An overnight low of -1 C., after that. Oh my. 

😷COVID-19

Sadly, our COVID–19 number are up, here in our health unit. It's discouraging. December 1st we had 26, by December 8th, there were 39 cases. We jumped to 60 on Thursday, Dec. 9th.

I fixed our kitchen light, and found another issue. I'll have to remove it the durn thing, maybe fill the hole? Find some more anchors. These just fell off. Maybe I can just tie the curtain back. I just don't want to go shopping, not sure what I need to do.

There are two neighbourhood homes for sale! 

1. Nearby house for sale
2. Another house for sale

Gramma Camp Week 19 – Wednesday

I awoke to a couple cm of snow. 

The girls woke, and I made them scrambled eggs (leftover from the hilarious Choux disaster at Gramma Camp – Week 19 Tuesday). Teeth done, they retired to the couch to read (Isabelle) or draw (Josephine).

Isabelle is up to page 472 of her 789-page book, which she began on Sunday.

School was tricky. Both girls had substitute teachers. Isabelle, for a week now.  Jos had two substitutes, and the French sub didn't speak French.  They basically assigned the work and said go to it. The teachers divvy up their hour into two classes. At one point, the teacher came online and said, "Whoops, you should have begun art 10 minutes ago." It wasn't their best day, but we got through it.

 I closed myself up in the bedroom and wrapped Josephine's presents. She is 13 on Dec. 9th. Her party is all planned. They will all watch the same movie while on Google Meet and all order pizza. Kids are so adaptable. 

As lunch warms up, they are playing paddle ball in the kitchen. Outside it is pouring snow. Cinnamon thought he spotted a frog. 

We counted 7 deer. As I looked out the backyard, I realized Maggie the doe was there. She's the one who has had a dislocated ankle since 2011. Grampa went walkies. I took photos, then grabbed the videocamera. (The video is below.)

They all turned to look at him, and came walking towards him, the Deer Whisperer. 

Sunset was lovely.

We did a Facetime meeting with Momma and Papa for Josephine's 13th birthday. I'd phoned Momma, and planned for a 6 p.m. cake and presents. Dec. 9 is her day, but we won't see her, so here we are! We thought we'd do it Wednesday, since we can have cake for dessert Thursday, before they go home Friday.

It's traditional, starting with my grandmother, to give a present to the non-birthday child! Here she is, she gave me a doll in her kitchen on Cottingham Ave. in Toronto.

Isabelle was given some non-birthday Lego. 

Momma and Papa on Facetime! 

Grampa brought home some flowers, too. I put a yellow rose on each student's desk.

In the late afternoon, a buck came through. He was on the trailcam Nov. 9th. Here he was on Wednesday. buck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

These are the deer in the backyard. I counted 7, including Maggie the doe! deer Dec.2 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Frog pond, forest walk

That was a day. We need to find some laughter. This dude is doing 'pundemics,' and posts photos on instagram.



I cleaned out the birdbath.


Checked my tulips. They are growing, despite their haircuts!



I covered some up, put a pot on top. That worked!



The wood is getting lower. I have a problem if phoebe wants to nest here, again. (Here she was nesting in a previous year.) The high wood pile lets the cats and other critters get up to them. I know Butch raccoon can climb, but it's good to get rid of any potential ladders.

The frog pond is warming up.



You can see lots of critters. There are lots of little wood frog eggs attached to dead leaves and foliage.

pond studies from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

It looks cold and quiet, but I saw the fairy shrimp, as well as the mosquito larvae.

I love these little creatures: amphipod,
AKA: freshwater fairy shrimp.

Bad news: mosquito larvae!

The wetland



The trailcam isn't picking up too much. Just good old Maggie, with the dislocated ankle.

Maggie from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.