Nature's Critters

I checked on the wood duck boxes, now empty. This one was full of cobwebs. I opened it up, it has a hinge on the side door, and will clean it out when the bugs die down.

Lone bee mason house. 

These lilies are done, but just before the petals fell I noticed spider webs and baby spiders. You have to look closely! They were launching themselves on a silken strand and flew up on the breeze. 

The Angel's trumpet blossoms, Brugmansia, only seem to blossom for one full day. 

The water lilies are just getting going!

My little pottery worm is missing its middle. It broke, sadly. I lifted the head where it was on the ground and a bug flew out. Reaching for the tail, which was on its side, a sweet little red belly snake slid away from the hooman. 

This dude was somewhat loosey goosey on the lines. He was distracted, swerving nearly ran into a parked car further down the road. 

Then there was the truck and trailer. He'd turned right on a red, as the truck in front was moving through the green light. The truck pulled around him, I let him in. We ended up parked at the red light at the bridge is being repaired. I couldn't turn left to get into the parking lot. I shouldn't have let him in! 

Back at home I've been enjoying the robins eating berries. Critters are scarce on trailcams. I've heard this from other trailcammers. The bugs are horrid, the heat terrible. You can hear the House Wren in the background.

robin from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Visit Eileen's Saturday's Critters # 449 to see more critters!

Grandie tales

Ontario is easing up on COVID–19 restrictions. We into Stage 2, with bubble of 10 people. This is good.

The kids are here for the week, and alternate weeks for the summer.  They were here during the first lockdown, and we've kept this up. It's our family bubble. The adult kids have been very careful, both working from home. It really is comforting having them here. It distracts us. We are both a bit shaky with it all, as I'm sure everyone is. 

I was rubbing my eyes. Josephine asked, "Are you alright, Gramma?"

"Yes, thank you, Jos. They itch with the excess tears from the cataracts. "

"Poor Gramma," said Isabelle, "I really wish the hospitals would open up so you could have your surgery!" Isn't she a sweetie?!

"Me, too, Izzy!"

"They're focusing on COVID right now, " supplied Jos. (Good pun!)

We've been having good meals. I love Izzy's iPad screensaver! 

We have to get schoolwork done, although it is slowing down as teachers are writing report cards, while juggling school work, and their kids at home!

I asked Izzy if she missed her friends. I said, "It's not the same being with us."

"Gramma and Grampa you're not the same, but still awesome!"

I asked Isabelle if she wanted to play Uno! She asked, "What's that?" 

"The card game, YOU KNOW."

"Oh, Uno! Gramma, it's not You Know, it's like the Spanish word for One!"

 We laughed so hard we cried. Her French is excellent. Getting my pronunciation corrected in yet another language!

We looked through family photos. The white one is the kids wedding album. They celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary last month. The other album are baby photos. Wee cooed at those. Cute little babies.

Both were working on their computers. Jos has a nice chart her teachers made to cover the week. 

     From Izzy, "I really feel as if I don't do enough work!" (She's in gr. 4.)

     Jos said, "Maybe you don't have enough work to do!" (She's gr. 7.)

We are fortunate to have extra computers. What we don't have is a good enough of a high speed network. Home schooling in a time of COVID–19 isn't easy in rural Ontario. One kid was trying to download a PDF file, the other a Zoom, and Math lesson. We're pretty lucky. Lots of kids have connection issues, some forget to set an alarm for an 11 a.m. meeting, issues with audio. SIGH.

Sleepies in the basement.

Nutmeg brought the chipmunks home twice yesterday, then she took them down in the yard. This time, she brought home a garter snake. Josephine loves them. The girls asked where Jos should release it, and I pointed her to the back 40. 

Then, on the front porch. A dock spider.  I bet it is the one I released. It didn't go far.

And on the back deck. A Notable Sawyer.

The mason bee house seem to actually have bees. I've mostly had wasps in them. There is lots for the girls to look at!

Jos and I went down to fetch trailcam videos.

Yes, we're coping well, actually. It is wonderful having the girls here. We can focus on other than our health issues, and keeping the household running. I feel badly for Jean, who is in hospital for tests. 

Then, there is Yam with her caregiving. 

Rapid fire round!

I found a dock spider. Hooper was quite interested...


Leaves of 3 let them be! Poisonous oak.


All of the mason bees and wasps have hatched, more have been laid.


My poor catalpa tree, it still hasn't filled out. I've trimmed some of the dead branches, but I am not hopeful.


We had dinner out last Thursday!


We've had some humid summer days. I've been grateful for the air conditioner. The odd spot of rain, but things are growing nicely. The camera fogged up, in the humidity, but I like the photo! My roses are looking good!

The frog pond is slowly growing over. We need our muskrats back to take it down.


Sunday, our power was out from 7 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. for repairs. Happily, it was a nice day, and I watched the birds for hours. It was lovely! This is from our back deck.




red-eyed vireo from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

First hay!

September storms: hurricanes and typhoons

WOW!!!! Current storms, #Typhoon and #Hurricanes going on across the globe at the moment. It’s pretty shocking to be honest!!! Report: Marshall shepherd: #Florence #TyphoonMangkhut #Issac #Helene pic.twitter.com/rt0jwDpg1B

— WEATHER/ METEO WORLD (@StormchaserUKEU) September 11, 2018

Florence... she is fascinating. We are weather watchers, and the technology is amazing. People on the coast have been warned for days that they had to evacuate. Several million did. The North American satellite shows her approach.

In the meantime, the journalists and the storm chasers have flocked to the area. They are getting 3" of rain PER HOUR!

There is the journalist, with the weather man explaining
he's gone from the eye of the storm,
to the northern edge,
with more wind and rain!

“My cord just literally split in two… some duct tape might be helpful,” says CNN’s @JohnBerman, in Wilmington.

Hurricane Florence continues to deliver ferocious winds and torrential rain along the Carolina coast.

Updates: https://t.co/boiBgEU39M
Watch: https://t.co/uR4EHLFqrp pic.twitter.com/UU439fPlNw

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) September 14, 2018

Eyewall on shore now. We are downtown. @weathernetwork #Floremce pic.twitter.com/ZGYjhuHgPN

— Mark Robinson (@StormhunterTWN) September 14, 2018

Several nuclear power plants, and several prisons, have NOT evacuated.


One family sent a photo to the reporter (below). They had evacuated to a hotel, but their neighbours did not. The neighbours sent photos, and are trapped in the room above their garage. Their house is flooded. They have had nothing but warnings to evacuate. They tie up first responder crews who are concentrating on downed hydro wires.
The reporter said that they had just had to move from their previous location due to flooding. The storm surge, water forced up onto the land by the winds, is flooding rivers on the low flood plain.


Another threat: typhoon Mangkhut is headed for the Philippines.

Strongest storm on the planet at present is Super #TyphoonMangkhut. Equivalent to a category 5 hurricane, it will slam into sparsely populated region of NE Luzon, Philippines later on Friday before tracking towards SW China next week. @bbcbreakfast pic.twitter.com/2zAAmUuUlk

— Matt Taylor (@MetMattTaylor) September 13, 2018

It's a lovely time of year in Ontario. We've had some rain, and wake to fog, most mornings.

The bugs are pretty much gone. The farm animals hang out.

We went to the hotel for lunch outside on the patio. Who knews when it is 'last one!' This overlooks Stewart Park, and the Tay River.

There was a meeting of some sort. There were several Ontario Government vehicles, including this cool air boat.


We were in Almonte for bird seed. They are filming a movie there. It's rather fun! Almonte is a delightful town, very scenic.

Fake snow, real film stars descend on Almonte this September

In order to fake the snow, a mixture of products are used, from paper to real crushed ice to "snow blankets." 

The trees are beginning to change. Lots of folks, with their antique cars, are enjoying the fine weather.


JB told me they had ripped up the parking lot in our mall. He wondered why. Turns out, more stores. Being a cottage town, he shops early in the morning, and we avoid going in on Friday afternoons.


Our local paper explains:

Perth Mews mall expands with 3 new stores

The Subway store will relocate from across the parking lot and be one of three tenants on the 7,000 square foot building. The other tenants will include a Starbucks coffee shop and a St. Louis Bar and Grill, with an outdoor patio.

Back at home, the wasps have hatched their babies. The first photo was Aug. 1st:  A WASP story!, and now they are hanging around. At some point, I will be able to figure out what to do with the broken bird feeder. In the meantime, ♩♪♩♪ "Can't touch it!"



The mason bee, or lone bee house is housing eggs. All is unfolding as it should.