Deck refurbish

We have three back decks. It's a bit of a mish mash. I repaired the lower deck with Aster in 2016. Then, we replaced it in 2018.  I worked on restaining the upper deck, next job was the lower deck. 

 I'd repaired one plank on the middle deck, but things just wear out! It was time. One plank rotted. The previous owners had a cat and a dog. The yappy dog needed a total enclosure. We do not. It won't keep out Butch raccoon!

Friday night was the deconstruction.

Nutmeg was deeply suspicious. 

Saturday morning, Cinnamon wasn't amused. He was afraid, and hid under the BBQ cover in the corner. I brought him inside.

Cortlin began work!

The cats were OK with it. Cinnamon likes to sit here at the top of the steps.

Cortlin came back to replace two upper deck boards for me. He left his truck here. I texted his mom, and asked if he was one of those men who could take their trucks seriously, or if he had a sense of humour. She said the latter. I guess if you were the youngest of three sons, you'd have to! He liked my joke.

I'll have to stain them, but ironically we've a rainstorm on the way. We haven't had any rain this month. We last had rain September 25/26. 

There we go! 

Monday was a lovely day, and we took off for Brockville for lunch. More on that anon. 

Meantime, my late father would be amazed with his Blue Jays!

Red-eyed vireo, frogs, house wrens

Snuggle Bears presented JB with a new t-shirt for Father's Day. I bought it from the Legion's Poppy Store.

Jesse and Cluny phoned and left Grampa Joe a Happy Father's Day message! That was sweet.

We had a lovely Facetime with the Ottawa kids. Josephine has 7 days of school left. Five next week, and Monday/Tuesday the following week. I'm not sure how much they will get done. Isabelle has to go for two more days than her sister. I reminded them of the times Caitlin would finish high school before her brothers, and spend a week with my parents in Bala. They went strawberry picking after Jos finished some homework. 

What a surprise! I was coming in the house, heard them singing, and a pair of red-eyed vireos were having fun in the dead Catalpa tree. 

The red-eyed vireo photo was from my archives, for reference.

It was a difficult viewpoint, the video captures their songs, at least. It was quite entertaining.

red-eyed vireos from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Friends... well, cohabitants. I am surprised that Percy doesn't nibble the Leopard frog's toes. BTW: I dug the goldfish pond in 2011, River, and it was a process!

I cleaned out some foliage on the middle deck, pruning the tree I found a little friend.

The House Wrens nesting in the Bluebird box on the flagpole are doing pretty well. I think there is another pair, and they were scarce when they were replacing the eavestrough. 

I so love their little song. This predates the eavestrough installation. They were choosing which nest box!

House Wren from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.