Odds and sods

 That was a storm on Friday. After dinner, we watched episodes 3 and 4 of GONE. Being happy go lucky, we watched 5 and 6! I love the layers of clues, the accents, the scenery. It was filmed at Downside Catholic School in the UK. 

"– inspired by the book To Hunt A Killer by former detective superintendent for Gloucestershire Police, Julie Mackay, and ITV crime correspondent Robert Murphy, with both Mackay and Murphy consultants on the series.^[2]  Wiki  

GONE

We'll often watch a foreign film with translation. We just finished Fosca Innocenti 2022  and it was one of those light, joyful, mysteries. Almost a RomCom. The lead female is the Commissario in this TV Series from Italy. The characters are gender diverse.

She's not a size 2 actor, nor heavily made up. It is refreshing. We've been discussing it, how the make-up, the barely clad people of the American shows, is left behind in the dust in comparison. Filmed in Arezzo, Italy. 

Well, back to our little piece of heaven. The frog in the goldfish pond is against photos. Can you see his little eye balls?!

I wasn't that near to him, but I caught his legs in the photo! I am slow to respond. 

I snapped a photo another day.

Another throw back to cottage life. Caitlin hung up diapers! I have been looking for this photo for days... 

Barry Beaver seems ticked off still. All the trees he'd prepared to chop down fell in the July 1st storm.  We had our path cleared July 30th. I haven't seen Barry since then. I noticed that the duck weed and frog bit hadn't budged. 

Aug. 12

There seems to be some action, Aug. 13th.

 

The Freds seem to be slowing down. The cool nights are doing it, I think. A bit of a shock this morning!

MiniFred peeks his head out. Auntie Fred is minding her own business. They are solitary critters, I've read. I've seen proof as Auntie doesn't go under the deck. MiniFred stays away from the shed.

That sweet little face!

We have lovely afternoons on the back deck. Joe pulled up a chair for Cinnamon. 

As we sat there, I spotted the resident hawk flying at eye level towards us, then it veered up over the roof. I was too slow to spot it and capture a photo. However, this one is a frequent flyer. 

I've noticed several millipedes wandering across the driveway. Three or four, methinks. It's a bit odd. 

Of course there are things that are on the hunt in the night. Finally a half-decent image grabbed from the video of our regular fox visitor.

Backyard birding

 We have our exercise routines. Here is Joseph Brian doing his! 

Nothing better than backyard birding! I was out Tuesday at 7 a.m. and Wednesday at 5 a.m. (couldn't sleep Wednesday)! I've been using BirdNet, but I switched to Merlin. It highlights the bird singing in real time. And shows which have been heard. 

 

 

birding from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I put up the deer fence with JB's help. We seem to have just one doe hanging about for the past few days. Although, there was a buck a week ago. 

I arrived home Tuesday to the doe on Oliver's Lot.

This is my purple pencil. I had to cut off a section of it off the bottom, it was rotten, and reattach the bolt. One lag bolt was beyond redemption. I faked it. Then, a new paint job! 

This is a favourite spot for Phoebe to perch!

The phoebes began to hatch on Thursday, May 22. 

All hatched by the 23rd. 

phoebe babies from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We rested on the lower deck and a centipede millipede ambled by! You are right, Cloudia! 

10. Catching up after our trip

Yes, the garden. I am catching up with being away 8 days [Vancouver and kidlets!)]. I weeded Saturday, and Sunday was garden day. First thing, off to get some plants. The nursery had sold about 2/3 of its flowers, nearly sold out. It was hard not buying anything for the garden prior to our trip! I knew the baskets wouldn't last without my being here to water.

On the left, the very green basket, are my sum total of veggies: cherry tomatoes. I transplanted them from the yellow basket into a much larger one.


Then, petunias into the yellow planter (above), for the hummingbirds. A 'window box' of pinks and begonias for the front window.

The deer have trimmed my hostas for me. Normally, they begin with the plant farthest from the house, and work their way into the interior of the garden.

Caught in the act

Friday, June 8th

Recaught in the act, Wed., June 13th! We were watching TV and I saw Daisy staring at something...



Critters everywhere.
The millipede was in the bottom of an old hanging planter I was repotting. You'll notice my manicure is looking a bit rough! I only had it done since I was traveling.

millipede

Gray tree frog hung about here all day!


Butch amongst the yellow devil's paintbrush.


A garter snake slid into a mouse hole to escape from me.

We had a scare Sunday. JB couldn't find Hooper anywhere. He looked on the road and found roadkill. It turned out to be a rabbit, he scraped it up and put it in the ditch.
Tuesday morning, another rabbit as roadkill.

Bunny frontyard from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then, Hooper decided to go on a bender. He was gone from Tuesday night until midnight the next night. sigh. We were worried. Boys...

Good news, our tick count is down. This may be affected by the cats being 9 days in the cat hotel, but... I am hopeful.