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.

Trip to the Dominican Republic 2: Saturday

As previously reported, (Trip to the Dominican Republic 1: Getting there) I went on a vacation with my daughter and grandies. It was quite an adventure.

It was an all-inclusive trip, which we planned while my son-in-law was on a cruise to ANTARCTICA! Caitlin voted for a warm beach. (We've been enjoying JL's photos!)

Our trip there was a marathon with the littles, but they are excellent travelers. They like to use the self-serve check-in! Bearing  in mind that this was for a 6:00 a.m. flight on Friday, Nov. 17th!

They were so chipper...

Saturday

 1. I woke at 6:45 for no apparent reason. Showered, dressed, then I searched and couldn't find the passcode key number for the Internet (free Wifi). Walked around the compound and saw a few birds. I took a few photos! Back to the room, Caitlin had the password key, and I went back to the lobby. The kids got organized. I had a cappuccino and got online.

The place was meticulous. I'm sure they employ more staff than guests. It was rainy, again, but warm, and at home it was ice rain.

 

2. Finally, we were ready to go for breakfast. The girls love to take the carts to and from our room. First day Caitlin had to choose between Orlando and another driver. They were fun. She chose Orlando. Next day we had another Orlando, thing was he didn't go by his real name as they might be confused. Josee loves taking photos as much as her Gramma.



3. We rotated through swimming at the main pool, or on the beach. In the afternoon, there was Bingo Bongo! Isabelle won a t-shirt.
Breakfast then swimming in the pool, and then the ocean, then lunch. Back to the ocean, pouring rain! We went back to the pool, more swimming and the rain let up. Mummy took Isabelle to the kiddy pool, Josee and I hung out at the beach.

Caitlin being clever, remembers a lot of her high school Spanish. She was able to ask questions and talk to the staff. They usually spoke to us in Spanish first, then English, if we had to.

Gracias, por favor, cappuccino, we all used frequently. All day staff smiled and greeted us with Hola, but I tried buenas dias, buenas tardes, buenas noches señor,  or señorita. 

 

These two women were from Montreal, I brought them a towel to clean off their table. It was funny.


  4. While it is buffet for all meals, you can book 4 times for a dinner at a sit-down restaurant in the resort compound. Caitlin did this the first day.

Spaghetti carbonara was more like spaghetti in gravy, but Josee ordered her meal in Spanish: espaguetis and papas fritas (french fries). One server, Jesus, goofed with the other server about not pouring mommy more vino!

Dinner at the Italian restaurant was hilarious as Jose (a server) tried to play the large pepper mill like a guitar, making the girls laugh. I was using hubby's small camera, and not all the photos were timely or great, but it was so much lighter than my camera.


  5. Bedtime is swift and orderly. We are all tired and konk out early! I miss news, the TV didn't work today, the only English Channel is CNN. (There were major storms.) Lots of teeny ants in the room, despite them doing a large spray in the pathways. Must remember to turn off the clock radio alarm, set for midnight, both nights... YAWN.