Power Outage!

Wednesday morning began like all the rest. The tulips are rising from their slumber. 

Cinnamon and I went walkies. Where he walked on the ice a few days ago, it's now melted, with green mosses popping all over. 

The frog pond is still frozen, although by the end of the day Thursday, it had melted from the edges to the middle.

The overwintering butterflies were out. I spotted an eastern comma, with the three dots in a row. Also, there was a mourning cloak! The first photo was from this week, the mourning cloak is an archival photo!

 That was an adventure. Wednesday afternoon, JB was out doing a walk, as he does twice a day. I was indoors. The power went off. It came back on. I went outside and was told that he'd heard a low hum, a bang, spotted an orange flash, and then white smoke.

He went around resetting clocks. Then, the power went off again. Then on. Reset clocks! The Hydro map showed who was down and who had some issues. Not many people, less than 20 homes in each occurance.  It was a mystery. We went out to the highway and couldn't see anything. 

I put on my face, eye liner, and makeup to cover up the dark circles under my eyes. Doing a beer run, I saw a Hydro worker so I stopped and asked what was up. He told me that the arm on the hydro pole had broken. They were going to repair it later on. He's a local, as he knows the names of homeowners property near where the arm broke. The poor man, I'm sure they are stopped all the time! 

I made dinner, just in time. Just as we finished, the power went out. With the power out, we've no well pump. Probably a couple of flushes worth of water remains in the well pump tank. 

I had a Zoom meeting later, and emailed the coordinator using my phone.  Handy, that! I thought we might not be up in time for the 7 - 9 p.m. meeting. 

I made dinner, and all was well. Then, everything went down again. We sat and read. I wandered down to the highway. They were working hard to repair the pole. The drivers are awful. Some just zoomed by, pedal to the metal. 

You can see the broken pole in the middle, missing the cross arm:

Next, after lots of traffic,  an ambulance came by (see below).  Still the traffic roared by📹.

Happily, JB had the foresight to gather 8 flashlights. It was so quiet. Darkness fell. We read in peace. I was trying to figure out if I'd be able to wash my face. 

I had emails from Hydro, which I could access from my smartphone, that we'd be back up by 8. We sat and read some more. It finally came back on just before 9. I quickly logged into the Zoom meeting but they were done. 

Overnight we had a lovely thunderstorm. There was hail and wind gusts to the south. 

Only had gusts near 60-70km/h and a small amount of pea size hail around Napanee & Kingston. Was still impressed by the structure and lightning for late March. #onstorm pic.twitter.com/X2Q1m36EkG

— Andy (Andrea Justine Trudine) Costa (@AndyBlizzard87) March 25, 2021

There is another storm on the way. We anticipate 30 – 40mm rain. Plus lightning. 

In the meantime, our health unit's web page was down most of the day on Thursday. When it finally came back up, we were down from 140 cases, to 125. Neighbouring health units were up. It's not a good sign. 
 

Rain, finally!

Things are moving along here. Poor JB still has this cough from November. It comes and goes. It wore him out this a.m., and he went back to bed for a nap. I did up the dinner dishes, he was too tired yesterday. The deal is I cook, he cleans. But desperate times...

This past week he's thoroughly cleaned all kitchen counters, the island, and the dining room table. 

I am afraid I'm not getting cataract surgery anytime soon.

According to a report from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario, 52,700 surgeries have been cancelled since March 15, and 12,200 are delayed each week the outbreak continues. How Ontario hospitals are planning for a new post-pandemic normal.

— Toronto Star (@TorontoStar) April 29, 2020

 What saves me is getting outdoors. Not that I can see well. It's better on a cloudy day.
I put the bluebird box up. We shall see what happens.

I saw a mourning cloak out and about. 

This is a file photo. Our leaves aren't even out, never mind blossoms!

Phoebe seems to be creating the nest above the basement door. It's a busy traffic spot, but fairly safe from predators. I'll keep watching! Also, I barred the basement door from traffic. I'll cross my fingers.

I avoided doing the bathroom floors by going out to weed the garden on Wednesday. I got bored with the twitch grass, and have to wait for some parts of the garden to get wetter.  Then, I got bored in the garden, and began raking.
It rained Thursday, finally. A grand 18 mm.

The kittens are growing... and playing.

He spends the day here, even in the rain!



Nutmeg had her deworming pill. She threw up 4 days in a row, and we thought this might be the simplest cause. She had the pill Wednesday, but still threw up early Thursday. We wait.

More daffies!



From last year, I tried replanting this spot. The veggies were a bit of a failure here. I'd had clover to fill it in, I cut it too short, and it burned up in the summer.

We (Isabelle and I) planted a whole bunch of bulbs here last fall. All deer-resistant daffodils. So far, so good!

The frog pond is warming up. All unfolds as it should. We shall have to be patient. It's easy from our position. We are safe, and all of our local stores, including the vet, numerous restaurants, all provide curbside pick-up. All the cashiers have been amazing. We've heard of some issues, such as angry customers. We just won't be those people.



There are lots of helpers out in the world. This situation is bringing out the best in good people. Many are stressed with rent or mortgage payments due, and no income and no jobs. We know people are donating money, food, or time.
Quebec is opening up schools this month. A tragic mistake, I think.

Canadian stats

Canada is in mourning, again. A helicopter is down. This after shootings out east, and floods out west. I hope you are rising above all this. JB and I are focusing on our circle of influence. Deep breath.

Critters: cats of different stripes

Does anyone else have cats that don't like having their photos taken?
Either that, or he wasn't as cold as he thought! I'm sure the flash is the problem, but it is funny.


On the back deck. A question mark butterfly caterpillar. I have two of them on the hops vine. You can see the hops flower in the 2nd photo.

I've brought them into an old aquarium to see if I can watch them. My regional BAMONA specialist tells me it's good to bring them in and protect them to ensure they do their metamorphosis.

I just checked this morning, and they have begun the metamorphosis process! Both of them!

These little guys are new little mourning cloak caterpillars. They are sharing the hops vine! They are teeny, and will soon turn into an instar and grow, then morph into a butterfly.

In the front yard, in front of the deck, lots of milkweed plants.

And, finally, I found one! The first caterpillar chrysalis.

This one is behind the blue chair in the photo, above. You'd laugh, as I sat there on the sidewalk, carefully, manually adjusting the focus. I checked them on my laptop, and NONE were in focus. I went back out, and did automatic. Voila!

It'll be here 10 - 14 days!

P.S. She is still laying eggs.

Next job will be to tag them. I have 25 tags. They darken just before emerging. We shall see if I can tag any.

They keep coming and coming! I often do a double take as I walk by. Below, two caterpillars, looking like one!

Notice the variation in colour?! Isn't that fun!

How many can you see on this plant? It's been the favourite of one egg-laying butterfly. The plant is nearly stripped. I think I've rehomed 3 or 4 to other plants.

My Mourning cloak drawing

Thanks to Christine, who inspires me to sketch. I usually try to sketch while visiting my client, Thursday afternoons. His disease trajectory is catching up with him. He is asleep more than he is awake. With both ALS and prostate cancer, he isn't in pain, but he has pressure sores. Then, he is on antibiotics. I miss our wonderful conversations.

My inspiration, found on the front step,
I placed it on the fuschia.
Looking around the steps,
under the overhang,
I found the Mourning Cloak cocoon,
which I videotaped breaking free.

The drawing: using my photo, I began indoors.
Taking a rest on the back deck,
I finished and added the backyard fountain.

 Sunday Sketches!