I have blooms!

Cold winter days demand we keep things blooming indoors! My  paperwhites, and amaryllis are coming along. The orchids are in bloom.

I looked out the kitchen window and saw a doe having a rest and chewing her cud beside the deer feeder.

They are wonderful to watch! The indoor action is fun, too! Well, inaction! Nutmeg likes to take herself to bed, on Joe's side!

Cinnamon sat in the sun and he complained about the cold!

The garbage is out, and the week begins!

Barred owl sighting!

 The sweet, last warm days continue. I usually spend some time reading on the back deck. I take a break between outside chores. 

The Aspen grove is growing nicely. The previous owners cut the grass here, but after 12 years, I've let it grow. We need trees. They survived Gypsy Spongy moth caterpillars, and are taller than I am. 

The blue jays were having a caucus meeting in the back yard behind the Aspen Grove. What can one do, but go check it out. Raucous Blue Jays usually means a Barred Owl. There was!!!! 

You'll forgive the lighting in the video↑. It's proof of life for our owl.  I've been hearing it in the night through open windows. Such a sweet sound: "Who-cooks-for-you?"

The deck has provided some viewing...

Look at the trees! They are turning and dropping leaves. They are rattling on the driveway. Actually, they aren't necessarily turning colour, just drying up and falling off. There is a big industry in many places, like Muskoka, where 

The Hydrangea, trimmed nicely by deer, has a caterpillar on it.

Another caterpillar: Cucullia convexipennis, the brown-hooded owlet, is a moth of the family Noctuidae.

One must report on this fabulous orchid. The one bloom branch is beginning to dry up, and the blossoms are falling, their lives spent. The good news is that there is a new branch, the dark green one, and I'll have new blossoms shortly. The old blossoms were done, the stem turning brown. I chopped them up. There are already buds on the new branch.

 

I was out doing a walkabout, in the early morning when it was chilly, and found a 🐍 garter snake stuck on some wild aster. It was cold, but alive. This same is true of the frogs, they get cold overnight, and warm up in the day. The reptiles and amphibians are ectothermic or cold-blooded, and cannot control body temperatures.

I wonder what triggers them to begin to hibernate? Nutmeg brought this green frog up onto the deck to get warm. It was cold and stunned. I took it out front and put it with Jeremiah bullfrog. It is too big for Jeremiah to eat! 

The goldfishies are doing well! No leaks! 

I was trying to do my workout, and the TV went weird. I thought it looked like a painting.

🍁Fall chores

I should rent a power washer and clean up the flag stones before it gets cold. And we should stain the decks before it gets too cold. We shall see. 

Have a great weekend, it is Friday. 

Crumbly Acres turns yellow

The daffies I planted last year have popped up. It looks so pretty beside the driveway, on the bright green grass.

Also out front, I snuck some tulips in with the daffodils. Deer like tulips but not daffodils. 

By the house, my yellow tulips have popped open. I took a photo prior to blooming just in case Labbit or the deer nipped them in the bud! The day after they bloomed.

Out back, the water fountain is on the go. 

It's a little the worse for wear. The photo below right is what it looked like when I bought it! When it warms up I should repaint it. 

Sparrow and golden goldfinch:

Indoors, it is lovely seeing the flowering orchid. I love the pink on the underside of the petals. There is yellow in the orchid face!

Sun and snow

We are on the good side of winter. Sunrise is earlier, and the sun, when it is out, has a warmth to it. My orchid is setting buds, again. Happy dance! They say not to put it in full sun, but the winter sun seems good for it. It is snowing again this morning, which is why the photos give me hope.

They didn't seem to know how much snow we'd get. We had a delivery Sunday afternoon and he said the driveway was OK. I left alone. Monday, my trusty blower was waiting for me! We had had more snow than expected and it required removal. I started her up and all went well. 

You can see where the mice friends came in under the door. The rodents have chewed it.

It looked lovely, with the sun shining.

Since I did the driveway, JB decided to work on the sidewalk. He did the back deck, as well. This is good, as his rotator cuff has precluded much of this for a couple of years.

Both the back deck and the middle deck were covered. The middle deck will have to melt. 

There is something about that blue sky and sunshine that warms the heart.

I had to use my snowshoes later on to fetch trailcam SD Cards. I haven't been down there in a week. 

There were lots of videos of deer and coyotes. I appeared in the cedar corridor.

 

snowshoes from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Also, Caitlin did a walk by herself. I have evidence on two cameras!

Caitlin Feb 18 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.