Rainy Crumbly Acres

 A bit of a shocking day. I knew a storm was coming. I watched it carefully. I had a client to visit. I had myself a really nice little lunch. My tooth is still sore, I ended up chomping off a chunk of tooth. 

What I thought was I could do a brief visit with my client, and see how I feel. My dentist's office is closed over lunch. I lasted an hour, and headed home to phone. 

Twice this week, someone needed to go around our car onto the shoulder right beside our mailbox, to pass while we waited to turn into our driveway.

 

I have an appointment for Monday. My dental insurance may or may not cover a crown. Perhaps it is too late for that. Root canal or remove the tooth? 

To quote my 2nd husband, not made of sugar, "They don't tell you the first 60 years are easy!" Joe Brian went out after the storm and fetched dinner. I can't believe the rain! Nearly 44 mm Thursday (1.72").

Lightning strikes!

Gun range update: Buyers Beware!

The landowner appealed the denial of rezoning to permit a public gun range. We now have a case number on the OLT website. 

In the meantime, pending severance in September, lots #1 and #3 are for sale. Dunno about the house and land on Lot #2, perhaps they are still renovating the house. It was in pretty bad shape.

The provincially significant wetland ('retained wetlands') is being kept by the landowner, as he runs an outfitting business. He's still hoping for a gun range. 

Here are the two listings, which total about $350,000. He paid $606,000 for the entire parcel. The middle property is still being renovated.

Lot #1 – 1688 Rideau Ferry Rd. Unit #1 $184,900. The listing states: "Drummond-North Elmsley is especially quiet overall, as there tend to be low levels of noise from traffic." I beg to differ: listen to the Motorcycles.

There is no mention of a hunting property and former gun range adjacent. When we bought, no one told us about the noise. This is unethical. This property has lots of noise and traffic, just listen to the noise from Rideau Ferry Rd. The noise is constant. 

Lot #3 – 1688 Rideau Ferry Rd. Unit #3, $164,900. The land isn't legally severed yet. Not until October. It claims is is a quiet area. What a crock!

Sept. 30th – The larger piece of vacant land was $185,000 is now $144,000. The other lot has gone from $165,000 lowered to $140,000. They have been on the market for 46 days. 

This is what the highway is like, cars passing day and night.

passing from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

River Otter Quest – part II

 Yes, we went looking for river otters and didn't find any. JB figures it is Brigadoon, it disappears in between times! I suppose I should put my readers out of the suspense. It got me out of the house, and resulted in a change in scenery! 

UPDATE: I did read a news item stating that Tweed and the other affected towns, are getting some funding for clean up. This approaching a year from the storm. The province of Ontario is pretty slow, but our premier is pretty reluctant to spend money.

Here we were driving along, and I noticed the trees were just a mess. I came back home and found out about the horrid tornado: Tornado hit near Tweed on July 24th, 2022. The tornado picked up a truck (📹 Global News), and sent it 300m across the road. No one died, but they lost power and water. The Tornado Project sent up a drone, with amazing footage (on Twitter). The tornado travelled from Rockdale to Actinolite, just north of Tweed. Classified as an EF2, with winds estimated at 190 km/h. It had a track length of 55.8km, and a maximum width of 1420 metres, said Environment Canada.

I first noticed it when I took a photo of the turtle fence. But the damage was obvious. It devastated the campground, as well as the Zen Forest Meditation Centre (YouTube 📹 ). The video, including drone footage from CTV news, was interesting. While they lost 500 old trees, none of the buildings, nor their marble, hand-crafted Buddhas, were damaged. Volunteers helped clear the property.

Black River Trading Company estimated they had $200,000 in clean up costs. CBC posted images of the damage. 

They did some stories about the damage in early 2023, and said it was painfully slow, since municipal crews don't have the training to get rid of the tree damage. 

Sunday morning, having just posted my initial trip photos, I read that Highway #7 was closed between Highways #41 and #37 (Tweed), with Flinton Rd. being the detour. That's where we were! There was an incident on the highway, that closed the road and didn't open up until midnight, when they finished the investigation and cleanup. Such incidents are not a surprise.

I had a trip into town!

 I decided, with the troops arriving Monday, I should have a relaxing pedicure. Off I went. It didn't begin well.

Firstly, I was tailed by a Bell van the whole way into town. Then three emergency firefighter vehicles went by. I duly pulled over, which is the law. The Bell truck tried to pass me, since he didn't hear the sirens or see the flashing lights. 

Firefighters from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The town was crawling with people and vehicles. Into the hotel I went. The parking was atrocious, I snagged the 2nd last spot. I found the last viable spot, methinks. Some people aren't very good at parking between the lines!

This dude didn't seem to care where he parked. Parking was difficult to find. The employees park here, as well as guests. 

I had my pedicure, and relaxed. I needed that. It's a lovely setting for a spa and hotel. 

Out the window I could see the wedding preparations as Ivy worked on my toes. Women white dresses, and men in tuxes wandering back and forth! It's a popular spot for weddings. They stay in the hotel, have their hair done, and party. 

Stewart Park is amazing! The land was donated by Mrs. Stewart in 1947. What an everlasting donation. The gift was given on the condition that no one would be charged admission to visit. That's why the free July music festival is so much fun for all. I was there when there was another wedding: A wedding in Stewart Park in Perth. The photos are so much fun.

I had my deluxe pedicure, which includes a foot and leg massage. I was so relaxed. Heading home, I was tailed by a big, black SUV who thought I should be doing far more than the speed limit. I put on my turn signal, slowed down, and spotted something in the driver's side view mirror. I couldn't believe it. A motorcycle passed the SUV and me. If I hadn't stopped he and I could have been in a terrible way. I was so upset. Why are people in such a hurry? 

motorcycle from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🚑 The bad news is that our local Perth ER is closing for five days. They are having trouble getting staff. There are a variety of reasons, which our re-elected premier doesn't seem to have a handle on. ("Nothing to see here, folks!") Dr. Drummond says it is due to a nursing shortage exacerbated by a COVID breakout on Thursday. His nursing staff has shrunk from 15 to 5. We'll have to drive 20 km to Smiths Falls, which is easy for us, but not for the most vulnerable.

This morning, on the local news, I found out what the firefighters were headed to Saturday afternoon:

#LeedsOPP and @RideauLakesFire responded to a 30ft vessel on fire in the Rideau Ferry area today. The captain sustained minor burns and made it safely to shore before the vessel sank. The Ministry of Environment has been notified and recovery to follow. @RLTwp ^nc pic.twitter.com/6uTEt5wuMx

— OPP East Region (@OPP_ER) July 2, 2022

 Be safe out there, people. We have people who love and need us.

Scavenger crows & traffic

JB went out for early morning walkies and came back in for a news bulletin. The crows were into our garbage. He had to rebag it. I took down a garbage can and stuffed our bags into it. I caught them in the act down at the neighbour's garbage.  

crows & garbage from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The traffic is phenomenal around here. Everyone is in a hurry, and have important places to be after morning fishing. 

passing from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

That wasn't the only thing this week. There was an ATV on the road shoulder, racing with a white car. We were doing 80 km/hour in an 80 km zone. We couldn't keep up.

Zoom...

ATV from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I am sad to note, they were spraying BTK, again, around the nearby lake. I came indoors. 

I am also happy to note that there don't see to be many of them this year, nor are there many where my friends live in Muskoka. They are pretty little things, but so destructive. Most of our trees have recovered. Here are two of the instars. The pine trees look amazing with new needles. It's causing havoc with allergies, the rain might help. I just washed all our railings, too! 

I was out back, cleaning and refilling the water fountain, there was a lovely scent. It wasn't my white iris, nor the dogwood. The Wild Grapes are in bloom! Here I was wandering around the backyard sniffing things. 

Soon, there will be grapes like this outside the bathroom window! OK, not soon, September... 

It's a great spot to bird watch.

I was down in the forest and heard a bird. BIRDnet identifies it as a black and white warbler <= my video of the forest. It was just a few phrases, and the video wasn't great. If the bugs weren't so irritating, I'd do a proper search. That, and the pouring rain we're having. I'll try and revisit it. 

Finally, on a tree frog note, this little guy seems to be enjoying the back deck. He is a frequent flyer. Well, jumper. I scared him the other day and he leapt into the Bleeding Heart plants below. Apparently, it didn't bother him. He was back yesterday. Today, he is in hiding. They don't like the rain, the frogs all disappear off the goldfish pond when it pours.

Off to the dentist!

 Our dentist is in Carleton Place, a 45-minute drive, so off we went for noon, Wednesday, Oct. 13th. The wetland looks lovely. It was to be a wonderful Autumn day! 

Perth

The maple trees are always wonderful in Autumn. I liked the car colour, too!

Highway 15

The sumac, what can I say? It is my fave.

I loved the colours. Wouldn't one of these front loaders be great?!

Burning bush, with one of those totally ridiculous signs.

Two drivers, both important people I am sure, passed us on double lines and curves. The sound and the worry is awful. 

A bit freaky!

Gardens are still looking great, but with an overnight temperature of 7˚ C., they won't last long.

Carleton Place

Note the driver, wandering over the lines... What, me worry?!

I like this big pot of plants!

After my dental appointment JB suggested we go out to lunch. It was supposed to be a sunny afternoon. Or, at least, partly sunny. It was really cold in the dental office, but warmer on the patio.

What a treat!

This is a lovely patio.

Late lunch is served!

The river was lovely! 

I didn't bring the zoom lens, but there was a blue heron in the river, at the bottom of the photo, on the long rock. Maybe you'll have to trust me! 

The river sounds wonderful. There is something about moving water. 

 

Almonte River from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The Boston Ivy reminds me of our house in Toronto. There was a factory behind us, with huge old Boston Ivy leaves that would change colour in fall!

This is the pub across the river.

We entertained the thought of parking here, but I noticed the sign restricted parking to only 30 minutes! Someone else did not notice it. Whoopsie!

I'm sure there is a good story here!

There is lots of Hallowe'en decor up!

I liked this cloud. Almost a sea serpent!

And, home and safe! What a lovely day, despite being at the dentist!