Poor Charley!

 Charley, the spider, had a disappointment, something wrecked her web. She is still there, but didn't fix the web overnight. Nor the next. I was going to turn the plant around, but I can't with the web attached.

It was a beautiful web. 

😿 Friday night, around 7 p.m. dusk, someone came to the door to ask if we had a black cat. We used to, first Olive, then Felix and Buster. I am wondering if it is the wandering Pepper. This woman say a black cat had been hit by a car and was lying near our mailbox. JB and I went out and brought the little body in, and put it in a plastic garbage bag in a box. Joe took it to the vet Saturday morning. Hopefully he is chipped, but I doubt it, as Pepper was an intact male. 

I had a big cry. 

The vet posted info about the death, but so far no one has come forward. I have looked for months for where he came from, but no one came forward. He wasn't chipped, as I suspected.

Our last sighting in June, 2023.

😼 Cinnamon Walkies

The good news is that while Joe was walking around the house, Cinnamon went with him. (He refused to walk with me a couple of days ago.) Then, Cinn followed his sister back to the woodshed, and one of them got on the roof of the shed. It is good for him to get some exercise. The bad news is he won't walk with me in the forest! 

I'm wondering if our neighbourhood Bobcat is the culprit! We've a Bobcat. These are from postings from local trailcams, Nov. '21, and Jan. '22. It is an elusive beast. I've had a couple of triggers on the trailcams that didn't show up anything. Could be.

Autumn chores continue. All of the lilies, phlox, hibiscus, and other plants are done. I've one more rosebud, but that may be it. The datura is still going strong. My fuschia in the hanging planter, and the tomatoes, and the yellow petunias Caitlin brought me, are still good. 

I've taken down the deer fence.

The danged weeds are thriving, however. I've been pulling twitch grass till I'm blue in the face! I pile it into the metal garbage can, and throw it onto Oliver's Lot.

The other problem I have is that there are many saplings growing in the garden. I've been having to dig out knee-high trees: mountain ash, lilacs, and baby elm trees. 

Good news! I've been trying for years to grow forget-me-nots, and finally the seeds took in the planter. Usually, I put pine branches in this planter over winter. I'll have to rethink this. The lobelia and marigold will die off soon. Maybe I should transplant them to the garden.

We had a visit from the cardinal pair. He landed on the bench and then perched on the railing. This is a photo from my chair, it was a tricky shot.

It is nearly summer!

Sunday, I pickled two bunches of local asparagus. After the strawberry/rhubarb crisp, also using veggies from down the road, JB called me Susie Homemaker! I was so proud of myself. I haven't been doing too much in the kitchen lately.

I have a ritual Mondays, garbage day. Usually Cinnamon and I would go walkies after garbage was out, since I was up, dressed, and would use bug spray. He disappeared. AND I forgot to turn on the coffee machine before I left. Terrible mistake! He did not come back in until the afternoon. He must have found his own breakfast.

It looked like a lovely day, and as I hauled the garbage and recycling down to the highway, I spotted a doe.

Look closer! She didn't stay very long.

Going out the back 40, I found a couple of Red Hawkweed, Devil's Paintbrushes as my mom called them, the orangey/red ones. The yellows are nearly done.

 

The catalpa tree is setting blossoms. This is the healthy one. 

Everything is growing like mad. The second catalpa tree (below, left) has sent up shoots and is growing again. This was winter kill, sadly. 

The hops vine has reached the soffat. 

 

Monday I had a rude awakening. Outside the Muskoka Room was Pepper, our infrequent visiting cat, yowling. I suppose I jinxed it, as I thought about how I hadn't seen him in a while. Grabbing the video camera (I knew photos would be tough), I captured him leaving quick and sprightly. I had to look at the time, it was 5:30 a.m. The week had begun.

Animal Power

 Yesterday, I wrote about Fire and Flower Power. Today, Animal Power, but first, a fire update. Maritimes had rain on their 🔥forest fires, which is a darn good thing. They are starting to get a handle on the Nova Scotia fires. We've a new fire, today, west of Ottawa. near Renfrew, they have evacuated people. Blogger Karen has mentioned a couple of fires in Algonquin Park that are out of control. Her family has an evacuation plan. 

Fires near Centennial Lake, Refrew

Monitoring Canadian fires

We are grateful for international help! Both Australasia, and South Africa.

#2023WoFCanadianDeployment
Song and dance from #MZANZI1 as they arrive in Edmonton, Canada.#MZANZI1@environmentza@CIFFC@epwpza@kishugu pic.twitter.com/alj2IEnkuJ

— Working on Fire (@wo_fire) June 4, 2023

🐦The birds: the males came back, and then the female hummingbirds.

The hummingbird feeder attracts other birds: the oriole, woodpecker, and rose-breasted grosbeak. Mr. Grosbeak hovers at the window, looking for fruit, perhaps. It truly is able to hover. 

 

I keep forgetting to check for fireflies in the dark. This one I found dead in the water fountain. I was so sad.

Then, there is Fred. I've decided to try gender-neutral pronouns. (It is Pride Month!) They are definitely building a cozy home (see video). They excavated in the shed floor, but focuses on their home under the lower deck. 

UPDATE: They have now dug a hole under the propane tanks. This is what surrounds the house: large stone and sand for drainage.

They have since stopped!

Fred groundhog from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The catbirds have been pretty active in the front yard this week. I have a video of them from June, 2016. This was so fun! I was out gardening, watching the traffic, and heard these three.

Gray catbird from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I call him Pepper, but he isn't our cat. He's been an unpredictably infrequent visitor. In order to visit us, he has to cross a highway. This is the first time I've seen him in the daytime, and I heard him yowl through open windows at 8 a.m.

pepper from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

OK, must bundle up and put out garbage. Hopefully rain later, the front from the north brought some chilly overnight temperatures.  

 

Tomorrow, I've bear and wood duck news!

Bugs and blooms: yay SPRING!

We've a situation under the lower deck. It is a great place to relax. 😉😜  Aside from bugs and bees! Fred has dug a hole under it, but seems to have moved out. Here is JB relaxing there. I went down to sit with him and a big bumble bee came at us. Then there were three. I am sure they have chased out dear Fred the groundhog. He's been absent a couple of days.

Both of us now have blackfly bites. They are horrid. At least they don't come in the house. This heat will hopefully dry up the running water they rely on in order to reproduce. I thought of this time of year while in the depths of winter!

Fred has redug a hole he made here↓ under the woodpile in 2022. (I'd filled it in.) I still have to stack my wood from our tree branch clean up. I'll have to avoid 'fencing him in!' I worry that the wood will fall on him!

I woke at dawn on Tuesday, and decided to go for it. Donning hat with bug spray on the top, pants and gloves, I dug some dirt, and dumped it into the holes. I caught myself on the camera! 

It's best to work on them in the dark, when the bees are in bed, and it was cold, only 10˚ C., having had a high of 32˚ C. the day before. 

I'll leave this here and see what happens. I have plans B, and C ready in my head. 

So far, no sign of the bees. I think I won! 

I've been having fun on the upper back deck. Most of my house plants are out there. I repotted the orchid, as it was falling over, and was pot bound. Dear JB bought me a new pot and cactus soil. I rearranged my display, as the direct sun is a bad thing. Tying the orchid to the metal tree ornament (it was a gift!), it'll prevent it from falling over in a wind. I've been rearranging. The trick is to avoid having the sun on them, as they are likely to get burned.

They have the most beautiful faces. I'd bet other bloggers could take exquisite photos of them, mine are adequate.

This wasn't a too bad photo, at 5 a.m., as the sun rises. You can see the mosquito hawk on the blossom.

The petunias are delightful.

BTW, we need rain. I watered the front garden Monday night. It is very dry this month. Our average is 78 mm in May, although 2017 was an outlier. 

My serviceberry shrub, bought as a teeny plant, is thriving. I'd bought about a dozen from our Civitan Club, selling them as a fundraiser. They are blossoming! Soon we will have bright red berries, when the serviceberries and huckleberries bear fruit.

The hops vine is up to the upper deck! The white bleeding hearts look lovely.

Visiting cat Pepper has been here. I caught him on Fred's trailcam!

 

Pepper May 27 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I call him Silverback Coyote. He has a lighter mark which reflects the camera light.

 

Silverback coyote from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The deer have been scarce. They should be having fawns anytime. They tend to disappear in May, returning to feast on my hostas. I am ready! The only deer I've seen has been on the frogpond trailcam. He is growing his new antlers! 

 

young buck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Have a wonderful day. Yes, the news is awful. We have to find joy where we can. Bear witness, if you can, protect yourself if you need some self-care.