Cinnamon's tail

Cinnamon was taking it easy in the heat. He is staying close to home, as well. I think I figured it out.

He was out Sunday night (Aug. 22), and Monday night. I just couldn't keep him awake in the day. We try to keep them indoors at night. Monday he was confined to barracks. Then he slept all day Tuesday. 

Wed., Aug. 26, he was out a half hour, back in sleeping. Now, he doesn't like the wood pellet kitty litter we have, so I think he went out to do his business. Then, he was in all day. This isn't normal. 

We dug up the deworming pills from the cat cupboard, and gave them both a pill. I wasn't sure if he wasn't well.

He seemed to want a walk, but stayed up the hill in the forest watching me go. This is most unusual. Usually, even if he is sleeping, I'll wake him up and ask if he wants 'walkies'. He'll get up and then come out with me. Thursday, he slept with us overnight, which was nice. It seemed a mystery. Thursday, he sat at the top of the hill, and wouldn't venture into the forest. That's a good thing. When I came around, he was on the edge of the forest, but didn't want to go into the meadow.

I thought it through, and wrote down his behaviour, to try process it. Then, I remembered, he was out Monday night, the night the carcass was on the empty lot: The circle of life. I'm betting he had an encounter with the coyote or fox. Probably climbed a tree. 

It took until Friday for him to come walkies. 

He sat here, at the bottom of the hill, on the edge of the meadow, meowing at me in the shade. I'd crossed the meadow.

Along he came... with a pouffy tail. That is a sure sign he is afraid of something. 

He kept up with me. My good little boi!

My poison oak infection is easing up with my meds. Here is one of the culprits. Even though I wore boots, I was careful. My five spots are nearly gone.

I've eradicated it elsewhere. This was mostly poison ivy (below, right, under the tree). I ripped up the vines around 2011. That was an adventure. I ended up at a dermatologist's office, and she recognized the rash right away. 

The poison oak is in a particular part of the forest. I simply wasn't careful this past week. It's good now. It is a specific pain: both painful and itchy at the same time.  It's a pretty forest. The wetland is in the background.

Cinnamon kept up and practiced his tree climbing skills.

Here he is atop the hill (below), our house in the background. Look at the wilted plants around him. We sure could use some regular rain. Our lawn is crunchy. We had 13 mm Sunday.

There are still crows around, hoping for more roadkill. You can see them beyond the dying sumacs.

I love the frogs. If you look closely, you can see about 6 of them, although I've counted 14 at the maximum last week. All but one are facing away from me! The bugs some down the side of the pond, and the froggies go for it.

Gramma Camp – Week 31

 We are here, again. The last day of school is June 25. They've worked hard online, as this pandemic unfolds. Teachers are now writing report cards. 

There is much talk, by those with shrill voices, about how disastrous a year it was for education. I think teachers did a pretty good job, for the most part, in getting them through Virtual School. Kids are being taught how to learn, not to memorize facts. Every year we teachers manage to teach a wide range of kids in one classroom. 

Josephine, being 13, gets her COVID–19 vaccination next week.  We're getting closer to getting people jabbed who want the jab. That'll be good to get past. We'll see if we can book earlier than our scheduled 2nd dose in August. 

Warnings for our girls

This week begins with a warning or three. Firstly, I shall teach them about the 🍃LDD Invasive Caterpillars🐛, gypsy is a pejorative term. Some people are getting rashes from picking up the LDD caterpillars. A lot of hairy caterpillars have poison in their little spiney things. This is what I use to pick them up: reptile feeder tweezers. You can see that each instar is a little hairier than the previous ones.

Poison Oak and Poison Ivy Abound

I'll just leave this here: leaves of three...

Junior Bear

We hadn't seen one yet this year. This one was sniffing around for food. Stretched up a tree???? As he left, the dweeb was sniffing around the camera, and fogged up the lens. I laughed. Junior Bear  

🐣PHOEBE  is doing well. They should fledge June 8 or 9th. Twas a lousy video =>📹, but you get the picture!

The Garden

The weigela is doing really well. It gets lots of visitors, including the hummingbird. I tried to photograph a bumblebee, but you can see how well THAT went!

The clematis just bloomed.

I submitted my caterpillar to BAMONA. I found it on the aspen saplings out back, amongst a bazillion LDD caterpillars. It was confirmed as a 

Copper Underwing
Amphipyra pyramidoides

It's not an exciting moth, but we'll watch it this week, in the aquarium, and see what unfolds.

Devil's paintbrush in bloom.  It's not an artsy photo, like some of my nature buffs, but it is so pretty, the carpet of yellow.

Off we went to the hostage exchange. The air conditioner doesn't seem to be working in our car. We opened the windows. Poor Isabelle! After requesting we close the windows, she tied up her hair, and we opened her back up for the air! Doesn't she have beautiful hair?!

The corn is starting to grow in the fields. Recent rains helped, but we need more.

I wonder what happened here! I've a photo of a bear on the dash cam around here. Who knows?!

We arrived home after the hostage exchange and unpacked. Gramma had a wash to hang, indoors, due to the caterpillars. I hung up their bathing suits, as they'd had a swim at home. They'd visited Hogs Back Park, and the locks, for an adventure. It was Papa's birthday, and they'd done cake the day before. 

"Come on, pose, Jos!" Jos wasn't feeling too hot. She's get better slowly. 

Soon, it was dinner time. Poor Jos had braces put on last Thursday. She'll get some TLC. We discussed a menu, and Jos thought we might play it by ear all week. I doubted that would fly! Jos opted for a soft chicken pot pie. She really enjoyed the crust, nice and crispy. I nuked it, while Isabelle helped me unwrap the BBQ, and get the hot dogs going for us. They are such wonderful girls.

After dinner, Jos used the water pic on her teeth and brushed. It's three times a day for a couple of years! She's not as sore as she was, which is good news.

Cinnamon and Nutmeg were put in the Muskoka Room around lunchtime. I'm keeping them away from the nesting robins and the phoebe out back. I let the cats into the house after dinner, as I was in and out BBQing. Jos saw Cinn, and said, "Cinnamon, did you know I got braces?" The cats roared up and down the stairs. 

They listened to an audiobook together in Izzy's room until lights out at 8:30 and 9 for Jos. Gramma and Grampa watched a show, on Grampa's Chromecast through Amazon (it was a gift!), Rebecka Martinsson. It's a Danish murder mystery series, with subtitles, you might like it A/C. We konked out soon after. 

Everything is growing!

The garden

We've had 4-legged friends by. The garden near the magnolia, I worked so hard building it. It's gone crazy as I have neglected it. I managed it by putting up a fence. You'll recall the dead elm knocked it up a bit. Having the fence meant I didn't weed it much. I checked on it, and I think one of JB's friends got stuck in it, knocking the fence over more, trying to find a way out.

He was after the hosta. I give up!


JB helped me take the fencing down and roll it up. I give up! I don't want Bambie to be stuck in the garden.


Have at it, dude! He's pretty skinny, so he deserves it. One of JB's friends!

After dinner, I heart the barred owl calling a couple of times. Then, the blue jays yelling at it. They haven't nested near us this year. This is an archive photo.

Walkabouts: indoors and out!

BTW – this I bought from the online auction! I quite like it! The violets I grew from two leaves. My father always had African Violets.


The lilacs are nearly done. I wanted to trim the bush, and sent JB in with these for the vase. Now we can see to the backyard!


You are supposed to prune bushes by 25% annually.


Before Monday's rain, I thought I'd go walkies. Hat sprayed with bug spray, long pants, boots. 
 Hooper chose not to go!


The honeysuckle are amazing. They'll produce berries that the cedar waxwings adore.

The flowers!


Then, in the forest... poison oak beside old stumps.


bear evidence


I'd forgotten about the lady slippers, which bloom in June! They are done for the year. Fortunately, I have old photos!

The frog pond is full and lush. I am covered in bug bites.


I've taken an antihistamine as the hives are horrid. I didn't cover up enough. yowsa.

Monday's rain was amazing. We had 20 mm. In the rain, a confused driver! They are sitting half on the left turn lane, as well as our lane.

Make up your mind! from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

People on our nearby lake have been complaining about boat wake on FB. I'm happy not to be there full time anymore. A lot of people do long swims, or use kayaks, which don't go well with speed boats and jetskis. Summer begins.