Cinnamon, deer friends, precipitation

My amaryllis (bulb #2) is still blooming. Cinnamon was looking out for it. OK, maybe he got bored watching squirrel TV.

 

This is from a few days ago. We had snow, and it accumulated on the deer's faces and backs. There were 20, in total. They all get a mouthful of deer feed, not much more. It keeps us all happy.

deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I love the way they sleep under the white pine trees.

Mamma and fawn were sitting side by each. She was vigilant. 

Eventually Momma went to sleep! The fawn kept watch. The coyote don't venture into our backyard, except in the dark. 

Clover still has a wound on her back. Perhaps a wire fence or something. It's not infected, as far as I can tell.

Can you see them way at the back?

I still have trees to work on.

The difference between February and March is that the driveway melts in the 2 C. days!
I saw something interesting on my morning show. Kelsey McEwen, the weather woman, was explaining why and how the snow melts out to different amounts of water. The temperature affects how much water ends up with wetter or dryer snow. She shows that 25 mm water ends up being 12, 25 or 50 cm snow, depending upon the air temperature. 

This is my most recent data. The second last column is the snow fall, the last show how much that snow melted down to inside the warm house.

We'll see what March brings! It was 2016 that had so much rain. Last year there was a fair bit of rain. 

Today we have freezing rain. The critters take shelter on these days.  

Masking in spring

How do N95 masks work? Yes, they do work, if you wear one. 

That said, our big Ontario March 9th announcement is that March 21st, face masks are no longer mandatory in most settings, including schools. This is ridiculous. March Break is from March 12 => March 20. Kids who travel have to wear masks when they return, according to federal rules and regulations. Why couldn't they just delay this two weeks? A lot of families travel, like our Ottawa kids.

Our numbers, according to waste water tests, are rising. Since we have a provincial election on June 2nd, the government (seeking re-election) has stopped most testing, except in hospitals. 

Parents across the country are fighting with provincial governments (whose responsibility is healthcare), trying to lobby for masks in schools, at least for two weeks after March Break. One school board, Hamilton-Wentworth, is the only one keeping mask requirements. They are brave. Local health units are able to designate mask requirements, but they won't stand up to the province. 

This is a superb video! My SIL found it online. My massage therapist (designated as a healthcare setting) requires us to wear either a surgical mask or an N95.

OK, enough of that. We continue to monitor all that goes on in the world, with great dismay. We are privileged, here in Canada, that we can worry about COVID–19, rather than bombs. 

We had two days of rain, but snow still remains. 

The primrose look pretty happy with that. 

More signs of spring...  I've set up my zoom lens and put the camera on the tripod in the front window. 

SPRING: the grackle appeared on the horse chestnut tree branch on Sunday. The grackle has flown in in all its finery! It sat on the branch and looked back and forth

The cute, happy little chickadees!

I heard the song sparrow singing as I put garbage out this morning. So pretty!

This is from July, 2020:

song sparrow from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

May showers

We had our "April showers, bring May flowers..." Except in May. Things are late. There were some thunder and lightning to the south of the lakes.

Actually, May showers have been scarce, too. We've had a range from 30 mm in May to a high of 192 mm in 2017.

The ticks haven't been bad, since the cats have had their treatment, and haven't had any more embedded. I had my 2nd tick, however.  I think I know from whence they came, where I check on the nest boxes. I plan on creating a path when my lawn tractor comes from from repairs. 

We don't have nearly as many ticks as in previous years, as these cats aren't sitting out in the long grasses. 

It's wonderful seeing the birds return. The sparrows have been frequent visitors. Chipping, tree sparrow, white-crowned, white-throated, 

A Baltimore Oriole tried tapping on the window. I don't know what he wanted! We had one hanging around last year. Our trees are in bud, we should have leaves and lilacs shortly!

I participated in my first Zoom meeting, having supervised several with the grandies. I'm on the Citizen Panel for ODPRN.

♪♫♩♪ Everything's comin' up roses

Honey, everything's coming up roses and daffodils
Everything's coming up sunshine and lollipops
Everything's coming up roses for me and for you!

     Songwriters: Jule Styne / Stephen Sondheim (1959)

One of my lilies, not decimated by lily bugs!


There are many berries, too. The honeysuckle, for example. Happy birds and happy bears!


My yucca plant has grown like stink. When we arrived home from out west (June 8), it was about a foot high! It's about 3 1/2' high, 4 weeks later.

This is a plant from two years ago. Not a peony, Yam! Our peonies have had the biscuit, with the heat. I cannot recall its name, but I'm working on it!

 

The petunias are so pretty!
 

Coreopsis 

Aren't they pretty? Lots of variations. 

brown-eyed susan

Bucky 2 had a bit of a feast in the back 400,
traipsing amongst the milkweed and daisies.
We have two of similar size and age, but their budding antlers are different.