Houston, we have a problem

Saturday morning, I was about to sit down in my comfy chair and do my blogging. Something was hanging down from the soffit. It was a board from the roof. There were three more on the ground. 

 Twas a bit of a mess. I cannot imagine that Butch could do this, but I guess they could. It's my own fault for leaving the feeder up. It was the small bird feeder, the globe feeder, the blue jays are too big for it. The handle was bent. 

It must have been a sight as the poor thing fell to the ground. The boards just pulled out of the roof as the nails were pulled. Lovely holes into the attic. The sun was in my eyes, and the camera lens. It looks pretty artsy!

The boards are nailed into the beams, fitting into one another in a tongue and groove manner. I can't tell you how anxious it made me. I was trying to figure out what to do. Just panic. I know there are many serious things going on in the world. It's amazing how such a small thing made me so upset. I apologize to JB. He's been so good to me. I couldn't see properly to do this. 

We phoned a handyman, advertised in our paper, who couldn't come until the next day. I didn't think it could last overnight. Everyone would be seeking shelter!

Posting this on Facebook, I had a hero. I fetched the ladder, the drill, several screws. Scott Dobson and his buddy came and reattached the boards. What a relief. I could imagine all sorts of critters getting in there and into the attic. I gave them both all the cash we had. All Scotty wanted was gas money, but that ain't cutting it for people who rescued us on a Saturday morning! I insisted.

It took me hours to unwind. Poor JB! 

It was quite a day, with a thunderstorm in the afternoon. It didn't look like much on the radar, but there were thunderboomers! 

During the storm, I went onto the deck to move the Muskoka chair under the eaves. I found a friend. I yelled at JB, who brought me the bug catcher. A HUGE dock spider. The bug catcher is 8 cm (3") wide.

In the meantime, another mystery. I suspect it's a small coyote. The tail looks a bit small. Maybe it got wet in the rains! I combined the two trailcam videos to track it.

If you recall, the wood ducks have fledged. There were two eggs unhatched. I put them down in front of the trailcam, far from the nesting box. Butch picked them up and moved them. I assume they ate them at some point.

We have Junior Bear #2 in the forest.  The first photo is Bear #1, the second bear #2. I haven't seen Booboo bear since May 22. 

We had a momma go through in November, with triplets. These could be them, looking for food or territory.

Here he is in all his glory!

Junior Bear from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

What is with our earth?

Flooding in the east in Canada, specifically New Brunswick, now out west. Turkey has had massive floods, as well. Poor Hawaii, with the lava flows.


New Brunswick had a quick melt of snow, which overwhelmed the rivers, along with much rain.

Devastating flood levels in and around the Greater Saint John area in New Brunswick haven't waned. Water levels are forecast to rise further and some homes are partly submerged.

Nearly 2,000 residents live within recommended evacuation zones:https://t.co/0jG7g8RWIR pic.twitter.com/NfwOIlUiNW

— CBC News (@CBCNews) May 6, 2018

In British Columbia, in the interior, they had fires last year, and this means they are at risk for flooding.

They were burned once and don’t want to be burned again.

Nazko business owners hard hit during B.C.’s record-breaking wildfire season in 2017 have been dealt another blow from Mother Nature, as flooding in the area continues to wreak havoc.

The story: https://t.co/NWzj4W5EJ7

— Neetu Garcha (@NeetuGarcha) May 7, 2018

There was a windstorm on Friday here in Ontario.

Hydro One has every available crew helping to restore power to customers as we enter our fourth day of restoration work. Since the start of the wind storm, Hydro One in partnership with neighbouring utilities has restored power to over 560,000 customers.  

All we had was shingle damage from the windstorm: my initial repair job: A massive windstorm. Back on the roof, I realised I needed to caulk some of the shingles. Some were broken in half, and, while I put the puzzle back together, they weren't sticking together anymore. I sent hubby off where he bought some caulking. My friend, who works in Home Hardware, told him that they ran out of caulk on the weekend, and had to order more in.

It's a nice view from the roof. I had to wait until I could get hubby's attention, as I'd remembered the caulking gun, the caulk, gloves, but forgot a nail to pierce and open the tube.


Then the vultures came around. It was a bit creepy. I imagine they could smell the remains of the grouse 100m away! All that is left of it is a few tail feathers, and its ruff, which is in the garage to show my grandkids.


I killed some time until I heard him in the garage and yelled. He had strict orders not to watch me go up and down the ladder. He makes me nervous. That's the worst part for me. He threw me up a nail.


Roofing from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

They ran out of caulking at the store in Perth on the weekend. I see why. The odd shingles are missing here and there. We have rain today. That will be a fine test.

Mailbox madness

It's supposed to be March Madness, but it was mailbox madness.

My mailbox was tipsy, after the big storm. Garbage wasn't picked up. In hindsight, I bought the wrong kind. The previous one was metal, I thought the new one would be a good heavy-duty one. Turns out, it is meant for the two-piece ones, like those in the 2nd photo. Whoopsie.



I didn't know how to attach it. The holes were too large. According to the side of the box, you can buy this plate, but I still didn't see how. It's amazing how many US products we get. It meets the US Postal Service guidelines, the box brags!


I figured out that I could use the above brackets, inside the box, and screw them length-wise on the inside of the mailbox. Thanks to my specialty drill attachments It worked out. These are two pieces, the elbow attaches to the length extender. Yay, Lee Valley Tools!

It was a cold, cold day. (Duh!) I was wearing my sunglasses and couldn't see the inside of the dang box, either. I sort of felt my way. I was cold, peeling off my gloves, but inside the mailbox, in the sun, it was warmish.

The rural mail truck came by. I told her that I was dubious that it was going to work. She handed me my mail.

File photo!
Right-hand drive!

Traffic zipped by, but I got the job done!



My water bottle froze. But we've got mail!