Summer flies by

The water fountain needed work. I always have to clean it halfway through summer. I took it apart. The deerflies were flying. I wore pants.

We've really hard water. There are always deposits that build up on the pump. I cleaned it out.

That looks a lot better!

Our milkweed has the first Monarch caterpillar I've spotted. The first one was July 27.

I found more! I spotted our one Monarch laying more eggs. They eat a hole once they hatch, which is a good sign. The leaves are covered in aphids, the wasps and ants eating the aphid poop. It doesn't seem to matter to the caterpillar, I think.

It's a good supply of milkweed. 

 

The Tiger Lilies are in full bloom.

The Cedar Waxwings zoom about, peeping their pipsqueak sounds, like a little squadron.

Float plane overhead:

Butterflies abound, Black Swallowtail, Monarchs!

Cinnamon was watching for mice friends. Fred was feeding. We haven't only seen Fred for the past few days. I am hopeful but not optimistic.

My veggies are limited this year. I have a couple of cucumbers. Cross your fingers.

 

We had a nice storm yesterday afternoon. There was smoke from the fires out west. It cleared the air. I took a panoramic photo for fun. 

We're on the edge of a storm today. 

 

Circle of influence on Crumbly Acres

 Our circle of influence is small here. We are retired, don't socialize much, but we watch and discuss the horrific news. 

With the heat wave, going out is quite something. This isn't normal for June for us.

I sent Joe out for an early morning walk. It's good to keep moving. MiniFred kept an eye out!

The deerflies are out in full force. Cinnamon is not happy. He hunkers down in the garden.

Poor Cinnamon had a deerfly bite, I believe. I parked him on the table to have a look at eye level. He was fine the next day! 

Then, there are the poor deer! They really suffer.

 

I finally snagged a half-decent photo of the Scarlet Tanager! It took perseverance. He kept bathing in the water fountain, but the moment I stood up, off he flew!

We had a goodly dump of rain. It filled the goldfish pond. The fishies were happy. The water is collected in the water barrel, and drains into the pond. When we have rain!

Froggy seems happy.

Others didn't quite make it through the storm unscathed.Despite evacuations from campsites, there were three incidents I heard of where campers had trees blown on tents or trailers. Thank goodness for emergency responders. There was one death, another where a camper van was struck by trees and the man had his leg broken:

• Storm downs trees, knocks out power in Mattawa, Ont., area

a third remote rescue where

• Rescuers saw, paddle their way to badly hurt boy in Algonquin Park.

I do like this hanging basket. 

You may think me silly, but I left the Bugloss to bloom on the lawn. The Monarchs, when they fly south, like it. 

Look at the milkweed! The purple petunias are doing well, and smell wonderful.

Still no House Wren eggs yet. 

Green, green grass of home!

Yes, home is where the heart is. Travel isn't any fun for many.

🛬 U.S. travel: a Canadian reports: 

I knew a storm was coming on Wednesday. Joe was off to shop. I decided to make a sandwich, then hustle out, and do the lawn. That was my mistake. The radar was wrong. As I ventured outside, the rain drops began. Weeds and grass were getting shaggy, and very long over the septic bed. You know how that goes! "The grass is always greener over the septic tank!"

I did a quick job, as the rain poured down! I was soaking wet and had to have a shower to warm up. The daffodil garden is looking good. I planted two new plants here. We'll see if they survive, although I can see leaf buds. I've had high hopes. I don't know if this is the garden you meant, Mary G! 

 

That storm was amazing. It's easy when you have a roof over your head. We are always grateful. Sadly, there must be some debris in the eaves at the end. Again. I'll have to get the ladder out and get up there. 

In the meantime, Aster had her 15th birthday. They posted photos for us on the family photostream. We'll see her Sunday, and have decided that this year is the year for cash! We sent money to our grandkids out west. They turned 7 and 10 in April and May. It's a busy month for birthdays. It's just too difficult to find just the thing, especially since we are so far removed from them.  Then there are the teenagers!

Here are the Ottawa kids' school photos! I made a collage. 

Jordan graduates this year. 
Aster goes into gr. 10 next year.

In between storms, I managed to get on the roof and clean it out! It wasn't much debris, but enough to clog it all up in the heavy rains. 

Icy Crumbly Acres

 I had a fun post all about Fred all prepared. I did a new panoramic photo for my header, and the snow fell. I'll leave the half-snowy one up. For now.

Next the ice warnings came. Then that changed, and we had 15 cm of snow. The wind blew, and it was quite a mess outside. Getting the snow off the pine tree branches is a good thing. We spent thousands of dollars cleaning up after last years' storms. 

Homes along that line of storms, had ice rain. This was posted at 6:28 a.m. Saturday.

Saturday morning, there were some power outages across the province. By the afternoon, there were quite a few more. My friends in Muskoka posted photos of ice coated branches. There were about 10,000 people without power there.

 

You may think me a typical Canadian for talking about the weather. 'Spose so. Thing is, if we lose power, we don't have well water. We've a fire place insert, and can keep warm and stop pipes from freezing.  It was awful across southern Ontario. Of course, today is worse!

Thursday I put a container in the tub. This is for water for the toilet. It is easier than fishing it out of the bathtub. Sadly, the green tub leaked. Happily, I figured that out Friday morning and put another tub in the tub. Just in case. 

We ran the dishwasher, and prepared for the worst, while hoping for the best on Friday.

Saturday morning it was quite a sight. Joe was standing looking out the window and saw a fisher lope by. You'll have to believe me! It didn't trigger the camera 😥, but it did leave tracks.

I hustled out with my snow blower. The video shows where the fisher went. It didn't turn up on the Crumbly Acres camera.

I had toyed with the idea of taking the snowblower down to the shed in our mild weather last week. I am glad I was hesitant. 

My job was to clear the snow, since ice rain on top of snow isn't pretty. 

 I bundled up. It was cold.

We anticipate 13 ℃ and more rain. It is important to get rid of that snow in order for the rain to be able to drain off the driveway. 

It was so deep, very wet, and warm on the asphalt, the blower sort of rode up over the snow fall. 

This eventually ended up in good condition. Not this morning! I can see the bird feeder in the dark, and it is covered in ice.

This morning we have rain, but it is freezing to the trees and everything else. I guess that is freezing rain! Such a massive storm. The side walk dried up, but it is icy. I didn't shovel the back deck, and there is a fine mess of water on top of the snow.