Crumbly Acres frog tales

The cottagers have fires on in these cool nights. There are so many fires across Canada, I have to stop worrying about that! 

I have a frog tale. 

🐸The frog pond is dry until we get more rain. (That usually happens in October/November.) 

Vernal frog pond in the forest:

The leopard frogs, wood frogs, and others are happy in the weeds and the grass. Until they aren't. I've been 🐸moving frogs from the goldfish pond to the frog pond after frost. I'm wondering is they all dug into the mud they'd protect one another.  They freeze and thaw in winter, which kills them. I moved 154 last year. 

I was watching the goldfish pond, planning out the goldfish transfer to the indoor tank. The frogs begin to move into the goldfish pond for hibernation. The big bull frog sits in the foliage and waits for prey. I'll have to let them be. We've no water near us.

MiniFred has been around. I worry, as this burrow, the part under the deck, floods in spring. I think it is attached to the rain downspout. 

Tall Anenome:

When we locked down for COVID, the grocery store gave me this in a wee 4" pot, and I've managed to hold on to it. Another fall chore, moving the indoor plants indoors! I keep checking the long-term forecast.

The wasps have made homes in the bird house! 

We sit on the back deck when we can. Today it should warm up. I carried this friend in on my sweatshirt! I cannot find any in my photo archives. Interesting critters.

Double-toothed prominent moth caterpillar

Here we go. A new week. The garbage is out. It is a cold morning. It was 8 ℃, I bundled up. 

First snow!

 The snow was a bit of a shock. I knew it was coming. It does signal that we are in that part of the season. It isn't unexpected, but it was still a shock! This was the view out the back deck!

Once the sun came up, it was pretty.

Monday is garbage day. Off I went. Happily, the sun came out and it melted. I didn't have to shovel anything.

These are the sumacs my arborists were going to down Monday. More on that tomorrow.

After taking the garbage out, coming back into the house for a hot cup of coffee, and snuggling under my blanket, is a treat.

The poor rhododendron! I shall have to wrap them soon. That's on my To Do List.

In the meantime, the kids in Ottawa are having fun. Aster's Pathfinder group went down to Parliament Hill. Can you see her?! She told us she was at 9:00 o'clock, and closest to the fire, in the image from the live cam on the hill.

Another Pathfinder adventure, they all went to the Hamilton Ticat football game against the Ottawa Redblacks. This was Caitlin's father's team. JL and Aster on either side of her. The Pathfinders slept in tents on the field overnight. I'm just happy for my warm bed!

The kids in Vancouver are having fun, as well! They went to a community Hallowe'en Party! 

Percy, Cinnamon, spring flowers

 Yes, we won and the appeal was denied for the gun range. The bad news is that the landowner told staff he would appeal the Ontario Land Tribunal decision. It's not over. You can read what we went through to prevent this in our backyard. Too bad the township can't recover costs from all this litigation. Our tax dollars at work. 

Back to real life. We continue to monitor Percy and his two pond mates. He is a sitting duck, you see.  

I tossed in the cedar logs to give him some protection. The pond temperature rose from 2 ℃ to about 4 ℃, the last time I took it.  By the end of the day, Percy followed the sun in the pond, he was a bit more active. 

Percy & Cinnamon from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The Scilla luciliae is blooming on the lawn. It is scattered, and looks so pretty. However, you know how short a time spring flowers last!

Actual crocus! 

This tree has two interesting galls in the trunk.

We had a lovely walk. 

The lawn is greening up. I've uncovered the water fountain. Next project: clean and fill it. 

My client cancelled on Tuesday, I took the opportunity to do a bit more outdoor work. Our temperature rose to 24 ℃ by late afternoon. 

We had the bunny out front, and Fred groundhog out back. Busy times. 

 

The phoebe pair are choosing a nest site.

I've no idea what they were doing overhead, but I ran out back to watch it. 

Easier said than done!

This morning, I played around with a panoramic photo. I'll get better with practice, I suppose! 

A moment later, I tried again. 

Sunrise and sunset

 Autumn weather is always a crap shoot. That said:

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

—L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)

Wednesday morning it was 13 C. here, Saskatchewan was -11 C. It is a vast country. SE winds drove in this storm. We had a front rolling in from the US. We could have snow in northern Ontario. 🎲  🎲  I tell ya! 

Out back, I spotted a hawk. (Archive photo!) It was on the big pine tree out back. It flew into the forest, it was a lovely moment!

I'm still frogging (12 more Oct. 26  = 98), and I also moved a toe biter. It is excellent exercise!

Sunset Tuesday night was lovely.

 

The sunrise didn't exactly happen. The skies were pretty, though. I had fun playing with settings. I really don't know what I am doing, but iPhotos gives me some option. 

This is a fake moon, and I don't know where it came from! 

The colours were interesting:

A new day dawns. For some dumb reason I ordered 100 daffodil bulbs to plant this fall. I was caught up in the spring with flowers! They arrived yesterday. Cheaper by the dozen! It's raining, though. What was I thinking?