Barry Beaver's Work (and ours!)

 It's been lovely, the return of our migrating birds. The bird songs are so joyful. Off I went for a walk. 

The tulips are growing out front. 

Down in the forest beside the wetland, another tree is being worked on. Barry started this before winter set in. He had a winter hibernation and is back at it.

Things are quite frozen, but you can see how it freezes at night, then thaws at the edges in the sunshine in daytime.

💐 Spring Chores

 Keeping up, there are lots of chores to do. I have stayed indoors for a couple of days. It was cold, and rainy. 

I took a photo to remind me. There are plants that need to be moved. The ornamental grasses are being overcast by the growing evergreen on both sides.

I still need to work on replacing this base. I removed the dead wood, and put the Bluebird house on it. Repainting the topper has to wait for warmer (dryer) weather! Joe Brian helped me pop in the rebars that keep it steady.

 

🕷️ TICKS

In the meantime, the ticks have woken up. They like it above 5 C. We had 22 last year. Our biggest year I gathered 200 off of Daisy. 

No good deed goes unpunished. I worked on the flag pole and found one tick on me later. We treated the cats. 

The wood frogs are singing for love! This is an amazing sign of spring.

Near and far...

 It's a bit buggy to visit the frog pond, but I made it. The muskrat(s) have cleared out the foliage. Sadly, the invasive frogbit moved in. 

This happens every few years. I appreciate their work, as it is great having a frog pond in the forest.

A man and his cat! Nutmeg has taken to going back to bed after a morning snack. Normally, she sleeps here in the evening, on his side of the bed. She doesn't like the murder mysteries we watch. In the afternoons, Joe has to nap on my side of the bed. Until this past week. 

This is unusual. She's decided to sleep on my side. 

🕷Ticks

Since May, we've had 15 ticks. I've had 13, and Joe 2 ticks. It's a really bad year for them. Last year we had 17 between March and November. We're getting there. 

I've been getting a lot of gardening done. It's been wild. The more I clear it out, the fewer bugs we'll have. I plucked another tick off my neck! Can you see it? A little black thing near my ear. I could feel it crawling and batted at it absentmindedly. I took a photo to see if I was imagining it. Nope. Off I went to the bathroom and the tick jar. Take that, you blood sucking thing!

The monarch butterflies have begun laying eggs on the milkweed plants!  Here is the first one I've seen. I've a lovely crop of milkweed this year. 

A/C had a question, What do I do with the deerfly on the sticky patches? 

I peel the patch off my cap, wrap it around a stick, and put it in the goldfish pond. The fishies pluck them off and eat them. It is that circle of life! This was from 2022, before Percy perished. 

We've a big green frog, happily eating bugs in the goldfish pond. 

Downtown Ottawa. This is a great pano the kids took on date night last week.

Speaking of kids, my SIL Jean-Luc is off on a ski trip in Santiago, Chile  – with a buddy. 

This is his view out his hotel window!

From his ride on the tram car.

Aster has been doing her online course. Caitlin and Jordan have been working on getting Jo ready for residence in September. He's booked his room at Queen's. They had ice cream at Ikea! 

Joe and I toodled around Perth at the music festival. More on that when I curate my photos. That is the extent of our travels. 

🐸 Moving the Frogs

But first, let's get this out of the way. We went to bed before any results from the US election. I woke at 3:30 and listened to the radio. #47 was giving a speech. OMG

"Word of the day is ‘recrudescence’ (17th century): the return of something terrible after a time of reprieve."

I am gobsmacked. We are moving backwards.

There will be an federal election for us next year. We are worried about right-wing whackos in Canada, yet most of the damage done to our nation is done by a provincial premiers who deny climate change.  'Nuff said. 

Tuesday morning: 

JOE:  I'm going to shave!
Me:   You have fun!
JOE: That's the name of the game today!  

That was yesterday. 

We had an amazingly warm day on Tuesday. We kept busy.

🐸 Moving the Frogs

The result of all that warmth meant that the frogs kept waking up in the goldfish pond. They are now so sensitive to us, that I'll just walk by and they will hide from us. It's tricky. They think it is safe for winter, but it is too shallow.

I've found a pot with a lid, which really helps. The larger, green frogs can jump out, but the lid keeps them secure.

Down we went. Here is a frog who will have a much better winter in the frog pond. 

This is what I found for my troubles. A tick! I could feel something crawling, and picked it off with a piece of tape. 

 

 Nov. 5th We moved 10 frogs, then 7 + 3 + 10 + 3 = 33 froggies. It was good exercise on a lovely day. Joe helped and took turns taking them down to the wetland or the frog pond. 

 2024 total =  128 

I went down to the back 40, the wetland, and owl was there. This is the path I take.

I think she helped herself to the froggies. We all have to eat! I found 3 owl pellets under the owl tree. I'll let it dry, dissect the pellets, and then see what she has been eating. A beetle, for sure! 

I hope you can get out in nature. It's raining some today. We'll need a distraction. 

Joe Brian is under the weather!

 Poor JB is suffering. It began last Thursday night. Day and night sweats, chills as well, headaches, fatigue, stomach pains, rash under one armpit, etc. Two naps a day. I had to do his laundry for him as he was soaking 3 shirts a day. 

Monday, I booked an appointment with the doctor for Tuesday at 4. Trish called Tuesday just before noon and offered two appointments that afternoon as they had a cancellation. I told Trish I'd best pop a bra on, get dressed, and hustle him in! We headed in for 1:30. 

Into the doctor. Turns out he has Lyme Disease. The rash under one armpit is the Bull's Eye rash.  I dropped him off at the Lab for a blood test to confirm it and went back to the drug store for the drugs. By the time I returned to the Lab he was just done. Off we went home. He has Doxycycline pills for a month. Depending on whether it kills the bacteria, we go back in a month and he may get another 2 weeks of drugs. 

🕷Tick Data

There are lots of way to prevent tick bites. The big trick is to get them off ASAP with tweezers if they choose you as a host. Sadly, when my lawn tractor pooched out on me, I got behind in trimming the grasses beside where JB walks. He had a tick bite Oct. 29, 2023, and the pharmacist gave him the Doxycycline for it. He was good then. We'll hope for the best. Still chills overnight. 

2018 harvest

You can see that our tick count over the years is reducing. It just takes one, however. It was 2017 when they released the prevention for cats, Bravecto. You put it on the back of their necks. Works like a charm. In the doctor's office I suggested we slap some on the back of Joe's neck. 

Outdoor joys, things are ticking along

The garden is popping. (Get it?!) 

Banana Man is back. He (or so I assume it is a dude on his way to work) chucks a banana onto our driveway many weekday mornings. I found it when I put the garbage out Monday. Such a dork!

Our Pride Flag was stolen last month. I replaced it and put it here on the arbor. It fell off! It is tricky screwing into cedar. I had to rejig it, screwing it to a 2 x 4 and strapping it to the pole. A drive-by theft can still occur, but it requires them to trespass to do so. I wore my thick t-shirt, and still got bitten in the middle of my back. JB put on anti-itch goop. 

flag repairs from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The tree frogs are out and about. Once mating season is over, they will be working the Hops vine for bugs. 

Speaking of which, the Hops vine is growing rapidly. It is just about up to the roof. The second photo is from May 31!

Indoors, Nutmeg's favourite spot. She'll pick a toy out of the cat toy basket beside her. Cinnamon does the same, as well. Honestly, so many people have lovely living rooms, but this is a functional room for us! When the kids visit, I chuck the blankets behind the sofa. Caitlin is allergic to cats! 

I went out on the front deck, and a red-eyed vireo was sitting there looking up at me! I guess it hit the window. It flew away, thankfully. These are photos from 2015.

The birds are wonderful, singing for love and claiming their territory. 

Bats and birds from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I love seeing the bats eating all those danged bugs! The second part of the video show predawn when the audio has the birds singing. It is lovely! 

I am so happy with both my new flag and my repair. It is June Pride Month!

 

phoebe May 30 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I've a lot to do. Lots of watering, we are so dry. The durn lawn tractor doesn't want to keep its charge. The weeds have been awful. Then there are the ticks. JB had two yesterday. It was an adult crawling on his arm, and another stuck in his back. Duly removed and popped into rubbing alcohol. 

You can compare the adult with the nymph.