Crumbly Acres

😷Crumbly COVID update: JB spent Sunday morning resting in bed after breakfast. He has a hand towel in which to sneeze. The headache improved. I checked on him every once-in-a-while. I went out back to read in the fresh air. 

I did manage some sleep overnight Saturday, and when I woke I didn't need the puffer. This is good. But that changed. 

😅Laugh, we must. At lunch I tried to find the can opener in order to open this can.  It's a pull tab. We are not running on all cylinders.

I was peckish, and could taste the Paxlovid. I took a bite of cracker and choked 10 minutes on a crumb. Jeez!  It so hurts to cough. 

😴 Poor JB must have had 3 or 4 long naps. I lost count. If you are tired, you sleep! I think we are on the upturn, but we shall see.

🐦 Now, what you've all been here for, critters!

 The water fountain isn't working properly. I've had to unplug it. I cannot fix it anytime soon, since I have to lift off the heavy pieces. There is mosquito larvae in it, as a result, but I can't fix it. We live in a wetland, and there is standing water there. 

I think this is an Eastern Kingbird.

bird from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Cinnamon watched as I inspected the fountain. Nutmeg (AKA killer) was a bit grumpy. 

One of the plants in my planter died. It just rotted. There is one sprig left. There are viruses everywhere!!! Thankfully, there are back ups, petunias and potato ivy. I think that is a built-in redundancy? I like petunias! 

We had a touch of rain overnight, not enough to do any good. I ought to water my pumpkins, I'll see how I feel. They have taken over the front garden.  Isn't that a hoot? The critters eat my pumpkins, otherwise. This might be the new location for veggies. 

I'd taken these photos day before, but went to look at the pumpkins again. Look at them! The leaves are enormous. I'm pretty sure these are pumpkins. Yes, I'm that kind of gardener. I love the blossoms. So do the deer! I'll bet Fred would love them. 

My cherry tomatoes are wonderful.

The Tiger Lilies, and the Helianthus divaricatus (woodland sunflower) are doing well.

Honestly, Nutmeg!

Our phoebes fledged. Sadly, one flew into the garage, and the parent followed it. That was fun. They flew out eventually. The parent was so concerned. I tried to catch them with the butterfly net on the end of a long bamboo stake. I wore out the fledgling, captured it and tossed it up into the pine tree. The other parent met it, greatly concerned. We closed the garage door, and opened the side door. The door closing scared the other adult, and off it went. Whew.

phoebe fledged from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Thank you, again, for all your well wishes. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Joe Brian is still fighting this virus. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'll leave you with a photo from Lindell Beach, B.C. My three children are all together having an amazing visit. Caitlin has been kind enough to take photos for me. 

Critters, composter, crummy rain

I was so excited. It looked like we were getting rain. I followed it on the radar, and satellite maps.

I was really disappointed. It was a huge storm, with lightning strikes everywhere. I have found that the lightning map gives a good indication of the direction of the storm. 

The North American radar showed the clouds.

The rain predictions were hopeful, but terribly wrong for us! The clouds tend to peter out over the land after picking up moisture from the Great Lakes.

Elora, Ontario, had what looks like a tornado. Some from that way posted a video. Lots of trees were down. There were power outages.

Today, clouds. I don't know if I should water or not!

 We didn't even have enough rain to gather in the rain gauge. It all petered out as it moved across the continent.

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Years ago, I found that the bears liked my big, outdoor composter. One year Bear knocked it over 3 times! I finally got Bear wise and gave up. I saw a message on the Perth Barter Board on Sunday. A woman was looking for one for her home in town. I didn't really need anything in exchange. I washed off the outside, threw it in the car, and we took it to her. 

There were turkeys on Ian Millar's field.

Cyclists are enjoying the weather.

And walkers...

Skateboarders

🏤LANARK LIFESTYLES is working on their senior's complex new building. It is coming along.

Farewell, composter! 

Æthelred is back! YAM named him back in 2016! Of course, that bear is probably gone. In April, 2020, I posted this in 2020: our Bears are on the move! <= We've had bears over the years.

Bear July 30th from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

  📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷

In my MAC photos app I found something whilst fooling around with photos. On my Apple photo stream, if I open an image, and click on the information icon:, it will show you, according to some algorithm, what your plant might be. I found it accidentally, and forgot about it.

This is the front garden. It is lovely chaos. The hummers love the lilies. The deer love the hosta!

I have photos of good years! Clover seems quite keen on the ones near the house. They haven't been this rigorous in previous years.

I do my best, and I know we moved into deer habitat! What the heck. 

tiger lilies & hosta from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

New pond pump

 Things are motoring on this summer. We are half done. The weeds are merciless. It's hot and dry. I've been watering gardens, which I don't like to do with the well water. I need some rain to refill the goldsifh pond, which is fed by the water barrels. 

The goldfish pond pump broke. What a pain. I know, in the grand scheme of things it is trite, but the fishies should have some oxygen. Percy swims like a piranha around the pond. 

I found myself a pump online, at 28% off. I don't like Amazon. You never know where the product is coming from. I usually try to go to a local store after I find what I want, if I can. This isn't true of pond or goldfish supplies. They are hard to find here. 

 I was pretty dumb, though. They seldom have the exact specs for these things. I should have learned to inspect the photos more closely. This is a 1/2" outflow. Of course, they are primarily in Imperial measurements. The important part was the speed and power of the pump. This one said 335 gallons per hour (GPH), which I thought adequate. The pond must have about 300 gallons.

As I ordered it, they suggest this nozzle kit. You know, 'buy it with ____ product.' It seemed it would fit. Except if you look above at the outflow, it is threaded. Below, the smallest connector would be right, except it is not threaded. The instructions said they would fit. While it is not threaded, you wedge it on. 

In hindsight, this set looks OK, but even so, the 1/2" threading = 1.2 cm. I just didn't know.

This what I ended up with. It was a puzzle. It was so hot, I was sitting on the step sweating buckets trying to assemble it. 

The whole thing sits in this cage. It protects it, and ensure it sits upright.

I tried a different nozzle, and this was the result. I went back to the other nozzle. You should have seen me on my stomach, on a rock on far side of the pond, trying to reach it.

The problem is it clogs up with debris and I have to haul it out and rinse it off every couple of days, if not daily. Wait a minute. I'm retired. What else do I have to do? Weed? Yes. This is what I went with. After a couple of days, the height of the spray is cut in half. I have to haul it out and clean it with the hose.

new pond pump from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I cut some Tiger Lilies, for the back deck. You'll have to imagine, again, the female hummingbird who slipped between the railing, and slid behind the vase to feed. I dared not move! I've lots of photos of them. I just listened to her lovely wingbeat in awe of nature. 

Out front: my rose finally bloomed again.

Pond Pump Update:

I had a dumb issue with the pump. I lost the top after I'd cleaned it. I figured it would just run on its own. 

pond pump from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.