Christmas is coming!

 JB decided to change up the area under our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I spray painted the castle red. We won't be using it as a toy anytime soon. It came in handy last year.

This year, we are all set up. Presents are wrapped. We're good to go.

Notice the temperature Saturday morning, -11 C.

JB added more lights to his display, but it was a bit bouncy. Nutmeg jumped up, took a whack at the train, and it fell off the track. I used tweezers to take some fluff out of the train wheels. 

Back in July, 2011, I used a couple of pieces of wood to make a baby gate. It worked really well, but we don't need it anymore. I noticed Daisy climbing on it in the photo. (She's doing well, I've heard, rehomed in an apartment of JB's cousin's friend.) 

The train hasn't been working very well. I took the baby gate apart, and recycled the wood. I had another brainstorm, for Plan C for the train. Splitting the two pieces in half, I cut them up to fit the top of the card table. What a difference it made. The cardboard was to bouncy and the train kept losing contact.

As an aside, while I used my circular saw to cut it up, in the frigid -5 temperatures, I could smell the sawdust and I thought of my father. He was always building stuff. 

It works so much better. Cinnamon is quite cautious. He keeps leaving the room when we start up the train.

Round and round she goes...

 I seldom have nothing to write about. That's a good thing. Joseph Brian's chest X-ray was 'pristine', so he just has a cold that is giving him grief. That is good news.

I did a big online grocery order. I just cannot face crowds, and JB has his moments. JB went in to get it for us. The parking lot was a mess of vehicles. There were long line ups in the store. We had several substitutions, including cat food flavours. They'll just have to put up or shut up! Or go find their own mice friends!

We are finding things to keep us amused. Wednesday, we watched several BBC The Repair Shop shows. They are delightful. The scenery, the accents, the lovely old family treasures. Some pieces are 300 years old. 

With nothing else left on TV, poor JB watched a Christmas RomCom with me. He played solitaire on his computer, but the scenery is usually quite nice. We watched A Picture Perfect Holiday. There were horses, and a sleigh, trees and mountains. It was cute. Lots of different actors, a gay couple propose on a covered bridge. Our lead actress is of medium height and black, rather than being a tall, blond poppy! Things are moving into the new millennium! 

Nutmeg wanted her treats. She made her statement.

She got bored...

She was NOT happy having her photo taken, they don't like the flash.

JB put the train on. She liked that.

Nutmeg & the train

 

They are bonded siblings, and where one goes, the other often follows. That's when I call them Cinnameg!

Cinnameg & the train  

The diversity of life!

The diversity of our spring wildlife continue to amaze me. Many fly south for the winter. They are such an amazing spot of beauty when they come back. It's all the more lovely when you miss something and it returns.

Swallowtails, osprey, goslings, for example. The flowers, as well, are so wonderful to behold.

I am continuing to monitor our nests. It's all very much fun.
🐦FLICKERS 🐤WOOD DUCKS 🐣PHOEBE 🐣ROBIN
You'd laugh if you saw me with bug hat, down at the pond. The last duck box is still full.

I had lunch in Carleton Place, yesterday, with a friend I haven't seen in years. We taught together for many years, gr. 6. We used to go to the GCTC small theatre with subscription tickets. Then, I moved to Muskoka in 2006. We returned, moving here in 2010, and saw one another only a few times. She, as I had, was managing her parents' declining health, and only retired two years ago. It was bittersweet, as she and her husband are likely moving out west.

I had a lovely spinach salad, as I am working on my weight. I've lost 2kg. I've come to terms with losing Daisy, as well as other issues, and things are evening themselves out. Now, it is just discipline.

I drove home, picked up hubby, and off we went to the auction house near Brockville. We have done this drive several times, this time was for a couple of Christmas presents! That said, each time we go, I find other things to photograph.


This house had a theme of repainted red artifacts. I love it.


Free range chicken!


Trains still abound.


And water! Cool, blue, running water.


They have converted decommissioned railway tracks, and turned them into multi-use paths. This is a snow machine trail in winter.


On our way home, we went out to dinner at our favourite waterside restaurant on the patio. This time I had pasta.

We watched the osprey fishing, as well as the goslings ambling around. So precious.
Osprey 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Goslings from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Of course, I have many photos of them all. This nesting platform is near my house.

Last night we were up late watching the basketball finals. Wow. This isn't for chumps. Saturday, we plan on going to the third annual Spirit of the Drum Pow Wow. 

Trains games and bored cats

Trains are a common thing in Muskoka. We are on a long route to the north and access to western Canada. Parry Sound is the place to be for trains.

Josephine, our delightful granddaughter loved to listen for them across the lake. She could identify the sound!

I bought Brian a train set a few years ago. It is a Christmas tradition to bring it out.

Now, a Christmas ritual, we set it up every year. All of us are amused. It requires some patience to get it on the track and running smoothly. Good lessons, once I haven't mastered!.

The train's tracks, like many of us, are wearing with age. You go around and around in that rat race, and things seem to squeak. There are noises never before heard, and moan and groans as we bend over. Things just don't look as they used to. We droop and must become adjusted with the new look.

 There is a solution for the train tracks.
Brian toddled up to Bracebridge to replace the tracks. Oliver, for one, is glad he did! A cheap toy, and one that is sure to amuse.
 For more Camera Critters, #91