Yard work!

 

 First, a non-critter tale. Poor JB had the dropsies last week. He broke two dishes. One was a spoon rest. He ordered a new one from Amazon. It arrived. The box was empty! How weird is that?!

Amazon was no help. He phoned Mikasa. They wanted details of his order, date, order #, etc., which I screen captured for him and sent it in reply. 

Mikasa got back to us the next day and we got our replacement in a week!

LDD moths

I spent some time with my spruce tree. Beginning with the heavy sheers, that was a failure, back to the garage. I tried the long heavy lopers, but they were too heavy and useless, even after sharpening them. 

I tried my dad's old hedge clippers, stopping to sharpen THEM, not strong enough. Finally, I used the long-handled grass clippers. 

Before and after:

The moths are mating, and while I can't scrape eggs off of all the trees on our 16 acres, I could do some. 

After the caterpillar stage, they pupate and change into male and female moths. The females are whiter, and don't fly. The males are a dirty beige colour. 

The females are laying eggs in the crook under the tree branch. Also, on the underside of my spruce. It was awful, really. I fetched some soapy water and scrape it all into the can.

I spotted a monarch chrysalis under a branch of the spruce. Then, I lost it. I kept clipping, and found it again. By now my legs were pretty sore, up and down the ladder. 

Out and about

I saw a cicada on the lower deck. Once, I snapped a photo of a pair mating!

Also, the wood frogs are out of the pond and in the woods.

The goldfish pond now has two green frogs. There are three water lilies, as well. I am so pleased. I even counted all 5 fishies. 

Twas a frosty morn!

We definitely had frost. My new sculpture was fine!


The grass was tinged with frost. The pumpkins are done. It would have been fun going around getting some macro photos, but I had work to do.


 I went out for my walk to assess the damage. I'd not put the heater in the NEW bird bath. Nor had I shut off the water fountain. It could have been worse.


It warmed up over the day, from -2 ˚ to about 13 ˚ C., which would lend itself to gathering up the fish. I began at 10 a.m. by running a syphon to begin draining the water out of the goldfish pond. I use an old garden hose, sucking on one end and have to keep checking it. The mud in the pond clogs the hose. It's not a pleasant chore, one which replaced my usual morning workout. I knew what I was in for!


I let that drain, while I set up the bird bath heater, and then went down to the water fountain to drain it. I threw the shards of ice on the ground. They were quite sharp. We'll let it dry up, we might have to use towels to sop it up dry, and then cover it for winter. Usually I put pagan light on it. We shall see.


Back to the pond. They were just taunting me. The tricky part is the sun, which is low and kept hiding behind the trees. It made it difficult to see in the shadows. I have to tip up the cement blocks, which is their shelter. They hide in them, evading capture.


My job was compounded by the five frogs that kept stirring the water and leading me astray.


Back inside for a brief game of Angry Birds, only I was imagining Angry Fish! When I came outside again, the fishies were back in the open.

I could hear some wonderful song birds up in the trees. I just didn't have time to try and figure out what they were. They were a delight to hear, though.


I managed to snag only 3 by 2:30. The little calico was the first in. I went back inside to rest my back and my bones. It took me another half hour to grab 5 more, and then the large calico decided to come in. By 3:30 I'd gotten 10 of the 11. That was good enough for me and my sore muscles.


This morning, all is well. No leaks. Putting on the light, they all floated to the top where they were fed. Friends again. We shall continue this dance until spring.

Making the mistake of partially emptying the water barrel, which drains the roof, and runs into the goldfish pond, I see we expect rain. This is good, as I need the water back in to protect the water lily plant. I don't want the water too deep, since the frogs tend to move in. One year, I caught 22 frogs and took them down to the frog pond.

August 31st Canoodle

What a lovely time of year!

Loons Aug. 2013

I went about 4 km, kept up a paddling speed of about 5km/hr into the wind for a good long way. I haven't been in the canoe for a few weeks, but using my gardening tools, and hauling wood, keeps my arms in shape.

One hour and 12 minutes, but that last leg I let the wind drive me, and I ate my lunch! They aren't all clear, but bear in mind that the wind was strong, I was moving, and there were speed boats creating waves. The loon was in the distance, but you could hear him singing his mournful tune. I feature a 2013 photo!

The painted turtle reminded me of whazzername, in the movie Titanic!

 I shall permit my photos to do the talking.