We begin another week...

What a lovely way to start the day. It was 5:30 a.m. and I could hear kitties playing in the hallway. We have stopped locking them up in the bedroom at night. Might as well get up. There was some coughing and sneezing, but I got things cleared out.



Into the kitchen I went, followed by Annabelle and the kittens. I grabbed two cans of food, one is Annie's can of diet food, and the other, kitten food. I put Annabelle's food down in her dish, she being the senior member of the group. Imagine my surprise. Little Nutmeg had whipped around the corner of the island, and was eating Annie's food.




Annie was sitting and watching patiently. I put kitten food into the other two dishes, and set them down for Cinnamon, in front of the door, contemplating what to do. What the heck. I just let nature take its course.



There was peace reigning in the kitchen.



The kittens are relaxing more. Nutmeg is now coming into the kitchen. I lure her into the living room and toss treats to all of them. As with small, yappy dogs, she is the runt and has to pre-defend herself to Annabelle, who hasn't a mean bone in her body.

deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I switched the better trailcam out for the other. I'm sorry I did. It didn't capture the quick red fox!

 
fox from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

My artsy trailcam video.

 
sun deer IMG_0084 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

JB put out the garbage Monday morning. I fetched the trailcam cards and brought the recycle bins back. He fetched the mail and I vacuumed. Those were our total achievements of the day!

Actually, I participated in an ODPRN teleconference from 7 to 9 p.m., which is easy when you have laryngitis. Just mute the phone, type in comments on the conference page, and listen. JB and I are still fighting this cold. His is worse, mine has gone into my head. Buckley's is the answer. (JB just took some Buckley's. You know you're in a bad way when you resort to this. "Good gawd," he said, shuddering.)

Happy trails, dear reader. So many have such marvellous adventures!

Pumpkins, selfie, and critters

It's been a week since I got dressed. I went out to fetch trailcam cards in my jammies, wearing my long, winter coat. Sunday, I managed a lovely sit on the front deck, reading in the sunshine, under a wolf blanket.



Saturday, I posted about Maggie, our deer with the dislocated ankle. Today, the other critters. I switched from videos to still shots, just for a change.

By the time I went outside to collect the trailcam photos (2 days worth) we'd gotten 693 shots on the one camera! Note the snow cover.



The turkeys are so big.



I love the eye balls in the dark! Oh, and the butt!



From Nov. 20, the snow melted in the 4 mm rain. Then we had hail, Nov. 22!

hail from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Remember our four release raccoons?

pumpkins from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.


Meantime, Friday morning...

Fri. Nov. 22 @ 11:30 am – Overturned pickup truck in Perth https://t.co/YeuOCMg9ZW

— Lake 88 (@lake88fm) November 22, 2019

Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Annabelle

I've been smacked upside the head with a chest cold. I slept in my chair last night, so I could sit up and sleep, rather than lie down and cough.  I haven't had a bad cold in 2 years. Neither has JB, who is not as bad as I am, but not doing well.

It was the first night we left the door open to the guest room, when the kittens have been. Everyone says to keep them isolated in one room to get them used to life in a new house. Well, we let them roam in the day. They know where the litter box is, and they feel safe there. Of course, sitting in my chair, at 5 a.m., Cinnamon decided to lobby me for food. It was lovely. Big mushes, and making dough. I fed them all, and went back to bed to sleep for a few hours. This morning, sinusitis.

The kittens are doing well. Baby Nutmeg is reluctant to come out into the living room.

Annie's favourite spot, in the living room, high up on the caterpillar.

Nutmeg is afraid of Annie, who is constantly after their food. We are letting Nutmeg be her shy little self. She likes JB's office, as well as her bedroom. They love playing together, the twins. The bathroom is a great place to knock around ping pong balls.

Annabelle is simply looking for food, not a mean bone in her body. "I'm a pretty girl. I should have more food!"

I'd just fed her in the kitchen.
Here she is mushing the wall outside the bedroom.

Nutmeg cowers under the bed, growling her little heart out.



In the office.



Bigger brother, Cinnamon, is a doggie digger. In the litter box. It flies. I will be happy when they are using the litter box in the basement.

I snagged a photo mid-meow! The rocking chair pad is a quilt my grandmother hand-made. The rocking chair is where I breastfed my three children (now 34, 36 and 40 years old)!



They are lovely entertainment. We are so happy to have taken them in. The shelters are full. They'd lived two weeks at the vet's, where they'd been turned in. Now they are having the time of their lives.

Deer friends: Maggie

Nov. 20 – JB and his friend. I realized, when I examined the trailcam photos, that this is our little doe with the dislocated ankle. Ungulates is the name for these hooved animals. Their lower legs are actually their feet. So her ankle is actually the part we think is dislocated. I don't think it is broken, but I could be wrong.

We are both so happy. She's hung in there for several years. Poor Maggie, as we call her. 

She's had a dislocated ankle since 2011: 

Back when I used YouTube – 2011

Hunting season rolls around again... – Nov. 2016

Maggie, the dear deer
Maggie, the dear deer – Dec. 11, 2016
Maggie: Broken-legged deer video – April, 2017
JB talks to her. – Nov. 28, 2018
Video: March 16, 2019
Pileated woodpecker, Maggie, et al – April 7, 2019

JB is over the moon, spotting Maggie. We've been keeping tabs on her for years. They won't wear name tags, the only way we can identify individuals is by their behaviour. Tigger was a young fawn we watched for years. He was special, too. We think he's gone.

Watch how she waits as he puts food in the feeder.




They are beautiful critters. This seems to be a mom and yearling.

deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Visit more critters:

Saturday's Critters #310

How was your week?

What a week!

Monday: Don't tell the kids!

How could I lose TWO 32 GB SD cards in a week?  I bought another replacement Monday, after physiotherapy for my hip bursitis.

I phoned my eye clinic, maybe cataract surgery in January. (I'm getting headaches from the right eye strain.)

Tuesday

We had such fun on the weekend. Now, managing my cold, I am simply grateful I'm not working. Remember those days, retired teachers? You have to phone your principal, vice-principal, or your occasional teacher. Then, driving into the school at 6:30 (in the dark) to lay out some better lesson plans. You have to weight the decision about staying home with what is going on in the classroom. I'm glad those days are done.
Bronchitis has reared its ugly head. I am taking the week off! (JB shared his cold!)

Miracles of technology: I went online and ordered a refill of my puffer. I still have my spacer inhaler. JB went into town and picked the inhaler up for me.

Wednesday

I phoned my client to let her know I was sick and wouldn't be in on Thursday. I spent the day watching TV, drinking plenty of fluids.

Hooray for CNN, featuring the impeachment hearings. That has been entertaining. Dr. Fiona Hill was a powerhouse. I am woman, hear me roar! 

Interesting dichotomy:
Women like Fiona Hill, Laura Cooper and Marie Yovanovitch stand strong and speak truth to power ...
While men like Pompeo, Bolton, Pence, and Mulvaney cower in a corner, afraid of everyone and everything. #ImpeachmentHearings #FBRParty #BlueWave2020 pic.twitter.com/1heDaQkQ4u

— Rob Szczerba (@RJSzczerba) November 22, 2019

Thursday

I was up at 3:30 a.m. clearing out my lungs. JB's cold is worse, too. He thought he'd done OK and was recovering. We had a conversation. His mother, and my nonagenarian client, both claimed that you get a cold when you don't wear your scarf! (i.e., You get a cold from being cold.) Sigh. I'm glad we have science and symptom relief. (Sudafed, Nyquil, a puffer, lozenges, etc.)

We had 4 mm rain overnight.

Lisa Laco, CBC morning show host in Thunder Bay says:

Oliver-Paipoonge municipality has declared a state of emergency. Heavy rain last night followed by snow created icy, slippery conditions. plows can't even get out... so sand trucks can't either...and that means little access for emergency vehicles as well. The mayor pleaded for people to stay home.

Since last Thursday I've been filling in a Numeris survey of our TV watching. It's been a hoot. I look like a total couch potato, after feeling sick all week. I'm glad it is done. It isn't all that normal, after being away on the weekend, and all. It's rather funny. We're not in the target demographics for anyone.  

Friday

Nutmeg's still staying at one end of the house: her bedroom, JB's office, bathroom. Cinnamon roars up and down the hall, the stairs, onto Annie's catapillar. Once, when Annie was in it! We're respecting Nutmeg's shyness. She'll growl when Annabelle goes into her bedroom to steal yummy kitten food!

Cinnamon, braver than his sister

Well, hooray it is Friday. Snow on the way! Winter, bring it on! 

The kitties

Monday

Monday morning JB nipped out after breakfast to bring the kittens home. Another $150 shelled out in boarding fees, but they couldn't go to the kennel. They had to go to the vet, since their vaccines aren't complete.


We all watched TV Monday night. Annabelle and Cinnamon in front of my chair. Nutmeg from under the TV stand, keeping her eye on Annabelle.

We adopted Annie in 2015. She is loving their rich kitten food. She doesn't really notice them otherwise. Nutmeg guards her food, growling loudly to keep her out of the bedroom, where we feed them separately. [In case you have forgotten: We have a new baby: Annabelle cat.]

Can you tell them apart??!!

Cinnamon



Nutmeg



They really like JB's office, Cinnamon found the bed first. He looks out at the birds at the feeder from this vantage point.

  

He's not learned to stay off the table, yet. That cute little face!



Nutmeg



🎂More news, another birthday gift. TWO birthday gifts! One for JB, and one for me. All the way from Jean in New Zealand. She is amazing. She is such a generous woman.


We are blessed!