Camera Critters

Thursday

 I let the cats out for their 6 a.m. run before breakfast. We let 7 cats in the front door the rest of the day, Thursday. We only have two cats. Now, I'm kinda foggy, not over COVID. I had to think that through and puzzle it out. I think, barring the Cosmic Joker, that since I opened up a couple of screen doors, the wind was blowing after our tornadoes. Things are calmer, though. I could hear the door bang. We'll go with that explanation! Things is, we closed the front door at noon. They still got out after dinner. 😳😳😳

To their credit they didn't bring home any dinner, although we ought to look into deworming meds soon. 

Joe looked everywhere to find a torn screen or open basement door. We couldn't see this opening. After dinner Cinnamon was busted. I grabbed his bum in one hand, his tail in my other. He was most disgruntled. Gorilla Tape to the rescue! I do think it was Nutmeg, though. 

🐢Turtles

On May 3rd, Joe rescued a turtle, hit by a car awhile back, right in front of our house. He took it to Perth Vet. From there it went to the turtle rehab place, Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre. It's been fixed up and is being returned to the area. Volunteers came to our door and want to release it Saturday on a nearby lake.  Thing is they didn't know where the closest lake was. We don't have lake access, and they refused to let them go in our frog pond. We directed them to the Otty Lake Facebook page. Most people on the lake look after shorelines, and prepare fish egg laying habitats, and plant shoreline vegetation. They have a wonderful association. 

Second piece of good news, Joe took in another turtle, quite dead. The rehab harvested the eggs from her and they are getting close to being released. I haven't seen too many lately. We've seen the little ones around over the years. This is a wee one, and a juvenile. They live on land for two years, then off they go. 

🦌I was looking out the back door in the dark one night, and there was a doe sitting on the lawn. 

 

doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

She came back the next evening.

Funny story about my COVID cough. I've been going outside to cough. Fresh air, and spitting phlegm over the back deck. It seems better than into the sink. It is an offensive sound, poor Joe. I was doing that and Fred was out there. He looked up at me, the way a dog does with head almost tilted (archive photo!). I laughed (silently) at him. "What the heck?" 

At this point I am certain we aren't having babies. 

I've not been down to the trailcams in two weeks. The last time I was there I saw our buck hanging out in the frog pond. 

buck July 9 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

A porcupine, the dark blob in the video. You can hear the barred owl, chick and adult in the background.

porcupine from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Friday

At 10 a.m., I had a coughing fit and went out to the back deck to cough and spit it out. Look who I saw! 

buck and doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

They ↑ disappeared, and I could our local hawks yelling. They do that frequently. Video camera in hand, luckily, there were a pair of eagles soaring. The hawks were not amused. People on our local lake had taken photos of them nesting from their kayaks. They nested about 4 km away. 

eagles and hawk from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Saturday's Critters # 554

Good news

OK, short walk on the sidewalk. I'm hoping for pumpkins! I haven't been able to grow them for years. There is something satisfying about planting and harvesting. I've not felt bad about it, as I've never been able to grow enough to make a difference in our household. We've lots of farmers around us, with good, fresh produce. 

I want pumpkins, just not on the sidewalk.I gently moved them aside.

Petunias and Basil.

Lilies

You'll forgive me for long posts. I am bored. Haven't visited trailcams in 2 weeks. Can't discuss issues with Joe. Here's the stuff I'm thinking about. 

🌪 Tornados

We had more good news, aside from not getting a hit by a tornado! People in the area are not so lucky. That said, people listened to the warnings and headed for basement. Thing is, some cottages don't have them. There is lots of damage. We are very fortunate that no one was hurt. It's nothing as bad as Jasper, Alberta, which has been devastated by fire. 

Ottawa Citizen article July 25

 There are citizen tornado reports from Scotch Line, Christie Lake, Bass Lake, and Otty Lake. Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University will be coming to the area Saturday to check the damage and give a full report. Don't you love science, information and data?!

⚽ We are so discouraged with the soccer news and our women's team. Heads will roll. That said, we are grateful to have Hydro and could watch the game. I had two bouts with coughing in the morning. This is an improvement. There are other side effects of all this. I'll risk being crude, you let me know, but I am finding irony where I can. A cough + diarrhea + hemorrhoids ≠ a good situation. If you know, you know. 😣

Water is important. There is lots of science around the study of water. It flows down, fills a container, etc. What I have learned: secure the lid properly, i.e., screw it on all the way. Cue laugh score! Also, when you are having a coughing attack, do not flail your arms and knock your glass over.  Yes, I spilled water twice. 😏 You may laugh at this point. 

I came up with a new chair cover as my chair was wet. 

 

We love our cats, BTW. The peculiar Republican VP candidate Vance has been explaining that single women with cats shouldn't be political leaders. They have no investment in the future, he says, as they continue to mispronounce her first name. (Comma-La, as she writes in her memoir.) Them's fightin' words. Their theory is that they need white people to have more white kids to MAGA. Yes, the great days when there was slavery and all that. Republicans are doomed. 

VP Kamala Harris is a step-mom, who co-parents, and has been lauded by her husband's first wife. She performed her step-son's marriage. Welcome to 2024 dude! The back lash is huge. They are toying with Beyonce, Taylor Swift, lots of women's groups, childless female leaders with cats, who are rising up in solidarity. The future is bright.

😷 COVID

I had a bad morning, still coughing, using the puffer and Symbicort. My nurse friend warned me that I shouldn't use the puffer any more than 8 times a day. I used it 12 times the day previous, still coughed my guts up, unable to get the phlegm out. I cried, Joe fretted. I phoned the doctor's office in the afternoon. He wouldn't see me. He only works Monday to Friday morning, and is on vacay next week. The receptionist told me to go to the ER. I cried, and coughed some more. 

Joe and I discusses what to do. They weren't sympathetic in the ER last Monday, but I didn't have any coughing spells there. I'm sure they thought I was a freak. I just wanted to know if there was anything else they could do. He suggested a nap, and we'd think things through.

We both lay down, and slept for two hours. It occurred to me that I cough more after I talk. I stopped talking for the rest of the day and evening. Do you know what? That did it. I had some minimal spells, but for the most part not that gut wrenching cough as I struggled to breathe. 

Thank goodness, Joe's COVID symptoms are far less than mine. He's been my hero. We'll get through this. He's tired and weak. We are hunkering down. He still has sniffles, but they are improving.

P.S. My cough is lessening, but I getting sinusitis today. 

Good news and bad news

 Well, bad news first. Joe is still positive for COVID. Mind is negative, but I've still got crap in my lungs. Joe went into town a secured me my new puffer. Every time I wake up, it takes ages to clear my lungs. (See yesterday's post.) 

My pumpkins are doing really well. The size of the leaves is impressive. Lots of blooms. I noticed a tree frog on top of the camera.

Remember the spider that took up residence on the camera? Well, across the face of the camera. I'll bet it is gone now. I have a wee defender!

The sick guy harvested cherry tomatoes for his lunch.

I was worried about the fountain and went out to drain it before the storm. I did my laundry, as well. Just in case we lost power. 

Joe's water fountain was unplugged, as it wasn't working. I thought I'd drain it. I just decided I'd plug it in and check. It worked. I filled it up and finally, something on Crumbly Acres was working! 

Ah summer, flowers, green things growing and colour!

Look what rolled in during the day! A big storm, as well as rain. It gave us 10 mm (o.4"). But it wasn't over!

We had nuked our dinners, and settled in for TV. Having gut-wrenching coughing, and using my new puffer every hour and a half or two hours, we were distracting ourselves watching Cold Case. Joe had to pause while I hacked up phlegm. I know he feels so badly! There is nothing anyone can do. For a new distraction...

Yes, tornado warning!  I grabbed our medications, water, puffer, Cinnamon, laptop & iPad, iPhone, and headed for the basement. We've a cinder block foundation and I felt safe there. 

The rain hammered down. Winds blew. 

Nutmeg followed us downstairs, I went back up to bring Cinnamon down. They started chasing one another. She went behind the couch, he jumped up beside me. She jumped up and grabbed his bum. As if we needed more entertainment!

I posted our photos to the family stream, just in case anything happened. Texted with my friend in Timmons, trying to laugh about it. One of Jesse's friends Messaged me, to see if we were OK.. It was very comforting!

The sound of the wind, the rain hammering down on the chimney cover, wind, thunder and lightning. Wow.

We watched the lightning radar, as well as the weather radar. 

Power outages nearby. Our lights were flickering. It didn't actually go off so that we had to reset clocks. 

We didn't get any sort of All Clear from Environment Canada, and this was the best way to figure out if we were good to go back upstairs. I checked the rain gauge and we had another 14mm (0.55"). 

Power outages this morning...

Our total rainfall for the day was 24mm (about an inch). What a day! Let's hope for a quiet one.

Just down the road, 5 kilometres away. Bass Lake.

#ONStorm Rideau Ferry pic.twitter.com/kwLLM2eRzy

— Ace (@mansgame100) July 25, 2024

A tornado has been confirmed at Rideau Ferry. 

#onstorm Bass Lake, Rideau Ferry pic.twitter.com/6BMrjsKtiC

— Ace (@mansgame100) July 25, 2024

#onstorm Bass Lake, Rideau Ferry pic.twitter.com/6BMrjsKtiC

— Ace (@mansgame100) July 25, 2024

Here you can see the obvious tornado on velocity scan earlier as it passed Rideau Ferry headed east just south of Smiths Falls. #ONSTORM pic.twitter.com/9UzpOJELQ7

— Tom Smetana 🇨🇦 🌪 (@twstdbro) July 25, 2024

Dr. Drummond, not too far away.

Hit by a tornado last night. Multiple mature trees uprooted. House still standing. Wife and Dog probably in Oz looking for the ruby slippers pic.twitter.com/Mp2y9V4Lxi

— alan drummond (@alandrummond2) July 25, 2024

Bass Lake near Smiths Falls tonight: pic.twitter.com/ncj2JObmgf

— Lanarkist (@LanarkistNews) July 25, 2024 

More COVID fun: Wednesday

My GP prescribed more Ventolin. He said to use it as needed. You can listen to my coughing 👂. Wednesday, I coughed at midnight. Slept, a glorious 5 hours. It was getting low, but I have prescriptions for more, and directions from the doctor to 'use as needed.'  You can hear why. 

Poor Joe phoned to see if the prescriptions are ready. She said she couldn't refill the Ventolin as my health insurance won't pay for it, as I was given a Ventolin canister July 18th by the pharmacist, as my GP was out of the office. WTF.  I am gobsmacked. The insurance provider decided that based on a certain number of puffs a day, I can't have it yet. This I will fight. They are contraindicating my physicians' orders. The pharmacy said they could refill it, but I'd have to pay the $20 and wait until 4 p.m. In order to breathe? 

They said goodbye and I hoarsely told him I am running out. Poor man. I didn't tell him I am nearly out. He called back and said we need it desperately. No one gets this. He is frustrated and angry. They said a couple of hours. Uh uh. They agreed to an hour. I know they are slammed. But seriously. What a shit show. Poor Joe. He's fighting COVID himself. I'm glad he phoned as I'd lose it. I know I shouldn't take it out on a cashier. He is on he edge, though.

When I am better, I'm getting on this. I'm going to get that money back. Not for me, but for the principle of the thing, and for anyone else who might face this. 

I cannot imagine what people went through for the past few years. This is awful.

A whole new news cycle!

 The world is full of good people. I have to remember that! The new owner of CNN has been steering his employees to the right. But the news cycle has changed. VP Harris' speech was on CBC, CNN, Fox, and other American media. This is a sea change. 

There are a lot of Conservatives who own Canadian media. Even taxpayer funded CBC is criticizing the candidates dress style. Joe commented to me about this. What's with this? 

This is the Toronto Star. Sets back the women's movement 75 years. 

"We care that she’s smart and qualified. Harris was the District Attorney of San Francisco, Attorney General of California, a United States Senator, and she is currently the US Vice President."

Then there is her belly laugh. VP Harris on her laugh:

'don't be confined to other people's perception about what this looks like and how you should act in order to be'

Life imitates art

Trump's been calling Vice-President Kamala Harris stupid names. I've been thinking about bullying. In a movie we watched online, a cop was trying to control a bad dude. Lowlife dude spits in her face. She says, "Is that all you got?"  I'm keeping that line in my head next time. I wish I'd had this phrase in my pocket when counselling my students against bullying. We'd role play, and I'd give my students the language to support themselves. 

 Look what was on social media today:

Second Gentleman @DouglasEmhoff was asked what he thinks about attacks on his wife, Vice-President Kamala Harris, by former President Trump.
Emhoff: “That’s all he’s got?”

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) July 23, 2024

We are making our way through a steamy summer. The To Do list lengthens for me. Laundry piles up, sheets need washing after our night sweats. We're living in a jungle, not so much a wetland! Lawn, fix the water fountain, weeding. ♩♪🎵 "Let it go! Let it go!" 

We had a storm at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday. I was so excited. What did we get? Only 3 mm, with a high temperature of 30℃. It's been hot. Dag nabbit. There is a possibility of tornados this evening. Oh sure!

I haven't wandered far, but out front we've flowers. I noticed that the WELCOME sign is backwards. How fitting! It should say BEWARE. 😆😷

Ain't old age grand? I forgot I planted this!!! 

Wednesday COVID UPDATE:

I had a visit with my GP. He explained that the X-ray was clear. No bronchitis or pneumonia. Good news. It's just COVID! I masked up, obviously, and so did he. He is the age of my kids, and as smart, educated, and confident. It is comforting.

My GP said to take 2000 UI of Vitamin D everyday to fight this damn disease. He is up on COVID, Joe's Lyme Disease, and our old fart issues. Joe takes that anyway with calcium to combat the side effects of cancer treatments (duly postponed until he's over this). 

I had a semi normal cough most of the day Tuesday, until after dinner. This is progress. I'm nearly done my Ventolin puffer in a week. I went to bed, and woke up with that racking cough at 12:30. Used the puffer, headed back to bed. Happy to report I slept after that until 5 a.m. this morning. A miracle.

Joe is planning a prescription run this morning. His COVID reaction is no where near mine. Thankfully! He'll phone first to make sure they have his new puffer, my new puffers, and then get us more headache meds. The headaches are awful, as well as the sweats.

There is hope. It is slow progress, but progress is happening. This is why I record what is happening. It's all in your perspective. I had a nap yesterday afternoon, which was lovely. 

Anyway, there is hope. 

Thank you for your support and encouragement. I really appreciate it.