On Crumbly Acres I Tremble

 These are our neighbours, I 'spose. Those who begrudge their fellow citizens a social network. It's a common sentiment by some. 

Others believe we need to feed, clothe and house the poor. We need a minimum, living wage. I was on a board where their ED was moving away. Others on the board wanted to increase his salary. There is a lot of networking and pressure.

One of our Canadian cartoonist, Michael de Adder. 

The US Ambassador to Canada is a bit of a turd, too. Rather a typical, arrogant MAGA. 

We didn't! We're just not buying them! 

I was interested in this decal on the back of the van. Maximum capacity, 11?!

🎯 Former OPP Gun Range <= here is my long tale

To sum it up: "The existing by-law does not permit a shooting range or gun club at the property."

We have big news around the proposed gun range nearby. The landowner has been relentless, BUT the law suit has been withdrawn. He has an American litigious mindset. (He is a dual citizen.) It turns out that he has sued our township of DNE, really pissed that he didn't get his gun range. There were some issues around the history of the former gun range. 

It was based on a deposition by someone who claimed to shoot there in the 70s. It was contradicted by another person who was allowed to hunt on the property back in the day, and swears there was no gun range prior to the OPP taking it over in the 90s. The OPP have stopped using from the location when the property was about to be sold. 

💰DNE is going to sue for costs on behalf of taxpayers. Never mind the time and energy our elected officials and staff have spent on this issue. Or the 500 signatures on the petition against rezoning. I summed up the timelines, and it all began in September, 2022. 

Happy Dance!

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Travels and critters

 🛬 U.S. travel

I am not worried, much. My son travels to the US on business Monday. I've been tracking what has been happening to US visitors, even with Visas. It's not pretty. I've spotted 22 incidents, and I am sure there are many more revoked Visas. 

#22. 🇦🇺 Aussie ex-cop jailed & deported from US after cuffs, arrest, 3 cavity searches. She was terribly mistreated. Her husband is in the US military.

Birding has been strange. So cold, but the birds are still singing. Another single-digit ℃ morning! 

The frog likes his rest spot, a piece of wood I threw into the pond.

I left the guest room door open. Cinnamon was looking for a snuggly spot! He landed on top of my repaired jacket, yet to be rehung. 

This isn't too exciting looking, but #75 has ventured up a different tree. It'll be two week on Tuesday. There is progress. 

When he went back into his box, he neglected to bring his tail in! I'm inclined to think he met a predator. I tossed his food ration out between these two tree and he leapt out of his box, and hustled up the tree.

She wanders away to feed, but they stay there by the hole. I don't know why they don't use the exit in the shed! She's moved two more rocks out. I guess renovations are continuous! 

I love watching them. These sweet head bumps! 

Another cute video of Fred and her kits. They will be gone before we know it. 

Saturday's Critters

We'll start with the bad news. I made my way down to the dock. There was an egg, devoid of contents. I am terribly discouraged.

Sure enough, the eggs in the wood duck nest box were cold. No duck in the nest. It breaks my heart. Yes, it is the cycle of life. The mink, raccoons and weasels need to eat. 

 

 I think #75 is beginning to regret his new B & B! He hasn't ventured far. While he gets breakfast once a day, it's cold outside.  It's been 11 days, and he is still here. He could stay, he could move! 

   

 Butch has been out and about. 

 

 We were in the living room, when Joe spotted a doe. 

The deer fence worked.

   

 The trailcam on the driveway has caught several critters.  

 The quick red fox! It sort of stared at the house for a moment. They learn about humans and their structures.

 

Saturday's Critters # 597 

Crumbly Acres Nursery

💉Joe had his quarterly Lupron injection Thursday. He has his PSA test next week. It was interesting hearing the information (ignorance and misinformation) about Joe Biden's Stage IV prostate cancer diagnosis. People have confused the Stages of Cancer (from I - IV) and the Gleason score (9), specific to prostate cancer. These are two separate things. 

Joe's has had a cancer diagnosis since 2013. His Gleason score was 8/10. It metastasized, as the 2014 surgery didn't get all the cancer cells. The Lupron drug has robbed the cancer cells of testosterone. They have stopped growing. This is a good thing. We wait anxiously every three months for these results. 

We take such joy in watching our critters. Squirrel #75 is still sticking to his tree. The 🐣  PHOEBE eggs should hatch May 28th. No robins this year, which is sad. We have had them nest near the Phoebe nest for many, many years. 

🐀 I grabbed a video of Fred whistling! They are also called Whistle Pigs. I had a video of this before and accidentally deleted it. duH 

I peeked out back, there was Fred, on her hind legs doing 'bear,' keeping watch on a turkey.

Fred hightailed it back to her burrow, as the turkey seemed oblivious of Fred. All she did was whistle and the kits dove for cover in the burrow.

Turkey didn't care. I am keeping the big camera out back. Better to watch them. Fred was vigilant.

Having stormed back to her burrow hole, she was on guard. 

 Little heads peek out, danger over.

I had to leave the house for a last-minute massage. My massage therapist had a cancellation. I've been sore from some of my yard work! When I came back home, feeling less achy, Joe was hopping with excitement. Not only did he spot some more groundhog kits, but he managed to use the camera with the zoom lens. Count 'em! FOUR!

It appears that there are 4 kits! Happily, they are solitary critters, and will find their own homes anon. In the meantime, we all cope with the cold May temperatures, and endless rain. 

Crumbly Acres clean up: dump run!

Poor Joe has been fighting a cold. He's got congestion. Thank goodness for the puffer. He's been wheezy.  

I'm having trouble getting up some motivation. I finally did it. Cleaned up some debris and junk. That meant a dump run. We drove through town, all loaded up. 

This apartment building, newly built, is still for sale. I cannot imagine being a landlord these days. It's been a saga from an old house being torn down to a new build. It's been on sale for $1,475,000! There are 4 apartments, rented for $2300 apiece. 

Such a relief to get that done. It was a $5 fee. 

I spotted this memorial. It's for a young man, Jayden (18), who was killed in a car incident in 2023 Dec. 7th. 

Joe likes seeing the log homes around us.

I am hoping to spot fawns on the trailcams. Nothing so far! We've two pregnant does.

Cinnamon spotted a frog on the goldfish pond.

   

 Fred and her kits. She is so careful with them.

 

In the meantime, #75 has been reluctant to venture forth in the cold and the rain. More on Fred tomorrow!

Crumbly Acres #75 & Maggie Magnolia

#75 was discharged to our care with a full page info sheet. It said to scatter the seeds at the base of the tree, @Linda in Kansas! We are following their directions. Tuesday morning, as I wrote, was really cold (3 ℃ ; 37 ℉). We watched all morning, then went for a dump run. When we came back, #75 was poking his head out again. Whew!

Barb had a good question about other black squirrels. Now, they won't wear name tags, but I have seen two black squirrels in the front yard at the same time. They aren't inclined to be friends. 

I think there is a black squirrel nesting in our saw-whet owl nest box. It is down the hill, in another part of the forest. A female, I think, who has her hands full. The trailcams don't film squirrels too well. At least, not my current ones. (First world problem, I know!)

The colder temps belie the season. The frogs come out once the sun is up and out. @Jim was asking about them. When it's colder they dive. The snakes must hide away somewhere under the leaves with the residual heat in the ground. 

I was reminded to check out Maggie Magnolia. I haven't been wandering about in the cold too much. She is doing so well!

Success!

The poor flower baskets! Traditionally, the May long weekend is our date for planting outside. I still have some plants in the garage. These are hanging in, the deck is south-facing, and tends to be a little microclimate! 

This is my traditional cherry tomato hanging planter. I pop several into a planter, and pick off the tomatoes as I go. 

White Bleeding Hearts, and my planter with Basil and Heliotrope.

Finally, the dock trailcam hasn't been too fruitful. Ducks and deer. I think my wood duck nest box has been abandoned. The weasel or mink got into the box one year, now they wisely go elsewhere.

We will bundle up, again today. The heat is on. I feel badly for the actual herons out there in their nests.