Saturday, 31 August 2013

August rainfall began on August 1st

August 22nd
With a bang. After last year's drought, this August (2013) the 166.5mm total rain is most welcome. We had a total of 1.7mm in August, 2012. We drove to Bon Echo Park Aug. 22nd. It was quite a rainy drive with thunder and lightning.
Driving was a bit tricky, Aug. 22nd


30 mm by 1:30 p.m.
Total 34.5 mm Aug. 1st
Aug. 22
It poured all day Aug 1st!



     AUGUST             mm
1-Aug 34.5
2-Aug 8
6-Aug       Trace
7-Aug       Trace
8-Aug 8
12-Aug 6
13-Aug 2
14-Aug        Trace
22-Aug 48
25-Aug     Trace
26-Aug 42
30-Aug 18
166.5

Friday, 30 August 2013

Sitting pretty- the hummer

I keep trying!



Bird watching season isn't over with looming Labour Day, however, the bird population does change. The blackbirds have gone from my feeder, as have the rose-breasted grosbeaks.

As do many of us, I provide bird feeders, as well as encouraging flowers, for my birds.

This indoor plant, a fuchsia, I pop outdoors in the summer. The hummingbirds love it. It's taken some time to bloom.


It is easier said than done, to photograph them. I sit on the back deck, and wait for that tell-tale sound of their wings humming. A cat is usually on the back deck with me. This discourages them somewhat. When I pick up the camera, they get antsy.

Even if the felines are out patrolling the forest, the hummers get ticked off. They would fly halfway between myself and the flowers, and buzz, giving me the eye as if to scare me away. They are happier at the front, with the real hummingbird feeder, but, again, photos are tricky!



Pretty Rufous hummingbird on my horse chestnut
It's orange wasn't visible until it turned its head.

Goldfinch and chickadee share
In the front I have some sunflowers that have gone to seed. The birds are content to share with one another. The sunflowers have been hosting all sorts of bees and wasps. They now lean over, heads drooping with the weight of the ripe seeds. The cycle of life, and the cycle of the season, is nearly complete. Days shorten, temperatures moderate.




Eastern tiger swallowtail on phlox
Swallowtail likes the petunias as much as the hummingbirds!

Bee in balloon flower

Thursday, 29 August 2013

Fieldwork – what a place of natural creation!

Scott Dobson's fencing is famous in Lanark County.
He built us a fence and, later due to tourists who  a gate.
This is a project in Lanark County that gives
You need a Fieldwork map!

large field
me an appreciation of nature, beauty, art.
Fieldwork: land/art/exploration is hard to explain. You just have to view it.

You begin by pulling up to one of Scott Dobson's sheep fences.

Scott built us our front fence. Fencing in Lanark Country is interesting in that they couldn't dig down, and had to devise fences that would stand alone. There are about a dozen different styles.

A fence is a good barrier to the highway.
Later, he built our gate, when we found tourists driving in our driveway and up to our home to take photos of our art work. We drove around looking at gates, here were our choices!

The Eastern kingbirds are busily
catching bugs in the field.
Fieldwork is a delightfully peaceful spot. The lower pine forest is amazing, with the yarn bombing. There is research to show that being in nature provides much emotional solace, and it certainly cannot hurt. The field is full of Eastern kingbirds, grabbing bugs.


Hubby walking down the path
Yes, that is me wearing a sculpture
Wearable sculpture