Flowers and furniture repair and mother

Happy Mother's Day to all who mother one another. It's been a year of caregiving by many. Self-care, and otherwise. I moved, found a local job, we sold our house, in order to help my mother manage her end-of-life care. I have not recovered from it.

I truly believe we are better when we remember loved ones on their birthday, rather than their day of death. That's a bit difficult for me! You see, there is Mother's Day.

Mom died the day before Mother's Day, in 2006. 

Here they rest in Muskoka.

Joan Jilks 1925 - 2006
 Ray Jilks 1925 - 2007

I loathe Mother's Day marketing. Every charity I support sends an email reminding me Mother's Day is coming up and don't forget her. 😖As if. The weather network ads... 

OK, spring and flowers...

I'm thinking about our planters for this year. My baskets have done well in the past, . There was little selection last year. Last year, I planted several baskets myself, but they never looked as good as the first year for this planter. It helps having it grow in the greenhouse, in perfect conditions by the professionals! It's just been so cold, though.

I didn't do too badly last year. 

One year I bought cheery tomato basket. Oops, it was cherry tomatoes, but it was cheery. We enjoyed picking them from the front porch. If I'd planned ahead, I could have done this with seeds. Well, it's been a tragic year on many levels. 

The violets and daffies are still doing well, despite waking up to 1 C. temperatures.

COVID-19 or allergies? What you need to know this spring - Global News

I'm fighting a cold, or something. Friday night I went to bed at 6:30 and read for several hours. I think we are both fighting colds. JB has a cough. His may be allergies. Hard to say. He had a good call from our pharmacist, who did his annual check on his meds, and suggested a new over-the-counter allergy pill. It is fatiguing, however. He was advised to take the meds two weeks before he anticipated symptoms. Thing is April was warm, like May should have been. Who can predict??!!

By the way!

You'll recall my busted door... [It's broken!] I fixed it! Thanks for the suggestions. Yam suggested a mending plate. Ah ha! Our fence dude suggested a chainsaw and lighter fluid. (He was kidding!) He then said pilot holes, which I thought best, too. 

I susssed out what I had, the difficult was finding the right screws. The previous home owner was a furniture builder, he left lots behind. Plus, I inherited my father's tools and supplies. It's taken me a little over a week to sort it out, and figure out what to do. That's OK. I had time! 

Do you remember the little cardboard boxes screws used to come in, before plastic? Dad had those left over. They give me a little twinge when I see them. 

My big problem was that the back piece cracked in a couple of spots where I replaced the finishing nails with screws. 

It was tricky reinstalling it, as JB's arm is bad. It would have been helpful if I was left-handed, I toyed with waiting for lefty Isabelle, but I was anxious to see if it fit! That was another concern.

Ta da!

• ⛈May ☂

Did I mention the rain on Saturday??!!  We had 27 mm (1") during the day.

The goldfish pond overflowed, draining from the water barrel. Here is a before and after! 

Women's World Curling Tournament 2021

Women's World Curling Tournament 

I wrote about the curling situation in Calgary on May 4th. They ended up with 7 cases of COVID–19  amongst broadcast staff. TV broadcasts were cancelled, as Alberta Health Service had everyone isolate in respective hotel rooms. All were retested, staff and players. 

JB ended up watching it online. It's not a bad system. You can see, in the screen captures below,  how they show where the stones are placed. JB really enjoys the statistics, and it's a great hobby, since his arm/shoulder/back issues preclude many activities.

Then, disaster: the online feed pooched out. @WorldCurling explained that they were having connectivity issues during the game. We had to go back to Devin Heroux's Twitter feed. He was tireless in keeping us informed of the plays. The outcome of the World Curling event is that the top 6 teams will get a berth at the Olympics. If they occur! Japan only has 2% of their population vaccinated. 

As I write this (Friday), we anxiously await to see if Canada makes it into the finals. It's been hit and miss, and our team really struggled, losing games they shouldn't have lost. They must be tired, as they've been playing for weeks between the mixed doubles, and other tournaments: Canadian Tournament of Hearts, 5 weeks straight.

Good news: they won!

 Canada made it in. There is some controversy, however. Despite the popularity of the game, they avoid the controversy. Thank goodness for Devin Heroux!

Bad news: they lost

We lost to Sweden in the curling. So sad.

BTW: Daisy really liked curling! She won me a broom during the Dominion Tankard 2014: in nearby Smiths Falls. They asked for curling photos and 5 of us won.

Careful, little chipmunk!

 This is our backyard. Under the deck, there are upended cement bricks upon which the deck was built. Chippies have nested in here. Can you see it peeking out?! 

It was a dreary day yesterday, and it is today. Lots of splatty rain, and a damp kinda cold. Judging by the radar, we're in for a lot more rain. We've had 15 mm (0.6"), and more to come. 

The rain began yesterday, just after our dinner. Nutmeg came indoors. Later, I was looking out the front window, and I saw Cinnamon on the brown bench, lower left in the photo. This is where the cats peer in, letting us know they want indoors. I walked over to look, and turns out it was Butch raccoon. Cinnamon was sitting below it on the cement, with a look of puzzlement on his face. He's such a gentle cat. Cinnamon was quite concerned. He came in for the night.

Butch took off. Can you spot him? 

I love the little face, and the little hands.  butch  

This crow  seems to have something stuck on its cheek. I've seen it before.  

It's a mystery. 

crow on deck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🕷️TICKS 2021 <= we had 200 one year, you can see my data! Then, they invented a Rx for cats. Our numbers went way down.

Outdoors, it is tick season, again. We've ordered goop, but it's still not arrived at the vet clinic. 

Thanks, Eileen for hosting the party! Saturday's Critters # 386

Spring buds!

Let's begin with the horse chestnut tree!  It's beginning to show leaves. They are so green and drippy with sap. 

Primrose

Doug the slug

This has been National Mental Health Week in Canada (May 3 - 9), and these are difficult times. It is so good to get outdoors. Noise continues to set my anxiety off, however. Who knew we lived near an OPP Recertification Range? Thursdays is their usual day. They put a notice in our mailboxes showing the dates when they are shooting. Thankfully. I asked them for a tour, as it really sets me off and it helps to know they were rapid fire guns.. I know it is important work, but that doesn't help my startle reflex! Poor JB has to warn me when he uses the dust buster.

I was a Victim Response Volunteer, and the noise of the helicopters every Friday, around 4:30 as the citiots drove to their cottages, they contributed to it. Our first morning here, we were awakened to the sound of an ambulance and firefighters. Someone was driving drunk and flipped his car in the ditch.

When we lived in Muskoka, by the lake, the noise and smell from snow machines and noisy watercraft drove me nuts. As my mom died, then we worked with my dad, I associate it all with the noise.

Traffic scares me, especially when I collect garbage in the ditches. It's important to do it, so I suck it up. The traffic here can be awful. It's a spot where locals know they can pass. There is about 500m of straight road. I wince as I hear them rev their engines, hoping there won't be another incident. 

This dude goes by at high speed a lot. motorcycle  

The wood ducks continue to nest. The male, for some reason, kept staring at the female in the nest!

It's broken!

 I've a new project. This is the door to our cabinet. The thing fell apart. I have to scrape out the glue, find some wood glue, and find some 3/4" finishing nails. Pulling out the rusted nails, I didn't think it would be that difficult.

First I looked up how to remove the glue. The piece has been glued previously. I tried all their suggestions: hair dryer to soften it, for example. It is old glue. I ended up scraping it off with the tool I use to put meds on JB's sore neck.

I found six 1" nails, but they won't go into the wood.  They are too long.

There is a piece missing here. The tongue and groove-style is simple. I don't know how to fix it.

The old 3/4" finishing nails have rusted and fallen out. I tried hammering in the new nails, but they at a tad long. I don't know how to replace the nails, nor how to secure the joints. 

Any ideas?

Nests and nest builders

The flicker

Yes, nesting in the dead elm: see Ode to an elm (2020). It's rather funny, as it is deep inside the tree trunk, and you can hear it banging away. It's a frequent flyer: flicker 2019.

I love flickers!

Phoebe Nest

They've gone back to an old nest. There were two eggs on Tuesday, May 4th. They last nested in this spot in 2019. [Critters!] They had 5 that year. It's been dark, cold and damp. No wonder they nest right beside the house. This is a 2019 photo, they always lay me 5 eggs here.

The crows are still nesting, I think.  One sat about 15 minutes high up in a backyard tree. They were making strange noise in another tree!

This one has something in its beak!  crow May 2  

 

The Canada geese are headed for the north. This shows the dreary days we've been having.

You Two were in the meadow.

trailcam from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.