The water fountain I cleaned and filled. Next is the goldfish pond.
Goldfish pond repairs: The second liner I put in over the first hasn't cooperated.
I'd sent JB in for some Flex Tape, which seems to work! I complained to Caitlin about the cost, what a rip off! But she made a fair point. It's cheaper than a new liner, and taking the pond apart to install it. The second one I bought at a yard sale.
$16.99 for 4" x 5'
I put duct tape on it, but it's done its work, and given up the ghost. You can see it on the far side. The new stuff is really good. You can't really see it now. I think it looks pretty good.
The first photo is last year, and the second is after repairs. I am hopeful.
It was a lovely day, getting up to 25 C.
I did some yard work. The bird bath is doing well.
This silly piece I've had for years. A momma bird and two baby birds, it rotates around a little cup, which has rusted. It's pretty when the wind blows. I've painted and repainted it due to rust. Putting this piece of glass on it has given it a new life! It is from an old lamp. I don't know why I kept it!
The horse chestnut leaves are popping! You can even see the blossom buds.
Our little red squirrel has been a hoot. Apparently, the leaf buds are yummy. They are soaked in sap and glisten in the sun.
The wild violets are a lovely carpet.
The daffodil garden is looking fine.
JB and I put a baffle under the robin's nest. I accidentally captured us on the trailcam.
It's a good thing, as the raccoons can climb the post, too. Up top, Cinnamon watches the robin from above. I decided to move the BBQ over top. That'll fix him.
Here are the three robin eggs. JB held the mirror while I took the photo with the videocamera.
While we had two Phoebe eggs, I checked yesterday, and there are now 3. I would expect 5. I'm also watching out for the cowbird, who popped an egg in one year! I'll keep you posted.
I've been itching to write about this. I've been reading a lot about it. I refuse to call them pro-lifers, as they don't advocate for better maternal healthcare, pre- and postpartum support, support for single moms, a living wage, day care, affordable contraceptives, and the like. They are anti-abortion. Women who are raped who should not be forced to have a baby. Nor should women, with painful ectopic pregnancies, similarly suffer.
Firstly, abortions are part of our universal healthcare system in Canada. Depending upon your province or territory, each system is unique, with various protocols. I believe the maritimes are the worst for access due to lack of hospitals, and transportation issues. There are no federal laws governing abortion in Canada.
I am so angry at this situation. Having been given up for adoption in 1957, and having met my birth mother, I've seen both sides. My therapeutic abortion was in 1975. I was sick as a dog, just entering university, and it was failed birth control.
I remember sitting in the bathtub, my mother talking to me, asking what was wrong, and if I was pregnant. She knew. Getting on the phone right away, she made the arrangements. We told my dad it was just a D & C, which it was. Not everyone is able, or financially or emotionally prepared to raise a child. Many abortions, in this 'modern' era, are done simply with the morning after pill.
The draft opinion was leaked from SCOTUS, and it is a shock to all. Some think they leaked it on purpose in order to soften the blow later. The thing is, both Kavanaugh and Barrett stated during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings that they should not open up Roe v. Wade, it is precedent. There is debate around whether their testimony under oath should be examined.
They have no right to tell me, not a Catholic, what I should do with my body. They have no right to tell people of other faiths, cultures, or traditions, that mothers have to die of ectopic pregnancies, rather than getting proper healthcare. Other faiths support it.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is surprised that there is so little written about abortion in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787.
Not only that, but abortion is rooted in slavery. Slaves weren't allowed to have abortions. Race comes into this, as well. To quote Margaret Atwood, " ‘Enforced childbirth is slavery’.
Alito, who wrote the majority opinion, used a 17th Century judge as his reference on abortion. Someone wrote: "I thought we were just being dragged back to the 1950s?"
Dippy US Senator Blackburn wants to remove the right to birth control from anyone not married. They want to put us back in the dark ages or into the future, with The Hand Maid's Tale. On Twitter, someone asked Margaret Atwood what is going to happen next. She replied, "I'm working on it!"
This video provides much clarity.
The cold open from Saturday Night Live was a perfect illustration of the sheer absurdity of it all.
First phoebe egg May 7th. The cats are intrigued, as they can see and hear them flying under the deck. Fortunately, it's only 0 C. and they went out and came back in for breakfast rather quickly. I may put a baffle up for the robin's nest, as Cinnamon climbed the post last year. Happily, he's a bit heavier this year, and may not be able to do it!
Phoebe loves the daffodil garden. They'll perch on the fairy lights, keeping an eye out for bugs.
This photo is from May, 2016! I try not to bother the phoebe too much. We had a contractor in to give us an estimate for new eavestrough. The birds are phased by the action, but come back. Phoebe is reusing a nest from 2016 on top of the green shelf.
Cinnamon and I went walkies. He'll meow to get out in the afternoon, then wait on the front deck for me. Off we went. His first stop is a roll around on the pile of dirt.
Waiting for my walking pal, I took a photo of the flowers. My Lenten Rose is magnificent this year. Tons of blooms, maybe 8 or 9!
Grecian windflower
And I'm up to 3 tulips, including this pretty pink one. Take that, deer!
Off we went to the frogpond. This was trip #2 for me. The batteries on the farthest trailcam were needing some more juice.
We passed the robin's nest in the big old white pine tree. They are all around this area. I didn't notice the brown creeper, even though I took my zoom lens. Perhaps it was too cold for her. I think I could use a monopod stand, as the lens is very heavy to lug around without the tripod. That will be my plan when it warms up this week – before the mosquitoes are bad!
Batteries reinserted, we headed back to the forest. Cinnamon wanted to sit on the tree stump. He watched a red-wing blackbird intently, but he knew it was too far away.
The wetland is greening up. So good to see. Off in the middle ground, something grabbed Cinn's attention.
I had my rubber boots on and I found the frog. Cinnamon wasn't too interested. He anticipated something more exciting than a cold frog, I think.
It was Isabelle's 12th birthday Saturday. Izzy and Caitlin did a Facetime with me. Grampa was out fetching groceries. We'd sent her a card. Caitlin's MIL is there, so there is no end of celebrants at their house! I grabbed a screenshot to show grampa.
HappyMother'sDay – to all who mother one another. The cats were up early to prepare a sumptuous display for me! Wasn't that sweet?!
I'm close to stopping bird feeding, but the male and female rose-breasted grosbeaks have turned up. She was on top of the feeder, while he was on the bench in front of the window, taking a closer look at the blooming Orchid Cactus inside the window. I don't know if it was the colour that attracted him.
This was a fun shot! Plus, the squirrel and cowbird were able to share. The cowbird lets me get quite close, unlike the rest of the birds, chickadees aside!
Wood box numbers two and three. Surprisingly, they seem to have settled on box #3, having explored #2 earlier.
The third wood duck nesting box had downy feathers in it. I am hopeful for at least one brood! Here is the nesting box. I went back the day after, and there were more feathers.
The brown creeper must have a nest down here. It is here every day. I researched their nests, and they just snuggle into or under the bark of a tree in a small cavity. I don't think I have a hope of finding it!
I've moved the trailcam from the frogpond up to the backyard. Hooray Phoebe! Their favourite perch in the daffodil garden. They are working on the nest, still, which is just off to the left, under the deck. After my workout, I spotted it with a wee branch in its beak.
This camera is such a dud. I know I'm not an award-winning photographer, though, and it is simply evidence of who goes there in the night, for the most part. I am having trouble keeping it charged with the internal battery, as we haven't had consistent sunshine. It requires backup batteries, as well, which have kept it going.
This is the drive belt from our old dryer that konked out. Someone repurposed it, in a moment of brilliant💡 clarity! It only cost us $120 to replace, better than $600 for a new machine.
For more critters, visit Eileen and our fellow animal lovers!
It was a tough day, yesterday. I don't know why. I felt unmotivated and sad. A walk was just the thing.
I let Cinnamon out for his afternoon ablutions, he waited impatiently for me for walkies. He kept peering in at me!
"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy..."
Off we went. Cinnamon was concerned with this man. Turns out it was JB who had fetched the mail after his walkabout the property!
Cinnamon was happy as a clam. He'd stop, roll on his back waiting for a belly rub, make dough in the leaves. Later, down in the forest, Cinnamon stopped at this tree for a pee.
While I waited for Cinnamon to cover up his business, I noticed this on the branch of the tree.
I had an idea, to snap a photo every hour of the horse chestnut leaf buds. (I thought I'd make a movie.) I set it on timer, so as not to jiggle the camera. JB helped out, too. It was a failure. There are too many photos to take during the day, requiring taking the camera off the tripod!
The horse chestnut leaf buds are so beautiful.
The hosta is coming back. It's not in a good spot, as it gets too hot and sees too much sun in summer. I suppose I could move it. Somewhere!
Great Leopard Moth Caterpillar
I found this little guy under the lip of the doorstep. I realized I'd seen quite a few over the years, but never the actual adult moth. Wiki had one for me to see. For me, capturing moths requires more night work than I like. (Remember those mosquito larvae in the frog pond?!)
Putting it in the aquarium, I'll see if I can get it to metamorphose.
LDD Moths
Then, there are the LDD moths, now called 'spongy moths.' I've scraped some of the spongy egg masses off of the tree. You can see the eggs in the spongy masses. I've read that they don't survive if the eggs are laid above the snow line, we had -25 C. at one point. See what I've found – they seem viable. I hope not.
The primrose are smiling in the sunshine.
I am a bit late with the celebration of SPRING, but I'd lost the "R" and found it yesterday. It was in a different drawer from S-P-I-N-G.
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