Sundance Artisan Show

 The Sundance Artisan Show was held, as usual, in Maberly, Ontario. It's a half hour drive, in a lovely setting, and the day looked fine. 

 

We thought the tractor pulled over to let us pass, we pulled around, but he ended up turning into our former MPP's property. Whoopsie! I found out where he lives, as he posted a .jpg of his bail conditions release order, which gives his address. 

Anyway, on with the show. You'll notice the colours!

I think getting there was half the fun! The birds are flocking, another sign of Autumn. Blackbirds, grackles or something, as well as Canada Geese doing practice flights.

Nearly there!

The Cat's Meow is a sponsor. They are our 'spa' location for our cats when we travel. Cassandra also has taken training to do cat baths, and puts on cat claw tips. She is famous for her Facebook page, where she takes selfies with her clients. It is fun. Her visitors have some of the most creative cat names ever!

Lots of artisans, as well as honey, syrup, and preserves.

There are two levels, and the path that runs beside the river is quite lovely.

Up top, it was quite hot in the sunshine.

OK, my favourite piece was the Great Blue Heron stained glass design by Glass Addict. JB offered to gift it to me for my birthday, but at $675 is was a bit much. The hours and skill that went into it is just amazing, I believe in paying artisans for their work, but it just doesn't fit the budget! 

We picked up three Christmas presents, which will be kept hidden! I'll give you on clue, though: Peggys Passions Jewelry!

From there we visited the Perth Fair, while we we dressed and looking decent. Ok, I confess, while I had my bra and my face on! Besides, it looked like rain today, and it was the best day for it this long weekend. We had 8 mm rain last night, which was welcomed. I feel badly for those artisans camping over in Maberley. 

Saturday Critters

The critters have been out about. The bug situation has helped, since breeding season, and the need for blood has diminished. We had the mosquitoes in May, blackflies in June, deerflies in July, then horseflies. This is all good for the bug-eating birds! Walks in the forest are much better, although there is the odd mosquito. Hubby finds his morning walks are much easier. I was bitten by a blackfly when weeding. That just adds insult to injury. 

The flicker on the trailcam was funny. I haven't seen too many of them since breeding season is over. 

 

flicker in slo mo from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Doe a deer.

 

doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Both the doe and fawn visited the backyard. That was lovely! Aug. 23, 2022.

 

doe and fawn from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🐝 HORNETS

Aug. 27th shows the hornet's nest growing. They leave us alone. We leave them alone.

 

hornet's nest from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Aug. 28th – they are fascinating. All working together. All with a purpose, for the good of the nest. 

 

hornets 5 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The lone turkey hen walks through the trailcam field.

 

turkey from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

P.S. We still have a tree frog in the house, as far as I know. Last I heard, it was singing in the bathroom. I sent JB into town to buy some food for it. Mealworms. I put them into a container in the bathroom. Caitlin suggested I leave a trail of worms along the hall, leading it to the door! I bet the cats would be curious!

I hoped to lure the indoor tree frog to the bathtub, where I put the container. Having looked up how to raise them, raising mealworms, I knew what to do. 

 Maple tree frog is still on the back deck. I thought I would test the mealworms on her. She ate one, and I thought I should video the 2nd one! Sept. 2nd, 2022.

gray tree frog from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

For more critters visit Eileen's blog: Saturday's Critters # 455.

I like September!

 Here we are, September. The plants have nearly run their spring/summer cycles. I'm putting together another Fall Chores post. The year unfolds as it should. We've still a few cherry tomatoes. Soon, with first frost, my outdoor plants will die off, their year done. 

The Perth Fair is on this weekend. There is a display contest, top prize $175, 2nd = $100 and 3rd place = $75! I figured that out after being out driving and seeing these! 

After their morning run, in the cats come for breakfast. The horse chestnut tree, in the background, is beginning to lose leaves. It was chilly yesterday.

I knew the morning was going to be sunny, so I did laundry early and hung it out. Sitting on the back deck to process some photos on my laptop, it began to rain. Happily the clothes were nearly dry. I hustled and brought it all in.

August 2022 <= rain totals! They were decent.

On Wednesday, the day progressed. I did some much-needed weeding. The clouds rolled in, and then a big storm. Well, not so big, but spotty. Very isolated. The tree frog in the bathroom sensed the impending storm and began to chirp. I still cannot find it.

Thunderboomers everywhere around us, as well as power outages.

Ontario Hydro posts outages, hopefully you can access it with a cell phone if your home is without power. People were back up by the next morning.

The rain stopped, but there were warnings for the kids in Ottawa. They were out picking up a grocery order. Happily they made it home safely.

Ottawa Hydro also shows a map of outages, Caitlin texted that theirs was out. They had power back by 9:30 p.m.! 

Whew!

Goodnight sun!

Farewell August!

 The yucca plant has gone from this to seed pods!

This basket looks a little the worse for wear. My petunias did not do well. There is always next year...

Then, there is the lantana. I stuffed it beside the Mandevilla and a potato vine. 

It is fun trying to get them in focus. 

Mandevilla, AKA rocktrumpet. 

🐝Hornets

The hornets are still doing their thing. I've created a page to keep track of them and see what happens to the nest. 

I found a new little gray tree frog.

It's been hot! We had a nice dump of rain this week. A cold front came by and it is now 10 C. this morning. With the changing light levels, and earlier sunset, we knew it was coming.

September and the shoulder season, bring it on!