Monday, April 18, 2016

Memorandum Monday - April 18th

Linking in with Sian at:  From High In The Sky

Good morning & a running wave to Sian & the other Monday Memo Makers.

What's new from the patio?  

Last week's Pulled Pork dilemma turned out to be a save thanks to all the help & advice from the Monday Memo comments - thank you, it was a save.  Mr Man enjoyed a hardy dinner with the promise of several more dinners in the freezer.
 
Pulled Pork As It Should Be - Plus Lots of Left Overs


Spring has arrived in true Ontario fashion - Sunday we saw temperatures in the +22 range & lots of blue skies & sunshine.Such a change as last Monday I was complaining commenting about snow & -12 temperatures.


Joy  in the form of spring flowers have returned to the  garden.  The Chionodoxa, a little blue flower are in abundant bloom & spreading.


 
Our friendly squirrel Charlie is sporting a much shorter tail - no idea what happened to his once gorgeous full tail, which I featured for WPSH - Windy Day:  Charlie's Beautiful Tail



 
Chipmunks are here there & every where.  Two regulars,  Short Tail from the front garden & Long Tail from the back garden - both like peanuts & are quite comfortable getting close to us.
Short Tail

Long Tail
I caught this action totally by accident.  These are the male Grackles with their beautiful iridescent collars of purple & blue.  Such a noisy bird.
 
Males Battling For Females


 I hope that everyone has a wonderful week ahead of them.  Mine includes having my snow tires removed & my all season tires put on & on Thursday I am attending a high tea birthday celebration for our Queen, Elizabeth II, who turns 90 years old.  Long Live The Queen!  Hats are required.

19 comments:

  1. That pulled pork looks delicious. Save some for me! Good to have a bit of colour in the garden now. Cute chipmunks (send one of those with the pulled pork!). Grackles? Are they crows?

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    1. Maggie, Grackles are probably in the black bird family. Grackles are just a bit smaller than our crows which seem to be getting the size of ravens. Crows are even louder than the Grackles. Most people would love to send chipmunks away, they can quickly become pests.

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  2. Interesting grackles. (If you'd asked me what one was I'd've guessed chocolate bar.) Cute wildlife. Like the sound of your High Tea ... celebrations seem to be quite low-key here (or more likely I'm walking round with my head in a bucket of sand.) Enjoy your week.

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    1. There is quite a lot planned in this part of the country but it is spread over 3 different dates. 21st April when there is beacon lighting. 15th May when there is a pageant in Windsor Park (we have tickets for that). And when some villages are having events. Then 12th June when there is a massive street party in the Mall and people are encouraged to have their own street parties. I wonder Ella if you have been mimicking the calf on my blog with your head in a bucket!

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    2. Grackles are certainly not sweet! Maybe timing has been off for you for getting Queen Birthday Celebration notices - trees / forest thing. I think the Queen herself would probably just enjoy a good cup of tea with a biscuit or two oh heck at her age she can have whole package & the family gathered together.

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    3. I heard on the radio this morning that Her Maj is getting a cake baked by Nadia from Bake Off. I sort of don't know what to make of that! (Orange drizzle, if you're wondering.) I'm aware of the London June celebrations but I'm not aware of anything local/personal happening around now. It's certainly not the talk of the office, for example. I'd quite like to be invited to a High Tea in honour of royalty. I wonder if a baseball cap or woolly hat would serve OK as headgear. For a really special occasion I might even consider wearing my Christmas tree hat!
      Looked up grackles and consider myself educated :o)

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  3. I'm so glad to read that spring has arrived! Have a great week!

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    1. Thanks Melissa - yesterday at +24 (c) 75.2 (f) it seems like we went straight to summer, which is not unusual in our region.

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  4. never heard of a grackle. Those chipmunks are so cute. Have a good week.

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    1. I am rather fond of the chipmunks, the Grackles can be most annoying when they hang out in large groups (60-75+) So much noise.

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  5. I've never heard of a Grackle either. I wonder do we know them by another name. Or maybe we just don't know them at all!

    Enjoy wearing your hat :)

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    1. Not that I am an expert, but my bird book says Grackles are a North American bird. There was nothing to compare them to a British/European bird.

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  6. Grackles and chipmunks sound wonderfully exotic :). Glad your weather is improving - ours is too though not as spectacularly. And very touched you are honouring the Queen despite the distance :). Hoping you have a lovely week ...

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    1. I was raised by very dedicated royalists & my Gran said it was a British duty for us to watch Coronation Street, we are already prepping the next generation by setting up toys in front of the TV when Corrie is on. My favourite books are historical novels & my favourite royal has been Anne Boleyn. I inherited all my Mom's books on Princess Diana.

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  7. It's so lovely to see that spring has sprung where you are! I wonder what could have happened to Charlie's tail? Poor little guy. Happy spring time to you and all of your little critters! :o)

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    1. Yes poor Charlie, he has been the longest living squirrel in our yard & he seems to know his name. This will be our 3rd summer with him. He seems not to be bothered by the shorten tail, he was chasing off 3 black squirrels this morning. His Yard!

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  8. I love those little blue flowers, and have never known their name! Writing it down so I don't forget it!

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    1. For a long time I called them something totally different, then I saw a photo in a gardening magazine that named them.

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  9. Yay for the pulled pork save! I've been noticing more squirrels around here too - but haven't been as quick with the snapping as you. Well done.

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