Thursday, May 30, 2019

Take Three Thursday - A Walk In The Wild Weather

In an effort to notice more of the ordinary in my life, I have decided to share what I have noticed this week in Take Three Thursday.   The idea is to take 1 - 3 photos that are linked some how; by theme, by colour, by date, by moment,  by points of view. There is no formal link in but please feel free to join in.    What have you noticed this week? 

See what others have noticed this week:
 
Maggie at: Farmer's Wife Day by Day
Melissa at Daily Life - Bits & Pieces
Karen at Random Reflections


It certainly has been a wild week in weather, from extreme gusting winds, to torrential rains.

Evidence of the gusting winds - we got caught in the middle of a dust storm.  It was a blinding few moments & it made quite a mess of the car.

More gusting winds on another day - I'm using this photo for the SPSH #15  broken chair/bench/stool - it tossed one of the chairs we have in the space behind our fence, we get an unobstructed view of the field & hills behind us, along with some amazing sunsets. There's now a big crack in the back but still usable for sitting.


The farmer's field behind us; newly planted, was flooded for hours & the worry is that it has disrupted the neat rows of planted corn.  I took the photo through the bedroom window in the middle of the rain storm.  It looks like a lake out there.


3 days after, that lake like puddle is still a large soggy mud pit & the farmer was seen out there shaking his head.  Of course it has rained for the last 2 days adding to the mess ... we are going to have to re-install Spring because it just doesn't seem to want to "run"  Yesterday I overheard a lady telling her friend that she hasn't got her annuals planted yet as it's still too cold & it's already June (actually madame it is 2 days away) so what's the point. 

Monday, May 27, 2019

Me On A Monday - May 27th

Good morning & happy Monday.  I would say that the last week & weekend were not very exciting ... lots of hours spent working, running errands & finally on Sunday afternoon a few hours in the garden. 

Excited to say we have a Robin nesting in our very large spruce tree in the front garden.  We are keeping a close eye on the easterly neighbours' cat that roams freely, that she doesn't bother our Mother Robin.  We haven't had any baby birds for a couple of years.  Fingers crossed.

Our date night last week was an evening running errands & a quick dinner at McDonalds.  I had their time limited Nova Scotia haddock "fish & chips".  The fish was quite nice, but I'm not a great fan of the chips (fries) from McDonalds, too salty for my tastes.  We indulged in the ice cream treat of The Nanaimo Bar McFlurry.  I've been fortunate enough to have had a real Nanaimo Bar in Nanaimo BC, where the treat was first made.  I can report that this ice cream treat is a close second to the actual bar.
 
Source: Internet
Our little village is building an extension to our community park.  The land that is adjacent at the back of the existing park was donated by a local farmer.  The original farmer passed & his family did not want to continue with the diary operations so did not need the acreage for crops & pasture.  The daughter that inherited the farm divided the property into thirds.  She kept a third for her gardening/greenhouse business; sold a third to a developer for housing & gave a third to the township.  This is phase II of the expansion, walking paths & trails.  It will include in phase III, a leash free fenced area for dogs.   I'm trying to get out twice a month to take photos of the progress to keep a visual record of the changes & development.

We have had lots of rains, so lots of flooding.

I am using one of the photos I took from our bedroom window of the down pour from Saturday's storm, as an entry for the SPSH - #4 Blurried Vision

How is everyone doing with the search for the SPSH?  I had made my own rule, that I was going to try to get most photos off the patio, to encourage myself to adventures.  First link in is June 14th.  

and a post script - my Thursday post decided to ignore my scheduled time & flash live to which I've corrected - technology!!!

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Take Three Thursday - Any Returning Plant Is A Win

In an effort to notice more of the ordinary in my life, I have decided to share what I have noticed this week in Take Three Thursday.   The idea is to take 1 - 3 photos that are linked some how; by theme, by colour, by date, by moment,  by points of view. There is no formal link in but please feel free to join in.    What have you noticed this week? 

See what others have noticed this week:

Maggie at: Farmer's Wife Day by Day
Melissa at Daily Life - Bits & Pieces
Karen at Random Reflections


This week what I've watched are the flowers on my one surviving Hellebore, go from bud to flower.   I would really like to get more of these plant, especially in some of the burgundy & red colours.  I had covered both of the plants for the winter to protect them against roaming wild bunnies & the drying north west wind.  I uncovered them mid March & kept my fingers crossed.  Only one of them seems to have flourished.  One out of two - I'm taking that as a win.



Monday, May 20, 2019

Me On A Monday - May 20th


It's all about the crown today - here in Canada we are celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday (her actual birthday was May 24th) & it's a holiday with everything closed.  We always celebrate it on the 3rd Monday of May.  It's also the official start of summer for us.

The other crown we, as is in Mr Man & myself,  are celebrating or not, depending on your point of view is from Game of Thrones finale Sunday night & who gets to  sit on the Iron Throne.

This is what is going on in & around my garden:

The rhubarb was transplanted last year, so I'm pleased that it is coming on strong;

Sparse offering from my own forsythia bush - I have no idea why it's not flowering more - anyone any ideas?  Too much nitrogen?   It gets all the dead wood cut out every year, trimmed back to keep it a certain height.  I know next year's flowers grow on this year's new wood, so those don't get cut.
 A few daffodils are nodding their golden heads;

Tulips, slow to be blooming, the others are waiting to see how these early bloomers do.  I've lost a few tulip flowers to either chipmunks or squirrels.  We are not amused!

 The very fragrant hyacinth is blooming - I need to plant more for a mass showing / smelling.
The farmer has been very busy preparing the field behind us for planting & Saturday he planted corn.

We enjoyed very warm & humid temperatures on Sunday the 19th; 29(c) with a humid-ex of +33(c) which brought about some mighty thunder storms & a return to more seasonal temperatures of +16(c). Ah Ontario weather, the moody menopausal symptoms of Mother Nature.

Thursday, May 16, 2019

Take Three Thursday - The Buzz About Town

In an effort to notice more of the ordinary in my life, I have decided to share what I have noticed this week in Take Three Thursday.   The idea is to take 1 - 3 photos that are linked some how; by theme, by colour, by date, by moment,  by points of view. There is no formal link in but please feel free to join in.    What have you noticed this week? 

See what others have noticed this week:

Maggie at: Farmer's Wife Day By Day
Melissa at Daily Life - Bits & Pieces
Karen at Random Reflections


This week what I've noticed are the bees in my garden.  Although so far none of taken up residence in our bee house.  There's quite a low drone in the lower part of the garden, which is where these tiny blue, rather invasion, flowers are.  Seems to be nectar of the Gods for the bees.  I'm not sure what type of bee these are, I just know they are not Bumble Bees.  These could be Honey Bees or they could be Mason Bees, all types are most welcome in my garden.  Just not hornets, I don't like hornets.





Monday, May 13, 2019

Me On A Monday - May 13th




Good morning one & all.   Such a busy week.  A new baby in the Windsor household - Archie.  Not sure I like the name, but no matter what joy he is bringing his parents.  

This side of the pond & in this particular area, it continues to be talk of the weather; cold, wet & quite a late to almost non existent spring.

Sunday was Mother's Day:  My fur girls put together their allowances & got me a lovely card & a coupon for lunch at one of our local fast food chains.   I felt special.

Impressing Me:  On our Sunday drive to & from another city we passed a really long line of forsythia in bloom - the farmer noted on the fence there is well over 3000 individual shrubs along this fence line & they are all in bloom.  The photos are rather dark as they are taken from inside the car, plus it was pouring rain.  These two photos only show a small section of the display, it runs the entire length of the property frontage.




Reading:  I'm just finishing The Red Address Book.  I cannot say this is one I would rave about or even go so far as to recommend.  I did not bond with the main character.  I also just finished another Louise Penny book; The Trick Of The Light; another one I enjoyed.

Date Night:  We attended a recital of Vlad Soloviev, a young concert pianist.  This night Vlad played music written by Liszt.  Not only did Vlad play but he told the story of the music & of what was going on at the time with the composer.  It made for a very interesting evening.  Mr Man was very impressed.
 
Source: Internet

Love & Loss:  I received some sad news Saturday morning from one of my horse friends.  One of her horses had to be put down as it was discovered he had intestinal cancer.  I had known this horse for many years & had the privilege of riding him for a many months & only just two weeks ago visited with him to fuss & love on him.  He was truly a gentlemen & I am very sad about his passing.

 "Somewhere in time's own space, there must be some sweet pastured place, where creeks sing on & tall trees grow, some paradise where horses go, for by the love that guides my pen, I know great horses live again."   Stanley Harrison
 
 


 

Thursday, May 09, 2019

Take Three Thursday - A Public Service

In an effort to notice more of the ordinary in my life, I have decided to share what I have noticed this week in Take Three Thursday.   The idea is to take 1 - 3 photos that are linked some how; by theme, by colour, by date, by moment,  by points of view. There is no formal link in but please feel free to join in.    What have you noticed this week? 

See what others have noticed this week:
Melissa at Daily Life - Bits & Pieces
Karen at Random Reflections

Maggie at: Farmer's Wife Day by Day

This week what I have noticed not only on my social media account(s) but also out on the roads is Turtle awareness. It is during the early parts of spring that the turtles which have been deep in the mud for the winter, start to climb out to find mates, places to lay eggs & to find a new pond residence.  One of our local & much loved farmer & his wife, a veterinarian,  are very much involved in turtle rescue & rehabilitation.  Road signs warning of known turtle crossings are every where in this area as we have a lot of ponds, rivers & creeks; all favourite locations for turtles.  


One of the many types of turtle crossing signs in our area.  Photo from the internet.

The most common two turtles in this area are snapping turtles & painted turtles, which tend to be smaller than snappers.  I've heard that if you have painted turtles in your pond you won't get snapping turtles, but I have no scientific knowledge to back that claim up.    

Turtles are slow & take quite a bit of effort & time to cross the roads & highways, so crushed turtles on the road are quite common during the spring migration / awakening.   Sad.

 

 Above photo is a snapping turtle crossing the road.

Farmer's wife, Dr Kristen has people that find crushed but alive turtles bring the turtles to her for immediate stabilization before she transports them to the turtle hospital.  It is SO amazing what the technology can do these days.  
 


 The above photo is of Dr Kristen with a 30lb, recently rescued snapping turtle. He had a cracked shell but will recover. The photo is courtesy of Farmer Tim's social media (F/B) site.  Look at those claws, that is one big turtle!  She's much braver than I would ever be handling such a big boy.

Mr Man & I stop for turtles & will help them across the road (if safe to do).  During this time of the year we carry a large flat shovel in the back of the car to help pick up turtles, especially the snapping turtles - they bite!

So if you see the turtle crossing signs, please slow down & be aware of one of our fellow travelers in the world & please give him/her a helping hand if safe to do or at least allow them to safely cross the road under their own power.  Also please find a local turtle rescue in your area so if at the very least you call them to advise of a turtle in trouble.    Thanks.

Monday, May 06, 2019

Me On A Monday - May 6th


Angel Thought: For May is Power.  The card indicates not to be afraid of your own power of divine love & of your intellectual power.  Something to think about.

The Clear Out:  Sorting & de-cluttering continues.  What I've gotten rid of are things that were given to me.  I figured if I really got tough in this category I would not feel so bad as I did not buy, so I am not struggling with the guilt of wasted money. I have a couple bags of clothes & shoes that one of my shopaholic sisters has given me over the years - most of it I never wore or never felt good wearing it.  Our tastes are very different, plus she has smaller feet than me!  The other category was a strange one, but planting pots, decorative mostly but again not something I would buy for myself.   We also did a massive amount of shredding.  Why were we keeping 2015 statements for the gas bill?  I have no answer but now for all the utilities we have just 3 months for each.  

Reading: Just finished another Louise Penny book, Bury Your Dead.  I really liked this book. Through the stories being told, the author talks more about the struggles between English Canada & French Canada.  It's quite enlightening.
 
Also in the middle of The Corner's Lunch.


 Made:  Attended a card workshop last night, made three cards.  One of them was a lot of fussy cutting & fussy stamping.  One was a dark one, not a favourite, stamping dark colours on dark paper & the last one was a card with a detachable bookmark.


 It's Official:  Spring is here!  The Osprey are back, all three nests on the lake front are occupied.  Spotted a Blue Heron in a farmer's pond. And some are lucky enough to have daffodils & tulips blooming in their gardens - mine are still in promise mode.  

Yesterday the farmer turned over the field to get ready for planting.  Last year was Winter Wheat so this year it will be corn if he stays true to his rotation.  


"Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book."  - Jane Smiley,  Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel

Thursday, May 02, 2019

Take Three Thursday - The Iron Throne

In an effort to notice more of the ordinary in my life, I have decided to share what I have noticed this week in Take Three Thursday.   The idea is to take 1 - 3 photos that are linked some how; by theme, by colour, by date, by moment,  by points of view. There is no formal link in but please feel free to join in.     

What have you noticed this week?

Mr Man & I are Game of Thrones fans & as many of you know, May 19th is the last episode of the series.  Who will sit on the iron throne?  Mr Man & I both have different favourites of who we want on the throne.

So this week my noticing was to do with iron & a little fun play on "The Wall" which is a key area in Game of Thrones.  What I "see" is the wall & all the locals rushing to the safety of Winterfell.








The iron works were created by a local artist in our little village & are displayed at a local restaurant owned by friends of the artist.