Just a bit of everything!

 August 25, 2024

It has been a busy week up in this neck of the woods. A lot of garden produce is ready for picking and processing, as well as wild fruit...apples, blackberries. Last weekend, we received over 3 inches of rain. Lucky us, while communities in other parts of the province had flooding issues. Our grass has never been greener at this point in the year... or needed cutting more! Just another chore on the list! There were a couple of quite cool nights after the weekend rain, as a cold front came through. One morning, we even lit the fire..as the inside temperature was dipping into the coolish mid teens C (high 50's F)..a bit of a shock after the high 20s into 30s C (in the 80's F..plus a humidex reading) we have had for most of the summer.

Hubby has been busy making shelves in the root cellar....this winter will be it's maiden run. The humidity levels in there are good, we just need the temperature to come down. It was lovely and cool in there on the hot days, but still not cool enough for proper storage. The potatoes will stay in the ground safely for a while. I planted my rutabagas late, planning on them getting hit by some September frosts, but with all the rain, they are getting huge already! Hubby has built the stand and mounted the new water tank by the barn, near garden beds we plan to expand, and the hot frame down there. It is ready for filling come spring.

I only planted a few cabbages, and staggered their start dates so they would grow on into cooler fall temperatures. Two are ready now. One was picked and processed into sauerkraut, the next is slated for canned coleslaw.

The others, just starting to head up now, are for storage fresh, in the root cellar once heavy frost comes. The row cover kept off the Cabbage whites, and the heads are beautiful. 

Visitors entertaining us in the new front flower bed.... One of the warring Hummers, taking a rest on the beak of it's decorative namesake...

A butterfly...possibly a Great spangled fritillary.

And one of many dragon flies that are zipping around, taking a rest on a lavender flower spike.

If one could only catch the light just right, to see how their wings  glisten and shimmer.

These two are so bold...visiting under the apple trees in daylight..and after dark. This picture, taken through the bird 'anti-collision' dots on the window, mid-afternoon.

So far the apples have kept them occupied, although there has been a bit of nibbling on the rutabaga leaves of late. All the deer and bear showing up on the trail cameras are looking well fed and healthy. This fellow is too smart to show up in daylight.

A couple more denizens of the night....

A Barred owl on 'Bird Cam.' We hear the owls at night, and are still hearing Whip-poor-wills as well. 

This fellow is a flying squirrel. I call them the 'Big-Eyed squirrels.'

You can see his flattish tail, and the curve of furry skin between the front and back legs that stretches out when they glide from tree to tree.
Also on 'Bird Cam.' was this bird, a new one for me. It took some looking to figure out it must be a Red-naped Sapsucker.

On our weekly trail camera SD card pick-up, we carry pruners and have been clearing back the edges of our trails, which the trees and bushes have been trying to reclaim, reaching for that bit of extra light. We discovered this along the trail..

A pretty little cup-nest, placed perfectly in the crotch of a young tree. Working lower down, a movement caught my eye...such a tiny guy. I poked the camera down and zoomed...Now I can see the X on his back...a tiny Spring Peeper.

There is so much more going on, getting ready for winter and taking time to enjoy our surroundings as well, but this is far and away enough to bore you with now!