Road Trip!!

 June 26, 2025

 

One can't get enough of these beauties! This is our third year visiting,

It is a Mississippi Valley Conservation Area in Lanark County, which butts up against the south side of Renfrew County. 
A nice new, wider, boardwalk is being built going into the fen where the orchids grow. 

Back on the home front, the Barn Swallows have been working away on their nest, and over the course of four days it has gone from this...

to this.

Here is a grainy picture of the pair of them working on it.

We are trying very hard to disturb them as little as possible.

The storm and heavy rain (a good 3 inches) we experienced overnight on Saturday, absolutely soaked the gardens, and left puddles where snow melt puddles usually accumulate. They didn't soak away for a few days, partially because of the extreme heat and humidity that came next. That storm was very severe north of us, where there were down bursts of wind that toppled trees, and torrential rain that washed out roads. Our road is also a little "worse for the wear". Monday and Tuesday were brutally hot and humid days, when we were able to do a few outside chores very early in the morning, and basically just endured being indoors until the heat broke on Wednesday evening. The "feel-like" temperatures were well into the low 40's C. (104 - 113F) At those temperatures, one does not even feel like eating! One does adjust to the heat and humidity, but would prefer it to happen more gradually! After our coolish spring, it was a sudden jolt.

Everything in the gardens has put on a growth spurt. Peas are blooming and forming pods,

peppers are forming,

and the tomatoes are blooming and there are even a few little green guys growing.

I found this guy in the corner of my net-covered brassica bed one morning.

 A closer look at a Gray Treefrog.

Throughout the few days of extreme heat, the Treefrogs were calling continually. They have the ability to camouflage themselves somewhat, depending on the environment around them.

 And just take a sniff of these!