Rain, rain and flippin cold as well!!!!!

The sky is so heavy with rain that it's almost as dark as night. More people than me are wondering if we'll ever get a summer this year. We bitch and complain about the weather a lot in this neck of the woods but as my brother says, when fall comes, we look back and if we've had two weeks of great weather in July we talk about what a wonderful summer we've had.

We went to Gander on Thursday and on the way back we hit snow. You could hardly see down the highway for a while. Still, the perinnials are all coming up. We had frost one night this past week and I lost some of the annuals that I had potted up. I had them covered overnight but it didn't help.

I needed a new hand trowel as the one I have is a bit rusty and bent out of shape. I bought a new one and it's too cute to get dirty.


We've heard that there is a bear in the area so we have to keep a sharp eye out when outside. The birds are still quite active. The grey Jays have been bringing one "baby" to the feeders. Although the said baby is as big as the adults but still fluttering the wings begging for food.



The Boreal Chick a Dee is still hanging around. It seems to me that there is only the one as that's all I've seen.



Big yawn!! What else is a cat to do on these miserable days but sleep.


Back at it!


Even himself is feeling a little down. I went in the bedroom yesterday morning and he had two teddies sitting on the bed...the girl teddy rubbing the boy teddy's head. Was this a hint that he needed some comforting, lol.

Little Lady Warbler

The warbler from two days ago has been coming back and forth to the feeders. Today I saw that he had his little lady with him. They are both so cute and quite small. I managed to get a couple of picture of herself.



Yesterday was beautiful and we got a lot of work done outside once again. It did turn chilly as the afternoon went on. Today it's been rainy but expected to clear off this afternoon. I believe I have another squirrel coming to the sunflower feeder. When she stretched out I noticed that her nipples were extended so I'm thinking that she's given birth. You can sort of see from these pictures that she may be feeding young. And she does look a be harried, lol. I expect she's got her hands full.



I'm more or less taking the day off. I'm pleased with what I got done during this past week. I've been to the greenhouses and have bought a few annuals for pots but still need a lot more. I'm hoping to get all the containers filled this coming week. I expect I'll be covering them at night as our last frost isn't until June. I just get overanxious to get them all in pots and placed around.
Hope you're all having a good weekend.

Yellow Rumped Warbler.

I have been so busy, in fact some days this week, by late afternoon, my body has been screaming STOP and I've had to give all the gardening up for the day. However, I've made considerable progress. Yesterday I finally got around to staining the deck although I did take a chance as the sky was overcast and it looked like it could have rained. So, after supper last night, I was standing outside and saw a bird that I didn't recognize at one of the feeders. I do believe it's a Yellow Rumped Warbler but anyone can correct me if I'm wrong.




There was a great deal of activity at the feeders. A few of the birds seen.






The is a poor picture of a Robin but I see them so seldom in the garden that I just had to show him off.


I took another picture of those spiders eggs. At least that's what I think it is. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you will see they look quite scary. EEK!


This is the little bit of mischief that comes back and forth every day.

Spiders eggs and Birdies.

It's still raining and I expect if the sun ever comes out again we'll all be blinded. To be fair though, we did get a wee bit of bright sky a couple of times in this past six weeks or so. Apparently the sale of beer has gone through the roof because depression has set in with a lot of people. The good news though is that the perrinnials are growing like mad.

Another bit of good news. I finally got a picture of the Boreal Chick a Dee that's been coming to the feeders on rare occasions. Seems everytime I go for the camera, by the time I get out with it, he's gone. But not this morning!




Some of the other birds. Lots of purple Finches still around.





There's been a grey Jay coming each day. Another bird I don't usually see often. I figured it was nesting close by. Yesterday evening while I was outside I heard an awful racket like birds screeching. Very concerned, I followed the sounds and was surprise to see up in one of the trees, three grey jays, one seeming to be a young one as it was fluttering its wings and two parents. It seems the parents were bringing the young one nearer the feeders. This is the one that was coming quite often lately.




This I think are spider eggs. They look like small pearls.

Happy Days.

I've been working at the garden this past couple of days. Thumb is all better thankfully. Unfortunately last week I lost the filling in one of my front teeth and can't get an appointment with the dentist until the 19th. of this month. Needless to say I'm not smiling much these days. I'm doing a bit on the garden each day and it's paying off now. It seems to me last year about this time I was saying that I can see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, well, that's about where I am now. We got the lawn mower out yesterday. The grass had gotten quite long and with the sun it had dried enough to mow. I just love cutting the grass and noticed while I was mowing that I had a wicked grin on my face. I mentioned it to himself who was splitting some wood and he said he could tell I was happy by the sound of the mower going around.

I haven't seen the goldfinch for sometime so I suspect he's off trying to find a mate. There is a Boreal Chick a Dee coming to the feeders but I haven't been able to get a picture. Also a White Throated Sparrow.

A black capped chick a dee.


A few odds and ends around the garden.




Two of the early plants in bloom.



Laurie was here last weekend and one afternoon she went out to meet up with a friend. On the way she saw a dead rabbit on the road with a crow having a bit of a meal. She had her camera with her and got these shots. If you're a bit squeamish don't look. I myself don't like looking at pictures like this although it's natures way I suppose. I did think the pictures were interesting.

May 4th.

I don't think we always appreciate how important certain parts of our bodies are to us. For instance our thumbs. Yesterday, with repeated pounding of nails into board with the hammer, I did such damage to my thumb that I haven't been able to move it since. Now I realize how important it is to have a working thumb. I can't lift a cup, can't turn a door knob, can't open a can with the can opener.....you get the picture! This has never happened to me before although I've been using a hammer for years at various times. Poor old thumbs, they just don't get the respect they deserve. I was awake half the night with hip pain from working in the garden and my shoulder was giving me some grief. I simply won't face the fact that I'm getting older and the old body can't take things the way it use to.

The Goldfinch put in a brief appearance once again yesterday. It was lovely to see him and he seems to be hanging around with the Purple Finches. We had a sunny day yesterday, the first in some time. How it changes ones mood after days of drizzle and rain not too mention the odd flurry. Today the rain is coming down in torrents. Apparently by Friday we may see a bit of sun again. What a month this has been weather wise. Dreadful!!

We went to Gander last Thursday to do some shopping. Himself bought me a "garden claw" which I was delighted with. It's suppose to loosen soil, break up clumps, etc. No bending over, just grab on to the handles, twist them and the claw does the rest. I've seen it demonstrated on TV with some little old lady working away with it. I'm here to say that it's the most useless piece of steel I've ever seen. With excitement I put it together, went to the garden, put it on soil and couldn't twist it. The only way I can see it working is if it's used on fluffy, dry soil that wouldn't need it anyway. A dissappointment for sure. It's going back to the store. I also bought a large frame for a piece of art that my daughter gave me. It's a pastel on paper so it needed a frame with a glass. I found a nice looking frame all done over with plastic and I bought it. I was quite excited about that as well as I'd been waiting to find the right size frame for this picture. Thankfully I didn't haul all the plastic wrap of it as it's going back to the store. There was no glass in it! My fault, because I didn't look to make sure. Seeing the plasic covering I just assumed that it had a glass.

I haven't taken any pictures this past few days. I don't know what takes up my time lately but I always seem to be busy. I have so many blogs to catch up on as well. I did get a few picture of this Grouse that was up in a tree by the back door. A lovely bird and quite large. She was just sitting there looking down at me and didn't mind getting a few pictures taken.