Earrings and Car troubles.

We decided to go to Gander yesterday morning early to do the end of the month shopping and I was quite excited about getting a futon that was on sale at one of the department store. We set off, got up to the highway, turned right heading for our destination. We got so far down the highway when we started hearing this tinny clinking sound. We pulled over and both got out of the car looking under it and around it. Couldn't see a problem but thought we'd better go back home and get to a mechanic as we didn't want to break down on the highway and have to phone for a tow truck. So....we manage to make it back and after parking the car in the driveway, came in the house. I was sitting on the chesterfield, himself came in and sat besides me. I was pondering on how we would manage if there was something seriously wrong with the car when himself says in a hushed whisper..."Listen!" There was dead silence when himself says "It's your earrings." Blush! Blush! Well, I do wear big earrings and I guess with the movement of both car and my head they were making a tinny clinking sound. So, we set off again. No more problems! We got the shopping done and I got my futon. Now, surely it's not rocket science to put one of these things together but I, for the life of me, can't understand a word of the instructions. I expect I'll have another go at it today.

The weather has been amazing. Sunny and warm. This little one is here often. Such a character.



Lots of Nuthatches at the feeders. I was disappointed that I hadn't seen any all last winter but loads around now. Not as many butterflies as I normally see but loads of bees.

Reflections.

There has definitely been a feeling of fall in the air lately. Yesterday however, it was like a lovely summer day and today promises to be the same. We grab every warm sunny day we can here in this neck of the woods as winter is fast approaching and seems to go on forever. The annuals have pretty well had their day and most of the perennials have finished blooming. The phlox are still holding their own with some still to bloom. The black currant bush was loaded down with berries once again with some branches so heavy with berries that I had to tie them up to keep them off the ground.

We had to go to the hardware store this morning to pick up a couple of pieces of wood for the deck and I decided to take the camera along. The sky was so blue with not a breath of wind. Reflections every where. You can click on each picture to enlarge.

A hard fall and wasps.

Himself decided to have a lay in the hammock. He said he got in and before he knew it the ground was coming up at him fast. The end had come undone from the tree trunk and down he went. He said he didn't have enough breath in him to call out to me and there he was spread eagle on the ground with a flippin hen pecking at his head. ( his words) All my fault of course, he says I didn't tie it on properly. Thing is, he tied it back on after I undid it so I could get back and forth to the clothes line yesterday. After an inspection of his body it was deemed that he was okay.

My daughter, granddaughter, her boyfriend and grandson were here last weekend. It was lovely to see them and the weather was perfect. Laurie asked me if I had heard of wood wasps. I said no I hadn't at which point she got a log from the stacked wood and showed me. Well, not the wasp but the hole it was in. She said it made a loud crunching noise when it was eating and that there would be a small pile of sawdust kicked out. I hadn't seen or heard anything until the other night when I was sitting out having coffee with friends. I asked them if they had heard of these wasps and the answer was no. Only moments after that we all turned our heads to the log as there was a very loud crunching sound coming from in and a lovely little pile of sawdust on the table under the hole. As far as I know it's the larvae that's doing the chewing.

You can't really see the hole in this picture as it's very small.



So I decided to get some information on these creatures. They are hot tempered and sting. They don't swarm but lurk. They have long life cycles. They will eat through siding, even asphalt to get back to their nests. That's just some basic information.

This is a picture I found of the adult.

The Colour Orange and New Flutter.

Earlier in the season I thought there was a lack of bees but now the garden is humming.




It's been the best year yet for Nasturtiums. I'm hoping next summer it will be the same as I'm planning on getting a lot more. They are very tasty as well.


This is a new butterfly to the garden. I think it's a Milbert's Tortoiseshell. Please correct me if I'm wrong.




This one.....I don't know what it is. It does have some distinctive markings.

Home Again.

I've been off the grid for some time as my partner had major surgery over two weeks ago. It's been a very stressful time to say the least. We had to go to the city for the surgery and fortunately I stayed at my daughters house there and she came out here for that time to take care of our cats and chickens. I'm not going to go into a long song and dance about it all only to say that the bottom lobe of the left lung was removed, the surgeon said it looked like cancer but that the area around it looked clean. We won't know the results of it until himself sees the surgeon again in a months time. We are hoping for the best.

I'm finally relaxing some and found that the last few days puttering around the garden has been a kind of healing for me. The weather has been quite good and yesterday afternoon I finally picked up the camera and got some shots of one of my favorite subjects, the Bumble Bee.






The bee balm has done me proud this summer. I have it in various parts of the garden.






A few pictures from around part of the garden.