About Bears and Stuff.

A funny thing happened today, well we did have a bit of snow but that wasn't it.  My computer was giving me problems so I shut it down.  Then I thought of a tablet that my brother had given me for Xmas last year that I had put away on a shelf.   I used it once if I remember correctly.  So I decided to give it a go.  I wanted to use messenger on face book to get in touch with my daughter.  I'm not all that savy when it comes to computers or indeed tablets.   I managed to get the facebook page and then I had to install messenger.   My head was splitting by the time I got that done.   In fact I was feeling quite flushed.  So I was writing her to say I was using the tablet as I had shut the computer off.   You know, and I can't believe it, I was so frustrated that I couldn't figure out how to make the spaces between the words.  The letters were small enough that I had to touch with my fingers and I was looking for an icon to make a space.  Well, not finding one I sent the message off looking garbled and all one long word with a couple of mistakes.   I finally, of course, realized that there was a space bar there so wrote the message again saying "I'm using the bloody tablet."  I didn't have that written out when the phone rang....it was my daughter, who had read the message and was quite concerned, thinking I might be having a stroke.   It was hilarious!

It's gotten quite chilly now.  I don't think it got much above zero today.  A grouse has been coming to the garden most days lately.  And last month a few bears came to the garden.  Not all at once but over the space of a couple of weeks.  Wildlife caught two of them in a live trap and transported them further away.   It's usually May and October when I see them.  Gorgeous creatures.  I managed to get two photos of one but not very good pictures.  One by the deck and one of him going off towards the woods. 

He was standing up with paws on the railing sniffing the air but just as I was about to take the picture he was getting down. 

And the grouse.

This Past Year!

It's hard to believe that 2016 is coming to an end.  It's been a stressful year for a few reasons.  April brought leaks in the ceiling in two rooms.  Called for an estimate on fixing the problem and the quote was $6,000.00.  I simply couldn't afford that price so when summer arrived I bought some sealant and did around each shingle with hopes that it might help.  I really don't have much hope for it as that part of the roof is on a very low slope and when the snow piles up and the heat from the house gets up through, the snow starts melting and the water can't run off so the water seeps in through the shingles.   Next year I'll have to come up with something else.  Maybe a thick coating of tar.

I had a dental appointment in early spring because some pieces were chipping off the bonding I had done on my front teeth many years ago.  This wasn't the first time this happened and was repaired.  The dentist told me that as this was happening more often I'd be better off getting those teeth extracted and get a partial plate to replace them.   As he's also a dental surgeon and I'm a frightened mess anytime I have to see the dentist, he said he could remove them at the hospital while I was under anesthetic.    After giving it a lot of thought, I decided to go ahead and have them taken out.  The appointment was made for June.  So, saw the denturist and went through the procedure of having a partial plate made at the cost of just over $1,000.00.

Then, my doctor asked me when I last had a mammogram.   Good heavens, I said, about twenty years ago.  He said he was making an appointment to have one at the hospital.   I think this was in July and I had the appointment in early August.  Anyway, it doesn't matter the date.   So after that I got a call from the doctor's office saying he wanted to see me.  Something showed up in one of my breasts and they wanted to do a more in depth mammogram and an ultra sound on that breast.  Back I go to the hospital and have that done.  The report came back that they couldn't figure what it was so wanted me to see a cancer surgeon.  Went to see him, he examined me and said he couldn't feel anything but wanted to do surgery on the breast and take out what was showing up.  Now it was getting scary.  I didn't know what to think or do.  My mind was going in all directions thinking what I would do if the news was bad.  I'd have to leave here and move closer to a hospital, etc, etc.  I didn't have to wait long.  Everything happened so fast after the results of the first mammogram.  My daughter came to stay with me and take me to the hospital, etc.   I don't know what I would have done without her.   I had the surgery and now it was a waiting game.   I got an appointment with the surgeon within days.  Went to the appointment, very stressed out.  When I saw him he said all was well, it was a benign cyst.  What a sign of relief.  He said it was nice to be able to give someone good news. 

Whew!  haven't talked so much in ages.  So, all is well and as usually once fall came in I started preparing the house and garden for winter.  All done!  At least as much as there's going to be done. 

A picture I took the other day of the Pet Cemetery, or part of it.  Some lovely moss and the Phlox still showing but certainly on it's way out.

A few in the House. Oct 28, 2017

Long, long Winter

It's been a bit of a rough winter.   We had a lot of snow, I'd say parts of the garden had four to five feet on the ground.   The park benches that I have were no where to be seen as they were hidden under the snow.   There's still a bit around but most of it has finally disappeared.   Temperatures are down most days.   I woke up this morning to the trees covered in glitter from the freezing rain that fell and the deck was slippery with ice.

I've come to the conclusion after going through this winter that I'm going to have to invest in another source of heat other than the wood stove.   I find with each year now that it's harder on my body to be lugging wood in a couple of times a day from down in the driveway.  Climbing on the roof every so often to clean the chimney is no fun either when there's a bitter wind blowing.   Also, the back part of the house which is a relatively new addition, has an almost flat roof so ice dams build up with all the snow and it causes leaks in the ceiling inside.  The ceiling is ruined at this point.  I've gotten up on the roof after each snow fall to try to get as much snow as possible off but it still leaked.   I'm going to have to find a roofing company to give me a quote on what can be done to prevent this happening in the future.   It's going to be an expensive year.

There's more activity in the garden now.   I didn't have many Blue Jays over the winter months but they've come back and are courting.   A grouse has been showing up most days.  It picks at the seeds that have fallen from the feeders.  It's a sweet bird.

Last fall I cleared a bit of ground to make a Fairy Garden.   Over the winter I've made five stone houses and a half dozen mushrooms out of clay which I then painted.   I'm anxious to get going on it once all the snow has gone and the ground dries up a bit.

I imagine the cats were as disgruntled as I was with the winter.   All has changed now because they can get outside whenever they want.   I'll soon be doing spring things like cleaning up the beds, etc.  I'm so looking forward to it.

Tommy enjoying a bit of sun.

Overcast Friday.

Woke up to a brush of snow on the ground this morning and temperature at one degree.   I wasn't long putting a fire in the wood stove.   It was a wee bit nippy in the house.

My daughter came for a visit last week and stayed for five days.   I really enjoyed the visit.  Too bad that it was wet and miserable for most of the time.  She brought me a couple of great gifts.   She's a wee bit like me when it comes to strange stuff.

The cats are a bit ticked off with regards to the weather.   They've been inside sleeping more than usual.  Malachi was out on the railing the other day in a light rainfall.   He was not happy but wouldn't come in.   He had a terrible grumpy look on his face.

A few pictures taken last week.   Nothing terribly exciting.

Almost Snow Time.

We had our first brush of snow a couple of days ago.  It came down heavy for about fifteen - twenty minutes then stopped.  It didn't stay as it was melting as it hit the ground.  Today started out overcast and wet but it's now turned into a beautiful sunny one.

It's amazing that some of the Phlox still has some blooms on them given the nights of hard frost that we've had.

It's hard to believe that another year is almost over.   I remember hearing my grandmother say that the older you get, the faster time flies.   She was right.

It's late in the afternoon now and it's gotten overcast and dull once again.   Here's Malachi looking out at the dismal afternoon.

Another baby asleep on the back of the sofa.

Lovely Sunny Day.

I finally got a chance to get on the roof and sweep off the piles of leaves that had built up.   Because I'm surrounded by big trees, in the fall I'm overloaded with the leaves.   I also brought up my can of roof patch just to have a look and make sure all was okay.   I saw a couple of what might be worry some spots so just to be sure I put some patch on them.   We've had a couple of lovely sunny days so I've been trying to get more stuff done in preparation for winter.  Yesterday I spent a good part of the day putting plastic on the windows, well, most of them.  They are single panned, very old windows and the cold comes through them easily.   I use the stretch plastic, the stuff that after it's on you use your hair dryer and end up with what looks like glass.   You can't tell that there's plastic there.   I love it.  I think I'm pretty well ready now for when the snow flies.   I just have to bring the shovels, my sled to haul up wood and my snow blower down from the shed.

Frankie enjoying the sunny day.

Malachi being lazy.

Tommy on bear patrol.

Fairy Glen and Other Things.

I have the garden put to bed as much as it's going to be.   It's hard to keep up with it as I've gone too far for one person to handle with all the spaces I've used up.   On saying that....I am blushing....in late summer I cleared away a nice size area to make a Fairy Glen.   Yes, I don't have enough to do already, ha ha ha.  I'm not putting all the houses etc in there until spring but here are a few things I've placed there and a couple of things I've made so far.   I figure it will be a work in progress over the winter.

Here is a look at the Glen with just a few of the things I've placed there.

I've made this stone house (more to be made) and six of these toadstools.

These days I'm trying to prepare for winter.   I have most of the pots emptied and now just have to store them.  I've been sawing up some small wood every chance I get to use to start the fire in the mornings.  I have to bring the snow shovels down from the shed and also the snow blower.  Also the small sled to haul the wood up to the house in the mornings.  I'm trying to get everything at the ready.   There's a few things still to put away but I should get to it all before the snow flies.

October's End

Here we are at the end of October and heading fast into winter.   This year has been just a blur in many ways.   Seems like it went far too fast.   It's the first year as far back as I can remember that I didn't do much decorating for Halloween/Samhain.  I couldn't get into it somehow.   And the first time in ages that I'm not having a party.   It's been a funny sort of year.   I did paint some twigs, put them in a pot and strung purple lights around it.  I thought it looked pretty.   And a little bit of orange on an end table.

This past week I've had a bear around.   I got up one morning and saw that a full bag of garbage had been hauled off the deck and ripped to pieces.  While picking that mess up the thought that it could have been a bear made me look at the bird feeders and the two block suet feeder was gone.  He had to climb the tree to reach a branch and pull.   Only the wire that was attached to it was left hanging.   Of course I should have know there was a bear about because a few days before that one of the feeders that had been high up on a post was flat on the ground, post and all.   We'd had a lot of wind so I just figured it had blown over although the post was broken off at the bottom.   Needless to say I've been cautious when outside.   Two days ago I had some stuff to bring up by the woods to the bonfire pile and spied the lost feeder over by the woods.  The suet was gone of course and the feeder was smashed to bits.  It was a fairly expensive one too that was made so only the small birds could get into it.   And was made with heavy wire.

This is what's left of it.   Only good as a conversation piece now.

My oldest cat, little Freya, is no longer with me.   She had lost a lot of weight, was only skin and bone really and was hardly eating.   I can't bear this having to make a decision to have an animal euthanized.  It broke my heart.   Only the three boys left now.

Well, that's about it for now.  

Roof Problems.

Up on the lower roof twice yesterday.   Although I thought I'd been keeping most of the snow off an ice damn had built up on the edge of the roof once again and another one about two feet behind that.  After much pounding with the back end of an axe and chipping part of it away, then shoveling what I could off, I was beat.   I really only managed to make enough of a break in the built up ice to at least let some of the water work its way out.   Something will have to be done this spring to fix this situation.   I've heard of liquid rubber and liquid plastic that can be applied to low roofs to keep water from seeping through and coming into the house by way of the ceiling.   Fortunately I only have this problem in one room but that ceiling will have to be fixed as well.   My body is aching all over today.   The joys of home ownership!  I need a young fellow at my beck and call, lol.

Half way through March and winter hasn't been too bad at all.   No complaints from me.   Not long until April and hopefully the worse will be over.   The garden is still covered in snow.  Only about a foot of it over most of it.

Lots of birds at the feeders.  I have a feeling that we may get an early spring out of it.  The red you see in the feeder is something I had to put inside because one of the squirrels had chewed through the wire that holds the seeds in and they were falling out.   I don't know what to do about it as I have to keep raising the red thing higher and higher.   At this rate the feeder will soon be useless.

A bit of a fuss between a chick a dee and a finch.

After the trouble I had with Tommy last year when I put up the Ostara Tree, I had decided not to bother this year.   A friend convinced me to try again so I went and cut some branches and while the boy was asleep, I stuck them in a high container where I had some flowers.   Put tiny lights and lots of eggs on it and took a picture.    About an hour later I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.   There he was on one of the steps, banging the eggs about.   There was no way I could get him to stop so I took it all apart.   I was so disappointed as it did look pretty.

The tree that WAS!

That's about it for now.   Must get going again.

A Very Windy March 1st.

Here it is, March 1st. and I can't complain about this winter at all.   We had a few good snow falls but some lovely mild days as well.   Most of the snow has disappeared and I can't say I'm sad about it.   When we had the last heavy snow fall I found it was hard for me to clear the path and driveway.  This old body just can't seem to do as much heavy work as it use to.   So, being frustrated about it I ordered a small snow blower.   It arrived a couple of weeks later and I did get to use it one time, worked like a charm, and we haven't had any amount of snow since.   However, there's still time for lots more of the stuff.

My new helper.

Lots of birds around now.   I hear singing just at daybreak most mornings when I'm filling the feeders.   Makes me think that it will be an early spring.  Fingers crossed.

A couple of weeks ago for some reason I remembered a long light blue cotton fabric coat that my daughter had given me years ago.   She had painted some pictures on the back of it and only did so many on the left side of it.   I had shoved it to the back of the closet planning on some day when I would try my hand at finishing the painting.   I brought it out and had a look.   Then I bought some fabric paint and went to work.  I'm pleased with the result.   Laurie painted most of the left side and I finished the rest.

I'm off to Gander this morning to have blood work done at the hospital and then shopping.   We're to have some rain, glorious rain today.

Shoveling Again.

We had a pretty good snowfall overnight.   Around 5:00 am I was out shoveling the decks and stairs and pathway to the driveway.   Brought in wood and decided to take a break before doing the driveway.   I'm now finished the driveway but will be down there again once the plow goes by and fills part of it in again.  

The crows came early this morning.  I guess it's hard for them to find food when there's snow on the ground.  They filled up on dried dog food and cracked corn.   The smaller birds were into the mixed seed and sunflower seeds.   Lots of Juncos around.  I haven't seen many Blue Jays which is surprising.   Of course it hasn't been that cold and we've had quite a bit of sunshine so they've probably gone off to other places.

I took this photo of Tommy early the other morning and was amazed at how his eyes picked up colours in the room.

Another on of the boy:

After the last snow fall.