My Week so Far!

I'm still laid up! Although the hip is a little better today, yesterday before Laurie left for her flight she had to put my socks on for me. I took a pain killer and muscle relaxant that was prescribed for me the last time I had this. They tend to knock me out so I slept on and off most of the day. Went to bed at 8:00 pm and went out like a light. I feel pretty useless though as about all I can do is scuff around. I'm hoping that tomorrow I will be a fair bit better.

There are tractors and trucks in front of the house and a huge hole in the street. The must be doing something with the water main. I've noticed that the men do a lot of standing around the hole looking down into it. lol.

I've made a mess of the phones. Laurie has this system that shows who is calling and takes messages. Shows how far behind the times I am as I've done something wrong and now I can't phone out but people can phone in. I just get a beep, beep sound and no dial tone. Hopefully she will call today and I'll be able to get it fixed. Obviously this "holiday" is not going too well thus far.

My charges.

Angus
Sagwa.
"I'm going to tear the carpet up while mom's gone."




Sagwa and Skipper.



Willow.

I've arrived in St. John's

Here I am in the city sitting at my daughters computer trying to use this pen thing she has instead of the mouse that I'm use to. Anyway, I came in yesterday instead of today as planned. Friends phoned Friday saying they were going to St. John's on Saturday and did I want to come along. I did! It was a good trip and the wet weather cleared as we neared the city. We did see a male moose on the highway and the driver slowed down and blew his horn which made the moose head for the side of the road and off into the woods.

It seems that when I'm away from home it never rains but it pours. Himself got in touch saying that this morning the gate appeared to be kicked in and was off the hinge at one point. Not only that but one of the plant containers, quite a large one and a large garden vase were knocked over. He walked down the road and saw a friends garbage box beaten up and garbage scattered all over the place. And, between our house and the friends there was a live trap for bears set up. So hear we are back to the bear problem once again. Apparently the friends cats were acting very scared last night and so were ours. This could be a problem until they go into hibernation around the end of November.

I've brought the camera with me but if I can't figure out how to use it on this computer, there will be no photos until I get back. We'll see how I make out.

So that's about it for now. Laurie is packing her suitcases at the moment getting ready to catch the 7:00 am flight. I've hurt my hip once again. I think it's probably from going up and down the stairs so much since I arrived. She has a three story house and I'm just not use to so many steps up and down.

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

Thanks to the help of some friends I now know that the bird in the last blog is a Rose Breasted Grosbeak. It's rare to find here and must have wandered outside it's normal range. Thanks everyone for the help.

Need ID

This bird, a new one for me, was in the garden this afternoon. I've looked through my books but can't seem to find out what it is. If anyone can help with identifying this bird I would appreciate it. He's a fair size, bigger than the normal sparrow but smaller than a blue jay, if that helps. Also the blush of pink on his breast should help.

Yesterday was sunny and warm. Simply a beautiful day. Not much wind so we decided to cover the chickens greenhouse area with new plastic before the weather got too cold. We started off with a bit of a fuss as I usually do these things myself but himself wanted to get involved. It got to the point where I told him to find something else to do and leave me to it, lol. Then I started feeling bad about the whole thing and so bit my tongue and we managed to get it finished without incident. It's an awkward job at best so I'm delighted that it's finished and now can tick it off my list of to do's. Today promises to be another warm sunny day although it's not daylight yet as I write this so not sure that the weather prediction will be right. I expect it will be another day in the garden.

The reason I'm a bit frantic to get this all done is because this coming weekend I'll be going to my daughters in the city to spend two and a half weeks looking after her house and cats while she's on holiday in Ontario. I have two bags already half packed with "things to do" stuff along with some books to read while there. I had a dream last night that I forgot to pack my camera. I was in an awful state, lol. So this morning I wrote a note in big letters with a marker and put it on top of one of the suitcases, reminding me of things to take.

Just looking out the window, the sky is starting to show some light. Looks like a nice day. Almost time to let the chickens out and fill bird feeders.

Jays, usually four pair hang around most days.







The bird pictures were taken after supper last night so the bird feeders are almost empty after all day.

Woodie.

This Bee Balm is still hanging in there.

Poppy.


Sedum. This lot I really just dumped in this spot a few years ago as I couldn't find a place to plant it. As you can see it's done very well.


The second gateway into another part of the garden. Leaves are starting to fall now as you can see from the ground.


Not a good bee picture but I do like the flower.


Another work day.

Hot and Sunny!

I have been so busy. Starting the middle of last week, I was preparing for the old fellows birthday party on Friday past. Then a friend of his came for the party and stayed until Sunday. Yesterday, Monday, I worked in the garden all day digging, moving plants, cutting back tree branches, cutting back plants. I was very tired last night but it was one of those lovely feelings of tiredness and the knowing that so much was accomplished. It was a lovely day to work outside. Today is sunny and just beautiful. I started once again in the garden but it was so hot by lunchtime that I had to give it up until it cools off later in the day. Lots of bees and other insects about, also a dragonfly that I followed around for sometime with the camera but didn't get a shot although I was trying to talk to him with my mind saying, "Land, land, land.", lol.

Other than that I can't say that there has been much happening. I have to get as much done in the garden before the end of September as I possibly can. We have to also put new plastic on the hens greenhouse area. All the plant pots have to be put away along with the garden ornaments and I'd like to put compost on all the gardens before it gets too cold. The main thing at the moment is to get all the plants that need moving done before long as there roots need time to grab into the earth. I have blogs to catch up on as well.

A few pictures taken today.

Bee.


Chick a Dee.

Breaking seed.

Sweet Freya.


Some of the flowers now in bloom.

Giant Sunflowers.



Phlox.


Sedum.


Work Day.

September Days

The hip has been improving. I saw the doctor on Thursday, was told it was a muscular thing and was given pain killers and muscle relaxers. I took one of each when I got home and they knocked me out, slept for about three hours. Which was probably a good thing in retrospect as it kept me off my feet. I haven't taken any more of the pills and as I said things have improved considerably. However, I'll have to put himself to work in the garden as I'm afraid of risking being in this state again.

The days have been lovely. Very cold in the mornings and evenings but sunny and warm during the day. Two of the bears have been captured and relocated. This was good news. I've been doing little or nothing, just trying to give the hip a bit of a break.

I started this post on Sept. 12th., had saved it to get back to and it's now the 15th. Time is going much to fast. We've had a lot of high wind this past two days with the big Spruce trees doing their swirling dance and the Aspens singing. It gives one a sense of comfort at night to hear these sounds through the open window. As the days go by I notice more of the leaves turning fall colours.

A few pictures taken over this past week.

Sleeping Cat.

"Must you wake me again with that blasted camera."



Bee on Motherwort. I won't see bees for much longer as the days are getting colder.


Large spider in greenhouse. He's made a very large web that stretches from tomato plants on one side to the other side. I can't go through without destroying the web which I don't want to do. I keep hoping he'll soon decide to go somewhere else as I have to get tomatoes. Argh!!


A few flowers that are now in bloom.

Fairy Doors and Bear Update

I've hurt my hip! I don't know how this happened, it seemed I woke up a few mornings ago and there it was. I did have a similar thing happen about 6 or 7 years ago and it put me in bed for three days but eventually got better. At that time it was caused by too much digging in the garden and carting heavy things around outside. This has given me a chance to get at some things I wanted to do inside, ie: make Fairy Doors. I had to get himself to accompany me up into the woods so I could gather some moss, small spruce cones and sticks. Normally I wouldn't need anyone with me but with the bears around it was just too risky. So, there he is behind me with his little toy cap gun, lol. He's hoping that it will make enough noise to scare a bear away, lol, lol.

I made three doors and here are the results. My first try at it. Now it's a matter of finding a place to put them. No doubt two will go on the trunks of large trees near the ground. The other in the house somewhere. Maybe in a closet. They've been found in old houses under stairs and in cupboards.




On talking to some men up the road, they said there were three bears in the vicinity. One apparently quite large. They had also been around their houses and they had their guns at the ready. Hoping, not to shoot the bears but to shoot in the air to scare the bears. The same thing was worrying them as was worrying us.....that the bears didn't seem to have any fear of humans.
Then yesterday afternoon we went to the council office as I wanted to buy one of the composters they were selling. There we were told that Wildlife had been called and a live trap was put quite near us and that they were thinking of putting another trap there. I wish they would move off or go in the trap to be relocated as I don't want anything bad to happen to them.

Another picture.

A couple of Mushrooms I came across.


Some Ground Ivy or Cat's Paw as it's also called. Every time I see it I'm seeing it in illustrations in a childrens fairy tale.

The Bear AGAIN!

This is starting to get a bit troubling now. The bear was here again just about 15 mins. ago and seemed to have no fear of us at all. He was wandering around sniffing at this and that and even came up on the steps to the deck. My main worry is that someone will shoot him. I expect we will have to call the wildlife people and maybe they will set up a live trap here.




In this one he's sniffing at a garden ornament.

Another BEAR in the Garden

Just a few minutes ago I heard the chickens give a warning cluck so went out to investigate as I figured a dog had gotten loose again. There before my eyes was another Black Bear sitting up as pretty as could be. I ran for the camera and as I got out he was just walking away. Too bad as it would have been a beautiful shot of him sitting there. I only got one picture.