Tuesday, June 21, 2011

FUN IN THE SUN

... and in the shade. It was a great day to play inside the fence where the trees offer the most shade. Terri and I played catch for an hour while Flower napped.

Suddenly, Terri had to run out the front door for an emergency call to save Flower from the big bad cat that pounced at her on the porch. Terri raced around the house and looked for the culprit while I shouted "Go, get him!". She chased him to a fence/wall corner and I shouted for her to keep at him. He had to escape by going under my house. I should keep a powerful water gun handy for that mean cat.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

MISCELLANEOUS

An equine afternoon -- After mowing the last section of yard, I watched the CN Reliability Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows, Alberta followed by the Belmont Stakes in New York. Ian Millar was one of only four riders (2 Cdn, 2 American) who managed to have a clear ride on the first round of the Grand Prix. During the jump-off, only the Americans managed to jump clear. In New York, my favourite, Shackleford, was in the lead for the first part of the race but couldn't sustain that pace to the finish line.

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Sometimes it pays to procrastinate -- not often, but sometimes ;-) I had been planning for the past two weeks to go shopping at local garden centers to look for 2 or 3 cedars to plant in the low wet portion of the back yard. Yesterday, when I bought groceries, I found some damaged cedars in front of Your Independent Grocer. They were at a greatly reduced price so I bought two.

They're much taller than I expected to get and cost perhaps a quarter of what I'd pay for undamaged cedars at a garden center. Next door neighbour's son is planting them for me because I have enough to do just trying to get the grass mowed before it rains. Photo: Flower inspects a new cedar.

There is a sad element to this event. Just before the first cedar was planted, I inspected it and removed some of the brown bits. I discovered a tiny robin and egg :-( hidden in the branches. The parents had chosen a bad place to build a nest. Fatalities from poorly chosen nest sites must happen quite often for birds that lay their eggs in or near towns.

Friday, June 10, 2011

MOLES

The moles are back. Somekitty killed one and left it under a large shade tree for me to find when I started raking freshly mowed grass. There are three suspects that I know of: Flower, my own lovely kitty; the cat-next-door, a pretty outdoor cat; the beautiful but horrid male purebred that still comes into my yard to chase Flower (Terri is in charge of chasing him out of the yard).

It appears to be a star-nosed mole which is known to inhabit the low wetlands of eastern North America. They dig shallow surface tunnels and forage for insects, worms and molluscs. So there you have it -- proof that moles consider my yard "wetlands". That reminds me -- a few days ago, a toad jumped out of the way when I was clipping grass next to the bottom step of my deck. No wonder that I usually end up mowing wet grass.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

LOVE MY YARD


I love my shady yard in the afternoon. Terri can play there without getting overheated while I relax on the deck. Mosquitoes aren't quite so bad there as in the grass. On the hottest days we stay indoors, though.

Today it's 33°C and humidity makes it feel like 40°C. That's too hot to move! No wonder I tend to stay up after midnight to get anything done during weeks like this.

From Environment Canada:
Ontario heat breaks records ... Humidex ratings for southern Ontario are expected to reach as high as 42°C for Windsor and 43°C for Ottawa. That's 108°F !

At 3 PM radar shows a line of scattered severe and non severe thunderstorms from just south of lake Simcoe to vicinity of Bancroft and northeastward. This line is moving southeastward at about 60 km/h. Conditions around and ahead of this line of thunderstorms are favourable for the thunderstorms to persist and become severe with hail up to golf ball size, wind gusts to 100 km/h and torrential downpours up to 50 mm in half an hour.

Friday, June 3, 2011

LILACS !


What a great week of sunshine we've had! Although the first couple of days were too hot to do any yard work, it cooled down so I was able to mow, snip, clip, rake and haul hay for a few days uninterrupted by rain. I finally managed to catch up on the grass since the lack of rain meant it didn't grow (much) from my first day of mowing to my last day of raking.
Whew! All that exercise helped me lose a couple of lbs too :-)
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I'm enjoying watching my little lilac bush bloom this year for the first time. I should have cut down that smelly old evergreen and replaced it with a fragrant lilac the first year I was here. A second lilac will certainly be on my planting list.

Due to the high rainfall in April/May, the low lying yard near the back fence is impossible to mow. The Toro just fills up with grass and dies every time I try to mow a little closer to the wet area. I think 2 or 3 thirsty cedars in the middle of the "swamp" may soak up the spring water. I should spend some time this weekend shopping for shrubs.

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When not mowing, I've been sitting in the shade of a spruce and reading Peter Mayle's books describing life in Provence. His books are perfect relaxation for summer days. In "A Good Year", a man inherits his uncle's house and vineyard and travels to France to decide whether to live there or sell the property. Much tasting of wine ensues.
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Terri's energy level gets a boost when we move to the shade and she keeps me busy tossing her ball with one hand while holding a book in the other.

[The obligatory portrait of Terri]