There is Nothing Like...

Growing your own apple trees. Every place we have lived, we have planted fruit trees, Kenora, Iroquois Falls, Fort William and Whitecourt (2X).

 I have been watching them for a while and decided it was time for the harvest. Shake the tree, and down they come!

So far, I have seven of these dudes in the freezer. We had to sacrifice one to ensure they are edible. It was definitely edible! If I shake the tree one more time, I will have lots for desiccating. Dried apples are very good.

Oh yeah, there are two more trees besides this one.

Tough Day for Photos!

Visibility was officially down to 1.6 km due to the forest fires in B.C. The light was similar to what you would find at sundown. The closest fires are about 900 km away!

Even though it was sunny with no clouds in the sky, you would never know it! 

This next shot is taken from a distance of 0.5 km, In the Athabasca River Valley. 

I did get some small critter pictures. I couldn't find the big ones

 Not sure what this beetle is. I think it is just a common, black ground beetle. I have exhausted my resources on this.

 My Scottish heritage is coming through.

Big Boo Boos

This is what happens when you wear running shoes that are slightly on the small size on a 9 km walk with the dog. It did not hurt while walking, but sure did the next day. I guess about 6 months to grow out. You would think I was old enough to know better.😔

This is what happens when you ask your 11 year old Granddaughter if she ever takes her pet groundhog for a walk!

Back from Trip

Well we just completed a 10 day holiday to the Shuswap in B.C. The trip went well, but it was hot,hot,hot. We survived by spending a lot of time at the beach and visiting with two of our grandkids.

We drove to Red Deer and over-nighted with our youngest son and family, then drove to Calgary and flew to Kamloops, then rented a car and drove to St.Ives. Coming home we basically reversed  it. All went well!

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This is my loaner dog, a Black Mouthed Cur, a breed basically in Texas. He is a wonderful dog 

 We hauled and split and stacked wood. Well, Jonita hauled. Everybody got involved which is good because I strongly believe in child labour. The auto splitter was a marvel and made the work easy!

 Our Grand daughter and friend had a blast on the kayak.

 Things sometimes got a little inverted

 

They are growing like weeds!

The Roof is Done!

Last year, I replaced the shingles on the house with metal. This year's goal was to do the garage, also known as my Man Cave. The shingles were badly deteriorated on one side. First of all, the garage was strapped with 1x4 inch lumber, then the 14foot x 36 inch metal was put on.

It took me about 4 days to do the job, working by myself. It really is a one man job. However, it was stinking hot, so lots of rest-in-the-shade stops were done

I think it looks pretty good. Yes I am blowing my own horn. The roof should last longer than I will!

Bits and Pieces

Things have been pretty quiet around the area lately. I couldn't find much in the way of wildlife other than Daphne. The grass is getting long enough that she is having trouble finding rabbits.

Before

She is still loving a swim on a hot day! Wet, she looks like a drowned rat.

After

 I caught up with a great Blue Heron. one of my favourite birds.

 For a skinny, road runner type bird, she has a large wingspan.

The Marbled Godwits are back in the fields rooting for food in the mud.

 The Killdeers are showing up again.

 Alas, our wrens have now left their nests. Hopefully they will be back next year!

Desperate Times!

It has been raining for the better part of a week! On a positive note (there must be one somewhere), we have hatched and said so long to the family of Chickadees, and one family of House Wrens. A second family of wrens has moved into an empty bird house and has hatched a family. Lots of bugs going into the nest!

 

I have been getting desperate for some photos so switched to bugs and other small critters. I missed weeding some clover and got this shot of a bumblebee as a result.

 I also found this single, all by itself, flower of Strict Blue-eyed Grass. I am not sure why it is called blue-eyed as the center is yellow, but that is what my app identified it as.

I still like this photo of a female Red Winged Blackbird. She was not happy at me getting into her turf.

Then of course there is the Dandelion seed bunch. It is amazing how symmetrical it is!

I guess that it is it for now and maybe for a little while due to my redoing the roof on my garage.

Getting Busy Around the Yard

Both the Wrens and Chickadees are hauling bugs like crazy to the bird house. I saw one Chickadee baby stick his head out and contemplate sitting on the perch, but I was too slow to catch it. He looks fully feathered and not much different from his parents. It looks like any day now we will be "empty nesters" (Pun intended)

They do bring in quite the variety of bugs!

Happy First Day of Summer!

I hope summer is starting great for everybody out there in Blogland!

 One thing (among many) that I like about Alberta is that every week there seems to be a different wildflower showing up.

 Even the female Red Wing Blackbird is happy!

I hope your summer is starting realllly great!

Wrens

These guys are still hanging around and bringing lots of bugs into the nest.

They certainly do not sit still for long!

Saturday outing

The Monsoons let up for a bit and I was able to get out for a few hours. It is amazing how fast the wildflowers have bloomed given all the water. The Wild Roses are still going strong.

 The Heartleaf Anica is appearing

 The Indian Paintbrush is also out. Its early for this.

 There are also lots of Streamside Bluebells

 Meanwhile the Tree Swallows are still attempting to nest.

My friends the Great Blue Herons are also now in the swamps

Life is good in the boonies!