The Smoke Has Lifted!!

Here is another first for this area! Two Mourning Doves! I have seen them elsewhere but never here.

They are not the sharpest photos, but were the best I could get under the circumstances.

The young Pileated Woodpecker is still in the area. It appears to be a bad hair day.

Mr. Crow is looking a little bedraggled to say the least. It is great to be able to get out now that the smoke has lifted and the sky has cleared. All the sources are predicting a bitterly cold winter for the Western Prairies. I sure hope they are wrong!

Harvest Time

No, this isn't a harvest moon, but, rather the noon day sun through the (yecht) smoke. It has been almost impossible to take decent photos these last two weeks due to the smoke!

I did try to catch this Red Tailed Hawk, but gave up. The ISO was so high and the smoke so thick this is what I got.

Meanwhile our garden is producing well. We are eating fresh potatoes, lettuce and carrots, also some beets. When you don't have a lot of space, you plant close, and dense. It all works out!

This last shot was from the end of July to show what one month of growing does around here.

Hopefully, your garden is growing and producing well.

Fall is Coming! Too Fast

It seems that every time I go out, the signs of an early fall get to me. The Bohemian Waxwings are flocking up and decimating the berry trees.

 The Bees are getting pollen from the late blooming thistles. Not many wildflowers are still in bloom.

 Here are a few pin cherries the birds and bears haven't got to yet.

 The mallards are flocking up and appear to be getting ready to go. One good sign that spring may take a while is that the male mallards are still up north. Great idea that, head north, eat drink and party all summer while the missus raises the kids!
 Honey bees are still very active around the garden

 The Pileated Wood Pecker is still digging out grubs.

What say, am I wrong in predicting an early fall? 

I Am So Done with Apples!

My three young apple trees  produced very well this year, and I am worn out baking! I have 7 of these pies in the freezer. One got sacrificed to see if it was edible.

 I have also finished up with 8 apple crumbles and they are in the process of going into the Hotel Frigidaire. Well 7 are anyway. One got intercepted for testing purposes. It also passed. In the background are 5 jars of preserved applesauce. Yes, I have been busy!

More Crumbles!

 This little apparatus made all the peeling and coring easy! Thank you, Lee Valley!

I guess the work is done for another year! Oh, wait, there are still two bags of cherries to either make pies, or muffins with, if I can figure out how to get the pits out. Life is not the pits, but cherries may be!

Blue Monday!

It is a sure sign that fall is getting close when these windflowers start to bloom!

This Mama is getting close to being an empty nester! Three birds present, but you have to look close to find them. Bigification helps.

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!