Agile Neighborhood Cat!

There's a white cat that we sometimes see wandering around the neighborhood. She does have a home: She wears a pink collar around her neck.

She occasionally wanders through our yard. When I recently saw her, she was crawling under our backyard fence... 

A great way to escape the coyotes that prowl around our neighborhood, I remember thinking...

The other day, I saw another of her moves... Walking over to the chain link fence at the side of our yard, she put a paw in, then jumped up, climbing to the top!

From there she proceeded to walk along the wooden fence... just like the squirrels do!

Squirrels beware!!

Watching the Squirrel's Nest

I spent a lazy afternoon watching squirrels run up and down the leafless branches of a maple tree to their nest. (Or was it one squirrel?! It’s hard to know...)

I was searching for the entrance to the nest... 

I was also hoping to see several squirrels - perhaps a litter of young - appear at the same time. No such luck!

To my surprise, the entry seemed to be on the top left - from my perspective. (Wouldn't rain enter that way?!)

The last part of the squirrel to disappear into the nest was its black tail.

All this viewing was possible because there are still no leaves on the tree. But I had to move quickly to get shots of the squirrel. They do move fast.

Early the following morning, I continued checking on the nest. This time I counted five squirrels either crawling out of the nest or running down the branches.

So much going on!

It's been a fun discovery. I won't view this tree (or its nest) in the same way after this - even after leaves grow back, hiding the action!

Changing Seasons in Almonte

Yesterday was sunny and warm - so Terry and I headed to Almonte.

All around us, we saw signs of spring...

In the melting ice and rushing water...

Winter-themed signs were coming off signposts.

New signs were going up.

 

We haven't wandered around town like this in months! It was fun to be back!

The Elf Saga Part 2: Sleepover Request

Our grandson - who LOVED his Christmas elf - had to give him up a few weeks after school resumed in January. The elf had become his buddy. He loved to take the elf to school in his knapnack, even after Christmas, and play with him... (Mainly toss him around and watch him "fly"!) But a few kindergarten classmates were concerned: Why had this elf not returned with the others to the North Pole - like he is supposed to, according to the story?

Their kindergarten teacher didn't know what to tell them... So she requested that the elf not be brought to school.  

(But the elf, being mischievous, kept sneaking into my grandson's knapsack!) It became a problem... The parents had to find a solution...

Six weeks passed. (In that time, Grandma forgot about the problem that the elf had caused at school...)

My grandson recently came over for a sleepover. In the morning, he went into my sewing room and asked if I could sew him an elf. Then he happened to see yarn 🧶 that was JUST THE RIGHT COLOUR!

I can try to crochet one for you, I  told him. So I did. And he had fun playing with it ...

Later he asked me to crochet a toboggan as well. So I did, and for a while the elf enjoyed sliding down the banister on his toboggan. 

Then I happened to mention the other elf.

Oh, he’s gone back to the North Pole, my grandson replied.

Only much later, after he had gone home (with the crocheted elf) did it dawn on me: Oh no! Have I crocheted another school problem!! Will he take it to school?! And will the kindergarten teacher again have to deal with a Christmas elf (facsimile) problem? I really didn't intend to do anything but make a small boy happy...

(Hopefully this saga won't have a Part 3!)

The Elf Saga Part 1: the TRAP!

Last December there was a 5-year-old boy who REALLY wanted an "Elf on the shelf."

When it appeared that NO ELF would be joining the family, he made a trap to try to catch one. 

He didn't let me take a picture of the inner-working of the trap... In fact, he slammed it shut when I asked him if I could take a picture.

But I heard that there were more boxes inside the big box and a few round things that resembled empty toilet paper rolls.

He took his trap to school on the bus, telling the bus driver that he had built a trap - just as he later told his teacher and classmates.

The trap remained in the classroom all day, until he took it home on the bus again.

When he got home, the most amazing thing happened. He found an elf inside his trap - not exactly like the one above. A little chubbier. Fun to play with... He had so much fun with this elf.

But then, on Christmas Day, (according to the story) it was supposed to disappear ... It was supposed to return to the North Pole. 

(But it didn't!)

(To be continued...)

Better Late Than Never!

This past winter I had an "amaryllis problem"!

After growing four amaryllis bulbs outdoors all summer long, I took them out of the soil and stored them in a paper bag for about 6 weeks. Then I planted one in a pot of soil that I had prepared. Nothing happened.

A few weeks later, I did the same thing to a second bulb... I watered the soil from time to time... but nothing seemed to happen. There was no growth...  (All this occurred last October and November.)

My plan had been to plant the bulbs several weeks apart, in order to have a longer blooming season.

When no growth occurred, I wondered if the bulbs weren't growing because the basement had been too warm... Did they need a few days of REALLY cold weather? With this in mind, I put the bag with the two remaining bulbs into the car... where they froze. When I took them out, they were mushy and rotten...

The two potted bulbs continued to sit on a sunny shelf in my sewing room and I continued to water them from time to time...

Now - four months later - to my total amazement - they have both developed leaves... and flower buds!

What's happened ?!

I have no idea!! (But better late than never!)

International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day. 

I don't usually give much thought to awareness days - unless I find them amusing: like Popcorn Day (January 19) or Coffee Day (October 1).

But last year I happened upon a display celebrating Women's Day at the mall where I often walk. 

I started to think about the strong women in my family tree: My two grandmothers - who both became widows with young children when they were still in their twenties. Both were tasked with  supporting their families on their family farms.

Then there was my mother, who broke out of the family mold, going to university and becoming a teacher. Daring to dream... She was the first in her family to finish high school and the first to get a university degree. That changed, not only her life, but mine as well.

These are the women in my life whom I need to celebrate and appreciate!