Day 305 - 31st October 2013 - Pigeons, Starlings, Morning on the Harbour

Happy Halloween and good bye October. Moving on to another month tomorrow. Not quite as cold this morning, temperature -0.5.  Today will be a kitchen day - company coming for the weekend. I'm making chili and brown bread rolls for supper tomorrow night and since a friend has been kind enough to share a really good looking brownie with peanut butter recipe yesterday, they sound perfect for dessert. Wonder if some ice cream with those would hit the spot. Rain in the forecast beginning this evening. Sounds like tomorrow will be  a wild day.
Wednesdays wipe me out, so much to do when I'm out of the woods for a day. A bright spot was having dinner with my Dad, I'm so thankful that the men in our family can cook. It was nice to spend my lunch hour with him, he cooked tenderloin in honey garlic sauce, with roasted potatoes, turnip and carrots along with some squash for me. I originally turned him down when he called the other day, but then I thought no it's not everyday I can visit and spend some time with him, so I called back and told him, it's a date. It was a busy day of running around, glad to get home at supper time.

 I got a chuckle out of this - the pigeons on the left aren't bothered one bit by the fake owl on the right of this roof top.

 No Cardinals yesterday but I did find some downtown Starlings.

 Looking up the harbour you could see the mist rising through the trees and on the water.

 It was a lot colder Wednesday than it had been on Tuesday morning.

 Pure serenity on the harbour.

Looking down Dock Street at the harbour.




















Enjoy your day!

Day 304 - 30th October 2013 - Frost, Chickadees, Robins and Squirrels

Wednesday has rolled around again. Off to do some errands, and volunteer work today. Perhaps I'll roam around a hood in town. That's most likely where I will have my best chance of catching a Cardinal since we never have those in the woods. I'm up a little too early this morning but not bad, temperature is the lowest yet this season at -3.3.
Another sunny but very chilly day. I should have built a fire in the furnace early in the afternoon but I put it off til after supper. Went for my walk and wore mitts and a hat, heavy frost everywhere. Guess that's the end of summer! Winter won't set in though until the "Swamps are full" but that may happen soon as we have rain in the forecast for a few days. We are crawling in the month of November, just a few more days. Time to think about Christmas shopping. The wind died out after supper and it was as calm as the day had started. I did get the main drag spruced up yesterday - living room, kitchen etc.

Dipped in white.

When I walk through the woods all I can here is the crunch of leaves beneath my feet.

 So it was quiet on our walks today - Chickadees and Robins.

 This guy was plucking berries for breakfast.

 Of course we have activity in the yard. The Sunflowers seem to be fair game now for the Squirrels and the Blue Jays.

 If I didn't know how much trouble he could cause, I'd think he was really cute.

Anyway, Lexi and I were well entertained.













Enjoy your day!

Day 303 - 29th October 2013 - Mist, Robin, Geese and Leaves

Internet glitch this morning, got up to none, then it came back but only for a few minutes. Oh this rural broadband really sucks. Temperature is below 0 this morning, -0.6 when we got up. The deck is glistening with frost/ice. Road will probably be a tad slippery for those heading out to work early. So I've got to do some regular housework today, got company coming on the weekend, so need to beat a path through the main drag or at least battle a few cobwebs. As is the norm I'll check out the hood to see if anything is flying around, no sign of those kinglets yesterday. They sure don't move early in the morning anymore.
The sun felt good yesterday but ooh that wind was cold. Managed to finish up the library, do the downstairs hallway and one other room yesterday. Lexi and I roamed the hood but not much was happening. Exercise class last night and I'm sure by Wednesday there will be hurtin' in my body. Rule of thumb is the pain doesn't come the day after but two days. I find that getting out and walking really makes a difference to what I'll suffer. After a year, I can skip longer, do more jumping jacks and some of those other cardio things I dislike so much. I do have to admit that it's a great stress reliever.

 Another misty morning on the lake.

 Still a few punches of color here and there.

 Lake was crystal clear and perfect for reflections.

 The sun shone through on the bare branches glistening with water droplets like fairy lights.

 Chickadee hiding out among the leaves.

 Still lots of Robins around.

 Cute that they are, I'm hoping some soon disappear.

 The geese were spending a lazy afternoon on the rock.

Late in the day the sky didn't look too friendly.












Enjoy your day!

Day 302 - 28th October 2013 - Leaves, Ducks, Lake and Golden-crowned Kinglets

It's Monday and back to the work week, temperature is +3.4. Stars are all out, sky is clear and even though the moon is not very big it's shining brightly. That means I'm back to the purge and clean. Sounds like another exciting day on my front. Lexi and I will roam the hood and see if those Golden-crowned Kinglets pop up again. It's one thing to see them, another to get a good photo. Exercise class tonight, sure she'll have some lovely surprises for us.
In order to have a more enjoyable Sunday I really need to figure out how to stay in bed past 4 am! Ugh, I felt drug out and sluggish most of the day with a nagging headache.  I shouldn't whine, some people have more problems  than me with my middle of the night roaming.  Am thinking if it had been a nice sunny morning instead of rain and grey skies I might have felt more like doing something. Did do a bit of housework and got most of the library finished - still a few hours left there. The weather broke late in the afternoon so I took a quick jaunt around the hood. Larry took Lexi for a good run up the road and stopped for more vegetables from the garden for supper. Roast Chicken for supper. Having a nice big meal on Sunday reminds me of Sunday dinners at one or the other of my grandparents.

 These Oak leaves are holding on.

 Most of the trees were dripping from the morning rains.

 Some of the ducks were huddled together on the rock.

 Found 3 of these Golden-crowned Kinglets, flitting around the trees. Boy are they fast!

 Robins were hiding in the thickets.

 Bright green lichen decorates the trees.

 One of the many Mallards.

 Those clouds didn't look all that friendly.

I'm surprised the birds haven't picked these berries clean.












Enjoy your day!

Day 301 - 27th October 2013 - Adventures in Pubnico - Gulls, Great Blue Herons, Song Sparrows and Berries

Going to be a very long day as I'm up way too early for a Sunday morning, or any other morning for that matter. It's rained during the night and seems we will get some more with clearing later today. Temperature is +9.1 so plenty mild. That means I can clean through more of my photos or do housework (there's always tomorrow for that!) We still have more beets and tomatoes to process for the freezer - the garden never ended this year. Most things did really well, but a few things didn't. Larry and Lexi will probably go for a good run later. With deer hunting on, it's hard to get her out other than around the hood for exercise these days. And she likes a little open space to go wide open.
Had a marvelous Saturday.  I got nothing done around the house and we took off and headed to Pubnico mid morning.  We were more adventurous this time and went down some side roads then drove down to where the Wind Turbines are located. Some nice trails along the shore - lots of Song Sparrows and Gulls on our travels. We were both hungry by 1:30 and headed over to Dennis Point Cafe for a late lunch. I had the haddock and clams, Larry had haddock and shrimp. They were both excellent and I had to bring part of mine home. Back to Shelburne and groceries - ugh - Sobeys was like a mad house, but I did get 2 big bags of flour on sale so that will be great for winter bread making and Christmas baking, and a bonus 7 cents off gas. Love savings!

 2nd year Herring Gull.

 2nd year and adult Herring Gulls.

 Great Blue Heron - I'm guessing the pond he was standing next too has fish in it.

 The red berries were beautiful out under the Wind Turbines, I should have picked some for decorating.

 A few of the wind turbines.

 Cormorants and gulls.

 More red berries.

 Song Sparrow - good little fellow and posed for me, there were a lot of them.

 Greater Yellow Legs.

 And a huge group of gulls!












Enjoy your day!

Day 300 - 26th October 2013 - Birds, Ducks, Leaves and Lake

It's definitely nippy this morning, temperature is 0.2, but the stars are all out. I have no idea what we'll do today - between deer hunting and duck hunting not sure it's safe to go in many directions. They are giving rain for tomorrow so this is our day to go somewhere if we want. I'll let Larry and Lexi sleep in, then we'll grab some breakfast and decide. I know grocery shopping is on the list of fun things to do. Anyway we will play it by air with no fixed plans, some days they are the best.
You can tell we are moving toward the end of October, sun is nice during the day but the air is much cooler. Once the sun starts to go down the chill sets in, so we prepare for the changing seasons. Most evenings we build a fire in the furnace; I don't bother during the day - am usually busy and I can always toss a sweater on.  Started cleaning in the library today - how can one small room be so much work. Still lots more to do. It was nice to look through some of my books, many have memories attached to them - given to me by people who were cherished and no longer here. A set of animal story books from Aunt Fran and Uncle Al who came from the USA every summer. They weren't real relatives but an older couple who were good friends with my grandparents. In those days children used the terms Mr & Mrs or sometimes Aunt & Uncle if they were close family friends as they were. I suppose those books are probably considered antiques now! I have books that belonged to my grandmother, her siblings and my dad when they were children as well. Lovely stories I read as a child too. It was kind of like taking a trip down memory lane.

We have quite a flock of Song Sparrows in the yard feeding on the seeds from the Phlox.

 Rain drops hanging off the Pine trees, sparkle in the sunlight.

 Another perfectly still morning on the lake.

 A few Chickadees were playing in the woods.

 Seems to be a lot of Squirrels around this fall - gathering up food for the winter.

 He's probably trying to sneak some cat food.

 Lots of clouds in the sky - some were dark and brought rain showers.

 The end of summer flowers and weeds.

 These mushrooms were out in the open, I assume they got touched with frost.

 Mallards flying off .

Various stages of ferns.













Enjoy your day!