Jack’s Walk

Jack and I haven’t been to the park for a while, so we thought we’d take a stroll around the duck pond today. We went expecting our usual quiet, contemplative walk but found a dusty, noisy construction site instead. The city has finally decided to fix the small concrete bridge that links the park across Cedar Creek, and the sound of heavy machinery and jackhammering filled the park. The construction also meant that Jack and I had to content ourselves with half of the duckpond, so we chose the east side because there’s less goose poop. We went slowly to accommodate Jack’s stiffening hips and shoulders, but he was full of curiosity, and his nose didn’t stop. Every fallen leaf was thoroughly assessed, and as we moved along, Jack would look up and bark harmlessly at the geese. It was more “Hello!” than “Hey, you!” and the geese knew it, and didn’t flinch. Despite the noise and gloomy skies, we enjoyed the outing and lingered by the pond while discussing the coming winter. Jack has been asking for an electric blanket, and his argument is sound, so I’m going to order one for him as a surprise. Maybe he’ll let me share it now and then. But the winter is still off on the horizon, and for today we’ll just occupy this moment of colourful, beautiful fall.

Jack’s Walk

© Voyager, all rights reserved

It’s been another beautiful day around here, and Jack and I spent most of it outdoors again. We started the day with a bit of gardening and then spent the afternoon taking a slow walk in the woods. Mr. V joined us, and it turned into a pleasant family outing, taking in the best of the season and meandering our way home down a few country roads. I had to stop and say hi to this small herd, who were quietly cutting the grass in this home’s front yard. They were friendly and curious and not at all bothered by Jack’s excited calls of ‘Hello, I’m Jack. What’s your name?”

The cows made me think about ice cream, so we stopped at Dairy Queen on the way home, and we had ice cream before dinner. Which is meatloaf. Don’t tell the cows.

© Voyager, all rights reserved

Autumn in a Flower Patch

I have tried to plant some strawflowers this year and I am going to make an even bigger patch next year. They are beautiful and butterflies and bees simply love them to bits. I have several red admirals there during a sunny day.

There are ten pictures, so nine are below the fold. Do you recognize the bee mimicking hoverfly?

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

[Read more…]

Starling

I had an extremely bad year bird-watching wise so far. There are definitively a lot fewer birds around than there used to be.

For example, only a few starlings came by to harvest all the surplus aronias. And only one was visible enough to take a picture. Normally, at this time of year, the tree should be stripped bare by starlings and thrushes heading south.

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

I have not seen a single golden finch, greenfinch, or siskin the whole year. Neither have I seen any fieldfares, or thrushes, and just a few blackbirds, very sparsely. Chaffinch song is usually a constant presence the whole summer – and this year I cannot remember hearing it even once, despite chaffinch being supposedly the most common bird of central Europe.. And in the last month or two tits and sparrows  – the consants of my garden the whole year – have disappeared too. Redstarts are still here, but wagtails never showed up.

I fear this is a real environmental problem and a local sign of a global catastrophy.

A Kestrel to Brighten Your Day

From Avalus, and dedicated to our own lovely kestrel.

©Avalus, all rights reserved.

This one was pretty special to me and so there are quite a lot of photos!

I was driving to work and I saw this kestrel (At least, I hope this bird is a kestrel xD) trying to land in low bushes and failing. So I figured it was a young bird.

Then it noticed me and got a bit of distance,  flying around me at about 20 m for a few minutes before retreating to the top a lamppost next to me.  From there it eyed me with some suspicion but eventually I was allowed to come near enough for some close ups (from about 5m away).

Then, it took off again, squaking and chirping at a cat. And another two kestrels joined the fray. The cat was not impressed. I was trying to get some video-shots but with me half-sitting on my bike, a pretty strong wind and the nice camouflage of the bird, I did not get good footage.

But I had a good feeling for the rest of the day, kestrels are really elegant birds! [Read more…]

Jack’s Walk

©voyager, all rights reserved

Jack and I have spent lots of time outside the past few days, trying to soak in as much sunshine and nice weather as we can before the days get too short and cold. The smaller creatures of the world are doing the same. All-day long, our neighbourhood is abuzz with bees, and there is a steady stream of chipmunks and squirrels skittering back and forth carrying treasure hither, thither and yon. Jack finds all this activity very distracting. He feels obligated to watch when they cross too close to his porch, which often happens, as we are an apparent thoroughfare, but he gets tired and cranky and eventually lays down his bowling ball of a head with a clunk and a sigh. If he can stay awake, Jack grumbles at the noises, but if he falls off to sleep, it’s a fitful one, full of twitching and whisker bristling. I imagine his dreams are full of giving chase in his younger body when he could run as easily as walk. I have those dreams, too, Bubba, only I don’t chase squirrels, I dance.

Jack’s Walk

The first day of fall and the world is golden. Voyager, all rights reserved.

The first day of fall was almost as beautiful as the last day of summer. There wasn’t quite as much sunshine due to a thin layer of stratus cloud that dulled the light, but the day was warm, and Jack and I took ourselves out for a country walk and a drive around some back roads. We stopped a few times so I could take pictures, and Jack could explore a few ditches and pee on some new trees. We had a lovely afternoon, but maybe we overdid things a bit because we both fell asleep as soon as we sat down at home. I’m pretty sure we’ll both sleep well tonight, too. At our age, a full day of fresh air and exercise is exhausting.

 

Jack’s Walk

The tall trees are still in their summer frocks. ©voyager, all rights reserved.

Tomorrow is the autumnal equinox, making today the last day of summer, and what a wonderful summer’s day it is around here. The weather is a perfect 19°c with a gentle breeze that’s ruffling the trees and scattering the fallen leaves down the street. The sky is a cloudless deep blue, and one or two of the city trees have a smidgen of colour, but there’s still an abundance of colour in gardens and pots on porches, where late summer flowers lift their happy faces to the sun. It’s a perfect day, and Jack and I didn’t waste it. We had breakfast el fresco, then we went for a long walk and finally, we sat on the porch and watched the teenagers make their way home from school (mostly single file and 2m apart, with a few kids wearing facemasks). Jack thought it was a fantastic parade, and he wagged from beginning to end. A few kids stopped to give him a scritch, and when they were all finally gone, he came and sat at my feet while I wrote this. There couldn’t be a better day.

Jack’s Walk

No sign of the tinman. ©voyager, all rights reserved

 

Jack and I encountered quite a scary beast in the woods today, and he said, “Roaoar!” I jumped and had to look around a bit before I spotted him, and by the time I did, Jack was softly laughing.

“Silly Mummy, It’s only a toy.”

“I can see that, Jack, but it might be dangerous. It roared at me,” I said, playing along.

“What did it sound like, Mummy?”

“It sounded big and scary,” I exclaimed.

“Really? I mean, did it really sound big and scary?”

“Yes,” I giggled, reaching over to scratch his ear, “and maybe a bit like you. Only bigger. And scarier. Definitely scarier.”

“Ha!” he said. “Fooled you. It was me made who made the roar,” and to prove his point, he roared again and again as he walked into the sunlight and away.

 

Jack’s Walk

 ©voyager, all rights reserved

I live in a highly agricultural area, and my small city is surrounded on all sides by family run farms, many of which have market gardens. So, from May through October, I have access to a variety of locally grown produce at our outdoor farmer’s market. It’s a bit more expensive than the stuff you can get at a grocery store, but it tastes better and there isn’t a hint of plastic packaging to be found. I have a great set of resuable produce bags.

Local also means that I don’t need to buy American produce, which is a relief during this damned pandemic. Covid may or may not not linger on fresh fruit and veg, but I feel better not taking the chance.

 

Jack’s Walk

© voyager, all rights reserved

I’m sorry we weren’t here on Friday, but Jack and I have been experiencing technical difficulties. Our computer is old, and it’s been acting up and giving me the pip. So since I won’t be going to Paris anytime soon, I decided to dip into the travel fund and buy myself a new Macbook. This may not be one of my better decisions because I’ve never used a Mac, and I have no idea what I’m doing. Thankfully, the old PC is twitchy but useable, and I have time to learn about the Mac before switching over. Today I’m feeling ridiculously proud of myself for having successfully transferred over my lightroom files and catalogue. It took me all day yesterday, but I did it, and I learned a bunch of stuff in the process.

To celebrate, I took Jack to the park this morning and let him go for a dip. He stayed in the water for about 15 minutes, then shuffled up the bank and dried himself off in the weeds. I could see he was tired, so I sat on the grass with him, and we basked in the late summer sun for a while before heading home. It was a big outing for Jack, who tires easily now, but it filled him with happiness, and it helped clear my mind. Now, I can get back to that user manual…