crashing…

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the other day my grandson came to the door and said something had happened to my plants… he heard a crash as he was showering and came out to the shower caddy that we had installed in January laying in pieces on the floor with bits of orchids everywhere…

I was so shocked I didn’t even take a picture of the carnage…

it took a while to pick up the plants, sweep up the broken bits, and dump out the soil…

then, we ignored it for a few days, lol…

when we put it back up, we decided to use strapping and screws…

I still need to replace the one broken pot…

hopefully this time the whole shelf won’t come crashing down, lol…

decimated…

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on Tuesday we counted twenty monarch caterpillars on the milkweed in the garden…

they were all over the newest batch that was recently planted and have nearly decimated all the leaves…

they were also on the ones near the waterfall which were planted last summer… we’ve now taken out all the poppies so there is more room to be able to see the caterpillars…

there were none on the ones from last year which were located around the edge of the pond… these were the ones that I planted in a spot where I could see and photograph any butterflies, eggs and caterpillars that came along, lol…

there were some chives next to them so when Hilda the Gardener was here the other day I had her take them out… maybe the butterflies don’t like the smell…

so excited to have so many;-)…

producing…

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spent more time at The Leaf on Tuesday morning before my daughter headed home… it is such a wonderful point of happiness for me, and my daughter…

we discovered, after chatting with Linda, one of the gardeners, that the second cacao tree has now got two cacao pods on it… this is very exciting as only the first tree had been producing pods…

we spotted a little lizard on the third tree… apparently it arrived with one of plants, lol…

Linda was very excited to show us the mango tree that had just been planted…

we also learned there are fifty fish in the pond, and all the smaller ones were babies from the largest ones… the excess fish have been moved to another location to keep the population stable…

replaced…

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not too long ago (well, it was mid-April) I watched a crew take down one of elms up the street…

in the Fall they had taken another one down close by…

last week Hydro came and marked gas lines and left yellow flags in front of two houses next to me…

this morning I watched as a number of pieces of equipment came by… the first dug two holes on the boulevard and went away… a little while later another few trucks came and planted a tree in each of the holes… then a protective barrier went around the bottom of each of them…

it will be interesting to see if they will come and water them until they get established…

not quite sure what type of tree they are but very happy that the elms have been replaced;-)…

Gibson’s…

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had a wonderful day on Saturday…

we had ordered bread and some goodies from Village Green Bakery online and went to pick the order up…

while we were in the store next to the bakery I came across a butterfly net which will work perfectly for catching fish in the pond…

next we went to Saffie’s in Albert Beach and found an adorable long dress – purple – with pockets… woohoo…

across the street at Gibson’s Glass & Art, I found a beautiful purple mug and a delightful stained glass dragonfly…

lovely treats and reminders of our excellent week at the cottage…

OEB…

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this morning I discovered OEB… it is a restaurant that my daughter had encountered in Calgary and said was excellent…

we ordered last night and it was delivered first thing this morning…

I chose the French Toast Trifle… it looked delicious on the website and was exactly the same when it arrived…

there were two pieces of brioche smothered in custard with blueberries and strawberries… and to top it off there were three cute little meringues on top…

and it was delicious;-)…

vireos…

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I used Merlin a great deal at the cottage…

I found that when the Sound ID told me which birds were around it made it easier to help spot them as I knew what they should look like…

the vireos and yellow warblers were with us all the time;-)…

we also spotted pelicans, seagulls, eagles, and hummingbirds…

such fun…

surroundings…

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the cottage is filled with lovely art…

there are wonderful stained glass pieces, beautiful hanging blankets, original animal paintings, and even some birchbark biting pieces…

lovely surroundings for a relaxing time away…

hummingbirds…

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we’ve been watching the hummingbird feeder since we arrived and on Tuesday, when we were at the table eating our supper we spotted the first one… having their meal too;-)…

Wednesday, while we were eating lunch, two of them had a little confrontation over who got to eat first…

Friday, while I was on the lower deck reading in the sun, one came right up to me before flying off… once you’ve heard a hummingbird, you always recognize the sound of their wings fluttering, lol…

what a treat;-)…

chameleon…

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Friday morning, as I was uncovering the couch on the upper deck, I spotted this cute little visitor… I got a few photos as it moved around the various cushions looking for just the right spot to sun itself in…

looks like it is a tree frog and apparently they can change colour, like chameleons… clearly it went from dark gray to light gray…

last night there was a nice lightening and thunderstorm so the cushions were a bit damp, even after being covered…

but they didn’t take too long to dry in the sunshine…

the water was calm and the birds were trilling away…