31 Sunday Jul 2022
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
I’ve been spending a good deal of time watching the fish as they swim around the pond in their school…
they are doing well and growing nicely…
I made a hoop for the water hyacinth (handyperson me!) and it is filling quickly…
part of the reason I gathered it together was to provide a safe haven for any babies that might turn up…
and, just yesterday, I spotted one tiny little goldfish swimming close beside the hoop… excited to see if more show their little faces…
28 Thursday Jul 2022
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, dragonflies, flowers, garden, moments, mosquitoes, nature, pond, snatching, widow
dragonflies have been flying around the garden like crazy…
some have been dropping eggs into the pond, but most of them are clearly snatching mosquitoes out of the air…
I’ve managed to catch a few when they are taking a little break;-)…
woohoo…
24 Sunday Jul 2022
Posted in business, garden, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, garden, light, moments, motion sensor, nature, pond, raccoons, solar, stormed, Technology, weather, widow
ordered some solar motion sensor lights for the garden last Wednesday…
wasn’t sure if they would work, but was hopeful they would frighten the raccoons away…
they arrived on Monday and were easy to install… one went at the edge of the bridge and the other is set on the top of the deck…
was so excited that night when they worked… happily it had been sunny all day…
the next night it stormed and they were on most of the time as the wind was blowing all the leaves and floating plants around when the rain wasn’t pouring down…
will see how they work when the raccoons stop by again…
23 Saturday Jul 2022
Posted in business, food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
basil, big girl pants, blessed, dinner, food, friends, garden, happy, Hilda the Gardener, moments, nature, plants, pond, ripe, tomatoes, visit, waterfall, widow
Wednesday was another beautiful day…
put out all the cushions as a dear friend was coming over later in the day, and it always looks so much nicer when they are all set out…
Hilda the Gardener came and weeded and moved a few plants… we had a lovely visit while that was happening…
I climbed into the pond and cleaned the filter which made the waterfall happy;-)…
read a good book and had lunch on the back deck with some of my ripe tomatoes and fresh basil…
had a delightful supper and visit with a friend I haven’t seen for ages and toured the garden with her…
also shared some poppy and morning glory seeds…
20 Wednesday Jul 2022
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, butterfly, downpour, flowers, garden, happy, milkweed, moments, monarch, nature, pond, waterfall, weather, widow
the other day I saw a monarch flying around the garden and laying eggs on the milkweed…
I went to check out the two milkweed plants that are just by the waterfall to see if any eggs had been left there…
and it was there that I discovered this little caterpillar… of course this is the hardest spot to get any pictures, lol…
and I was happy to still see it after the downpour…
nature is amazing…
14 Thursday Jul 2022
Posted in food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, birds, blessed, fish, garden, moments, nature, pond, raccoon, rain, squirrels, sunshine, turkey, weather, widow
had a good morning on Tuesday…
listened to house sparrows, chickadees and a few crows… I am just loving the sound ID on the Merlin app…
spotted the wild turkey that had been wandering the street yesterday, thanks to my neighbour knocking on the door…
and apparently the turkey frightened one of the neighbourhood bunnies…
there was no sign of the raccoons and the fish appear happy and all present… one of the biggest ones has been scraped up though… not sure if it was from the raccoon the night before last or from hiding under a rock, sigh…
the red and gray squirrels have been wandering around and threatening one another…
but the sun was out, except for a ten minute shower, and I was able to eat outside…
13 Wednesday Jul 2022
Posted in garden, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, camera, fish, garden, hidden, moments, nature, pictures, pond, raccoon, treats, widow
something has been getting into the pond…
I hadn’t seen anything on the camera until a few nights ago, when the camera caught this…
the night view makes it a bit hard to recognize, but the rings on the tail were the confirmation that it is a raccoon… it didn’t appear that any fish had been caught…
I think the fish are being careful to stay hidden under the bridge…
on Sunday night they came by again and the camera caught them right in the pond…
I spotted one of the fish sort of wedged under a rock, so I moved the rock and the fish swam away… it looks a bit scraped up, so I hope it will be okay…
I put two chairs across the spot where I think they are going into the water and then sprinkled Epsom salts around the rest of the pond…
12 Tuesday Jul 2022
Posted in food, garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Friday was another gorgeous day in the garden…
did some computer work outside and then read…
eventually, I climbed into the pond and removed some of the grasses growing in it to help me figure out if something is still getting into it..
while I was in there, I repositioned the pump and the rocks that sit on top of it…
looks pretty good…
my neighbour came over and we sat by the pond watching the fish while we shared some wine and snacks…
09 Saturday Jul 2022
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized
well, had a great day…
sat in the garden and read for a good portion of the day…
made potato salad and coleslaw…
spotted house finches and a goldfinch at the feeders…
and saw my little frog friend again;-)…
such a pleasure to be able to enjoy these moments;-)…
04 Monday Jul 2022
Posted in business, garden, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, camera, dissuade, fish, garden, moments, motion, nature, plants, pond, Technology, water lilies, widow
last Thursday night I think a raccoon (or more than one) came into the garden and attacked the pond…
they got at least two fish and tossed around the water lilies… they don’t care for fish scales, so end up leaving them on the ground… I found two piles on the stepping stones alongside the pond…
the fish were clearly traumatized and have barely come out from under the bridge…
after doing some research, I put down epsom salt all around the pond and hoped that would dissuade them from finding their supper in my garden…
I also put on the motion sensor at the back door and the one on the garage…
since then, they have come back a few times, although I am starting to wonder if it might be the coyote that has been wandering in this area… the plants have been disturbed, but I haven’t found any fish bits…
this Thursday I put up a new wireless camera to see if I can spot whatever has been coming by…
so far, nothing has been spotted…
herbiggirlpants 