The ongoing war with the beavers.

Since Iain was free a lot this summer, he made a real effort to keep the creek open near the farmhouse. Lloyd did eliminate one of them (quite probably the adult male), but younger ones were still patching up the flow every night, though they weren’t doing as good a job.

You can see here that the water is not moving very well. The young beavers use a lot of small sticks and don't add stones and solid mud the way an adult would.

The amount of flooding, especially on Dodie’s property, made this worthwhile, but cold and messy work it is!

Iain uses a pitchfork to clean out a lot of the stuff. All the fallen leaves don't help - they get right into the dam and jam it more.

The water flows better when he’s done. Of course, it doesn’t last – the beavers do it again at night – but it keeps the lake level more like it should be.

Flowing well - for now...

The years of damming have taken their toll, though; the creek at this spot is much higher than its natural state of long ago. I miss the summer days in years past, when we had a bit of a beach along the shore, and when “gull rock” as we called it (guess why) was a good six inches out of the water, and the birds would perch there. Nowadays it hardly breaches the surface at all, even when the lake is at its lowest. It’s my thought that this is why we have so much algae and the nice sandy bottom we once had is now rather yucky: the lake doesn’t breathe the way it used to do, as the water can’t run away as well.

Iain took a little walk downstream (well, it wasn’t easy, as he had to push through a lot of bushes), and he thinks the beavers may be making dams further down in response to his “dam-busting”. They won’t be easy to get to, so this may become a problem.

The view upstream; what a lovely spot this is!

September…

The best part of driving in the cottage road is the chance to see deer!

These two didn't hang around very long.

Weather in the valley stayed nice, and we had lots of days to putter around the property.

This is a great place to sit in the morning. The view is nice and the sun warm!

The chipmunk, who has survived all the dogs in the neighbourhood, was delighted that I put out some bird seed (a.k.a. chipmunk feed).

It takes a while to empty the feeder when you can only do it a mouthful at a time.

Iain took this lovely sunset shot. We were just finishing dinner, and I made him run outside to get it.

This calls for a nice day tomorrow!

The marigolds were spectacular (I thought) and drew this pretty moth, among other insects.

It's a Common Sulphur moth.

Iain cut up one of the dead cedars and made two large fence posts. We’re going to put a small gate up, to define the East Beach area in the summer months.

Nice to have help with the work!

Onyx Update

I can't let October get away too far before wishing Onyx a happy birthday! I know he has fans out there. Believe it or not, our boy is eight years old. I did a double-take when I checked the year.

Relaxing on the couch (in my favourite spot).

And….summer ended, just like that

In August, the Touch-Me-Not blooms. I love these wildflowers, and there are usually several large bushes of them on the  “point” (what we’ve always called the little peninsula on which our cottage stands).


They've never actually "exploded" they way I expected them to do.

Iain was on his own quite a bit this summer, at the lake when I had to be at work.  He and I both noticed how early the songbirds left this year. We saw Blackpoll Warblers passing through before Labour Day. Below is another warbler he spotted on a long walk, during which it was the only bird he saw.

Dodie will know what this is; I forgot to look it up.

The moon rises over the lake.

Leon and Jill take one more canoe tour; soon it is time for them to close up the cabin for another summer.

They have some nice watercraft.

In the morning, a deer leaves the island for the mainland shore.

One of the joys of cottage life.

Paul’s harvest of cattle feed was much better than last year’s, when due to the drought he got (I think) 9 bales, compared to about 23 this year.

I'm not sure exactly what he was growing, but I do know it is for the cattle.

It was a very fruitful year all ‘round. Jo’s apples were amazing.

And delicious! Transparents.

And Mom celebrated her 96th birthday! Isn’t she a honey?

Love this lady so much.