Thanksgiving

The cottage year is winding down. Thanksgiving usually marks the last full weekend at the lake for everyone. Most of us shut down the water and close our places up soon after.

Iain enjoying the sunset while barbecuing dinner.

We were blessed with warm weather and no rain (none of the s-word, either).

Sheila came to visit!

It was nice to have company for the weekend! Thanksgiving isn’t the same without family. Not everyone could be there, unfortunately, but we were happy to have those who could come. We ate tons of food and visited. I was too busy enjoying myself to take pictures, but you must trust me when I say the meal was amazing. Dodie and Myles roasted the turkey (Mom supplied it) and stuffing, made cabbage salad and cranberry sauce, and made awesome gravy! Iain made bacon-wrapped stuffed mushroom caps, mashed turnips and sliced carrots. I helped a bit and made peas. Sheila brought yummy buns. Janet whipped up some great potatoes, Brian brought tomato juice, and Carolyn provided us with TWO pies, one a deep-dish pumpkin and the other an amazing apple!

I took this pic with my phone, so it isn't the best quality, but just LOOK at the autumn leaves crust!

We were so stuffed, but we sat down to the same meal of leftovers on Monday before going home!

Mom enjoys sitting in the sun with a magazine or puzzle book.

Mom has had a pretty good summer with us. Since Dodie and Myles were at the lake so often, she spent more time there this year than she had for the last several.

There was hardly room for the Blue Jay to fit on the feeder, but he managed it.

Between the birds and the squirrel and chipmunks, we couldn’t keep the feeder full.


My favourite view!

At the narrows.

The Little Lake.

This oak gets more beautiful each year.

Still and lovely.

The colours were less than spectacular this fall, and many of the trees were past their best by this weekend, anyway, but the views were still wonderful.

Hitching a ride.

We encountered a red dragonfly which appeared to be cold and seemed to be having trouble drying out its wings. Iain picked it up and it perched on his thumb, tilting its wings down so they wouldn’t catch the draft as we walked along. After a few minutes it suddenly took flight, finally warmed and dry enough.

Now grow, dammit!

We finally got around to transplanting another tree, which we hope will survive the winter. We are told the fall is the best time for this, so I hope this little guy can make it. This one is a Quaking Aspen, and I wouldn’t mind getting a Big-Tooth Aspen and a Swamp Willow as well. Iain is interested in an Olive tree, and we’d both like a Cottonwood (not sure if one could survive in this soil, though – the sand seems most suited for poplars, willows, pine, birch, and tamarack).
Next weekend will be busy with putting away lawn furniture, chimes, and ornaments, and putting some plants to bed. Then the water shut-off, and good-bye to the lake for a while. We are thankful to have had another year to enjoy here.

Fall is coming on

Time to do a bit of clean-up. Iain enlisted Roger’s and Myles’ help to take a large branch off the old birch, which seems to be dying by inches
This tree has been around since I was a kid. My Dad put a chain on the two trunks to keep them from separating, and that chain is now grown fully into the trees.

Thank goodness for a long ladder!

We are only taking off the fully-dead branch which leans toward the cottage. I’m hoping the rest of the tree comes back next year, but the tree has been getting sparser for the last 10 years, and may be approaching its end.
We have a small tree I haven’t identified as yet growing behind the cottage. I think it is some member of the apple family, but that’s about all I can get from it as yet.
We found two interesting caterpillars feeding on this tree. This one is, I think, a Clymene Moth.

And this one is definitely a Red-Humped Caterpillar Moth larva.