Sad today

It's difficult to blog today, but I feel compelled to say a few words.  The sudden, tragic loss of our friend Wendy has been hard to accept.  She always had an encouraging comment for me, and I will miss reading her blog, http://www.off-the-deep-end.blogspot.com/  ,through which i lived vicariously.  Farewell, friend.

I'm including a picture I took recently of a yellow swallowtail.  Wendy would have liked it.

May at the cottage

Everything has been early this year, with all the warm weather.  Two weeks ago we saw all the Trilliums in bloom up in the Opeongo Range, including this nice red one!  Our apple tree at the cottage was just about ready to bloom, too, which would be about two weeks ahead of schedule.  Sadly, when we got to the lake last weekend, the hot spell had finished the blossoms.  Dang!

I was interested to see a Downy Woodpecker at the feeder last weekend.  Didn't know they liked seeds as well as bugs!

Iain's New Truck!

I really meant to post this when we first got the truck, but we have been far too busy having fun with it!

And using it to haul wood so we can get a pile of work done at the cottage...but fun, too!

It's a 2006 Honda Ridgeline, and we love it so far.

Hail

May 8 at the cottage.  This weekend will be MUCH NICER!!

Window cats

I know, the internet was invented so people could post pictures of their cats, hahaha.  And I don't care.  Who am I to buck a trend?

Stiches and Jezebel

Stitches was enamoured of the pansies, which came inside to escape the frost.  Jezebel was just soaking up the sunshine.  I so wanted to stay home from work and just hang out with them!

Odd Clouds

Taken on the evening of April 11, just before sunset.  I'm shooting toward the east.  Not sure why we got this strange light in the sky.  It had rained, so perhaps the droplets were reflecting the setting sun.

I could probably look it up in my weather book and find what this is called.  Pretty, isn't it?

Backyard buddies

Took this photo of a White-Throated Sparrow on April 9.  Nice to see them back!

And for the chipmunk lovers out there, our little friend having a snack at his favourite spot.

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign....

Sometimes things just strike me as funny.  On a weekend away, we stayed at a Holiday Inn, a fairly new place and nice.  Nondescript, which is what you hope for.  What you expect, actually.

I noticed this the last time we stayed there too, but this time recorded it for posterity.  They label the free bath supplies, not with descriptions of scents or imbedded lotions, but with instructions.  The soap says "cleanse".  The shampoo and conditioner were labelled, sensibly, as such, but the shower cap says....

Check it out.....

I really wanted to leave signs on the bed when we left, reading "sleep".  Not going to say what I wanted the sign on the toilet to read.

Also starring...

Our pal the chipmunk is back in town.  Here he is checking out the feeder.

We also got the evil eye from a grackle who was quite suspicious of the gray box with the big eye.

Snow disappearing from our yard

We had the bird cam out and really didn't get any amazing bird pics, but we did get this neat time-lapse of the snow disappearing.

This one is Feb.20. Lots o' snow still, though in truth we had such a mild winter, and not piles of snow compared to some years.

Here is March 16. Already a lot of it

is gone.

March 18

March 21

March 24

March 26

and finally, March 28!

Alright, it isn't a great picture....

I admit it. I took it through the window, in a big hurry, without my zoom lens; but see the red dot in the middle? That's a cardinal at OUR feeder, which has been getting precious little use this winter. Made my day!