Life beside the lake
This is the place we stop and recharge. Continuous travel can be exhausting and while we said we would always slow down, sometimes getting from point A to point B means long distances, especially when your roots are in one country and the home your trying to sell in another, actually separated by another country and you just really want to be there! Over 7000 kilometers from Baja to Perth, Ontario. That’s quite a hike! Google maps tells me 7392 km and a 79 hour drive. We took from mid May to the first week of July-I would rather have taken 6 months but we were on a mission, always seems like that! One day we will be property free, more or less;) Ranch for sale in Baja in case anyone out there is looking!
We are fortunate to be able to follow our dream of travel and sharing the telescope views, if the clouds now would just go away;) In the mean time my bird feeders are up and it is wonderful to hear the whir of hummingbird wings again! The Grackle family, 5 chicks in all have flocked to the feeders and push out the smaller Chickadees and Nuthatches, both Red and White Breasted. They manage to sneak in and out quite quickly though as the grackles are trying to figure out the feeders, squirrel proof, sort of, they wait below for what the smaller birds pull out searching for the perfect seed it seems.
I was excited to see the first male Ruby Throated Hummingbird of the season here. The females and a few juveniles come and go but I rarely get graced with the presence of the Mr and his colourful throat. He looked a bit ragged, molting perhaps;) I seem to have quite a few more this year than last-Always makes me happy!
Down at the lake shore the Merganser Family is back patrolling the shoreline late in the day as well as a pair of Northern Water Snakes. They are large non-venomous creatures, beautifully patterned. They hunt among the rocks for frogs, small fish, worms and even small mammals and birds…Groot was taking no chances when he first encountered the larger one, since then he has become a bit braver, peeking among the reeds for movement but quick to jump back at anything big! Frogs are fine to pounce on but not that big snake thing! They can have quite a painful bite I’ve read. Odd swimming with them as they lift their heads to look at you, then dive, or swim along the surface.
Back in the forest the three species of Woodpeckers have all made their appearances. From the small Downy, to the Hairy and the majestic Pileated. The Pileated has been around with a juvenile as well, always late in the day, trying to talk her into gracing me with her presence in good light! She always seems to show up when I don’t have my camera! Only recently a juvenile male Hairy Woodpecker showed as well. Mother’s teaching them the ropes it seems! I can hear the Pileated Drumming on the pine trees around the trailer, my cue to run out, OK, creep slowly out as not to scare it away;)
The cats get their walks twice a day-Groot will hang about with Mike fishing and sitting on the boat but Gamora has been kept on the leash after she made a dash one day into the forest. They sit and wait each day when they know it’s time, perhaps sitting isn’t the right word, frantically twirling about our feet as that time approaches is more appropriate, Gamora’s nickname is “whippy tail” as she whacks you with it when she wants something;)
Hard to believe the old Burmese Beezil is doing so well, almost 19 now and he still tears around like a kitten with Gamora, then flakes out for hours, and has a occaisonal jaunt outside to chase a chipmunk. We have a zero death rate on the chipmunks this year thankfully:) Several caught and released though;) Not the smartest of the furry guys here;)
They manage to clean up the old bread, tortillas and a lot of bird seed and provide great Cat TV for the furballs looking out the windows. It’s been a hot and steamy Summer. We didn’t use the AC at all last year but have had to resort to it a few afternoons to make things bearable, even in the shade under the pines. Great time for swimming and cooling off in the lake. There have been some spectacular clouds and thunderstorms but not much in the way of lightning, hoping for some shots but not yet!
..and you are reading this now as we have finally arranged internet! Wahoo! Bell put us on hold for three weeks but came through in the end with DSL to the cottage. The other providers Storm,”You need a 70′ tower” Xplornet “you need our extremely expensive and limited satellite internet, or pay a $149 site evaluation to tell us we need a 70′ tower as well, pooey to you;) we now are online;) So far the Google-Fi phone service here has been a bust here as well. Next year we will back to Verizon more than likely…it was worth a try but has not had sufficient coverage in Canada to make it worth our while. So we are back online and hopefully I can catch up on the blogs. I’m leaving it here today, time for a swim and to think about dinner! Saludos amigos and stay tuned for the barn racoons and our large 4 footed friends!
Rocky Racoon-ready to raid the cat food;)
So nice to catch up! Missed your stories. Great pictures, great to have you back in Ontario xo