Time Travel

Ottawa South is in the throws of a sizzling hot spell and prolonged drought. No appreciable rain has fallen here for months. Lawns are brown and crispy. My vegetable garden is pretty much a write-off -- with the exception of my tomato plants which I keep watered.

Despite the harsh conditions, my late mother's peonies are now in full and sumptuous bloom. Their bouquets are short lived but transform even a modest home in to a palace. As I bury my nose down into the blooms and inhale their delicate rosy fragrance, my mind time-travels back to my childhood. I hear metal clinking on metal as my father tinkers with some repair or other in the barn. I hear a cow bawl for her calf. In the distance a neighbour's dog barks. Barn swallows twitter and swoop to their mud nests in the tractor shed rafters. Uh-oh, I hear a familiar call from the house. "Flow-w-rinse. Florence!" Mom has a chore for me. Quickly back to 2020 reality.

Fresh bouquets of peonies grace my kitchen window sill. Thank you, Mom.

The white ones are my favourites.

The wonderful fragrance of this pink peony would rival any rose.

I can picture this magenta beauty pinned to a lady's frock at a garden party.

An evening or so ago, cat roomy Ellie May called my attention to an interesting scene. Jenny Skunk was spending considerable time and care in gathering up grass cuttings in front of my little garden shed. She was rolling the dried grass into a bundle with her body and tamping it into place to close up the entrance to her den. She's apparently starting a nursery and wants to keep it's location a secret.

Remember the old saying, "About as welcome as a skunk in a chicken house."? Well, times have changed. Mom used to raise chickens in that little building and I now enjoy having this mother skunk around.  Baby skunks are simply adorable and Jenny and I are on good terms.

The small cut out between door and window was for a chicken ramp.

Jenny Skunk used dried grass to reduce the entrance to her den under the building.

 

Bluebird Update

For the past week I've been allowing the bluebirds nesting in a distant field their privacy. Yesterday I did an inspection and found the nest empty. I don't know if the young fledged or if they were taken by a predator. By the state of the nest, I'm leaning more towards the 'fledged' theory.

Surprise!! This morning a bluebird couple is constructing a nest in one of the boxes quite close by in my garden. Not for the first time, I've had a desire to interview another species.

The male keeping security watch while his missus furnishes their house.

She surveys the human with the camera before her next move.

She's found some pine twigs which are here in abundance.

Leaning out to position them end-wise through the entrance.

About to take off for another load of bedding.

Their chosen box is very close to my vegetable patch.

I wonder if they'll mind me weeding so close to their nest? Perhaps a perfect excuse for slacking off -- not that I really need one.

Plan Mason Bee

Missing the company of my honey bees this year, I was instantly inspired by the gorgeous photos of Red Mason bees taken by British beekeeper, Christopher Wren. Here is the post I was wowed by:

trogtrogblog/red mason bees


Heeding his advice, I used assorted tunnel sizes in my nesting trays. A book on Mason Bees states there are 135 species of mason bees in North America. I wish I had made and put out my 'mason bee condo' much earlier in the season, but one never knows what happens until it does.

I made an assortment of groove sizes in my condo trays.

Clear plastic covers allow observation of the bee nests.

Screw nails provide little handles for pulling our individual trays.

The black cover provides darkness for the tunnels of the top brood tray.

A wire screen protects the trays from grub loving woodpeckers.

I hope the novelty push pins don't frighten potential tenants.

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Last week I noticed a strong smell of gasoline coming from the rear of my car. Looking underneath, I saw drips on the ground directly below my gas tank. A trip to my mechanic revealed the unexpected. Directly over the tank, a villain (I'm guessing chipmunk) had stored sunflower seeds and chewed a hole in the fuel pump line. My brother said that the rodent probably got an unpleasant squirt of gas in it's mouth. Sympathy non-existent from my end.

Excuse me sir or madam! May I check your breath for gasoline?!?!

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Yesterday my nestling White-Breasted Nuthatches fledged. I missed the event but read that the young emerge all at once and look pretty much identical to their parents. I also read that the birds will use the same nest site year after year if they are successful there. It will be interesting to see if they'll allow their youngsters to stay in the same territory.

A parent watches as it's chick peers out into the big, wide world.

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Can't miss a summer post without including snaps from the good old jelly feeder. I think I'm on my fourth or fifth jar of grape jelly this season already.

A Baltimore Oriole coaxes one more taste from the emptied jelly cup.

A teddy bear of the bee variety joins the picnic.

A cat bird disregards the rule of talking with a full mouth.

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These hot and sunny days are perfect for salvaging the beeswax from my failed honey bee hives. If the ground isn't perfectly level or the collecting pan overflows, my solar wax melter leaks a bit of honey. Jimmy or Jenny Skunk goes for it like candy. Can't imagine the sticky mess of his/her fur as honey combines with freshly dug ground.

J. Skunk has been digging where my solar wax melter leaked honey.

All that sweetness must work up a powerful thirst!