Quiet days

Until last Thursday it has been very quiet around our house but now our daughter is visiting and it is a bit livelier at least while she is around. It is her 30th School Reunion and that means a lot of visiting and functions.
Right now she has gone golfing and last night was a Pub Night. As usual I did not sleep until she was home again just like when she was a teenager. How dumb is that!!! I guess once a motherhen always a motherhen ☺
The weather has been outstanding although Sonja wishes  it was warmer.
I finally have been able to water our flower baskets to my heart’s content. The one with the bird’s nest does not look very good and I don’t think the flowers will come back. They just did not get enough water.
Yesterday we had our first 2 egg plums. They taste so good but there are not very many on the tree. I think the tree is getting too old. We are still harvesting raspberries and I already have 5 bags of 3 pounds each in the freezer. The squash plants are absolutely growing wild. They are through the corn and now attacking the raspberry bushes. Some of the branches were outside the wire fence that surrounds the garden. I tried to lead them back but a few days later they came back through another loop so I guess the deer will have fun with that.
I have not weeded for ages and it sure shows. My knees really don’t like the crouching, so the veggies must fend for themselves.
I would like to welcome Karen and Al to my Blog. I have read your Blog and enjoyed it. My Granddaughter also lives in Georgia and likes it very much.
It is time to eat a bowl of “Moose Tracks” ice cream now.

Good bye everybody ☺

Back to general blogging

Now that the birds are gone I can get on with blogging only once in awhile. Not very many blog-worthy events in my life. That is the way I like it.
My flower baskets are finally getting their due in moisture. I have to water several times during the day because they are in full sun most of the afternoon.
I also have a cherry tomato on the balcony but they only get the morning sun. So far there are only 3 tiny tomatoes but lots of bloom. It seems that the blooms just shrivel without setting fruit. I have no idea why that is. I even shake the stalks a bit but it does not help.
Cliff was telling me the day after the baby birds flew the coup that he saw one parent with one of the babies trying to teach it to fly. It looked like they had success, so I was pleased to hear that. I hope the other baby survived as well. I saved the un-hatched egg. It is fairly heavy for it’s size. I tried to get the nest out of the basket but it is totally interwoven with the dirt and flower roots, so I have to leave it in there.

un-hatched Junko egg


It has really been hot here lately and I don’t like it. My favourite temperature is around 22 C. I have all windows and doors closed with bamboo blinds on the outside and insulating drapes on the inside so the rooms stay pretty cool until around 5 PM when it gets too hot upstairs but it is still bearable downstairs. At that time it starts to cool down outside and I open all doors and let the breeze come through. At night it cools down to 12 to 14 C and the house starts cool again the next day. I like Spring and Fall better than Summer except that this Spring was not very good. Too much rain. We could sure use some of that now !!!
Well, that’s it for today.
Good night everybody ☺

Last picture

I took a picture of the babies this morning.
It did not turn out too good so I wanted to take another one but when I tried both birds left the nest and flew first to the balcony and then down to the grass.
It is the 12th day since the first one hatched so they probably will be OK. On one website about Oregon Junkos it said that they take 9 to 10 days to fledge.
I have been watching them through binoculars and it looked as if Mom was trying to teach one of the babies to fly and I also have seen them feeding the babies on the ground. Right now I can only see the parents. The last I saw of the babies one of them was hopping into some taller grass under a tree and the other one was also under some grass by the fence. I guess the parents led them to safety, at least I hope so.
I certainly wish them well and hope they have a great and long life.

Last picture in nest
 

Last picture on the ground

I’ll update if something new occurs.

Very shy birds

I have not been able to take any pictures that are worthwhile. I can see the little birds peaking above the nest with mouths wide open but as soon as I open the patio door they duck down and lay there quietly. Also Mom and sometimes both parents will fly in and sit on the power cable leading to our house and scold me or maybe they are cautioning the babies to keep mum in the nest. It is now the tenth day since the first egg hatched. I would think that it will not be long before they have their flying lessons and then disappear. My flowers will be very thankful. They look pretty scraggily.
Until the sun hits the nest sometime after lunch the parents fly back and forth to gather food and feed the babies but as soon as the sun hits the nest the Mom sits on the nest again until the sun leaves. That really makes me think that this is to keep the babies from frying in the sun.
It has been hot this afternoon but there always is a nice breeze. Cliff and I picked up quite a few wheelbarrows full of firewood to put in the woodshed. It was drying behind the house in the sun before going into the woodshed. It will not be long and the shed will be full. Then the heating season can come whenever. Sometimes I wonder if we are sane to do all that work ☺ Cliff always says it is good exercise.
Good night everybody ☺

It’ official… only 2 baby birds

When I looked into the nest yesterday morning I saw 2 babies and one egg. Too bad the third egg did not hatch but I guess the parents have enough to do with the two they have. Until the afternoon they fly and feed the brood all the time but in the afternoon when the sun shines on the flower baskets one of them sits on the nest constantly. I think it is to keep the baby birds from overheating. I noticed that then the parent has it’s beak open most of the time. I wonder if that is how they cool off?? That’s what dogs do but do birds do the same thing?  Normally they spread their wings. As you can see I am not a birder ☺
I try to take pictures but as soon as I enter the balcony the Mom is there and chirps at me. Also when I look into the nest the babies just lay there. They must sense that I am not supposed to be there and they just play dead.
We had a pancake breakfast with our friend Heather this morning, It was a very pleasant visit and her company is always welcome. She is a childhood friend of our daughters. Heather visited lots of times when she lived in Kingston with her Mother and we lived in Gananoque. The kids are still good friends although they live very far apart. Heather has a bed and breakfast in Gibson on the sunshine coast. She was telling us that there are only 2 small hotels in Gibson and most visitors stay in bed and breakfasts. She really enjoys running it.
We had a few clouds this morning and it was a lot cooler but after lunch the sun came out full force again and it got hot. I changed from shorts and sleeveless blouse to long pants and long sleeve t-shirt and then back to shorts and blouse. That is Vancouver Island for you ☺

Good night everybody ☺

Only two???

I cannot see more than 2 little birds. It's hard to take a picture because I have to blindly point the camera since I cannot see the view finder from the angle I am shooting from and I am always in a hurry to get out of there.
Before I go out on the balcony I look to see if a parent is sitting on the nest or one is sitting on the power line and if there is none I venture out and invariably it only takes less than a minute before one of them arrives and starts chirping at me so I retreat quickly.

They are starting to get feathers now. This time next week they will be gone. Too bad because it is fun watching them.
I did not do too much today just the normal puttering around. This morning I picked some veggies and took them around to the neighbours. We have more than we can eat. I think we really should only have half the garden although it's nice to give away what we cannot use.

Good night everybody ☺

Hungry brood

A warm welcome to Mary Ann and William who are newly following my Blog. Glad to have you aboard.

I have been watching the nest and when I did not see either parent I took some pictures

Boy, they look  hungry !! I could only see the two wide open mouths and hope the third baby is hunkering down in the nest. It looks like the eyes are now open. They are starting to look more like birds than a few days ago.
In the meantime my flowers are suffering but it will not take long now before the youngsters fledge and then I can look after the flowers a lot better.

This morning I made a quick run to Mill Bay. I had to do a bit of shopping and I almost parked the car right ☺ I came back just in time to make curried chicken thighs for lunch. Cliff and I love this kind of meal. Instead of rice I used potatoes. It seems as soon as we have our own potatoes rice and noodles are off the menu. In the afternoon I spent a bit of time helping Cliff pile some of the dry wood in the wood shed. It will be awhile before that is full.

Good night everybody ☺

No new development in the Nest

Both parents are around and Mom sits on the nest most of the day. I had a chance to take another picture but the babies look almost identical to the earlier picture.

I only saw one of the parents with a moth or something in it's beak once today. Of course I might have missed a few feedings.
We had beautiful weather here with a nice breeze to keep the house cool. I was in the kitchen a lot. Cliff brings raspberries and strawberries almost daily and I freeze most of them. We have a bowl of either berries in the afternoon with whipped cream. Very satisfying but I think the cream is probably not too healthy ☺
Our new lettuce is ready to eat and I harvested a lot of it this morning. I wash it, tear it up and keep it in a Tupper ware container in the fridge. That way I can just grab a handful at lunch and supper for us. We have been eating our new potatoes for awhile now. I like them for potato salad and always look forward to that.
While I am doing all that I am glued to my audio book "The Rainmaker" by John Grisham. I am almost done.
Time to close this.
Good night everybody ☺

2nd. post

Janna from the http://tinteepeelogcabin.blogspot.com/

asked about Indonesia. I have done several posts about it. Just write "Indonesia" in the search box and the post will come up. Thanks for the question ☺

All accounted for ☺

Success for Momma ! This morning we saw the third baby bird. At the moment I would say they are kind of ugly but just wait a few days and that will change.

Early this morning Cliff moved the basket around so that we could see the nest again from the window. In doing that we disturbed Mom and she flew off giving us quite the scolding and did not want to stop. It did not take too long until Dad arrived and helped her scold. That was the first time I saw both parents together. They look a lot alike and I was not even sure if Dad was around until I saw them together. Shortly after we went  in the house Mom was  back in the nest and Dad sat on the railing for a long time guarding the brood.
If I did not know better I think the two got together and moved the basket around so that we again could not watch them !!! Later on when Cliff saw one leave (usually there is only one on the nest) I went and tied a string to the basket so that the wind cannot move it around any longer. ☺
I was able to take a picture of one of them as they sat on the railing which they do before flying into the nest.

Here is Mom sitting at the edge of the nest

 

Our flower baskets look pretty bedraggled in this hot weather because I hate to disturb the nest and do the watering and removal of old bloom. Oh well, watching the birds is well worth it.

Good night everybody ☺

Here is a good cartoon

Two down one to go

Yesterday was a false alarm, thank goodness. Number one is alive and the second one hatched and one egg to go.

and they are ready to be fed, mouths wide open ☺


We had quite the wind last night and this morning. It turned the hook that holds the basket with the nest, we now call it the bird-basket, half way around which does not let me look into the nest from behind the window. I tried to sneak up to it but Momma saw me and flew away, so I will wait until I know that she is gone and then Cliff will try to turn the basket back to where it was before. So far I have only disturbed her twice the whole time and it does not really seem to bother her but I just don't like to do it.
I see Momma fly off the nest directly past the balcony to somewhere below but when she comes back she lands on the railing and goes back and forth quite a few times before she flies up to the nest. I have seen her with something in her mouth but am not sure what it was.
I hope I will see number three tomorrow morning.
It is still a bit windy but the temperature was more to my liking. This coming week it looks perfect for my taste too.
I did some laundry and the sheets dried in record time but some were tangled around the line but I still like them better drying outside than in the dryer.
I am thankful for the dryer though. My girls were already 7 and 9 years old before we got the first dryer. In those days it was always quite a chore to get everything dry in rainy weather. I am glad those days are gone.
As a postscript to yesterday's Blog I have to say that the creek where I took the pictures gets deep enough to swim and snorkel  in spots. Cliff saw lots of fish and wished he had his fishing pole.
With that I'll say
good night everybody ☺

The first bird hatched

but it looked to me as if it was not alive but I am still hoping since Momma is back on the nest. She was not there when we came back from our afternoon happy time with our friends.
It was not quite so hot today which is a real relief. All afternoon we sat by the creek that flows through their property. Everybody went in the water except I. I need unbearably hot weather before I hit the water. When I was younger I almost lived at the swimming pool and in Indonesia I was always in the water. Somehow I prefer to sit by the water now rather than be in it, so I took some pictures instead

It was a great afternoon and now it's time to go to bed. I sure hope I will be able to see Momma raise he 3 chicks.
Good night everybody ☺

Hot hot hot !!

but there is relief in sight. Right now it is overcast which makes quite a difference. For the last few days we had all the doors and windows closed and covered until later in the evening. We also have a few fans going. We don't really need air-conditioning because we don't normally get too hot for any length of time. This morning we drove to Mill Bay and the air-conditioning in the car was a blessing.
I really feel sorry for Momma-bird. In the afternoons it must have been boiling in the nest. She flew off several times during the last few days. When the nest was empty I was able to water all the flower baskets and I think I saw her in the area where I had watered, I supposed it was cool for her. It should not be much longer now for the eggs to hatch. I hope they all do.
It is too hot in the computer room to stay here for a long time, so I shall say
Good night everybody ☺

Cloudy Day

but we had no rain which is great.
Yesterday Cliff fixed his wood splitter and today I helped him split the load of wood we got last week. I had never helped before and was not too keen on it but to my surprise it really was a lot of fun. I manned the lever that moves the splitting wedge and Cliff loaded the big blocks of wood onto the splitter. It was so satisfying to see those big blocks being split without too much arm-power ☺ It only took a little over an hour.  All that remains now it to pile the wood and cover it with a tarp which will be removed when the threat of rain is gone and we get nothing but sunshine (I hope).




We are supposed to get hot weather all next week. That thought galvanized me to get our bamboo blinds out from under the beds and start mounting them on the outside of the windows that get lots of sun. That way the house stays much cooler. We used to have big trees in front of our house which kept the house cool but we have more cold days when the sun is most welcome so the blinds are a good compromise.
No news about our little Momma. She is steadfastly sitting on the 3 eggs. I have found out that she does not stay away very long if I water her basket. I try to do it though when she is not there. Today I saw her on the grass by the house feeding. At least I think it was her because I ran upstairs to check the nest and Momma was not there. I did my watering then and she was back shortly after.
Pretty soon 60 Minutes is on TV and I shall watch it.

Good night everybody ☺ 

Three eggs it is !

I was able to check the nest again this morning and again there were only 3 eggs, so I suppose that is all we are going to get. Now the wait starts to see how many will hatch. Momma is sitting faithfully and to my knowledge only leaves the nest for a short while in the morning. That gives me enough time to water the flower baskets.
It is so neat to be able to monitor from the beginning of nest building until  hopefully the little birds fledge.
It has been a nice day but I had only inside work and just took a short walk to the mail boxes.
I hope everybody will have a nice weekend.

Good night everybody ☺

No egg today

I waited until Momma left the nest and checked it out but there were still only 3 eggs. Maybe she figures 3 babies is enough... I stopped after two ☺
It was raining when I got up but not for too long. I'm glad because I had to go to Duncan to have my hair cut. Cliff came too and did a bit of shopping and added a gas to the car.. It was more expensive already. Today we have to deal with the new HST. When we came back Cliff went with the truck to pick up a cord of wood for the fire next winter and when he came back I helped him to unload it.
This afternoon we took a spin to Victoria, so we really had a full day.
Now I am pretty tired and it will not be long before I go to bed.
Good night everybody ☺