Scat scale

 Here is the scat to scale. The ants are busy taking the undigested berry pieces from them.

It was a long day getting schedules out and James had a dramatic time at the dentist.

whose scat is this?

 The pictures aren't great. The scat (and there were numerous ones) were fresh around 4pm. They went up my steps so something that can climb. I should have taken the pictures with something for scale. It looks like whatever it was was eating berries. The best of the berry scat was the first and was too blurry. If they remain tomorrow I will try to take more photos.

Am working through the block load of courses and hope to finish up tomorrow.

baby squirrels on a metal roof

 This morning the squirrel family that lives in the front tree decided to go on a trip first thing in the morning across the roof. After the roof there is a metal overhang. The force of friction is a lot lower on this roof. It was around 5:30am, I went to watch them. One of them slid off and plummeted to the ground beneath but was up the fence quick a a flash. It was pretty funny to watch even though I would have preferred to be sleeping.

Today I am working to set up things for the block load for the new students.

Fire alarm beats Duke

 There was a fire alarm that went off at Kingsdale a few km away but the sirens woke me up at 5:20am.

I have determined that Duke does not live at the Harley/Marley house but 2 doors down. I haven't seen Duke but he also lives with a German Shephard that seems much better behaved.

The Bishop came to speak at Rustle today. I did AV but Ebe did all the set up so I think he did the difficult parts.

I managed to organize some paperwork today as well as the usual laundry and dishes.

Made turkey in the slow cooker with rice for dinner. Ordinary but good. Planning enchiladas with leftovers for tomorrow.

Mikey

 I haven't heard Luke/Duke today, maybe he is taking the weekend off.

One of my neighbours is an elderly lady who lives alone. At the start of June her son brought a rental truck worth of stuff and unloaded it into her house. I don't know whose stuff if was. The sons name is Mikey and I don't know where he lives, but it is not nearby as he flew home yesterday so it is quieter around here this weekend. Mikey had a temper and was always yelling, swearing and berating his mother. I don't know if she is happy or sad that he has gone.

The morning I tried out another pair of leggings. These ones were called "Oasis" and are made of "Purelux" fabric. These are my favorite leggings ever as they are so comfortable. It is hard to describe. I biked to Metro in order to test their bikability and they did well with that as well. So top marks for this one.

Tomorrow I am on "AV" at Rustle so I will need to print out the handbook. Christian was supposed to be helping to train me but he now needs to do music as Karyne's father passed away and the original band will be in Toronto for the funeral.

Luke/Duke the barking dog

 So there was a dog in the house behind us by the name of Harley or Marley and it was a random barker, so annoying but not predictable.

I'm not sure what happened to Harley/Marley- if the owners moved or if the dog moved or if the dog is still there and a new dog has been added to the household. The new dog is Duke/Luke and he seems to be a dog who can't stop barking once he gets started. And he gets started first thing in the morning. If Duke/Luke is outside he is probably barking.

So after being woken up by Duke/Luke in the morning, I had breakfast of mango yogurt with a weird aftertaste (mostly fine), hung the laundry and then took a trip to no frills. On the way there I tried to walk quickly so that hopefully there would be less people there. The way back was slower because I was carrying weights.

I ordered some leggings from Fabletics and have been trying them out. The last 2 days I tried the "Eco Synch perforated" leggings. Very comfortable leggings for walking but not so much for bike riding as the material seemed too slippy. The "perforations" are below the knee and are not very large, most for decoration I think. They are pretty small holes, not good for tick protection. The leggings stay very cool even when I am hot from walking. Stay tuned for more reviews!

first visit to lake ontario park of the year

 I had a vacation day and did some shopping in the morning and then biked to Lake Ontario Park. The park seemed to be inhabited by many school children. I managed to go down the waterfront trail a bit to find an uninhabited bench in the shade where I did some reading and then biked home.

Yesterday I made taco pizza minus the included jalapenos.

Today was turkey with chow mein noodles. This was one of the quickest recipes that I have made. It was easy and tasty as well!

chickensitting

 Kim left Emma with me while she went to get groceries

baby takes a bath

 One of the baby robins took a bath in the bit of water that I left out for them. Seemed super happy hopping in and getting wet. Then standing on the side and looking in. Sometimes drinking. Looked like a first time bath to me. Parent was hovering nearby. Now they must all be getting blown about as the wind is shaking the trees pretty strong. Hopefully we keep power!

Rice x3

 It turns out I ordered 3 dishes with rice from Chef's plate, which I found funny. We don't mind, we like rice.

Yesterday I made Cajun chicken- it had parboiled rice. The chicken breast was substituted with chicken tenders due to supply issues. But it was all good with nice veggies.

Today I made enchiladas to use up some leftovers so no rice today!

Lots of meetings today. I think the lack of sleep from Tuesday is starting to catch up with me today- will try to go to bed early. Have dentist appointment at 8am.

A new day

 Baby #2 has fledged. My amazon package has arrived in the city! Things that I didn't expect yesterday.

baby robin #2

 I woke at 5:30am with baby robin #1 calling from the tree. Robin #1 is pretty active in the tree and did some time on the ground also with a parent. Baby robin #2 was standing on the edge of the nest when I left for work so I thought it may be a fledging day. Maybe all the rain put it off and it was sleeping in the nest when I returned, Mom is still sitting on the nest. No fledging there.

It was a long day but a good one. After work I made quesadillas which were pretty good. Then I had my book club. Then I went to Sarah's to do some prayer. Then James has started cleaning the basement so I helped him getting some things cleaned up. Still a lot to do. Then needed to work on some financial reports. And now it is 2:30am. Only a few hours before it all starts again.

The amazon package seems to be lost in the ether. Tomorrow is the last day before I need to claim the refund. I am not too hopeful but we'll see if they turn it around! 

the rain

 Well, it seems rain has poured in. I stepped in a giant puddle leaving Rustle! The poor baby bird who fledged today is learning all about rain. Not like my safe dry porch! I assume I will be walking in the rain tomorrow.

amazon getting ahead of itself

 My package is still listed as having left Alberta but not yet arrived in Ontario. It has been in this vortex for 5 days. We'll see if it ever comes out. In spite of this I received an email to "rate" the transaction. Bit difficult when it isn't here yet.

There has been lots of activity next door as a moving van bringing a bunch of things arrived for the elderly neighbour lady. It was 2 of her children bringing the things and they have been here since June 1. There was a lot of stress during the move and the male child- in his 50s or 60s named "Mikey" seems to have a temper. We'll see how long they remain.

The robins also remain as 2 households. They are very concerned with everything but seem happy to keep the one in the nest. Hopefully they are still feeding the fledged one, I just can't tell as I am unsure of where it currently is. The robins are very active in the backyard. The other neighbour is currently in their backyard and that is causing some mild concern even though he is just talking on the phone.

maybe baby

 During the morning one of the robin babies had taken to standing on the edge of the nest. About an hour ago, I heard a parent robin scream and then when I checked the nest it looked like the babies were gone. So I guessed that they had fledged. Maybe the neighbour in the driveway had scared them. I could hear one of the babies cheeping from the trees in the back. But then mom was still sitting on the nest, which seemed confusing to me. But it turns out one is still in the nest and one must be in the trees. So mom is still sitting on the one who remains. Hopefully dad is feeding the fledged one but it is difficult to tell as I am not sure where that one is.

amazon, ever hopeful

 Amazon seems to think that my package will arrive by 8pm today despite it being 7:57pm and there is no indication that it has landed in Ontario. I have less hope than amazon. Edit- it is now past 8pm. No package. It has been updated to say that it will now arrive between June 6-9. Otherwise I'll need a refund. Hoping some shorts will arrive eventually!

The robin babies are still practicing their flapping and are looking pretty like mini-robins. They are getting ready to fledge but it means I can't use the backyard as the parents are just way too anxious. Only a few days now though.

pre-flight

 The babies at the back are now practicing flapping their wings and the parents seem more anxious than usual.

James woke up late for his coaching and went into the day with no breakfast.

I ordered James some shorts from Amazon. There were 2 pairs. Both shipped on June 1. One from New York. On June 2 I got a refund for the New York one. Not sure what happened there, but it isn't coming here. The second shipped from Alberta and is supposed to arrive today but there is no indication that it has landed in Ontario yet. That is one long flight!

baby squirrels

 The front pine has a family of squirrels. It looks like 3 baby black squirrels and 1 baby grey squirrel. Though they are always moving, it can be difficult to count.

It is currently pouring with rain. The robin and babies at the back are sitting pretty on the back porch.

Today was a vacation day for me. I walked to No Frills which I haven't been to since 2020 as it had not been very good at keeping the regulations. I went relatively early (around 10) and it wasn't too busy. I had been planning on doing the self checkout but they have limited the self checkout to 15 items or less so I no longer qualified.

The robins at the back are growing bigger and make a lot more noise. It does worry me that predators may hear so I jump up in the night whenever I hear a noise. I'm guessing a week until they fledge!