Nova Scotia

my favourite things of the week

For November 20 to 26, 2023

*The most vocal cat I’ve ever met

This beautiful black cat popped out of the brush during one of our post-lunch walks out to the dykes and boy, did it (she? I think) have a lot to say. It was really cold that day so I hope she had a safe home to return to.

*Autumn colours persisting

The woods were still pretty yellow for November 22.

*Getting caught in a surprise snow squall

Thinking the overcast skies were harmless clouds, I suggested we push our Wednesday walk further (and further and further) and was rewarded with driving snow and bitter winds the whole way back. Still kind of fun, though.

*Eagles

In the photo above you can see a lump near the top of the middle tree, which we assumed was a large bald eagle because we’ve seen dozens of them this year. Surprise – it was two eagles, and the chittering they did to each other when a smaller bird/possible lunch innocently flew by was amazing to hear.

my favourite things of the week

For November 13 to 19, 2023

*Admiring this ram and his family

*After-lunch walks to get some fresh air

Except the day the manure spreader was out.

*This downy woodpecker

Easily amused, I never tire of watching them sit on their bums to eat, legs stuck straight out.

my favourite things of the week

For October 23 to 29, 2023

*A Maritime garter snake chillin’ on a sewer grate

While chatting with my mother in her driveway last week, two excited boys rode up on bikes to tell us they had found! a! snake! After reassuring them this little guy was not dangerous and was surely more afraid of us than we should be of him and that no, they should not ride over him with their bikes, we returned to the driveway and those little buggers got a stick and pushed the snake into the sewer. Sigh.

*My mother’s hanging basket of nasturtiums, still going strong and feeding pollinators

*A giant crate of lettuce at the farm

Who’s that weirdo taking pictures of lettuce? That weirdo is me. But I mean, come on, look at all those shades of green.

*The leaves starting to turn in the backyard

I’m not sure why our trees are always behind all the others around here, but it’s starting to get pretty out there.

my favourite things of the week

For October 16 to 22, 2023

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks around here, what with medical appointments, dental appointments, a massive closet switcheroo (why do I always choose the worst times for these projects?), ripping apart the rickety front steps, and Anna moving out of her student apartment in the city.

*Two new, ridiculously photogenic grandcats

Their names are Nadja and Simon the Devious.

*Miss Madeleine’s tolerance of the new arrivals

*Cosmos, still giving it their all in mid-October

*One very confused lupin

*Storm clouds making everything look dramatic

*A most intriguing caterpillar

Research indicates this is the caterpillar of the hyles gallii, aka bedstraw hawk-moth, aka galium sphinx moth. The red horn on his rear end isn’t dangerous, apparently, but it certainly discourages one from touching it. All I know is he was big (about the size of my ring finger) and moved fast.