On the home front

 

The bluff is all Asters and Golden Rod now.

Monarchs are the easiest wildlife photography

and they are so beautiful.

Up early one day, I looked out the laundry room window and saw this next door.

While the reported origins of Groundhog Day are many, the concept is thought to be linked to the Germanic tradition of Candlemas Day, a Christian feast day. According to the folklore, a sunny Candlemas Day means a longer winter. In Europe, however, the animal used was generally a hedgehog or a badger. from nationalgeographic.com.

He was happily chewing on dandelions.

He ran back under the cottage when I stepped out the side door, hoping to get a better picture.

A groundhog's burrow can be anywhere from eight to 66 feet long, with multiple exits and a number of chambers.There can be several levels to their burrows, says Zervanos. "They have a burrow for hibernating, and then they have another section of the burrow that's more like their summer home where they can come out more easily."Their burrows even have separate rooms for defecation—otherwise known as bathrooms. from nationalgeographic.com

I wonder what they will find when they demolish that cottage.

 

Occasionally one of the nearby windmills is not turning and there are trucks in the gravel road to them but one day

there was someone working on one of the blades.

On another day, a crane up to a blade.

When Mike and I went on the windmill tour in California we watched a movie that touched on these kinds of jobs. Wow, you would have to have a head for heights.

This pepper plant came with me from Long Point but all but one pepper got blown off on the trailer ride over. I got one, really nice, red pepper off it, about a month ago.

But recently I noticed that it had set flowers again and was growing some more peppers. As the nights are getting colder, I bought it inside to see if it will produce some more.

Speaking of colder nights, one of my shrubs is starting to show some fall colour.

I bought this because I love Echinacea and it was looking a little sad on a 30% off table.

As soon as I planted it, it perked right up and now is in full bloom.

I have been keeping an eye out for a "cat condo" for Rasta for a while now. "Why?" you say. I don't have a good answer for that. Other cats seem to enjoy them. He's spoiled. Anyway they are expensive and so I haven't bought one. Then in Costco I saw this one. $50. The cheapest one I have seen was $60 and it was just one level so I didn't read the size and thought it would be a modest little condo. Nope. It's huge.  Multiple levels, lots of places to curl up or watch the birds, soft carpeting and good scratching posts. Not sure where it will end up but for now it is in the front room for bird watching.