Yippee! Out of quarantine!

The last couple of days of quarantine were spent doing much the same as the previous 12.

In the garden. This exotic

looking plant

is just a Horse Chestnut, ready to leaf out.

Bird watching. Chickadees and Nut Hatches are back.

Squirrel watching. They think they own the place and chatter angrily at me whenever I am walking around the property.

Watching TV. It was very weird to watch the Voice with the judges and contestants using Microsoft Teams and staying in their own homes. Kelly Clarkson with a glass of red wine that she used to cheers a good performance.

On the Internet. I found a Face Book post by Dominique of one of my patterns ready to be shipped to a customer. Very professional looking.

Rug Hooking. One of my three "Ladies do Coffee" is done. The second one just needs the window and bar behind her done and the third needs her hat and shopping bag and the background stuff.

And then today, I actually got into the car and drove out of the driveway!!! Muttering to myself "stay right, stay right". It feels like forever since I last drove and it is 41/2 months since I last drove on the right.

The first stop was the feed store to get more sunflower seeds. Yep, that's a squirrel trying to get into the feeder in the background.

Next stop; Hometown Plants Garden Centre. I had a list but I also just wandered through the greenhouse because it felt so good to be there.

Tomatoes, Rosemary, Kale, Lettuce. For the pots on the posts on the porch, Portulaca and Lobelia. For the pots on the beach side deck, Geraniums (I finally threw out the ones that had been growing in them for the last 8 years). I forgot to buy the bush bean seeds (I will have to go back).

Then I drove up to the farm where I usually get asparagus but it was closed. I am hoping that it was just because it was cold last night and the plants spears didn't grow much. I hope it isn't because of problems getting their seasonal workers. I have been reading about the rules for their isolation and accommodation due to the virus and some farmers just can't afford to bring them in.

Driving back into the village I saw this carpet of Trillium

and had to stop to take pictures.

Then it was a quick stop at the grocery store, check the mailbox on the way back and ferry everything into the house before going for a walk along Beach Ave. Along the way I noticed a little bird repetitively darting off a branch and then returning to it. It had rusty stripes down its side and I thought to myself "probably called something like a rufus sided warbler".

I looked it up, it was a Chestnut Sided Warbler. This is not my picture, its off Wikepedia, I didn't have my camera with me and he was probably too fast for me to get a decent picture of him anyway. They winter in Central America. Poor thing, having to deal with the cold now.

Guest Photographer; Rob Woods, Cyprus.
Jimmy sent me these pictures from a walk that he and Rob took.

They went on the Pine Bay walk. The grasses are really brown now. Everyone there is complaining about the heat.

To the little chapel that was closed when I visited it.

Cyprus is loosening some of its restrictions, so it was open and this is the interior.

Back passed the goat farm.

In Cyprus now you can go to the beach to swim but not to sunbath. You can go to the hairdresser. You can leave your house up to 3 times a day and walk further afield than when I left. I think the restaurants are opening too.
Kay commented that she enjoys the time "between the fireplace and the fans", best of all. They are now needing to use fans and then it will be the air conditioner.
I agree, March and April were definitely the best weather. Windows could be open during the day. You didn't need the heaters on. It wasn't too hot to walk. There was little rain but there was still some. Plants were thriving. Sitting outside was comfortable.

Long Point quarantine - just 2 days left !!!

In spite of the list I wrote for my self, I have mostly been rug hooking and playing on the tablet. Interrupted every now and then by the following:

Stepping outside and admiring the full moon on a clear night.

Watching the birds at the feeders. This is a White Crowned Sparrow and seems quite happy to feed on the ground, from what the others have dropped, and stay out of the melee.

The Downy Woodpecker with a sweet tooth, is back. Looks like he hasn't been able to go to the hairdresser either.

The Hummingbirds tend to come in and feed from a couple of the holes but this guy works his way around the feeder, sipping from every hole.

Cuddling the cat. He has no problem relaxing, just hangs out.

Watching the Lakers go by. They are usually out on the horizon but this barge was quite close in.

I stopped all work outside when it started to snow. It's May!

Then, the next day,

this granular, sleet/

snow/hail combination.

So I am more focused on inside activities. Another work out with Avery and Maya. Spiderman this time. My thighs still hurt from the squats, while shooting web from my wrists.

Watching the Amaryllis grow (oh yes, I'm bored). This is a weeks growth. It must be from 2 Christmases ago, but still is growing a flower bud.

And finally, today, I gave in to something that seems to be even more contagious than the Corona Virus, this lockdown. I baked! I never bake! Because if I do, I eat it. These muffins are as healthy as I could find. Date carrot. I also added some chopped apricots, oat bran and coconut and used whole wheat flour. They have only been out of the oven an hour and I have eaten 2 already. Sigh.

More Quarantine activities

Having dug sheep manure and compost into the raised bed I planted the only seeds I had left over from last year, red and yellow beets. Because the forecast is for cold weather, maybe even snow, I covered them with plastic to help warm the soil. As they are old seeds they may not even germinate, but, until I have other things to plant, I might as well experiment.

I bought the sectional down from the garage and one warm(ish) afternoon was able to read outside. With the blanket on!

At this time of year the sun no longer sets into the lake, but, until the foliage fills in, you can still see it through the trees.

More visitors to

the feeders.

The local paper had an article about Great Art for Great Lakes which was a call for submissions for collective art projects. A local woman submitted a proposal for a rug hooking mural which was accepted. Her original plan was to set it up like a quilting bee and community members could go and hook on it whenever they wanted. However Covid 19 has forced her to take parts of it out to volunteers. I contacted her to see if I was too late and as I had a hoop and hook (not needing to borrow them) she dropped me off a bag.

I finished the 6" square in an evening and have called to say I am happy to do more.

In conversation with Mike ("Daddy school/daycare") I was invited to join Avery and Maya for the Physed section of their day. They had chosen a Mario Brothers workout. Note pants are optional in their school uniform. (Underpants are not)

Maya took her job as "Nana's coach" very seriously and kept turning around to check that I was doing the exercises correctly. I have to admit, it got my heart rate up.

Quarantine Chores

Sitting in Cyprus I was mentally making lists of everything I needed to be doing at home. Now I'm home there is no shortage of things to fill my time with.

First order of business, cuddle the cat. Rasta was a little clingy the first day but, after that, got back into his regular routine of cuddles morning and evening and sleeping in between.

The garden needed to be inspected.

I thought I had only planted daffodils last fall but it must have been a bag of mixed bulbs because I have Hyacinths

And I have no idea what these are!

Keith was here with his bulldozer the day I got back. The bulldozing has to be completed before the end of April to protect the Fowler toads (they are endangered in Canada)

Bob, next door, has put up his Martin houses and the annual battle, for occupancy, has begun, between the Sparrows, Martins

and Tree Swallows.

Weird clouds over the lake.

I filled the bird feeders and the Cardinals were the first ones to realize.

King of the castle, but

that particular feeder is set up for small birds only.

But it didn't take long for the Posse to arrive. That was George's name for the flocks of Grackles,

Starlings and Red Winged Blackbirds that could empty the feeders in just one day. This shot also has Sparrows and Doves.

After wrestling one of the Muskoka chairs on to the front deck, it was time for coffee.

Back to work: digging and raking to reveal the flower pot and some pots that held herbs last year. I don't know if they have survived.

Now wait a minute. I have never had black squirrels here before. The occasional red squirrel but never black. That's going to add to the birdfood bill!

Enough work for today.