Planting the new patio

All of the plants that I bought last weekend were for the front of the house; shrubs along the fence and by the road and plants around the area that will be a small patio.

Under a thin coating of top soil the ground here is clay.

After some frustrating hole digging with a shovel, I went out and bought a pick axe. Much more effective but harder on my back.

I can see the gardens and the bird feeders from the front room and Rasta and I have been entertained

by the birds

(Goldfinches, Sparrows, Chickadees, Rose breasted Nuthatches, Blue Jays, Mourning Doves, Cardinals and a Pigeon)

and a very cute

and cheeky, little red squirrel

who tried unsuccessfully to get up to the feeders

but settled for

what he could find on the ground.

When I moved in, 2 months ago,

the bluff was covered in flowers. They have all, now, gone to seed, except for Goldenrod and Asters.

The area is now populated by flocks of nondescript, little, seed eating birds.

The only ones|I recognize are Wrens but they may be eating bugs off the seeds.

There's also the occasional Monarch cruising by, lighting briefly on the Goldenrod (I will have to plant some Milkweed) before continuing on their way. Always Westward.

Bruce Trail - Escarpment Sideroad to Innis Lake Rd, Map 16 , Caledon Hills.

 I'm a bit behind on my blogging. Nicola and I did this hike last Saturday, over a week ago. We were pretty sore so just planned a short hike that was mostly on roads. Get it out of the way.

I have to give the organization credit, wherever possible the trail is in bush or fields and even when following a road it is sometimes on private land beside the road.

This section however, mostly roads, so we entertained ourselves with the fall shrubs,

roadside flowers,

views of distant Toronto and

fancy homes.

Uphill on Airport Rd was a real slog

and I was glad for the excuse to stop and take photos

of this funny tree

in a farmhouse garden and

this. No sign on the driveway but it was a large complex and looked like a retreat.

About 5.5 km in about an hour and a half. We keep up a good pace when walking on roads.

 

This gave us time to visit some Garden Centres on the way home. We hit 3! Some people do wine tours, we do Garden Centre tours. None of them were busy and we got personal service and some fall bargains. Back at Nic and Dave's we split some of them, to share, and dug and split some of their plants for me to take home.

I've got some planting to do.

Bruce Trail - Eigth Line to Heritage Road. Maps 13 and 14, Toronto Section

 Nicola and I are hoping to get the Toronto and Niagara Sections of the Bruce Trail completed this fall. The move and the weather has put us a bit behind but on Friday we got going again.

We dropped Nicola's car at the end point and then drove to the start in mine.

Nicola recognized this creek immediately and said we were in for a rough hike as she had done this section with friends before.

He was very striking, sitting, unmoving on a tree stump.

Flat-backed Millipede - approx. 5 cm

Subphylum: Myriapoda (Myriapods)

 The 2 other species of Xystodesmidae in eastern Canada
(Pleuroloma flavipes and Apheloria virginiensis corrugata)
are similar - many brightly coloured millipedes secrete a
compound containing cyanide

From Toronto Wildlife. Cyanide! Glad I had no interest in touching him.

Temperatures were getting fall like, very comfortable for walking.

A section through old forest with

some pretty impressive old trees.

Nicola's recollection was accurate, it was a very rocky trail. We had to constantly look down, being careful where we placed our poles and our feet. Ankle twisting territory.

The rocks were also mossy and slippery in places.

Lookout over a deep, wooded valley that I thought we would have to go all the way around (or worse, down into and then climb out) but we just skirted one side.

Its the time of year for lots of fungi

We thought this one was colourful until we rounded a bend in the trail

and saw this one.

We literally gasped, it was such a brilliant colour.

Fall flowers too - Asters,

Goldenrod,

White Snakeroot (needed Nicola's App for this one and the ones that follow),

Running Strawberry

and the berries of a Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Briefly on to a road and past a couple of ponds

and then a section through trees planted in rows.

We came out onto the road where we had left the car, but, NO CAR! Actually although the name of the road, signed on the trail, was right, it didn't look familiar. What now? We debated which way to walk but luckily a runner came out of the trail on to the road and, as his car was parked a short distance away, he offered to drive us to look for ours. Walking to his car, we spotted Nicola's. Back at home Nicola went on the website and found that the trail had been rerouted. Something to remember - check the website before hiking!

We walked from Toronto 33.9 to

Toronto 43.8. Just under 10km according to our map but the reroute will have added some. It took us 4hours and 20 minutes.

We had planned to hike the next 8km to complete the Toronto Section but it is through the "Badlands" and that section is currently closed. We will have to check on the website for when it is opening.

Tired and sore we thought we would just relax but after hot baths and a glass of wine we took the pick axe and shovel to Nic and Dave's front yard, moving shrubs, grasses and plants from their side yards into the front (which is a large expanse of sun baked, often dead, grass).