It's September already

 It seems as if everyone that I talk to complains that the summer flew by. I consider September part of the summer, maybe even the best part, as there are fewer people around and it tends not to get oppressively hot.

While at Art in the Park I bought a couple of fall prints as they reminded me of the Bruce Trail

The artist, Dave Gordon, displays in the Woodhouse Gallery and I have admired, lusted after, and been unable to afford some of his originals.

I have framed these and they now hang in my bathroom.

Rick and I have been talking about sleeping outside and star watching for a couple of years but never seem to get around to it. The couches off the outside couches, pillows and a couple of sleeping bags

and we were able to watch the sunset

from the comfort

or our makeshift bed.

As it got darker the stars started to appear. My camera is no good for night shots but Rick tried to get some of the Milky Way. I will post his star photos when he gets them processed on his computer.

We saw a gorgeous array of stars as it was a cool night. No bugs. Some shooting stars and lots of satellites. I didn't really believe that I would sleep but I did. I woke at about 2am, too hot in the sleeping bag, too cool when I kicked it off, so we went inside.

At about the same time as Rick's friend Steve was getting some trees cut down on his property, Pinterest started sending me pictures of walkways made of "wood cookies". Rick borrowed Steve's chainsaw and made like a lumberjack, cutting me some wood cookies and Steve threw in a tin of wood sealant. This photo is of the sealing in process. Some of them are now forming a walkway down the bank. Pictures to follow when it is done.

September is Sunflower season and I was given 4. I put them in George's Mum's antique vase

and played around

with some

different

angles.

Beautiful from any direction.

Eve sent me some photos she came across when packing up her house. Not sure exactly when this was taken but George was only beardless for a short while. He, Ron and Rick must have been drinking as George would get a red nose when he did.

Eve getting her makeup done for her wedding.

This may also have been at Rick and Eve's wedding.

From Aimee, first day of school 2022,

Grades 1 and 3. New school in their neighbourhood that they can walk to.

Art in the Park and Silver Lake

 It was the return (after a covid hiatus) of Art in the Park to Port Dover, and Jim, at the Woodhouse Gallery, had asked if any of his artists would be interested in demonstrating during the weekend.

I was set up at the front of the gallery, working on my Long Point Fall piece and in front of my Tree Spirit.

In the tent outside, Neil was doing a water colour painting of the Port Dover pier.

There was lots of traffic, questions and interest. I hooked for a couple of hours with a break in the middle to do some shopping myself in the park.

One of my purchases was a Dogs Nest t-shirt.

Dogs Nest, possibly named after the hotel sign that depicted a dog and puppies, is just up the road from me. It used to have a sign, "Dogs Nest, est 1851" but it was stolen so often that the MTO decided not to replace it. The local community is fundraising to erect a heavy, un-stealable, sign where Mill Rd crosses Hwy 6, just east of Port Dover.

Thunderstorms were in the forecast for Sunday but they occurred overnight and, although grey, it was again in full swing the next day when Rick and I drove by on our way for a walk at Silver Lake.

I am having difficulty finding a place to buy bulk, native, wildflower seeds (without having to spend $1000.00 - St Williams Nursery!) so now carry a plastic bag with me when going for a walk. This garden by the market will be a source for seeds in about a month.

We were out for a leisurely walk, rather than our usual energetic one, and both had our cameras with us.

There has been an effort made to eradicate the Phragmites that had invaded Silver Lake and were choking out the native species of reeds. This has resulted in far more open water and more water foul. Mallards of course

and I think this is a Redhead but I'm not sure.

A Kingfisher actually sat for long enough for us to get pictures

even showed us his crest before a loud croak and swooping off to fish.

So many Great Blue Herons....

.....

......

Some of them

were pretty adamant

that there were too many

and there were some noisy altercations regarding fishing rights. (Photo by Rick)

Standing quietly, scanning the water, marshes and reed beds we would see movement that we wouldn't have noticed had we been striding by. Hard to see him through the reeds

but he flew to another spot and with the photo uploaded to the computer we could tell he was a Green Heron.

And another one.

"Ooh whats that one, in front of the Canada Geese"

Lots of clicking of shutters until we realized that it was just a Cormorant.

What do you mean just!

But standing there we found another

Green Heron.

While on the topic of birds..... I decided to put the dots on the front window to prevent the birds from the feeder flying in to it. I bought the tape roll in March and kept it in the garage so wondered if that was why it was difficult to get the dots to stick on. They kept coming off with the tape as I peeled that off.

I called their customer service and left a message, not really expecting that I would get a response, but I was pleasantly surprised. The woman who called me back said that the glue and the technique I was using should work and wondered if it was the temperature changes in the garage. Bottom line ... she offered to send me another roll, free of charge.

They show up as black dots in the photo taken from inside but you don't really notice them. That one window took me 2 hours so I will wait for the new roll to do the other 2.

Anyone want some garlic? I dug up one clump, growing wild on the bank, and now I have to figure out how to preserve it.

Rick's birds

 Rick has a much better camera than I do but has found it difficult to get it focused fast enough to capture birds. He spent a couple of his walks trying to improve this.

Chickadees are pretty fast so it can be difficult to get the bird in focus, rather than the branches, before it flits off.

Cedar Waxwings. Backlit so I had to lighten it up on the computer. I am assuming the right hand one is a fledgling.

In flight, even more difficult.

Then, sitting at The Edge, he was able to practice on a passing Eagle. I loaded the pics up on to my computer, lightened and added contrast. My computer wasn't happy with the process as the files were "raw", whatever that means??

I cropped, lightened and added contrast.

He also sent the raw files to his friend Steve who, with a much more sophisticated computer program, produced this.

 

The pine tree, down the bank, at the edge of the lake, is home to lots of birds and occasionally a hawk will sit on the top.

First time I have seen a Turkey Vulture there.

 I am still finding that I don't have as much energy as I would like and, as I am moving towards vegetarianism, Nicola suggested that I might not be getting enough protein. So this week I went to see a dietician. Well, the news is, its tough to get enough protein on a plant based diet. I am supposed to get 61gms per day. I have been nowhere near that.

I went to Bulk Barn to find some protein sources to add to my usual soy products, eggs, nuts, cheese and legumes. The pasta, in the picture, is the most protein rich with 36gm in a 100gm serving. But I was only able to eat half of that at a meal.

The dietician also pointed out that it is not just protein that I need to watch but also the omega 3s, amino acids and iron that meat and fish provide. However I don't plan on giving up seafood altogether and I already take an iron supplement. Its a work in process.