Maya's second solo visit

 I took Maya back to her grandmother's and then she visited her cousins for a week. Then back to me. She is getting around!

Of course we visited CG on the way out of Toronto

and Maya fed her again and observed the changing and bathing routines, with lots of questions and comments.

She got quite proficient at the 24 piece puzzle

We went out for breakfast at the Dover Dairy Bar (DDB). That's chocolate milk in her cup, not coffee, but it made her feel very grown up.

We discovered a playground nearby. The only thing missing was other kids to play with.

As I have no need for a playground I had never even noticed it there, right beside Hwy 6. I had passed it a million times.

Daniele, Simon, Fi and Ruby gave her an early birthday package and her favorite gift was this racoon neck warmer. She wore it rather than a mask from then on.

We went for a couple of walks (one with Dan and Ruby) and then fed ducks and gulls at the harbour.

Back to Toronto again (the traffic is worse every time I go) and visited CG on the way

and inspected her nearly completed nursery. Maya loved the window seat which makes a perfect Maya-sized bed. (this picture is taken from the window seat)

Chris hates the big flower head band but Maya loved it and reminded us that she wore them all the time as a baby.

Playing with the new camera

 I drove out to Port Rowan to see if I could get some better pictures of the Sandhill Cranes with the new camera. It was a lovely day, blue sky and crisp. I took pictures of the marshes, Cranes and Swans, flying and in the fields. I was excited to look at them on the computer. Turns out that I must have changed a setting when I was looking through the menus the night before - they all shot in video! Learning curve!

Decal on the window (to stop the birds banging into it), at sunset.

Full moon through the trees. I had tried this shot with my other camera before, this one is much better.

Wren at the feeder. Such a loud song from such a small bird. I have put a Wren sized birdhouse out, hoping he will nest here.

Mr and Mrs Downy Woodpecker. They are rarely at the feeder together and appear to be living in a hollow branch of one of my trees.

These photos are taken through my front window

Clear enough to see her "whiskers".

Mum and Dad visited for a couple of days, so glad to get out of their apartment and get a different view. We drove to see the Cranes and Swans.

Dad said he had never seen that many in one area before.

I had not yet realized that my other crane pictures hadn't turned out so just took one.

The camera has a setting called "Sparkly water", not sure I will ever use it.

Mum (with a Gin and Tonic)

and I, sat on "the edge" for Happy Hour.

Watching the Golden eye ducks. The are still lots of Golden eye, Canvas Back, Mergansers and Red Heads around.

Mum and Dad left and Nicola came for a few days. It's so nice being out of "lockdown" even though there is still a lot of cleaning and sanitizing to do between visitors. Chris had asked us to do some sewing for CG's nursery. Curtains, bench cushions and slip covers for the rocker/glider didn't sound like much but turned out to be quite an onerous task.

Rasta being his usual helpful self. We spent the first afternoon at Lens Mills and had a video consult from there, with Chris, to double check that she was OK with the fabric choices.

He's not so good at Hide and Seek.

On the chair back - the quilt Nicola made. On the seat of the chair - a pair of curtains with little navy sailboats on them. Slip covers in blue with sailboats, canoes and fish pattern for back, seat and foot stool. Beside the chair - two cushions covered in grey for the window seat. That took all of one day (into the evening) and the morning of the next. I was the "sous chef", measuring, ironing, pinning and Nic did all the sewing.

All for this little girl.

Chris says that it is a "design flaw" that babies don't smile for the first 6 weeks.

Maya's first solo visit

 Maya flew back from Edmonton with her other grandmother and they quarantined for a couple of weeks. I picked her up for a short visit and we drove first to Chris and Jason's so she could be the first member of her family to see "Charlie Golf"

CG is still quite little but looks much bigger in Maya's arms. She also got to bottle feed her. She was very gentle and seemed thrilled by the experience. Photo by Chris.

Maya slept on the couch in the little front room and when looking for bedding we found some old stuffed toys. George's teddy bear and sock monkey, my koala bear and pony and this dog puppet that was Chris and Mike's. It was probably the cleanest of the lot (and also the most washable) so became her constant companion. Neither Mike or Chris could remember its name so Maya named her "Lily" and made up a whole back story (her mother was bitten by a coyote so Maya had to look after her, until she got better)

We had to go shopping for kid friendly food. I don't usually stock hot dogs, carrot sticks, crescent rolls, grapes and instant porridge

I had asked Brit if she had a few age appropriate books she could lend me and she provided a bag of books along with crayons, a colouring book and this wooden doll and cut out clothes to be decorated and attached with magnets. The Winnie the Pooh books were her favorite so far.

The weather was horrible; grey, windy and rainy, for the 2 days she was with me, so the planned walks did not happen, but we did drive to the beach so she could see it in the winter. Not impressed!

Down time with the ipad.

After 2 days I drove her back to her other grandmother's and will arrange for her to come and stay again before she returns out west later in March. I did learn some interesting things from Maya; beets give her chicken pox and her teeth are too small for celery.

The last camera I bought was a hurried purchase with no choice but the one I got. I had dropped my camera on a walk in Mallorca and bought another in a small camera store in Palma. That was 3 years ago. It's been OK but lately I have been wanting it to do things that it can't. So I splurged and bought a new camera. A Panasonic Lumix ZS60. It arrived yesterday and now I have to learn how to make it do those fancier things. The pictures below are just taken with the Auromatic Mode.

A laker in the evening sun. My last camera had a 20X digital zoom, this one has a 30X

Arriving home from dropping Maya off today there was some drama on the lake. A small animal (I think it was a Racoon) was being harassed by a juvenile Bald Eagle.

The bird would swoop down at it but never seemed to actually touch it.

The animal just kept wandering along on the ice (in the wrong direction!)

ignoring the bird.

Another Eagle joined the fun and eventually there were 3 juveniles out there.

I lost sight of the animal and assume that it made its way back to shore. I think it was just too large for the birds to deal with but they certainly were very curious about it. Although these pictures aren't great they are much better than I would have been able to get with the old camera so, so far, I am quite happy with it.

Shooting into the sun.

Delhi outing.

 Out of lockdown and Rick and I were invited to go for a walk with friends who live in Delhi. After weeks of not seeing anyone, except Rick and family, this was very exciting.

We drove to Delhi and then followed Mark and Angie to Tillsonburg, where we walked part of the Trans Canada Trail.

Unfortunately there had been a snow storm the previous day and the trail was rough going through the deep snow.

But still lovely, through a golf course,

beside and over a river (Big Creek)

and we turned around at the (no longer used) rail trestle.

Like a huge metal sculpture.

There was evidence of people skiing, tobogganing, snow shoeing and a guy with a snow blower was clearing a couple of ice rinks. Covid is certainly making us appreciate the Canadian outdoors.

Then it was back to Mark and Angie's to sit around the fire drinking hot apple cider with spiced rum, and red wine and eat chilli, rolls and squares for dessert.

Angie's chilli was particularly delicious (though I have never met a chilli that I didn't like). Here's the link to the recipe she used.

 /www.thewholesomedish.com/maple-bourbon-chili/

Mean while, back at the ranch:

On again, off again ice is restricting the areas that the ducks can feed.

The bluff continues to be a prime hunting ground and my pine tree a prime vantage point. I think this is a Kestrel.

Taking a picture from inside the sunroom wasn't working well so I stepped out of the door and he gave me a look that said "Don't disturb me, I'm cold and hungry"

and then he flew off.

A few time there have been large birds standing out on the ice. They look big enough to be Eagles but I'm not sure.

Now that Nicola has finished, and shown Christine, CiGi's quilt,

I can post the pictures of Rasta "helping" her by holding onto the box of pins.

Lots of colour in the house as the Geraniums are flowering,

as are the Daffodils I bought in from the garage on Feb 1st,

and the Orchid, Rick gave to me.

Last, but not least, baby pictures:

She has a diaper rash so spends some time, naked, airing out. So many toys already.

Sometimes she just goes back to sleep. 7.5lbs now, getting chubbier.

In a group chat, Daniele said how much she liked baby toes, so Chris created a collage just for her.