EARTHy DAY

 Great weather for ducks today, with rain and chill. Are these mallards thinking they'll move into that birdbox? There are more vessels out there these days, fishing, freighting, and channel marking..

                                       

Earth Day seems to have been neglected with all the COVID crisis. We try to honour this miracle of a planet every day. Spread chips from trees in the yard. Take scrap metal to the recycling compound. And sell that old fridge to a couple of local hosers ---- beer in the their basement!

This week's critter count includes gangs of crows, the arrival of towhees, and the morning patrol of Red Fox.

Go all Earth-y by forest bathing in a local woods. This is your brain on trees! The Garden Guide pointed out signs of spring, including Trout Lily, Spring Beauty (really!), and a white mystery flower --- any suggestions out there?

Further along the trail are dry wild berries, maidenhair fern, and Dutchman's Breeches.

It's still April but the sunshine nudged some white and red trilliums (the official flower of Ontario) to make their debut. Lots to see if you just keep rock-ing...

IT'S GETTING COLDER IN HERE

 April sky has its moods up here, from glorious (and earlier!) sunrises to ominous is-that-a-tornado-coming? But spring is springing and colours are more and more sunny...

The waterfall has started its annual gurgling. Mountains of rich compost are available at the town recycling yard, but you have to load it, then unload it. The Gardener portions it out like nourishment to the needy.

The passing of Prince Philip rates a historical mention. He and the Queen have book-ended Canadian lives for 70+ years. What lives they have lived, no span like it ever again...

In the feather and fur category, we have multiple redwinged blackbirds far from their usual marshy habitat. Flickers are foraging amongst buggy tree trunks. Chipmunks gather with all the squirrels --- red, black, grey. But they all disappear instantly when a predator is near. Look --- our first merlin!

Our fridge was looking and sounding a bit weary but we were told a new one wouldn't be available til June or later. Seems they are on  that ship in the Suez Canal! Frantic scans of Craigslist and Kijiji showed some recons at the Hanover Flea Market. Bending the restrictions, we were let in and browsed in  darkened rooms. Relief --- we found one the right size. So this week's ritual Chinese takeout was from China8 in Hanover...

Then the crew had to get it home and into the kitchen. Plotting, grumbling, and even some cursing in several languages. But Voila! the Frigidaire has landed --- notice the Mover even reversed the handles. Here's the Kitchen Queen doing a combo of The Price Is Right, and Vanna revealing...

LIKE A SHOT IN THE ARM

 All kinds of growth and colour this warm week, boosting spirits inside and out. Better late than never: daffodils, hyacinth blue and purple, forsythia, pussy willow, glory-of-the-snow, and Pasque flower!

The port is getting a shot in the arm with more cargo ships, like this tug-barge, coming and then overnight going...

When the chips are down ---- they go up?

The sky is as mesmerizing as ever. Crescent at night, sunrise, crescent at dawn...

Water water everywhere, at least into the cube and in the pond...

Pat's pond rehab uncovered a wriggling bullfrog tadpole and a slimy sac of salamander eggs. 

Critter news? A cheeky squirrel first knocked a feeder down, then crawled into it for a doordash. Goldfinches have arrived from the Carolinas. And a rare sighting of a yellow-belly sapsucker, acting like a common pecker...

So April brings good omens. Most of all, a long-awaited shot in the arm!

All things considered, who gets the bigger grin-----Tangs or Kristen's?!