CAKE, SNAKE, NAMESAKE

Birthday week included a cake with the sisters. How many candles to blow out?(Hint:What was the first year of the Mustang: 19??) The cheeky card showed the best seat in the house...

Back at the pond, evidence of a water snake getting larger. Watch out ---who's pond is it?

The peonies are bursting as they climb to the sun . This raccoon climbs too. It bursts --- on bird feed.

Two-thirds of our woodlot are ash trees, white or red. Not hard to tell which colour this one is, with clumps of thick red keys. The surprise is that ash trees give off thick pollen too. After a rain shower, the road is covered with ash pollen like pixie dust on a runway. Achoo!

But all those ash trees are withering and will die off from the invasion of emerald ash borers. So the chain saw is getting a workout clearing and thinning. The trees are high and skinny because they have to reach for the sunlight above the canopy. And they grow fast ---- as nephew John M used to say, "Count the rings!"

These abilities, mental or physical, come from my father. I thank and honour Walter every day by thinking and doing. On this Father's Day, I'm forever grateful and proud to be a Wyszynski.

HE, SHE, THEY

HE finally got a chain saw to help out with the clearing. What could possibly go wrong? Poison ivy on the arms! But the bush is getting passable. Dragging the trees away must be good cross-training because he passed the annual heart stress test easily.

SHE shovels it but can spread it too. Look closely --- there's another Wyszynski up here! And she added more thyme to our life...

THEY crawl on the earth like this yet-to-be-identified salamander. And some pass overhead like these fleets of geese, so close their wingbeats sound like heavy breathing.

HE likes to poke around under cars. Not so much to poke a stubborn raccoon ---- guess who won that one?

THEY are awesome to see, like a fox in the bike lane. The chipmunks seem to be talking about the weather! And these black squirrels lined up like a compass ---- which one is north, south, east, and west?

HE and SHE went to a car and plane show at a local airstrip. Great to see beauty on wheels. But a float plane would be very useful up here on the bay --- hmmm. HE liked the '64 Valiant red ragtop but it needed work, so his vote went to a Canadian Monarch. SHE voted for the rare Ford Econoline: compost or camper??

SHE had a major celebration day. In-house tribute included candles, cards, and a nostalgic ride to her old home town. But a beautiful, one-of-a-kind present arrived from an exclusive Vancouver knitter. Which is brighter --- the colours of the wool or the smile??

COUNTRY LIVING

We often miss the buzz of life in Toronto, but this time of year in the countryside is awesome in sight and sound. Glorious sunrise at 5:38am. Ghostly geese flocking north in the mist, honking like cabs in Manhattan. And is that snow on the roof?? (nope, just a flurry of apple blossoms...)

Rehabbing the north border of the house uses up old newspapers, reclaimed cedar poles, and last week's cedar mulch. Yard rocks get pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle to form a dry base for the garden hose.

Rhubarb, berries, and asparagus reappear every year. But the annual Pick 'n Plant of veggies like lettuce and chard is another sign of spring. Hand-tilling is considered most soil-friendly...

Problem: ants swarming down into the hummingbird feeder, spoiling the syrup. Solution: put a pudding cup in their way and add water. Ants can't swim!

The town compost pile is a free black mountain, like gravy with vitamins for the plant beds.

Lots of newborns out there, some very visible. This 6-inch baby fox snake was guarded by its 24-inch momma, both cruising the pond for a meal. Luckily for this baby robin, the snakes can't climb the barn wall.

Another country ritual is to put out a Free Pile of your junk ---- it's amazing what other people will take. Our pile included old boards, leaky garden hose, chipped mirrors, ratty rugs, scrap eavestrough, and playing cards. The gem was a cranky yellow chain saw passed down from Pat's uncle Arnold ---- scooped up within 5 minutes by the first drive-by. What do you think will still be untaken by this afternoon?

This morning the bird feeder was empty and crooked. The biggest branch of a young maple had been snapped off roughly. Holes were dug in the new compost coverage. The culprit? --- the familiar masked bandit. Ahh, country living...