Out and About

Izzy took in some fresh air today. With the weather clearing it seemed propitious to move her from her warm, quiet perch on the coop ceiling to a cooler more busy location. I’m trying to help her kick the drive to hatch some chicks. As you can see her friend (one and only) came by to check on her. I let her out and thought I was watching her take a great dirt bath on the path, joining the rest for a millet treat and chasing Paddy. But nope! I discovered on my way through the Palace that it was her twin sister who was out and about. Looks like Izzy ran for the nests as soon as I was out of view. So the poor girl is still in Broody Jail for another day.

We were in Kingston today. I had a little time to wait for Ede to finish with her appointment. I love finding time to walk on the waterfront trail. My favourite section is just west of the Olympic Harbour. It is beautiful! And what a day! I had the chance to try out my new phone camera. Wowser!

The sunshine today has brought more blooms out. These trillium are in our woodland garden. They are a healthy bunch. Having driven up and down the road to the city for two days in a row we’ve had a front row seat to the greening of the forests. It is happening so quickly that you can tell the difference from morning to night. Certainly from day to day. I love the spring.

And with those opening leaves … yep… the blackflies are making their appearance. It is time for me to reintroduce the donkeys to the concept of insect repellents. I have a cream that is easy to rub into their ears. Those long lovely ears are awfully tasty when you are a biting bug. We gave that a go two weeks ago – with no problems. What isn’t a favourite is when I brush on tick and insect spray onto their legs, chest and chins. Rosie catches one whiff of the spray I have and she trots off. Joker seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing UNTIL he noticed Rosie’s reaction one day … and thought it best to follow her lead. Jill – right from the start – was not keen. I don’t spray it on them. Just on a soft brush which I then run over their coats. I’m going to keep working at that. It will give them relief when bug season hits high gear.

I’m quite excited about the arrival of the sun and warmer temperatures. I have some jobs I have been looking forward to. I am going to be painting the cottage of a dear friend. She has a beautiful location on a quiet lake. I’ll enjoy spending spring days there. I have figured out how our township’s amnesty load program works at the dump. I have been collecting old planters, plastic buckets, worn out tarps, leaky duck ponds… and will feel lighter when I can move them from here to there … I want to clear out the goats’ house and their hillside shelter of the hay that built up over the winter. Now that I’m making a compost windrow for our back field I have a great place to move all of that.

And … spring also opens up the lakes for kayaking! I have some friends who are keen on checking out a new lake each week. It will be fun to show them some of the ‘backwoods’ lakes that surround us. This is where we live. We took a airplane tour years ago over our area. There is almost more water than land. You can see why there are limited roads. They have to be able to wend their way around all of these lakes, ponds, marshes and streams. You can also see why fighting flies and mosquitoes is a futile endeavour. By next month I won’t even notice them or their bites.

The roads that meander through the waterways are mostly gravel and have little traffic – especially on week days. Spring also means it is time to get my bike out again! There are great trails to bike on. But I find the back roads are as easy to get to – wider to ride on – and lead me past some interesting wildlife. They’ve carried me by countless deer, a moose … and even a bear!

Seems I am going to have to find a way to get out of bed earlier!