Wordless Wednesday

 

Pain, pain, go away

I made it home on Sunday by mid-afternoon, just in time for another curling game. In the morning, I'd gone out to shovel a bit more to clear out part of the alley way, as the snow clearing crew had yet to come through. There was enough truck and SUV traffic (neighbours across the way and next door) that I figured I could make my way out with my smaller Corolla. There was one spot right at the street that was heavy going but I made it through. Staying for the extra day meant the highways had been cleared and it was smooth sailing from there.

C had shovelled the driveway while I was gone, but the sidewalk to the backyard needed clearing. On Monday I went out to feed the birds, and shovelled my way there. Unfortunately, I twisted something in my lower back and hip when I lifted some of the snow. I kept moving for most of the day, as I found if I sat it was worse when I got up. Tuesday was slightly better, and that has been the pattern, each day there is less pain and more ease of movement. Though I must admit, I gave up on wearing socks for a few days.

We had blowing snow on Tuesday. It wasn't as bad here in the city but the highways leading in were in rough shape. My brother texted to tell me he was taking the day off because of the highway conditions. It turned out that was a good thing, as he spent much of the morning getting vehicles out of the ditch near his home. His neighbour, pulling a snowmobile trailer, slid into the ditch at the end of his driveway. R went out to help - they were able to get the trailer out with R's truck, but had to get another neighbour with tire chains on his vehicle to pull the truck out. Meanwhile that second neighbour's daughter's vehicle was in the ditch further down the road, and the tow truck arrived just as they finished to winch her vehicle out. Full morning! There are reasons I'm happy to live in the city. (If you've ever heard the Corb Lund song "Truck Got Stuck", you'll know what this scenario reminded me of.)

I did go out that day to the nearby Canadian Tire to have the headlight in my car replaced. I've been driving with a single headlight for awhile now, and finally got around to making an appointment to have it repaired. Did you ever play the game paddidle/perdiddle as a kid? I wonder how many kids scored a point from spotting me. I'm not sure why but when I realized I had a headlight out, I started noticing a lot more vehicles that also had that problem. Back at the store, I wandered the aisles while I waited for the work to be done. I was home within an hour and didn't buy anything else. 

The cold weather has stuck around for the past week, Thursday was cold and the winds picked up again resulting in more blowing snow advisories. D and Eli had planned to go to his therapy in a nearby community but she (wisely) decided to postpone the appointment and stay home.

I headed out early in the morning to pick up a few groceries. The biggest purchase was bird seed. They're going through it quickly, helped by the Hoovers and a rabbit/hare that has found a way to wiggle beneath the gate. The latter leaves clear evidence it has been below the feeder. The photo below includes a bird I'm trying to identify. It's the one on the right and appears to have a red streak on it's back or tail. I've sent the photo to my brother but haven't yet heard back from him. The photo isn't very good, it was obviously shot in low light, and I was shooting through the sun room window, as far away as I could be, because each time I got closer the birds flew away. 

By Thursday evening, my back was giving me grief again. This time it was my upper right shoulder. Darned if I know what I did, but I must have pulled a muscle somehow. It resolved fairly quickly, as I'm feeling much better today. The hip/lower back pain is negligible by this point, only a bit of pain if I make certain movements. 

Thank goodness for curling, as I wasn't up to doing my normal cleaning routine. I did manage to get in my steps though, as sitting for prolonged periods was harder on my back than standing or moving, so I spent a lot of time pacing during the breaks in action. I did manage to get the laundry done, filed my income tax return, and worked on Ancestry. I've been trying to determine how my 3X great grandmother immigrated to Canada about 1852. She wasn't married yet, so I'm assuming she travelled with a family, likely as a domestic. From my research, thus far, it appears she was the only member of her immediate family to immigrate.  

Oh, in answer to a question on the wordless Wednesday, that was a Hungarian partridge. It had perched itself on the top of the pile of snow from the neighbour's driveway. I'm not sure why because it was least sheltered area and the wind was howling at that point. Silly bird. 

I did have a welcome visitor to the yard yesterday.

Check it out - it is mostly brown! Spring must be coming or else it is overly optimistic. Actually the temperatures are on the rise today. We're expecting to reach 3C (36F) later this afternoon. Unfortunately the warmer temp means the possibility of rain. That will help melt the snow, but will freeze overnight. I'd appreciate the wind now as it would dry up the moisture quickly. It's that time of year and it won't be long before, like the hare, there will patches of brown to be seen. 

On the topic of curling, here are two more games today, and two tomorrow. Our Saskatchewan men have made it into the playoffs.  A win this afternoon and they'll have the opportunity to play again tomorrow, a loss will take them out. 

And on that note, I'll wrap this up, wishing you all a good week ahead. 

Come walk with me

This will a photo heavy post so I'll put it up early this week rather than waiting until Saturday.

Between curling games on Sunday, I took myself out for a walk.  It was a beautiful morning, about 13C (55F) in the sunshine. I hadn't walked outside for over a week and I was eager to spend some time outdoors.  I wasn't sure how my back would feel so told my son I'd go the short way round but once I was out there, I didn't.

As I walked through the little park at the end of the block I noticed several children in their masks playing in the playground.  They were running around and climbing on the equipment and just having a good time.  I smiled as I walked past to hear the sounds of happy children.

A short distance beyond the playground the path takes a slight turn out of the trees and into an open park area with just a few trees. The park is bordered by houses on one side and a church parking lot on the other.  Here I found the hares.  Does the first one not have a look of "don't you dare come any closer" on it's face?

As I leave this park, I turn right and head for the crosswalk to enter another park which shares it's space with a school and several condo units.  Today the city had a crew digging up the street at the crosswalk to my left. I was glad to be walking away from the noise.

This park is large, and the path curves around an open are past the condos where I often see hares (not today), then a series of townhouses on the left, followed by several houses on the right before reaching a point where the path comes to a T.  As I passed the houses to my right, I spotted a robin bobbing around in the grass. It flew into a tree as I took out the camera.

When I went to put the camera away, I spotted movement in an evergreen a few meters away.  I saw the flip of the tail and knew there was a squirrel in there so I waited for it to makes it's move. It went bounding through the grass and stopped once to check something out.  

This is my favorite shot of the squirrel - it's just flying through the grass!  It's definitely not Hoover since this one is much thinner.

I took the path to the left at the intersection to reach the creek and was disappointed to see the water level is so low there were no ducks about.  I decided to venture across the bridge and take the unpaved path on the other side of the creek back to the street.  I'm glad I did.

Someone obviously brought the chair down to watch the creek, and I thought it was funny.  (Small things, small minds?)  As I walking closer I heard a sound of a bird that I didn't recognize and I wandered about this area to find the source.  Of course, the bird stopped calling but then started again. It took me a minute or so before I looked up, way up the pole and spotted this bird.

I had no luck identifying it on my own so I sent the photo to my brother.  He advised it is a flicker, either a Northern or a Yellow Thatched flicker, as those are the two we see here.  It's the first time I've seen or heard it in the park, and I'm hopeful it will stay for awhile.

I continued my walk along the creek, keeping an eye out for gopher holes - I could hear them calling to one another as I passed by, but none were brave enough to show themselves.  Further along the creek I did find a few ducks and a marbled Godwit! There were a pair of Godwits last year, and I'm hopeful they'll nest here again this year.

You can see how very shallow the water is.  I'm hoping we'll get some rain in the next week or two, so that the level comes up.

This is the marbled Godwit.  I took several photos and this is the best of the lot.  I was afraid to get too close as it would have flown away.

From the end of the creek, I turned right to reach the crosswalk, crossed the street and walked the half block to the pond.  And guess what?

Babies!!!  I was a bit surprised to see two families with young ones already.  It's been pretty cold at night with temperatures below freezing.  

Just beyond the geese was another bird I didn't think I'd seen before.  

I had to send the photos to my brother for help identifying it.  He informed me it is an Avocet.  It has a unique curved beak. 

There were lots of ducks and several geese at the pond. 

Most of the ducks were paired off and napping in the grass/weeds along the edge of the pond. It won't be long before there will be baby ducks too.

As I walked along the path beside the pond (to my left, condos to my right) I spotted a small bird flitting along into the small trees.  Every time I would get close, it would dash off to the next one. Finally, I was able to move slowly enough that it stopped long enough for a couple of photos.

I would not have been able to identify it, had it not turned it's back to me.

It is a yellow-rumped Warbler! I don't think I have ever seen one here previously - or perhaps I wasn't paying attention.  I had seen on another blog recently so this was a nice surprise.   

By this point, I'd been out walking and stopping and taking photographs for nearly an hour; it was time to head for home.  The path past the pond brings me back to the residential area where I live. A right turn, then a left and a couple of blocks in, I  cut through one of the bays and back into the first park. Most of the children were gone, I assume to their homes for lunch.  Great idea, and I did the same.

Hope you enjoyed the virtual walk!  Have a good day everyone.

Week 7 - Survival of the fittest

After what has seemed to be a never ending winter, spring has finally arrived in earnest.  This week had temperatures that made my heart sing.  It was cooler on Tuesday but only because it was overcast and raining.  Yes, rain not snow!  Even though we didn't have much snow this winter I'm glad to see precipitation I don't have to shovel.

At the bird feeder, the juncos appear to have moved on.  The English sparrows continue to feed, along with finches, and those darn grackles.  There's also the neighbourhood squirrel who makes an appearance once or twice a day.  Unfortunately the Merlin falcon is back, actually there are a pair of them, and sadly that means there are less song birds around.  

I've been walking every second day though I don't always take my camera with me.  Since you've all seen photos from the pond, I won't bore you with a separate post this week.  I will, however, share a couple of ones I thought were interesting.  

Based on the Ducks Unlimited website, this appears to be an American Wigeon.  The duck had a very interesting call, more like a peep than a quack. 

I believe this may be the female of the pair.  She was busily finding something to eat and paid me no attention.

I spotted something in the grass but wasn't sure at first what it was.  I didn't get too close and with my zoom lens I was able to determine it was a hare. I didn't realize there was a difference between the two but after a Google search, based on the length of the ears I'm guessing it's a hare.  Thanks to those who pointed out what the appropriate term for the rabbits I was seeing in the park.

On Friday I woke to rain, but it cleared up by mid-morning and was a lovely day.  Just before noon I heard a loud bang from the sun room, and when I went to check I found a robin doing circles on the deck just outside the door.  I left it be, hoping it would recover or alternatively die without me watching.  Well, it was tough bird, although at one point it had dropped onto its belly and the tail feathers were fanned out, because every half hour or so I would check and it was still alive. Most of the time it was sitting still with its eyes closed, but occasionally I would see its head move and the wings ruffle. This went on for hours and finally when I checked again just around 6 p.m. it had flown off.

This photo was taken about 3 p.m. As you can see I've got some cleaning up to do, as it pooped several times during its ordeal.  I didn't know if it would survive, but since it was safe from any predators while it was on the deck I was prepared to leave it, overnight if need be.  

This photo was taken about 5:30 so shortly before it flew off.  It has its eyes opened and while it didn't try to fly away while I took a photo, it was definitely aware I was there.  

Isn't nature amazing?  Although it took about 6 hours, what must have been a horrid concussion, the robin's system allowed it to recover sufficiently to fly off.  By the way, I do have stickers on some of the windows that are meant to be a warning to the birds but unfortunately every year I have a few bird strikes.  Usually it means a certain death but this time both the robin and I were lucky.

Buds are opening!

Saturday morning I headed out for a walk, but left my camera behind. Of course, that would be the day I saw the most wildlife.  Over in the school yard were two gophers.  Actually they are Richardson's ground squirrels but we call them gophers. The two were sitting still as can be while a Merlin circled above.  Apparently it didn't spot them as it eventually flew off.  It flew right over my head at a fairly low altitude ...darn I wish I'd had my camera.

As I walked through the park, I heard the song of the blackbirds but wasn't able to spot them in the trees nearby.  I did see a magpie and later it flew across the field as I walked by.  There was a rabbit running about (not a hare this time), and several robins. In the creek were a pair of mallards.  I made my way over to Riverbend where I spotted another new duck, this one with a white bill, which I believe was a coot.  There were a few geese, some ducks, and a couple of gulls but not nearly as many birds as I often see there.  

On the home front, I did a bit of shopping on Friday and placed a small order for items that weren't available for Monday.  I cannot find yeast in any of the stores unless I want to pay $10 for organic yeast.  I think not!  I have enough left for one more batch of buns so hopefully I'll find it again in a couple of weeks. The regular household chores were done this week and I continue to work on my knitting.  I started on a second knitting project, a balaclava (ski mask) for my brother for Christmas.  It should be complete by the end of day Sunday and I'll post a photo next week. A memory: when my son was about three years old, he wanted a "warm facer".  I had no idea what he meant until we were shopping at a local store and he spotted one in a bin.  Aha!  It is now a inside family joke.  

Speaking of three year old's, I have to brag a bit about my grandson Eli.  His mom bought him a couple of apps that help him to learn English and French. One of the games is to match letters to spell certain words in English - he's able to do so with up to eight letter words.  The other evening she posted to Facebook "he was using his French app on his iPad. It kept saying “le poulet est en colere”.  She asked him if he knew what this meant and he said, the chicken is angry.  AND yes, that is what it means.
She is functionally bilingual and I'm sure he will be too.

Of course he's not perfect and can be a naughty child.  Later in the week, he opened the fridge and changed the dial to freezer.  D was definitely not happy with him, as by the time she realized it, all of her fresh vegetables were frozen solid. Oops. He is so curious but sometimes it doesn't work out all that well.

On that note, I'll wish you all a good weekend.  Back to my knitting.  Take care and stay well!