on top of the world

Sometimes you need to look up to find art 

I'm not sure what this creature is meant to be, nor how he got up there

goats are so agile

they're so cute when they're sleeping

sharing with Our World Tuesday

a quiet time

One of the oddities of being outside a major urban area, is the lack of wildlife. It was almost startling how few birds and animals were around. You see many more varieties in the city than at the cottage, which is not exactly what you expect.

there were some very noisy blue jays

and this hungry robin

and a hungry bunny

and quite a few gulls on the windy beach

as well as many crows and vultures

but I sortof missed the raccoons, of which Toronto has about 2 million

I did see a deer on the side of the road, actually he was standing in the oncoming lane of the two lane highway and fortunately, for him and us, he bolted back into the forest.

sitting in a tree, minding my own business

I went back to the park this morning, with the thought of looking for wildflowers, but really, I wanted to see those coyotes. Judging by the number of rabbits and squirrels roaming about, I figured the coyote family was still burrowed. Surely there would have been a lot of chittering going on if they were out and about?

In fact, it was strangely quiet. Except for a woodpecker I desperately followed with my binoculars, very few birds were making any sound. Then I heard a scritching noise, like nails on tree bark that raccoons make. 

When I looked up, I found this little guy.

He had found a nut.

and it was good.

at one point he answered a call to mama saying "I'm here" (or something along those lines; it was hard to tell what with his mouth full of walnut)

but mostly he just gnawed and sucked away and wasn't the least bit bothered by my presence

by this time, I had found the 'pets' setting on my camera and was able to really zoom in

aw, don't you love the bit of fur growing on his hand

and he can't wipe his mouth, or he'll drop his walnut

wild danger?

I get to see some wildlife while working very early in the morning, though mostly it is raccoons, rabbits, skunks and the odd possum and fox.  Now, it seems we have coyotes in the area.
The first time I saw one, I thought it was a dog and wondered where his owner was. He was walking along the circular driveway of an apartment building at 3am.  A couple of nights later, in the same area, I saw him again and realized my mistake. That was almost two years ago.  Now I see more of them than foxes, though it is still an infrequent sighting.  Every time the coyote was alone.




But, now it is spring, and that means babies, so off I went to find the family that have made a den in Paletta Park. Signs have been posted and a barricade put up, though it is mostly as a warning. I read an article in the newspaper (from Toronto) that said 

Burlington putting up barricades after coyote sightings

“For your own sense of safety, we urge residents to be aware and to follow the safety tips we suggest."

The 'barricades' seemed to me to be perfectly reasonable - no-one was stopped from using the trail, it was somewhere to put the sign and make you consider. The snarky comments were a bit much - did they even read beyond the headline? - I've not heard anyone complaining or whining, and they are in a ravined park afterall. Really, sometimes, I think should not read the comments section.

Anyway, I wandered in not at dawn or dusk and without a small dog or child, and saw a few other people, some like myself, hoping to catch a glimpse from afar.

I thought at one point, I saw something almost reddish and bigger than a rabbit running, but it was too quick to tell if it was one of the five pups.  This part of the trail is left in a natural state and there are lots of downed branches, some have been there for years, some are from the recent storm in December. As you can see, there is only a smidgen of green showing, even at this late date. 

but there was one sign of spring... very soon. 

Patience, people. Lots of patience.

signs,signs

kilmarnock

It was while I watching Marketplace the other night, the consumers affairs type show with the episode  on the dirty insides of hotels. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something blurry, but being comfortably ensconced on the chesterfield, I wasn't about to bother investigating. Anyway, it didn't matter, because a couple minutes later the blur returned. Then I saw it run out from under the computer desk with an errant piece of popcorn and return to the kitchen. It seems I have a mouse.

I was surprisingly very calm about this discovery, then again I am not prone to being afraid of mice. Not like I am with something of the insect or arachnid species. That would make me involuntarily squeal. Seriously, I would squeal. It is slightly embarrassing. I say slightly, because I am usually too paralytic with frozen fear to care.

But a mouse, while not exactly welcome, and quite annoying, does not instil fear in me.  I immediately got up and placed some more popcorn by the balcony door which, because it was a warm-ish night, was open. But the wee mousie never reappeared. And the popcorn was still there in the morning when I got up. Maybe he decided he didn't like Smartfood® after all. He probably wouldn't have gone outside, either. Perhaps he would guess that I would slam the door shut behind him.

Today, I spent 2 hours clearing out the entire cupboard space under the counter. I didn't see much evidence of him, but where else would he hide if not under the sink? Isn't that the usual place of entry? I have lived with such creatures before and ever since I've continued with the habit of putting everything from cereal and crackers to pastas and spices in glass jars. But in the 15 years I've lived in this apartment, this is the first mouse to venture into my living space and steal my Smartfood®.

It may be time to get that new cat.

it is startling

I guess I can admit this here. My secret is out.

I have been known to talk to myself. Out loud. Though, with the proliferation of Bluetooths stuck in people's ears, it is not as strange a sight coming across someone in the grocery store talking out loud as it once was. Still, I do sometimes startle myself when I realize that I am thinking out loud.

The other night I was caught by a dog walker who was laughing so hard his dog turned to look quizzically at him. 

"Did you just apologize to that rabbit?" 

"Well, yes, I did." 

I startled the poor little guy, who went scurrying off, so it only seemed polite. And a natural thing to do. 

I am Canadian, afterall.

Yesterday, I met up with the dog walker in the elevator.

"Still scaring the bunnies?" he asked.

It wouldn't have been so bad if there weren't other people in the elevator.

waddle adorably

Climb a tree and sit on a branch. Chitterchatter chitterchatter.

If someone were to find me on Facebook, or Twitter, they might assume that I lead a rather ... boring life. They might be right. Even my "friends" don't post much. (except for about 2 or 3 people, who are also, co-incidentally, bloggers). I have 2 followers on my Twitter account, even though I have never tweeted. The Facebook account is mostly for playing their version of scrabble and the Twitter account is mostly to follow the fake tweets. The first one I got hooked on was the Mars Phoenix Lander from a couple of years ago (there is a new Mars mission known as Curiosity Lander launching at the end of this month)

Rummage in a garbage bin. Toss things willy nilly.

These so-called fake twitter accounts appeal to my sense of humour and my short attention span. The tweets from celebrities hold absolutely no interest for me. The ones from the snake that escaped from the Bronx zoo and tweeted his exploits around NYC were fun to read and the tweets from the osprey who was a bundle of nerves over her babies learning to fly (and finally catching their own food, freeing up her time to take up crocheting to calm herself) had me in stitches. 

Wake up, have a little pee in the fallen leaves, go back to sleep.

My newest favourite is a city raccoon. He spends his time scurrying, gnawing, twitching and sleeping, among other less savoury activities. He also washes his paws a lot.

Get up, wash front paws in a puddle. Wash wash wash.

I get to see quite a few raccoons while I am out at night and sometimes, I will suddenly think of one of these tweets and burst out laughing.

Gnaw on leftover pumpkin bits. Gnaw. Gnaw.

Slowly...peer...down...through the bathroom skylight. Blink blink.

He even managed to send out tweets after getting drunk from eating a fermented apple. I have tried texting and found it took me an inordinate amount of time to figure out the sequence of keys to press, so you have to admire this little guy's admirable dexterity!

Car! Run run run run run run run, down into a ditch.
Crash! Scurry scurry scurry, hide among the shadows.

And his ability to make what might appear to be a boring life, rather amusing afterall. 

Dream of fresh salmon (with a sprig of dill).

skunkydoodlescorner

this little fella was determined to hang out on the streets all night. his mama was nowhere to be seen, and she apparently hadn't trained him to run for cover when danger lurked. or daylight. I first saw him at around 3am, but this was taken at 9am. I live on a dead end street, but there is still a fair bit of traffic, especially as people head out to work. here, at least he is by the curb, but for a good long while he was in the middle of the road and cars were swerving up onto sidewalks and lawns to get around him! there was just the faintest odour hanging about - curiously stronger inside our lobby, than outside - of baby spray. his tail was up every time I saw him and he clung to the road with those long sharp claws, uncertain as to what to do.

seriously, don't you want to get out a comb and help him with that 'do?

the return of the goose

Look who's back!

I know, it is hard to tell one goose from another, but this is our old friend Chris.
I wrote about him last year (you can read about it here)

He nearly gave me a heart attack the other night when he suddenly appeared again.

For about 6 - 8 weeks he hangs out in the 'hood, all by his lonesome. Mostly he sits in one of the five parking lots,

or sometimes in the middle of the road.

He is oblivious to cars and traffic.

But it is good to see him again.

To know he has survived another year.

Then one day, just as suddenly, he will disappear.

my Sunday morning

I woke up on Sunday a little too early. I thought it was 8:30. Turned out to be 6:30. Turned out I had nothing to eat for breakfast, either. This meant a trip to the 24 hour grocery store.

The first thing I noticed when I got outside, was that there was no humidity.

No humidity!

All that is good and holy, sweet blessed relief!

The second thing I noticed, was that the sky was heavy with those grey layered clouds that look like a downy quilt. So I quickly bought a couple of bananas and some freshly baked peanut butter cookies and headed up towards a park that sits on the edge of the escarpment.
Here is a [not very clear] view of where I live


The whole area was wet from the overnight rain and I, foolishly not planning ahead, was only wearing sandals so I didn't want to venture too far. As it was, I prolonged pondered my way back up the steep, muddy incline to the road where my car was park and stood feeling the cool breeze and listening to the birds chirping and was eaten alive by mosquitoes.

But, as I looked down at the boadwalk out over the wetlands below,

I spotted this

and then caught sight of this big fella

I need to get myself a good tripod, I think.
And an extra pair of running shoes to leave in the car for those impromptu hikes.

SundayStills - rule of thirds

There is no story to go with these photos this time except that maybe, just maybe (after hours of culling my photo files) these are the two subjects I have the most photos of that may be deemed a little superfluous

a view from my balcony

and some ducks


and more baby ducks

How long does duckling season last anyway? These guys were spotted last Wednesday and you'd think I'd never seen ducks before the way I was snapping away! Then again, they have a way of moving very quickly which made it rather easy to follow the rule of thirds as they furiously paddled their way out of frame, but difficult to get them in focus or exposed properly.

See how others followed the rule of thirds in this week's photo challenge at Sunday Stills

sleeping dangerously

Where I live there is a creek running in the back and a lake across the road. So it is not unusual to see the odd duck or two (mallards) or several Canada Geese roaming around.

Meet Chris.

Chris has lived here for several years. I have no idea whether Chris is a male goose or a female goose - how does one tell? Canada Geese mate for life and there used to be two of them we would see often down by the creek. Then a few years ago, the other goose appeared to be limping badly. A few of us would keep our eye out for it and someone did call an animal rescue service, but eventually Chris's mate disappeared forever. But for at least 5 or 6 years Chris still comes round. All alone.

Oh, occasionally there is a squabble between three geese, but this is obviously Chris's turf and they are sent away whenever he is around.

Have you ever wondered where geese and ducks sleep?

Chris seems to prefer the pavement.

And once settled, he.will.not.move.

One day, I found him in my parking spot. Luckily, it was during the day and there were few other cars around so it wasn't too hard to get around him and back into my space.

Many's the night I have found him, sleeping in the middle of the road or at the end of a driveway. It's a bit nervewracking, worrying about running into him.

I've often wondered why he likes this dangerous corner.
Perhaps he remembers where he last saw his beloved.
Maybe he feels closer to her and has fond memories of their time, grazing and paddling the creek together.

After seeing him almost every night for most of the last month or so, I haven't seen him (or her?) for three nights.

I'm getting worried.

SundayStills - hallowe'en

the day after hallowe'en
BREAKFAST!

a feast for the squirrels!

SundayStills

SundayStills - happiness is

Those of you who read this regularly know that I work nights.
My quitting one of my jobs last month didn't pan out quite as expected, well, not as planned.
And trying to be helpful for a friend this past week hasn't been as good an idea as I thought.

But,

Happiness is...
one of the bonuses of working nights is seeing the sunrise as I am finishing and heading home. A sunrise over the water. A view that, sadly, is threatened with development. So, every time I get to wander through to this favourite spot, I am happy.

Happiness is...
a nap in a warm, sunny spot, with my favourite chenille throw
(and my cat Abby)

Happiness is...
hanging out with someone beloved where you can be yourself

Happiness will be a far flung family getting together for a feast and a gathering and a housewarming...
but that is next weekend for Thanksgiving (Canadian style)

see more happiness at SundayStills