LESLIE STREET SPIT

Took a lovely walk through the Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto last night. It is also called the Leslie Street Spit and is a noted bird sanctuary and stop over during bird migration.

The park is only open to the public after 6 pm and on the weekends as it is still under construction.

It is a multi-use park and includes several marinas.

 If you look closely you can see the CN tower in the background.

As you can see a perfect night and place for a walk.

Hope you enjoyed the slides Tricia.


Thanks for stopping by and safe travels everyone.

PILEATED DAMAGE

We have a pair of pileated woodpeckers we hear from time to time. They are about the size of a crow and make a distinctive tapping sound when busy in the forest. Unfortunately they have been busy on some of our healthy maple trees.

Of all the trees in the forest they picked the one beside our trailer. So before the tree falls on our trailer I need to move it. Not as easy as it seems as I left the keys to unlock the hitch-pin at Leanne's.

As you can see, the holes are massive and deep. These guys really know how to chop holes in trees.

I wonder why they do that so close to the ground?

Time for more research.

Safe travels and thanks for stopping by.

A BUSY SATURDAY

Saturday found us in town before 8. We started as this plant sale then headed north to Maynooth.

We left with 5 new plants ready for the garden. 

As you can see, all is quiet in Bancroft at 8 a.m.
Reminds me of old Brampton when we went shopping with my parents. You would see the bread delivery standing on the sidewalk, left that night by the bread truck. Didn't anyone steal back then?

Next stop was the Maynooth Farmers' Market where we bought a loaf of delicious sourdough rye bread from this lovely vendor.

Mushrooms from this lady who grows them herself in L'Amable which is just down the road from us. She invited us to drop by and see her "mushroom room" some day.

Bought tomato plants for a $1.00 along with some flowers for Mary's rock garden.

After lunch it was back to roofing. The guys were just finishing their lunch when I arrived.

They only had 4 more sheets to install so there wasn't much for me to do.

I did help mark the screw holes on the last few panels, but with so many helpers it was basically stand around and chat.

It was easy to lift a panel up on the roof when needed. Four guys carried and lifted while one on the roof pulled it up with "vicegrip" pliers. Ingenious! 

Here we are getting ready to lift. With four guys it was easy.

Saturday was busy but fun and everyone had a good time. The roof is done and we just need to do a little cleanup next week.

Thanks for stopping by and safe travels everyone.

NEW ROOF

This weekend we are helping a friend put a new roof on his house.

First job was to trim back the old shingles and remove the ridge shingles.

Glen and Scot work to install the ridge strapping.

Durl checks out the progress.

Nathan and Samuel measure out a piece for the bottom edge while Barry (owner) checks progress from the ground. Nathan and Samuel are the lead carpenters on this job and we are glad to have their expertise.

In just a few hours most of the roof was strapped and ready for the steel this morning.


If the rain holds off I will go back after we return from the Maynooth market. Mary wants to get some plants and visit the market, as this is their first weekend of the summer season.

Thanks for stopping by and safe travels everyone.

TINY FLYER

We stopped putting out birdseed a month ago as there is plenty of new food in the forest; but then these guys showed up.

We don't have a lot of flowers around so up went the hummingbird feeders and we have been enjoying their antics this week.

They are quick and seldom stay still long enough for a picture. Often one stands guard and dive-bombs any relatives that show up. Talk about family feud, these guys have a serious case of it.

Looks like a rainy weekend coming up, a good excuse to get into a good book.

Safe travels and thanks for stopping by.

DEER FENCE IMPROVED

Mary was concerned about the huge spaces between our fence rails. She knows the deer can easily reach through the openings and munch on whatever is within reach.(fruit trees are in the middle out of reach)

The solution turned out to be in her fishing tackle box ........

40 lb fish line should spook the deer when they try to reach through the bars and get a free lunch.

Difficult to string fish-line and talk on the phone so this is where I put the camera down and  took over. Talking with our daughter is much more enjoyable than stringing fence line.

Now we will see if it works.

DEER FENCE DONE

This morning we donned our bug shirts and ventured out into the wild to finish the deer fence. Owen's apple tree is in full bloom and if not protected will be a tasty treat for the deer.

We have three rows of bars running horizontally around the garden, hopefully high enough to keep the deer from jumping over.

Difficult to see but there were lots of mosquitoes buzzing around any exposed skin as we worked.

This is what it's all about, protection for our fruit trees so they get a chance to produce some delicious apples for us to eat.

The fruit trees are well back from the fence, and out of reach for even the longest necked deer.

Still need to add some braces and trim back some of the overhang but it should keep the deer out as of today.

Now if the hospital would just call and book Mary's biopsy we could start to organize our summer.

Thanks for stopping by and safe travels everyone.

FOX TROTS BY

Just had this guy trot by a few minutes ago. Looks very healthy and seems to be well fed. 

He sat and watched the woodpile but nothing was moving so he soon moved on.

I wonder what we miss when the sun goes down?

Thanks for stopping by and keeping an eye on us.

Dr Das

First stop this morning was the Neurology Department at St Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

There we met Dr Das; Mary's surgeon for the growth on her spine. We are so fortunate to have Dr Das. He is kind, thoughtful, compassionate, thorough, and puts you at ease when he first walks in the room. If you need a neurosurgeon you won't find anyone better.

He explained very clearly what he saw in the slide on the screen and what he wants to do before any surgery takes place. We asked a lot of questions and now we will patiently wait for the hospital to call and book the biopsy.

Checking out the stores as we headed home.

Also saw one of Toronto's newest streetcars on King Street; not in service yet, just being checked out.

Now we are home and waiting for the phone to ring.

Thanks for stopping by and keeping an eye on us.

BIRTHDAY WEEKEND

Owen is into pirates these days and here he is checking out his pirate map. I was afraid the pirates hid my birthday presents and I would need the map to find them but that didn't happen.

Chasing pirates is exhausting so Owen and grandpa had a little nap.

Once the gang arrived the fun started. Looks like Oma is giving directions.

Every mom loves a hug from her son.

Owen helped decorate for the party. He was very particular where the decorations were hung.

Watching Leanne make pizzas. Thanks Leanne they were delicious.

Owen and dad checking out their pizza. Yummy!!!!

I think this was the twelfth pizza made. They just kept disappearing they were that good and we were that hungry.

And this disappeared just as quickly.

Thanks for a great party everyone.