What made you smile today?

It's a bit cooler today so just that alone made me happy.  We could finally get back to some out-door work without half dying from the heat.

Even the cats enjoyed the not-so-hot day and were able to lie under the table, on the hard floor, in amongst the computer cords, in a sun-puddle with a breeze coming through the windows. All their comfy spots were empty. CATS!

We burned a lot of brush today.

Our ever-faithful, old bucket of bolts tractor cut through some high grass and weeds in another area of the property to give us more space to use. This is behind the mouse-house and at this point we are not sure what we will do with it but just having the mess cleaned up feels great. Maybe a rock-garden.

My gladiolus. What can I say...I love them. There are five more to open.

And the sun-flowers always make me smile. Especially because most of them were planted by squirrels. :)

And my little buddy, Basil was by to see me again. He likes to guard his food from all other critters until a big bird comes along and scares the daylights out of him. Boy, can he run.

So, what made you smile today?

hugs, Deb

My gardening buddies.

While the cats slept in the A/C, there was lots to do outside on this, once again, hot, humid day.
I was glad to see another gladiolus open up. And, my morning glory will soon be blooming.
You will notice many sun-flowers here and there in strange places since they were planted by our resident squirrels. Too funny to dig up.

                   This one's a little more orange than the first.

My beautiful Begonia.

My new wind-chime broke the silence of the afternoon as a cool breeze made the heat bearable.

We expect a break from this heat for a few days as a cold-front moves in.

I had company once again while I cleaned up around the flowers and gave them a good soaking.
To thank them for their company I half-filled a feeder so they could enjoy a snack today. 
Pretty cute, eh. Only two showed up.  I hope the other one is still around. That's me...now I worry about chipmunks. :-b

Can you see my gardening buddy in this photo?

"Hey there, little guy"

Can July really be coming to a close?

Hope you had a fine day wherever you may be.

hugs, Deb

A special tree

Every-time I look out my kitchen window I see this old maple tree shading a corner of our property. It's one of those trees that draws you over and invites you to relax, take a load off and enjoy all the comfort it provides.

Once home, after a drive to my old stomping grounds, I went right to the bench under the maple tree. Ahhh! What would we do without these glorious old trees. It was +34C and humid.

This gigantic maple, that was a smaller tree when I was a youngster visiting my gran,  even then looked tall to me. And here I am sitting under it now, a grand-mother myself, having a cup of the finest beverage on earth and enjoying it's shade.

My company at tea was St. Francis. haha!

I will never take these big 'ol trees for granted.

I love the grand old maples that circle our little spot here.

This is the best time to enjoy them although the vibrant Fall colours are always admired.

With that, though, comes raking of the leaves 'til the cows come home.

hugs, Deb

On this sweltering, hot day...

It's been so hot here that it has been difficult to work outside. We have been trying to finish up the outside stain on the mouse-house but can only work for a short time and then need relief from the heat. If anyone thought that we Canadians live in a cold climate most of the year you have been mistaken. It is over 100 F today.

My glads are coming along nicely and one has been peaking through to show me what colour she is. Isn't she something :).

 

inside the cats enjoy the air-conditioning.

 

There's no telling what is going on in this head.

"Deb, bring me a cold one, will ya."

That would be water with an ice-cube added.

That's something I do all summer is add ice to the cats and dog's water bowls.

I think it makes them drink more so that is a good thing.

Hope you aren't suffering in this horrid heat like we are.

It makes it hard to do much and honestly, we are really getting behind in our projects.

Stay cool!

hugs, Deb

Pretty bird-houses & early visitors

If you are a bird-lover like me, you probably love all the pretty birdhouses shown on the internet.
I'm already looking for a few unique and well-built houses for my resident birds this winter. We have lots of wood in our garage left over from building the mouse-house so when I mentioned I want some new bird-houses the retired-guy said he would build me some once he's done with his projects (which will never end, by the way). "Just find one you like and show it to me." *grin*

"Okey-dokey."

                                                              

For some unique and pretty bird-houses check this out.

http://www.topdreamer.com/22-gorgeous-and-unique-birdhouse-designs/

I picked out the fourth, fifteenth and eighteenth photo.

That should keep him busy for awhile if and when he ever gets started. :)

Here in Ontario,  we are in the middle of another heat-wave. With high humidity and temperatures over +32C,  we also get frequent rain storms late evening and during the night. This is very common when we are experiencing these high temperatures.

Rain brings fresh bugs and worms for our local birds to feast on.
This morning we had 13 visitors to the mouse-house. 13! I'm just a tad superstitious so I'm hoping this visit does not bring us bad luck.

                                            (Taken through the stair-way window)

Here's what they look like close up.

Not an easy face to look at first thing in the morning.

Have a good day and stay cool.
Deb

Happy Birthday Boy

If you aren't a dog-lover...please move on. haha!

Someone very special and rather hairy just had a birthday.

Our Kanie turned 15 today.

He has been our puppy for over 14 years now. He was adopted from a local shelter when he was only 11 months old. He had been abused by his previous owner and I had to look at him while he cowered under a table in the office of the shelter. He was a basket-case & I knew 'nothing' about dogs so of course we'd make a great pair. *What!!* 
I loaded him in the car and, along with a good friend, two very nervous souls drove the 2 and a half hour trip to his new home. I won't pretend it was a bed of roses, geez, it wasn't even a bouquet of dandelions, but with time and lots of love he did manage to get over some of his fears. I learned a few things, he managed some manners and we have been attached at the hip ever since.

Here are many of my favorite photos over the years with Kane.

(A young, handsome dog in 2002)

                     Looks like we've all grown older, Kanie. 

                                                               July 26, 2015

                    "Ice Cream all around"
                 "Happy 15th Birthday, Buddy. We love you."

"Good Grief...I thought this was a cat blog. Enough already."

                                                =^..^=

Glads & chippies

Gladiolus on Pinterest

                                                               

There are seven of these beauties about to burst open along our front fence. I'm anxious to see the colour as I bought a bag of mixed bulbs just for the surprise factor.
Won't be long now.

It was fun to see the chippy family out this morning.

They were glad I came by with some treats.

They were glad I came out with some treats.

This one I can almost touch.

Greedy-guts

I wanted to show off my gift all the way from Vietnam.

Lovely, isn't it.

Thank you, my dear daughter. It has found a home. 

We are heading out for ice-cream later. Tell you why tomorrow.

hugs, Deb