Venus Occults Jupiter and Saturn

On April 1 at midnight go outside in your pj's and look south. Venus occults Jupiter and Saturn at this point, gee that is a few minutes from now. I think I will check it out. What is really amazing is that this is the first time this has happened since 0401BC! How these people figure this all out is beyond me, I am glad they do! But I really think it has something to do with April FOOLS like me!! See sky and telescope week at glance in sidebar. Ha, ha, ha, oh those goofy sky guys!.........  :o

Spring abounds

It's great out there and I spent the day outside, we are getting ready to open the nursery and a lot has to happen yet, but we will be open this weekend.
When I got home, Bo and Boots had to be fed and then walked. Boots did not partake. What is going on out on our walks is a plethora of bird songs. Meadowlarks, oh I love Meadowlarks, there used to be so many, but there are still some around and there are several on our walk singing their hearts out.

This was taken with my zoom lens, the camera was on a fire hydrant so it's not perfect, but the song was!
It's a clear elongated song, that makes you stop and look for it's source.

Fresh AiR

The tasks today were filled with the essence and lift of spring. First I had to go photograph a Witch Hazel in bloom at a friends garden. We had put it in I would guess, 4 years ago now and it is starting to really take hold. It's gorgeous and now I want one!

This plant is much prettier in real life, I have to work on that! The red petals transform to orange red tip and are really wonderful! We placed this shrub outside a bathroom window which helps shield the lower window from outside viewing  and yet it makes a nice view while inside looking out. You actually get to see your witch hazel blooming!
This is Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane' a truly gorgeous Witch Hazel.

It's time to GARDEN

Here are some things that I have done and am doing to help you with your garden tasks. I walk my property pretty much everyday, just to observe and see how big buds are and what is growing that I don't like. I have weeded my garden already, yes I have! This is to nip certain weeds right away, it is amazing what they can get away with.

Talk the Walk and Walk the Walk

Yesterday, I started my collection of recyclables and garbage for The 2nd Annual Mayors'  "Keep the County Clean" Challenge.

This was not my intent when Bo and I left the house, but it was the  broken up computer keyboard glaring at me from the ditch that made me realize that just because I don't have my 'kit' from the County should not stop me from starting to Clean Up. I must have anticipated my intentions as I was wearing my stretch gardening gloves instead of my usual driving gloves.  I decided that since we were only 5 minutes into our walk I would just start piles to be picked up and get them with the car later. Really, last year I was dragging home bags of garbage and recyclables. I do not want to do that again, it was too heavy.
So Bo and continued down the Old Danforth, here is Bo on the summer road that starts just after Purdy Road. He is off leash at this point and revels in the ditches and scents that he can check out on his own.

That is Bo on the right side of the road, barely visible, nose down doing what he loves to do, check out the stink in front of him!!
 This road is part of the original Danforth Road that ran from York (Toronto) to Kingston, Surveyed by Asa Danforth who was hired by The Crown in 1797. What I like about this particular section of the Old Danforth is that if I let my imagination run wild, I can place myself into another time. Although, I am sure that the flora was much different in and around 1797, no European Buckthorn, no dog strangling vine and the trees would have been all native and much larger. Too bad the Crown insisted that the landscape be raped of trees as a prerequisite to settling on the land. Along here, you can see huge erractics that have been rolled down the side of a drumlin that allows the farmer to create a field. The course of the road has not changed, but the sides of the road has, with invasives' and  total disregard by those who seem to think this road is a dump site.

Spring, I LOVE IT!

Everyone is writing about it, walking it and watching it, it's spring out there folks. Yes it is, step right up and enjoy! Buds are swelling and so are the feathers of the boys flying around outside the house and on my feeders. The loud, rambunctious Grackles have arrived and along with the Red Winged Blackbirds they can make quite a racket!
It, in my mind so far, this is a good spring. Forget that warm spell we have had all winter, this is now and it's spring. I like the fact that Toronto is 2 to 3 days ahead of us in the landscape, they are my harbingers of spring. Keeping it cool here means a longer more enjoyable spring only to finalize this season with some of the best lilacs in eastern Ontario. Lanes, roads, side roads and hillsides of lilacs out for a long spell and for that we need it cool please. For now it's the birds that give the clues to where we are in the season. Bo and I saw this swan with a Canada Goose at Keewatin Nature Sanctuary pond with a Canada Goose.  The ice was still on this pond last week.

John Lennon

I moved into this house a year and a half ago and I still have boxes that require to be sorted and unpacked. I was attempting this act of 'cleanliness is next to goddess' look this week when I was sorting boxes from the move earlier this week in the basement. I also I have confess I hate basements, so being down there for periods of time can make me suffer from damp, dark blindness. I persisted though with my task. What I found thrilled me. Two pieces of paper that I have not seen since high school. In the late 60s', early seventies I was a hippie, does that mean I am not anymore. Not by a long shot, still am too!,  as much as I can be in my time of life (what year is this?). In our high school library they had a small book that was only ever taken out by moi. It was little book by John Lennon and it was a brilliant collection of his drawings and poetry. I loved that book and my last year at the school I considered taking the book home with me because I had been the only one who ever checked the book out of the library. I did not take it, instead I copied a funny poem from it, actually typed it out. I remember at the time I found this hilarious, must of been the hippie in me! So here it is from December 8, 1972 from John Lennon's little book.

Now after the morning News it's ...... AN EQUINOX

On Sunday March 20th is the night when daylight and night are equal, it's an Equinox! The sun is at the equator and it is heading our way! There is a bonus with the Equinox, so get your binoculars out and get ready to look up again.  As twilight begins the moon appears with in a large crescent form, but wait until twilight fades to night and that is when you want to start looking up.

                                                           Nasa Image, thanks Nasa!
                                    

Northumberland County 2nd Annual Mayors' KEEP THE COUNTY CLEAN CHALLENGE

This is about the clean up of litter that gathers in ditches, roadsides, nature trails, any park or public space in Northumberland County. Last spring was my first spring in Grafton and I go out walking every day here, not by choice. I have a dog and I have to walk him everyday at least twice a day otherwise he is out of balance!!
Last spring was my first spring here in Grafton (I was born in Haldimand and happy to come back) and what amazed me on these walks was the amount of litter that is tossed on the ground.

blah, blah, blah will change

My last post is news based, this will change here shortly. The nursery will be opening up soon, due to very warm weather, we have lots to do before we open the doors.
Also, it has taken me a year and a half to figure out the use of space in this new home.

Women who change the World

Have you ever traveled through the fragrance of an orange blossom grove early in the evening, I have. It is one of the most intoxicating smells on this earth and the early evening with it's moisture laden air is the perfect conveyor for this intoxicating fragrance. You are transported somewhere foreign, exotic and although it took me a while to figure out that wonderful fragrance was coming from off the Florida highway, yet I could not see one orange grove but I sure could smell it's gorgeous bountiful fragrance.
Before you read on, this is not always a pretty story, so be warned.

Maple Syrup & Sprucewood Cookies!

This weekend was the Warkworth Maple Syrup Festival, I went with my Mom and sister because this is the weekend when there has always been an Antique Show on and we have always gone to that.  We started off by having lunch at The Grafton Inn and after stuffing ourselves there, we stuffed ourselves into the car to head to Warkworth.
The Antique Show is a small show held in the public school, it's great because you get to look at the kids art hanging on walls of the halls as you wander from the gymnasium to the main halls where the booths are set up. There are always interesting items to see at this show and the same dealers are there ready to talk and help. The Antique Show is the kind that you could find something very special, I saw lots that I liked but nothing I had to have this year. Darn!
After viewing the Antiques we drove down the main street of Warkworth, it was busy and they had the little farm animals in a pen for the children to pet and see. Warkworth is beautiful and is set in a valley surrounded by some of the most awesome drumlins in the county. We spent many weekends going to Warkworth as kids, I am happy to see it full of life.

Victoria Island: Where warming means danger - thestar.com

This is an excellent report from the North West Territories. In a side bar of the article read 'Climate Group Cash To Dry Up'. This is huge problem for us in Canada. I grew with a country that was small, but was Research and Development based. (Although, I have to mention that it was the Conservatives who killed the Avro Arrow). Now we are growing in numbers, but our R&D in this country is suffering, in fact it is being smothered to death. At a time when the world needs as much Atmospheric data as it can collect from around the world, we are limiting our resources, knowledge and science studies. This bothers me more than I can express here. The Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Science has not received any new funding since the Conservative Government was elected in 2006. We have to get our act together and get them out of office, quick before we all drown in our ignorance and melted ice caps. If anyone out there reads this blog, write your local MP. I suggest you google their name, then hit their website and find 'contact'. Then do just that, email them, let them know how important this is to the future generations of this country and you want the funding restored. I have to confess, I am one of those who 'picks my battles' and writes. I have to 'pick' my battles, otherwise I would be writing them all the time, right now I am down to about once a month. The lame excuses I get back are terrifying, these people are in charge of our state of affairs and as mother, a grandmother and a woman, I want to take these politicians to the woodshed. I never had to do that with any of my own, as I do not believe in spanking!
Victoria Island: Where warming means danger - thestar.com

The Little Foxes

Last night when Bo and I left for our walk, Boots the cat came outside with us. He usually does and many times he will come with Bo and me on our walk. Last night he choose to stay by the garage and when we got back home he decided to stay out. Normally I try to get him to come in as I know there are coyotes and foxes that come around at night, but I thought he could stay out a bit longer last night. I have not heard the coyotes since last fall, it's still cold out at night, but things are heating up around here.
An hour later it was dark out and I decided it was time for Boots to come in. I opened the side door and Boots came running to me from the garage. Just as he got to the door he stopped and looked down the driveway, I looked too, but there was nothing there.

The benefits of Tobacco

Am I crazy, well, yes.  This is not about smoking tobacco, there are benefits to tobacco and it is not about smoking those cigarettes.
It's about this plants ability to absorb toxins from soil and water. It was first reported by Science Daily in August 2007 that tobacco plants inserted with a gene for TNT (transforming bacterial enzyme) showed that the gene modified plant significantly reduced the toxicity of the TNT contaminated soil. This is good news for World War II sites, military training areas and explosive manufacturing sites.
Now in 2010, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology reports

Bloody Ivory : Elephants CITES 2010

This is a link to what is happening with the poaching of elephants for their ivory in Africa. We can help and we can stop this by not buying anything ivory or supporting those that do. Right now thousands of elephants are being slaughtered in Africa for the ivory trade, it's an international crime.
You can sign the AVAAZ.org online petition that will be presented to the UN convention before its too late.
click AVAAZ.org for the petition.
Below are more links on this crime:
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/

Bloody Ivory : Elephants CITES 2010

Crows

Something positive.....
Now is the time to start watching the crows in your neighbourhood. They are staking out their 'home turf' and if you are lucky enough to have some tall pines or other very tall trees close by keep an eye on them.
The other day Bo and I were out walking and a small group of crows followed us on our walk.  They were noisy, loud and would gather just ahead of us. There was some squabbling between them and I think this is about sorting out who is who and where they are in the group. Another group of crows tried to join in with this group but they were having none of it and pushed them out. It seemed this job was delegated to 3 of the 5 crows following us. After half an hour Bo and I neared the pond and all 5 crows were with us again cawing at us. Then a Red Tailed Hawk appeared, this set the crows off on another mission to rid this Raptor from their area. All of a sudden another Red Tailed Hawk appeared and the two hawks were soaring higher and higher, it seemed as if they were trying to check each other out while getting rid of the crows with their altitude. I was thinking how beautiful the sky was with the hawks, how right the light was, I could see their markings without my binoculars, it was an awe moment. It was then I was thinking  how silly the crows were because they were still trying to get the hawks but their altitude was no where near the hawks. The hawks suddenly split, one east and one west and the crows were alone circling in the air. One finally caught on and headed east after one hawk, the rest decided that was enough and followed Bo and I the rest of the walk home.
The crows are keeping an eye on the neighbourhood, they have been here longer than me and want to know what I am up to because they are going to start the nest building process soon. I have seen this before and it is an amazing thing to watch. Once they start building the nest, they are quiet, they have a secret and it's the location of their nest. If you see a crow in the next month with a large twig or gathering large twigs watch where it goes with it, try to stay still. Apparently they will build several nests called preliminary nests, practice is what I call it. Also, both male and female will build the nest and the yearlings will help. As they will help when the nestlings arrive. When I lived in Port Hope crows nested right next door, every year I watched them build the nest, but the nest was in such a cluster of pine branches that I never saw the actual nest, it was hidden so well in a well thought out pine branch. The last year I was there this site was a 'preliminary' site and they laid their eggs somewhere else.
I really enjoyed watching them breaking branches from the trees to build the nest. I have lot's of photo's of this process, not one of the nest though, just the thicket of the pine branch. Here is a photo of a
one crow taking a branch to the nest site.

A long gun claimed life of OPP officer - thestar.com

Here is  Antonia writing about what I was just writing about and this girl has the facts!
A long gun claimed life of OPP officer - thestar.com

The News Today

The news today is so sad, it's driving me to distraction. For some reason the idea of 8 rare Siberian Tigers starving to death, along with countless other zoo animals in a China Zoo, just makes me weep for these confined innocents. I quickly left that article only to find another. This time the article was about Kenya opposing a 'one time' ivory sale as poaching soars. To read about the useless death of these elephants is more than I can bear. So I picked up the local paper, The NorthumberlandToday.com, which is a SunMedia paper, whom I am not fond of and now our local paper is filled with cr-p from all across the country instead of local news and editorials. It trashed all of our local papers and clumped them all together with their tabloid junk and it's hard get a decent editorial about local news.
The paper I picked up to read is thrown at the end of my driveway, which is thrown at the end of every driveway every Thursday whether you want it or not. Apparently there are a lot of people who do not WANT this paper as on my walks I find it in ditches all over my routes. I think they should be charged with polluting and littering, there is a $5,000 fine for that here in Northumberland. Back to the 'local paper' - it had an editorial from a female MP from Saskatchewan who wants the Long Gun Registry sacked. Eeeeeegads, have we gone mad? She states that it cost up millions or billions and that it is an infringement on the rights of law abiding Long Gun owners. I don't think so, guns are a problem and this registry helps the police track guns, the use of guns and helps them solve crimes. The gun registry is used daily by police to aid in crime reduction, solving crimes and track guns. The police want to keep the registry! We are a gun crazy world, kill anything world. Farley Mowat once said a long time ago, in the 70's if I remember correctly, that 'soon there will no wild animal on the planet living that is larger than a bread box'. I would love it if he were wrong. By the news today, I am desperately afraid he may be right.

Adobe Oven

I want one of these in my backyard! I am outside as much as possible and to think that I could be cooking outside would, well this could maybe anti up the productivity in that department. Last summer I ate well, very well from my kitchen garden in the backyard, but that was it, I ate while I was in the garden! The thought of going inside to prepare the food and possibly cook it, that takes all the fun of it out of the experience. So everything was consumed pretty much raw and went directly from the vine to my mouth! What has happened to me since I moved to a village. Have I lost all sense of social decorum? It appears so.