Wee beasties

The year seems a little light on the bees and other bugs so far (at least compared to last year), but I have got a few snaps of our many-legged visitors.

I know the wasps can be jerks, but I do think they are pretty. They are welcome in my yard so long as they behave themselves.

 And I love the bumble bees! So fuzzy and clumsy.

This beautiful girl is really small (about the size of a dime). She's and Orchard Orb Weaver and she's built her web on my Christmas cactus.

I haven't seen any honeybees in the yard yet, but there a a flowering shrub at Battlefield park that was covered in them.

Any creepy crawlies in your world?

Crusing on the Credit.

I know it's been a while since you've seen this one

In truth, it's been a little neglected. I've haven't been taking the train a whole lot (vacation lost a week too), and when I have been on the train, I haven't always been in the mood to work on it.

I love how it looks, but I'm not really a big fan of cabling. I'll do it, but it always seems to drag a bit. But, I'm through the cuff, and once the heel is done, there will only be cabling on half the sock.

It really will start cruising then.

Battle like it's 1813

Late Saturday night, Dave and I were watching a movie, when we heard a bunch of successive pops outside. We don't live too far from a shooting range, and some days we can hear it pretty clearly. But, not only was it too late, it was far too rapid to be the range.

It sounded like fireworks, but Victoria Day was weeks ago. There's always a few idiots who love to set off a few in the backyard for days afterward - but this sounded much more like a professional show. There's too many buildings and trees around for us to see very far, so I turned to Google for the answer.

It was fireworks - an end-of-day celebration for the Battle of Stoney Creek re-enactment which takes place every June. It's something I've always wanted to go to, but always seem to forget about until it's too late. I figured this year was the same, but I kept reading the website, and there was one more re-enactment the next day at 2 pm.

Admission is usually $10, but in honour of Canada's 150th this year, it was free. The park is only 3km from my house... there really was no reason NOT to go.

Dave wasn't in the mood, Mom was too busy, and Dad wasn't feeling up to it, so yesterday, I hopped on the bus and went to check it out by myself.

The battle was part of the war of 1812. Here's the history

The event is more than just the re-enactment - there are camps for both sides (including a native encampment), children's activities, and a merchants area....

selling lots of period-like wares

They were also demonstrating their crafts

It's a good thing there was no ATM around...

Because that pretty light green hat would have come home with me. Alas, I only had enough cash on me for a bag of kettle corn

I wandered around, enjoying it all thoroughly until it was time for the re-enactment of the battle.

There was an MC who did an excellent job of narrating and sharing the history of the battle.

It's quite a thing to watch.

Those guns are so loud, and there was only a fraction of re-enactors compared to the number of soldiers there would have been in the real battle.

One can just imagine the chaos of the real battle. For a history nut like me, it was fascinating to watch. I'll definitely be going back next year!

Food is love

First: A couple quick updates.

Update 1: Saturday morning I wrangled Rupert into his carrier for his follow-up vet appointment. He's no longer speaking to me, but he got a clean bill of health and I no longer have to wrestle him to get antibiotics in him.

Update2: There won't be any pics of baby starlings I'm afraid. A few days ago, the wind was raging, and it blew the cover off the phone box. Sadly, all the eggs fell out of the nest. Only one was undamaged. I put it back in the nest, and secured the cover again, but it looks like Mama Starling has abandoned the nest.

Now... on to happier stuff...

I've been on the hunt for a strawberry pot for a few years. Most places had no idea what I was talking about - a few did, but said they hadn't seen any for years. I guess they just weren't popular any more. But the day Mom and I went hunting for succulents, we found one. I'm not sure why I didn't buy it that day, but Mom was kind enough to go and pick it up for me last week.

 My strawberry plants are now happily ensconced in it, and I think they look quite nice. I'm hoping now that the plants are bit more mature, the berries will be bigger.

They've been teeny tiny so far... but even if they never get bigger, I do enjoy the flowers.

I don't have to worry about the raspberries producing.

Usually I only get a handful in the first crop (they are ever-bearing so I get berries from June-July, then again from late August right through to October), but the bushes are absolutely covered.

I was getting worried about the blackberries, but the berries are starting to show. I should have a good crop this year, if I can keep the fungus from getting them like it did last year.

The Tiny Tim tomatoes are doing well. This plant is largest of the three, but it was planted a full week before the other two. We haven't had the hot weather yet, so I don't expect too see much action on these ones for a while.

The beans are doing well - starting to peek over the side of the planter

They are nice and healthy.

We've still got weeks to go before anything will be ready to eat...  but I'm already getting hungry.

Gnomeland

With the warm weather here, it was time to dig out G'Nomeo.

I keep meaning to spruce him up and when I brought him out this year, I realized just how faded he'd gotten. The wind and sun are really hard on him - he needed work ASAP. So I gathered my paints and spent part of an afternoon giving him a refresh.

That's much better! I gave him a couple coats of clear coat, so hopefully I won't have to touch him up for a few more years.

He's now making mischief in the raspberries, as he should be.

An when the girls were down on March Break, they accompanied me to Michaels to check out the fairy garden supplies. I have a mini-gnome who lives in the tree garden amongst the sedum. And he needed a home(or at least a door!).

Rowan picked out this one and it's just perfect.

I've got some more arranging to do, and I'd like to get him some more accessories, but think he's got a lovely little yard so far.

Friday Felines

While I was off on vacation, I managed to get my studio cleaned out properly, once and for all. (It was the one thing I really wanted to accomplish while I was off and I'm so glad I did)

While I was in there, I came across a piece of fabric I forgot I had

I have no idea where it came from, but I do know I was intending to use it for curtains in the powder room. But I've since found another option for that, so the fabric was free for another project. And I had just the one.

Back when Mom and I hit the antique market, I'd picked up a neat little basket

I have a thing for baskets, I'm not sure why. And the size and shape of this one (low and wide) just screamed "cat bed" to me. As soon as I showed it to Mom, she thought the same thing without me even mentioning it, so I must have been onto something.

But back to the project. I had a large pillow form meant for another project I'd abandoned, and it was just the right size for the basket....

So a few quick runs through the sewing machine and the form was covered.

Stuff it in the basket, and it's just the prettiest little cat bed. And Peno loves it. Dave says she looks like the Princess and the Pea sleeping in it.

And you may have noticed that one of those kitties looks suspiciously like someone we know...

So I used the scraps to make him a little catnip toy.

Tux-i-doodle-dandy

I didn't get a tonne of knitting done on my vacation last week, but I did manage to finish the first of the Tuxie socks

I still have some duplicate stitch to add... but I may have to enlist Mom's help for that... my skills aren't so good in that department.