Nature Friday - Missing Colour

 Dear pals,

Our world has been a lot of black and white and grey. It has been a hard winter, which seems to match the hard things happening in the world.

Our world more days than not

We went through the camera roll and found a little colour from the people's trip to the Canary Islands. 

May we all find a little colour in these grey days.

Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting this hop!

your pals Lee and Phod

Nature Friday - The Apple Tree

Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting this event.

As we have been watching all the other trees bloom, we were really worried about the apple tree at the end of the drive way in MJ's field. It has been hit hard by some of the storms recently. However, finally, just last week, the blooms have arrived.

There are two things Lady wishes she could share via the internet. The first is the sound of all the bees happily buzzing around. The second is the fragrance. She could just stand there and smell the blossoms for hours. Enjoy!

An evening view from our driveway

See the bee?

Here is another one

Can we get on with our walk please?

Looking back at it in the evening

Nature Friday - April Showers Brought May Floors

 In spite  of all the frosts and the fact some creature dug up some of the Lady's bulbs, Lady is happy she is getting some of her spring colour. Gardening is an area she is very much a work in progress.

Why do I have to pose with them? Where is Hailey?

Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting this event. 

Nature Friday - Early Spring - by Lee

 

Dear pals, 

Early spring is upon us and nature is coming out in full force. Last week we shared canine tracks, which Lady is pretty sure were coyote because Tuesday morning we heard a coyote in the sugar bush. Don't worry, she texted Callie's Lady to let her know one was so close. Then Wednesday night, Lady heard 'someone' on the deck and called Man to look and he heard the racoon climb the drainpipe and saw it on the roof. One day while Lady was at work, and Man was working from home, I was barking and barking. Since I may bark a lot, Man thought I was just barking for fun, but he checked it out and there was a bit of a turkey fight happening on the front lawn. 

It is also the end of the maple sugar season. On our walk we saw this old style bucket full of sap. When talking to Callie's Man, he said he is not even going to collect this because he is almost over the season. He expects to have made about 200 litres. Not bad for a year that many places have not had a good season and the Maple Syrup Reserve hit a 16 year low. Fun fact the maple syrup reserve, housed in our home province of Quebec, was established in 2000 to stabilize prices and prevent shortages. 

We went for a visit to the sugar shack on Saturday. I must say watching the sap boil is very boring. Perhaps almost as boring as hearing people discuss the going price of maple syrup this season (about $30 Canadian/$22 US/21 Euros/18 pound sterling a litre). 

Phod wasn't so much as bored as hot, the temperature needs to be very hot to boil the sap. Callie's Man has gone through 8 cords of wood, just on boiling this year.

Then April played a late April's Fools joke on us. On April 3 a storm started and took out our power. At the time of writing this it had been off for over 24 hours and is only expected back today. If we are lucky before we hit the 48 hour power free mark. We got hit with another 4 inches/10 cm.

That is some of the early spring things happening in our part of the world.

Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting this event. 

Welcome Spring! When Will The Snow Be Gone

 Today at 11:09 pm spring officially arrives!

We are sad to say the snow is not only hanging around in a few places in our yard, we actually got more snow!

The new snow didn't stay but those stubborn pockets that don't get much snow did.

So sorry Rosy and Sunny, and Fay, you are not the winners this year.

We have one guess this week, Ruby Rose. Will the snow all be gone by tomorrow? Or will it hang around for Millie and Walter, Beau or Ojo's guess?

Stay tuned!

Thankful Thursday: Enjoying A Beautiful Weekend

  After a challenging week, we were extra happy for a beautiful weekend and a visit from our favourite neighbour.

                    

Why Phod Ended Up In The Tub

We are very lucky that our neighbours, who own all the bush behind our house, allow us to use their trails. On the weekend we went for a hike. In places the trail was very muddy. In places it was frozen and snowy.   Turns out Phod really loves to walk in the mud so that is why he needed a tubby. 

On our walk we crossed a creek. 

We also walked by the neighbour's sugar bush. The blue cords are running the sap into the big blue barrels. They will take these back to their house and boil it. They will likely do this outside, we haven't asked. Next time we see Callie's people we will ask. Our province of Quebec produces 91% of Canada's maple syrup. Canada supplies the world with 75% of the world with maple syrup. 

It was a great walk but Lady said for now we can only do it when we have time for a bath!

Shadows

Spring is in the air!

Phod and Emma

Welcome Spring - A Contest

Happy last day of winter! Tomorrow brings the spring! After what felt like a typically harsh winter, we are dreaming of this . . . . 

Taken spring of 2018 when Cousin Emma was living with us

To celebrate the arrival of spring, we are going to have a little contest. We played this game before and it was fun. The question we are asking is "when will the last of the snow be gone from our yard?" 

We are defining our yard as the grass parts in front, beside and behind the house. We are not counting anything in the treed parts. 

To enter is free and simple - send us an email to leeandphodATbellDOTnet or you can put it in the comments with your guess for the day. You can pick any day from tomorrow until hopefully before June 1st (but if you want to guess later go for it!). It has to be a day in the remaining calendar days of 2019.  If you pick a date that has already been picked (it will be a first come, first served sort of deal) Lady will let you know and you can pick another date. There will be some sort of prize for the person who is the closest (defined as the closest date before the last of the snow disappears, not after). Lady will figure that out. 

To help you with your guessing, here are pictures of our yard from Saturday . . . . (and it was well below freezing on Sunday)

We will give you weekly updates on the snow progress.

Thanks for playing along with us! 

Mischief Monday - Rain, Rain, Rain by Phod

Dearest friends,

When I sit down to write this there is some serious flooding in the city of Gatineau, Quebec, about 30 km (18 miles) from our house (it is where the Man works). 390 homes have been evacuated, 689 people have left voluntarily, 142 pets are being helped by the Red Cross, almost 300 000 sand bags have been filled, over 117 mm (4.5 inches) of rain has fallen since May 1 and now 80 members of the military have arrived to help out.  This follows the 7th snowiest winter on record and the 2nd wettest April on record. The highway Man and Lady use to get to town is now closed due to flooding. The government has closed the offices in Gatineau (meaning Man has the day off) and are begging people to not use the bridges over to Ontario, meaning Lady is working from home instead of going to the office.

Up here in the hills, it is wet but not dangerously so. We did have some water pooling near the base of the house in spots and it was getting high so the Man went out and dug some trenches and our little problem was solved.

I don't really like to be wet in the house and because the Man and Lady have been closing their bedroom door so I can't roll all over their bed to dry off (that really isn't nice) and because we don't have carpet, I have been doing my best to find suitable places to sit.

Lady laughed at me for picking the mat by her sink in the bathroom. I think it is the perfect fit!

Join us in sending good thoughts to all those who are seriously affected by the flooding in our area. The rain is suppose to stop today (and be rather light at only 5-10 mm) but a cold front is moving in and we have had some snow.

I think the weather is broken!  But I have my Precious so I will be ok!

Your pal, Phod 

Rain, Rain Go Away - by Hailey

April was the 2nd rainiest April on record.  In fact we got more rain April 2017 then we did the entire  combined months of April, May, June 2016. May hasn't been much drier. May 1st was the wettest May 1st on record and we have had rain every day since (although it did clear up late in the day yesterday for at least a bit).

Due to all this rain there is some flooding in the nearby city, Gatineau (it is where the Man works, but his work has not been effected). At least 50 homes have been evacuated. The water in the streets is so high, boats are needed to rescue people. We hope all the people and animals remain safe and that the continued rain ends soon.

Here are some pictures from cbc.ca.

With all that rain, I have found the best way to spend my days -

curled up in bed. Now if Lady would just put her phone down and let me sleep!

Wordless Wednesday - Grass Is Back!