It’s Our Canada Day Long weekend !

And Papa is off work for his vacation for a week WOOHOO !

                                                               Wishing all our fellow Canadians

                                                                                                 Country Gal

Wordless Wednesday

                                                                                            Country Gal

A Bit Of This & That

The weather has been wonderful and Miggs and I have been outside every day just soaking it all up. Talking about soaking , it is raining here now and my gardens are going to thrive so well with the rain as we have had a few good evenings and nights with rain , yeah know the kind that gets nice and deep into the soil and makes the flowers very happy , plus it hasn't been very humid here this week either so that helps  .

But when the sun comes out after the rain I can see smiles on all my flowers as they stand up tall with pride and so much colour.

The sunny days we have had have produced some really wonderful puffy whit clouds to . I love clouds like these.

Some look like mountains in the back ground  whilst others look like steam or bellowing thick smoke .

                           With the sunny days well Miggs has been doing well Miggs , soaking up the warmth .

                                                      She really has no dignity when it comes to sunning herself lol !

We have had these two domestic or rather now wild bunnies running about thanks to some inhumane nut job releasing them from some where in  the valley . The breed is Himalayan Lops and boy are they cute and they and the cotton tails have a grand old time playing and they even hang out with the feral cats but these two are buddies and always together  they did have lots of siblings running about as well but they were captured by one of my neighbors and taken to her brothers farm where they have fancy two story huts and lots of space to frolic about but these two have bee smart in avoiding people and getting caught. I have named them Floppsy and Moppsy and I do enjoy seeing them about , they tend to hang out at the house across the road and occasionally come onto our driveway they seem very happy and quite content grazing on grass and snuggling up together  under the neighbor's bushes .

                                    As for our Chipmunk  Theodore well he is just busy stuffing his cheeks all day lol !

The Cabbage moths have been busy collecting nectar from my Sage plants , I haven't seen to many butterfly's yet but hoping to as the it gets deeper into the summer season .

Well that's about it for me for now as I said earlier we have just been enjoying and soaking in all this wonderfulness this season is and will be bringing .

                                                                                       Until next time .

                                                                                         Country Gal

Capturing Rain Drops , Reading & It’s Now Summer Time

We have had a full day of on and off rain the kind of rain that gives the land a nice drink and makes my gardens very happy .

                                                   And apparently the birdies who also enjoy  fresh rain drops.

I do love a nice day of rain myself and just sit back and enjoy the land literally drinking it all up then dash with camera to get photos like these when the rains slow or stop or just sit and read a good book outside on our patio porch as the sound of rain is falling and birdies singing .

I am reading  the latest book from best-selling author W. Bruce Cameron (A Dog's Purpose) is A Dog's Way Home, the heartwarming  and exciting story of a stray dog named Bella who becomes separated from Lucas, the man who rescued her, and manages to navigate the 400 mile journey back to him. Also to be a movie in future .

                                                    

                                                                                    I love these kinds of stories .

Well it is officially  SUMMER   and I am so happy about that as it is my favorite season for so many reasons , sunshine , summer rains and thunderstorms , Song birds , flowers, early sunrises and later sunsets  just to name a few lol !

                                                               So with  my  little creation here below , I am wishing you all a

                           

                                                                                        Until next time

                                                                                                       Country Gal

We Have A New Member Of The Family

And a new cousin for Miggs .

Meet Duke the 3 1/2 year old male long haired  King German Shepherd .

His story is his original owner who our eldest son David knows of could not keep him any more due to unforeseen circumstance's so David adopted him and it has been love at first meet for both of them . Duke needs some more training so David and I have been putting him through his passes and he is catching on quick , he is smart , he is very aware  and loves to please as Shepherd's are known for this .

Both Miggs and Duke get along wonderfully and are best buds now . This past weekend was our first meeting with Duke and so we just let him get used to all of us first then we all had fun fetching ball and going for walks , Duke needs  more leash time and training on it and David is working on that with him as well . The next time we see them David said hopes Duke will be fully trained . He is a lovey boy very handsome to and has a nice character , I am pleased for both Duke and David having found one another  they are a good match  and work well together .

The weather is hot and humid and so Duke will be going to the groomers soon to get that heavy coat shaved down a bit to make him look like a smooth coated Shepherd and help him stay cooler in this summer heat .

                 We are looking forward to seeing these two more often now that they live a bit closer to . As for our younger son James he is still in Alberta loving working on the resort  at the base of the rocky mountains and is doing well , we Facebook chat and video with him . 

                                                      Well that's it for me for now , keep cool and enjoy your week !

                                                                                       Until next time .

                                                                                               Country Gal

Wordless Wednesday

                                          

                                                                                Country Gal

Photographing Natural Sunset Light

I love the  natural sunlight from the setting sun as it shines its colour and softness on my subjects and how it shadows other parts in its setting stages  .

                                                                The softness of both the light and the shadows .

              As the colours of some things really pop with the sunsets light and as it hits at just the right angle , some times one can capture all that if you yourself are at the right angle .  Timing is everything with this type of light  .                      

                            I love the clouds that carry the sunsets light in them as they float through the sky in 3D like look .

Not much sunshine here today though .  It has been mostly cloudy  with cool breezes . Perfect for garden work like weeding and hanging laundry out on the line . Maybe this evening we will get some sunset light  to end the day  with .

                                                                                             Until next time .

                                                                                                     Country Gal

A Real Treat For The Birder & Photographer In Me

Well I have seen my first and photographed my first Red Headed Woodpecker . I saw this very pretty bird swoop in and about our large tree where our feeders are under . I didn't know what he was or was able to see him very clearly as he was fast . Then he stopped at one of the feeders but just for a split second long enough to scoop a seed from the feeder and  dash off. So I got my camera and sat ever so still , well as usual murphy's law when ya have your camera in hand nothing but when ya don't have your camera well yeah  your subject appears .. a lot lol ! So I thought ok little bird I will be ready and be patient , photographing birds takes a lot of patience so good thing I love it all .

So I sat and sat and sat I got my smart phone and looked up on my fave birding site Cornell Lab Of Ornithology to find is markings or some bird that is similar to him, I found what I think was him and then I read about him and listened to some of his calls   .. then all of a sudden he dashes in scoops about the tree again and sits right on the shepherds hook that holds the Nyjer feeders beside his feeder and he sat there and sat there looking at me and the area  , so I made one of his sounds kind of like a cat purring and he was intrigued and so he sat there in wonder as I was taking his photo in wonder and awe !

He was cocking his head as I was making one of his calls , I bet he was thinking this chick is nuts lol !

I didn't want to get to close to him and scare him away so I stayed on the patio porch that is only about 25feet away and thankfully I love to use my telephoto zoom lens that gets close with out getting close lol ! Then POOF he was gone , I haven't seen or heard him since but I have photos of him  and that was an awesome treat for me . I love having new birds visit our feeders and yard .

                                                                         Until next time

                                                                                Country Gal

Pond Project Still On The Go ,Gardens Are Doing Well

We went to a wonderful Water Garden Center called Moore Water Gardens  on Saturday morning down near Port Stanley which is only about a 40 min drive from us south west of us on the lower part of our lake Erie   . We were in awe with all the beauty and different ponds and waterfalls one can create . This place is situated back in from the road on a windy gravel driveway through a forest and is on a large property with big water garden display's garden houses a shop and all kinds helpful friendly staff and people , and we know now that dogs are more than welcome so next time Miggs will be coming with us . We got lots of wonderful information a pamphlet of info to take home and when an up coming 40% off is coming up  and ideas to . They have everything one could want for water gardens even fish and yes tad poles , we got some water plants , duck weed and yes 3 tadpoles as they will also help keep the pond algae free as they love to feast on it . I haven't been able to find the tadpoles as we have lots of hiding places in the pond for them lol !

So we are now getting into this water garden thing and even though this pond has been put in place we want to move and rearrange it  ,we have decided eventually that this little pond will be turned the other way with in the garden at the very bottom and not put in as deep but build the garden up to it then have a water fall of some sort spill into that and then have small pond spill into another one square one below it and deeper .  Then get more water plants and that will be our final water garden .

Theses are some of the water plants we added to help with shade keeping the pond clean and looking pretty . We also got some duck weed .

The fish fountain or spitter  in the back there we got from Papa’s mom and dad , it has been handed down through family it was Papa’s  Nan’s Bernice Clark fish spitter and has been in the family for 3 generations .

  The weather has been glorious we got some much needed rain yesterday evening and in the morning the air has cooled as has the breezes for now and the sunshine has returned .  We are slowly adding and working on this water garden bit by bit and it has been fun doing so.

The gardens have been doing wonderfully to and filling out beautifully !

                                              These gardens are all in our back yard the front is doing just as well but I didn’t want to put to many garden photos up lol !     Papa and I are recovering from a rotten  sinus cold ,  he got it first then well , I got it ,  I haven't had a cold of any kind in years ,  oh well it is what it is lol ! Lots of fresh air and enjoying the gardens and birds will do the trick with lots of cups of tea n honey for my sore throat.

                                                                                Until next time

                                                                               Country Gal

Learning Something New

Archery that is . Papa has a few friends that he plays with in on line games and works with one of them to , They have been doing archery for many  years and most weekends they go in for tournament's and they roll play in Medieval times and do sward fighting . They belong to a large archery club. They also enjoy fencing but this weekend we had them here and they taught us all about Archery and Papa and I had a great time learning and we did  it all in our back yard .

Learning a few things before Papa starts , Now he did do some archery wayy back when he was younger but not like this .

The equipment that these people use are a combination of old school and  a bit newer material . This person seen here with Papa also teaches archery and has lots of interesting equipment and also makes his own .

He has several bows all different lengths and weight's and hundreds of different arrows that are different lengths and weights .

                                                                So shall we get started  ….. Aim and Fire !!!!!!

                                                 I had a lot of fun taking photos of Papa learning Archery .

Now this person also was using the crossbow it is an older make where the new ones are all fiberglass this one is wood and metal looks heavy but it wasn't.

I have never used one before and as I have handles guns and fired them in the past and hunted when I was younger on the farm I decided to give it a go .

                                                                              Papa took photos  this time .

I am not as steady as I used to be and like my camera this doesn't have Vibration Reduction so kneeling on one knee and using that as a steadier like a tripod seemed to work and be comfortable rather than standing for me .

Ok well Papa and all you friends you have just created a new hobby for me , I like it and the day was fun we all had a good time . By the end of the day they were all talking about making a custom crossbow for me  I'm in !

Miggs was very good during all this and it is nice to know they are all very safety conscious and aware of their surrounding's , Miggs laid under the table we had set up whilst we were shooting and when it went time to go retrieve our arrows then she would come with us as if to give a helping paw lol !

It was a fun day and both Papa and I enjoyed it and seems like we may have found a new hobby , The day ended with a BBQ  lots of laughs and stories and a bit more archery before sundown . Thanks guys for a great afternoon  we will defiantly  have to do it again .

                                                                                   Until next time

                                                                                        Country Gal