Archive for: birds

Rebuilding our front steps

When we first moved into our house the front steps leading to the front door were quite poorly done. The steps were uneven and several types of stone had been used to make them giving them an untidy appearance. Ever since then we have been planning to redo them but never got around to it. We rarely use them ourselves as we enter the house through the garage, but it might be dangerous for visitors.

Well this winter finally took its toll on the steps and they were starting to fall apart and become unsteady, so Chris decided now was the time to rip them up and start again. So the other day we went from this:

To this:

We now have a lovely rockery area which we will plant out later!!

The next stage was building a main step from pavers and we are then going to build a deck and steps leading from this to the door.

Since the weather took a turn for the worse we, or rather Chris has had to stop, but we are planning on getting the wood for the deck & steps this week, so we can make a start on the rest of it.

Other news:

Yesterday we saw the pair of flickers for the first time this year. They were hammering away in the back garden. We also spotted the thrasher the other day, but not since.

We definitely have two black squirrels, one very black the other more ginger. They both turn up most days, usually separately. We are hoping they are nesting near by and will bring babies over. Our reds are starting to molt and their coats are getting very tatty. Chipmunks are everywhere!

Weather is still very changeable lately. One day we have 21C, the next it is 4C. We have had rain, snow, thunder and lightening, sunshine, you name it we have had it. The other night we had a huge thunderstorm which woke us up several times during the night. One particularly loud bang which rocked the house had us thinking we had been struck, but we could not see any damage. The next day we found out large areas surrounding us were without electric, but we were okay, so somewhere close definitely got hit.

Whilst I was on the phone to my aunt in Spain yesterday morning we went from bright sunshine, to cloudy skies then snow, all within an hour. She was a bit shocked we were still in danger of snow as it is April. In Spain they are in the mid 20′sC with bright sunshine, but have had quite a bit of rain. When we went to bed last night there was a light covering of snow on the ground, but it had vanished this morning.

Hopefully the weather will get better for May, especially when for when our daughter and girlfriend arrive. We have so much planned to do that it will be a shame if the weather spoils it.

Spring weather – not for us yet!

Since spring officially started our weather has been all over the place. We have had snow, lots of sunshine but it has been bitterly cold, down to the minus teens much of the time with the windchill.

Today is the last day of March and it is once again snowing, but they promise that it will be temporary and that we will have sun over the weekend with temps around 10C.

Lots of grackles and red-winged blackbirds in the garden. The gold finches are also starting to change colour ready for the mating season. No sign of the cowbirds yet, sure they will arrive soon.  The deer are getting more absent as the weather improves, so we are not going to see too much of them now.

Our visiting black squirrel comes by most days. It is the longest any black squirrel has stayed with us. He comes by, eats for a while and then disappears. The reds don’t seem to mind him for some reason and let him stay, very unusual. We have lots of chipmunks about again, chasing each other round the garden frantically. The killdeer are back but we haven’t seen much of them. Hopefully they are nesting and will reappear soon, with chicks.

Visited a new mall (well new to us) last week. Fairview Mall in Toronto. It was pretty big and quite nice, not sure it is any better than say Pickering which is nearer for us, but at least we have explored it. It must be in a very Asian community as many of the people there were of Asian origin. It is also close to Ikea which of course we had to pop into whilst there. A bit disappointed as we didn’t find much we liked but did come back with a new kitchen mat which we needed.

Hoping to get over to the States sometime in April, but will wait for the weather to clear a bit. Might go to Syracuse, or perhaps Rochester. Time to stock up on summer clothes! Most shops are in the transition stage still so not all have very much in the way of summer stuff, but hopefully within the next few weeks that will change.