A Sweet Kitchen

This is where we made all those Belgian chocolates we sold at the farmer's market. Thousands of chocolates, dark, milk and white had their start here.

We also love to watch the birds from these windows. Over 40 species we have had in our yard over the last 8 years.

This window looks west out to the larger pond. The other kitchen window (to the left of the table, not in the photo) looks into the front yard and the smaller pond

Inside Peek

The main bedroom has two windows plus the sliding door out to the patio.

Two views.

There is also room for another dresser on the wall with the closet.

Home Office/Bedroom

This sunny southern exposure room has made a great home office for us. We also have a futon for guests that you can't see from this view. The window air conditioner is no longer there as we no longer are chocolateirs with a stock of chocolate to keep cool.

Inside Glance

Some of the furnishings are different now, but the space is the same. The door on the left is the side entrance. Backpack not included.

Back Yard

The back is very sunny, with a patio. The shade canopy is a great place for meals outside or reading a great book. More rock of course!

Our House

This was taken in summer of course, but once again here is the front of the house.

Once Again...

Well folks, once again we have put in an offer for another place closer to work. Busy times ahead. We will post a few pictures again, so that you don't have to go to the beginning of the blog if you are helping us spread the word that our cozy home will be on the market soon.

More photos when we are ready to list, but we will add a few today. Here is the wood stove.

Thanks Caroline & Ron

The hostas from Caroline and Ron are thriving in their new spot under the old cedar.

It is quite close to the pond, as shown in the upper shot, but we managed to protect them from the slugs with copper mesh.

Azaleas

This azalea was also a bit in the shade, so I may move the box over a bit next year.

Garden colour

I should have posted this earlier in the month, but here they are at last. The rhodos were a little late this year, as they probably are getting more shade than optimum, but they still were lush with colour and gave us a lot of pleasure.

Fledglings

The young birds have found a haven in the suet and seed blocks we have just outside the kitchen window. They are protected by the japanese maple, and their parents have been bringing them here to practice feeding. Sometimes there will be 3 or even 4 different species waiting in the tree or sharing the feeders.

The nuthatches were the first, and have made themselves very much at home. Yesterday afternoon one of them decided to move right in, and tried to roost there for the night. However, 3 downy woodpeckers were not ready to turn in yet and disturbed his slumber so he found another spot.

Oh Deer!

Although deer are daily visiters around here, there seems to be even more than usual right now. The grass is tall, everything is green and there is lots for them to eat. On the way to work each day we are usually seeing 6 or more even before we get to the end of our road.

Earlier in the month a heavily pregnant doe was on the back berm a lot, and there are two hollows in the brush immediately behind us that I have been avoiding in hopes that she will feel comfortable there.

We have seen several fawns from the road, which are still very tiny. We have decided to keep a small camera in the car now just in case. Our neice Deanna shared some fantastic photos (above) of some fawns taken shortly after they were born near her workplace.

A week for wildlife

The humming birds came back this week, and have been very busy at the feeder. I haven't been able to get a good close up - they are so fast and we don't have a suitable camera, so I am using a free wallpaper. We just love these little guys and I will keep trying to get a shot of the ones who have chosen to live with us.

This week there have been more birds and animals than usual. We usually see a deer or two driving home, and we even had a buck who liked to hang out in the shade of the car port last spring, but on Thursday there were 9 deer on our route home from work. No fawns, but plenty of adults. Our friend Linda found a handsome antler discarded on her lawn.

There must be a herring run because there has been literally hundreds of gulls at the beach at the end of our road, and we saw 14 eagles on a sand bank watching the water. At least 20 seals and sea lions, rolling and waving their flippers. I can hear their barking as I write this.

And of course the frogs are in full throat these days. It is great.

So I am off for a stroll, and this time will bring my camera.

Mallards

Well, the Mallards are back. They arrived yesterday, and seemed to enjoy the larger pond. They were here again today, so I expect that they will be regular visiters.

Crocus and Tree Frogs Herald Spring

Just in time for Valentine's Day, the tree frogs have come acourting again. The crocus are showing colour, the robins are nested and now we have the frog chorus. Only a few so far, but they seem very pleased with the new pond. Very shy, the frogs are hard to spot, so no photo yet. Until then, here are some of the brave spring flowers.

Spring is inching in

Well, the pond has filled in nicely, and it is clear that we will be able to plant the upper edges as it has not come anywhere near the top rim. The overflow pipes are working well. We haven't decided on what to plant yet, but things are greening up so I'm "pondering" the question.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about Michael, our nephew who moved to the high Artic to work in Resolute and Grise Fiord as Canada's most northernly social worker. I mentioned him in my other blog as well. I can hardly imagine the hardship that the original settlers faced when they were forced to move there to help maintain Canada' claim on the far north. He says that the sun peaked through today, so I can't help think of the contrast with our own weather.

The robins are back now. They have busy eating the pyrocantha berries, and are pecking the ground, gathering nesting materials. There was a flock of about 2 dozen starlings today, and last month we saw quite a few of the finches at the feeder. I keep trying to catch the nuthatches at the window feeder but I can't get a clear photo through the glass.

So inspite of what the ground hog says for the east coast and central Canada, spring is on the way. The daffodils have quite visible shoots, as do the crocus, and the heather (picture above was taken today) is almost radiant.