mice and dogs and turtles, oh my!

Mr. and Mrs Mouse have decided that our BBQ is the perfect place to set up their home this summer. Five times, we have removed the nest (carefully checking for babies first) and then scorched the heck out of the thing to sanitize it. Every blinking time we go to use the BBQ, another attempt needs to be dismantled. I know we need to physically move them to another location, but I also know that another couple would just take their place. They are carriers of various diseases that as humans we really would not want to share so the nest dismantling must be done with great care to avoid breathing in the dust that comes up with the nesting material. John has tried several times to block up the holes in the bottom with fine gauge wire, but they thwart us every time. Pretty cute, no? Two nests ago was half filled with fur that I had brushed out of our Golden and left far away from the cottage. They are both industrious and resourceful.

I’ve put some stitches in the Ink Circles turtle stack, it is a satisfyingly quick and easy stitch and seeing the turtles emerge gives me a wee thrill.

The weather here like many other places, has been very hot and humid. Our beagle Eddie, does not swim but has taken to parking himself occasionally in the lake and lazily lapping a bit to drink at the same time. Yesterday was so hot, the entire family followed suit and swam many times to cool off.

Life is slowly returning to a new normal around here. My mother in law’s loss is felt in so many ways every day. Her brother and wife stayed with us over the weekend as they came from very far away and it was very good to have them here. It slowly starts to sink in that this is reality and she won’t just be coming up the path for morning coffee. The week that she passed away, several things happened that were really quite remarkable. I’d like to post what I said during the memorial here, mainly as a reminder to myself in the years to come.

“As I thought about my words last night that I would say today, the loon began calling out on the Bay, it seemed to be a nudge that I was on the right track.

My mother in law loved birds. All types. Not many days went by at the cottage that she wasn’t either practicing the call of the loon with Nicholas, filling the hummingbird feeder (of course that was before the addition of THE BEAR on the island) or thumbing through her well worn Peterson’s Field Gude of Birds to identify one that she had spotted.

We didn’t know at the time that that Tuesday morning would be our last with her, but my memory of that morning is very special.

Sarah and I were sitting in the breezeroom in our pyjamas with coffee and tea, Nicholas was buzzing around as usual probably talking about Star wars. I heard a noise outside and asked Sarah if she heard it and did she know what it was? “Oh that ‘s just Grandma! She’s talking to the birds.” Indeed, the noise then became a whistle call to my ear and a few moments later, Grandma appeared.

On the Thursday, we were at their cottage, checking on Grandma’s garden . While there, I was on the cell phone with John who was sitting in the room with his mum. Tthe children began desperately trying to get my attention while I was on the phone. As their voices became louder and I finally looked to where they were pointing, there was a bald eagle soaring above our heads, wings spread, suspended in the wind. It hovered at the tree tops for a moment and then gave a lazy flap and left us to fly over the island.

On the Sunday, when returning home from the Blessing service for Bridget,  swooping and diving around the boathouse were 20-30 terns seemingly greeting us home. It was an amazing sight.

I’ve chosen to play the 2nd mvt from Vivaldi’s Il Gardellino concerto for Bridget.  Il Gardellino is the Goldfinch. Another beautiful bird and perhaps later tonight I might even flip through her field guide to identify the finch that I saw last week”