This weekend I brought home a brand new Worm Chalet. Finally, after having only thought and talked about it for years, I’ve embarked on a new venture: vermiculture. Even in cold winter climates like Canada, you can make compost throughout … Continue reading
Our house backs onto Hanlon Creek Conservation Area, so it seemed an ideal place to feed the birds this winter. We expected to wait a couple weeks for the birds to find us, but on the day we put out … Continue reading
[slickr-flickr id=”12687067@N00″ type=”gallery” tag=”butterfletch1″] I retreated to the cottage for the weekend. Sunday morning I photographed these three butterfly species within five minutes and five paces along the road. I couldn’t see the jewellike Blackburnian warbler in the tall hemlock … Continue reading
In recent months I have shifted dramatically toward consuming more locally produced food. I began buying into the idea years ago, but putting it into practice was harder. Before I concentrated on using local foods, the seasons tended to pass … Continue reading
Change is afoot—major change. Next month my partner and I will begin moving into a house in the south end of the city. I’ve lived alone for 15 years, and we have had a distance relationship for the past eight, … Continue reading
Last night we were hit with one of the most frightening thunderstorms I can remember. It started with violent gusts of wind that woke me around midnight to close the windows on the east side. Then came sheets of torrential … Continue reading
Canadian Wildlife Federation reports in the article Is this Goodnight? that a fungal disease decimating hibernating bat populations in the United States has spread to Canada. White-nose syndrome spreads easily in cool, damp environments such as bat caves. It disrupts … Continue reading
Last night, my partner and I received a mysterious and memorable visitation. With the sun setting behind the Church of Our Lady, we walked down the hill to The Boathouse for ice cream. It was an immaculate spring evening. Sitting … Continue reading
Over the weekend I witnessed interesting behaviour in a flock of swallows along the Speed River. Friday afternoon on the way home from work I stopped in Riverside Park and found a mixed-species flock of swallows feeding over the river … Continue reading
[slickr-flickr id=”12687067@N00″ type=”gallery” tag=”arb1104″] On Easter Monday my partner and I went for a stroll at University of Guelph Arboretum. Nowhere is resurrection evident as in gardens and woods, where buds swell on stark branches, and glorious bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) … Continue reading