Good Luck for 2017!

Many days during the year we have these big black birds visiting 

our property.

In the history of the Native Americans 

seeing a crow or raven (their bigger brother) 

is considered to bring luck.

 I thought this fits the occasion.

With the new year just around the corner...

 I want to wish all the luck there is 

on to my faithful readers!

May the new year 2017 be a prosperous one 

filled with lots of adventure

and many happy days!

Happy New Year!

Hawk Drama

A hawk, a drama.

(Sorry, befittingly it was a grey, rainy day)

This afternoon there was a killing 

right in under of our bird feeder.

Recently a flock of 5 - 15 

mourning doves started to visit us every day.

They use to spread out over the lawn 

feeding on what the chickadees, finches ...

.... and nuthatches discard from the feeder.

Beware the predators!

Today, about 100 m (about 100 yards) away 

on top of a tall spruce tree, 

I saw a hawk perching, surveying the area.

Obviously, he was evaluating the situation 

and weighing his chances.

A few minutes later it happened. 

A frenetic flutter of birds outside

and when I looked through the window - 

there he was, right on the lawn. 

 The drama was a fact.

Life is brutal. It is all about survival. 

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Auntie's translation

Heute hat ein Bussard eine Taube geschlagen, direkt 

unter dem Futterhäuschen.

Are you curious?

This is definitely the proof of how easy it is to produce fake news 

or fake news photos. 

Even a mere "grandma" like me can do it!

Our lighthouse (official: "Head Harbour Lightstation", but also know as "Eastquoddy" Lighthouse in the US ) 

is normally located at the north east end of our island. 

Seen from the boat on a lovely summer day.

Herring Cove is one wide, sweeping half-moon shaped bay. 

This is taken at the northern end of the bay. 

Then there suddenly was the mirage of lighthouse in the waters....

Fake!

Another Fiction

My newest creation! 

Hunter's Moon and Mulholland Lightstation 

melt together to new, fictional picture. 

So much fun to be creative again!

Photo Sandwich

Today, I finally tried how to "sandwich", or layer two separate photos 

in order to create a new one. 

Everyone who has a photoshop program 

knows how to do that, I guess.

I merely have have access to "Gimp".

It seemed a little complicated in the beginning,

but after a while I "got the hang" of it.

Not perfect but

it was fun and I am happy with the result.

First I selected this photo as the background.

The "Hunter's Moon"

Then I added a different one to layer onto the first.

This one.

 I had to figure out how to make this second one transparent. 

That was the challenge!

In the end I got this.

The moon is still showing through the bird, 

but certainly better than 

the moon in-front of the bird. 

That really would have been odd!

I say: this is my personal touch!

Canada geese in front of the Hunters Moon.

Like it!

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Auntie's translation

Heute habe ich ein bisschen auf dem Rechner herumgespielt und aus zwei Photos ein Neues gebastelt. 

Es hat eine Weile gedauert bis ich herausgefunden hatte wie man das Zweite teilweise durchsichtig macht, 

aber ich habe es geschafft.

Fliegende Kanadagänse for dem Vollmond.

Hungry Birds

While wind gusts are swirling the snow around the house wild birds are gathering outside in search for their breakfast. 

Usually I feed the doves (mourning doves) on the lawn 

but today I had to sprinkle some food onto the deck 

because the snow is covering everything within minutes.

Blue Jays and a lone finch are able to get to the seeds in the feeders.

A day to appreciate sitting inside a cosy warm house.

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Auntie's translation

Während der Schnee um´s Haus wirbelt sammeln sich die Vögel im Apfelbaum und warten auf ihr Frühstück. Normalerweise fütter ich sie auf dem Rasen, doch heute muß ich die Körner auf die Terrasse streuen sonst verschwinden sie zu schnell unter dem Neuschnee.

Der Blue Jay und ein einsamer Finck holen sich die Sonnenblumenkerne aus dem Futterautomat.

Ein Tag an dem man sein gemütlich, warmes Haus besonders schätzt.

Late November Eye Candy

The little things make life pleasant.

While walking along the deck this bright Nasturtium flower caught my attention. 

Isn't it weird, I thought, their seeds are so reluctant 

to germinate in the spring. 

It takes forever to get them going. 

But once they are established they seem pretty hardy. 

Maybe it is because it is snugly covered up 

with dry leafs.

 Later, sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee,

 looking out of the window,

 I had this view of a beautiful sunset.

Eye candy on a blustery November day.

November - flowers

As I write this it is November 18. 

The days are much shorter and

you should think it is cold and snowy here in Canada, 

but no, it is mild and

there is life in my vegetable garden.

So, for the record I went outside and took some photos.

Lettuce and some spinach plants are still growing. 

The spinach unfortunately is favoured food of the

voles or field mice. Arrgh!

There are quite a few holes in my garden beds. Not good,

not good at all!

Calendula flowers and

Cosmos

Even a few Nasturtiums are hanging in there.

In the flower beds "Sweet William", dianthus, are showing a few late 

flowers as well.

No wonder that we are able to snack on fresh lettuce and parsley.

The tomato is the last one of my summer tomatoes.

November in Canada is not so bad at all!

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Auntie's translation

Es ist der 18.November und man sollte meinen wir hätten jetzt schon Schnee hier in Kanada. Doch wir werden verwöhnt, es ist noch so mild daß in meinem Garten noch der Salat wächst.

Auch einige Blumen haben noch Blüten.

Kein Wunder daß wir noch gartenfrischen Salat und Petersilie

genießen können. Die Tomate ist meine letzte aus eigener Züchtung.

Der kanadische November ist gar nicht so trüb und traurig!

Conure? What's that?

What is a conure? No clue. I went online to look it up. 

Ah, yes - it is a parakeet.

Why would I want to know? 

Because we are bird-sitting one for a few days. 

Molly is all interested. 

Something is moving around there - I can see it. 

At the moment "Gobin", as the bird's name is, 

seems pretty quiet and subdued. We'll see how it goes.

And a few more days from now we will be getting
 another guest. 

"Gracie" will be staying with us for a couple of weeks too.

Good to have pet loving neighbours when you want to go places. :))

Oh, I forgot to mention the chicken. We have to let their chickens in and out too, and feed them. I just hope the fox won't visit while the people are away.

Better than TV, eh?

Aunties Translation

______________________________

Seit heute haben wir einen Vogel. Genauer gesagt einen kleinen Papagei. Wir passen für ein paar Tage auf ihn auf. Dann kommt bald auch wieder die kleine Gracie auf Besuch. Molly und Peter sind ganz hingerissen.

Moonrise over the Bay of Fundy

The news was full of the special event today. 

There was the rise of the "Hunter's moon" to experience. 

A few minutes before sunset I hurried out, towards the side of the island that overlooks the Bay of Fundy, to view the spectacle myself.

First I saw nothing at all 

because of a blue haze that covered the horizon. 

But suddenly there was a faint shine. 

I quickly rigged up the camera and started to shoot 

as the full moon slowly emerged.

On the way home I stopped on the opposite coast line, 

facing towards Eastport, Maine, 

and took a few more photos of the scenerey.

I was already quite dark, but the view was so pretty. 

A perfect end of the day.

___________________________

Auntie's translation

Heute ist Vollmond. Man nennt ihn in diesem Monat den "Mond der Jäger", weil die Jagdsaison angefangen hat.

Kurz vor Sonnenuntergang bin ich an die Küste 

der Bay of Fundy gefahren 

und habe ein paar Photos von dem aufgehenden Vollmond gemacht. 

Auf dem Heimweg war es schon recht dunkel, 

aber die Sicht nach Westen, in Richtung Eastport , Maine, 

war noch ein wenig vom Sonnenuntergang gefärbt. 

Was für ein perfekter Tagesabschluss. 

October chores

The first cold October winds are chilling the air. 

Nights are getting pretty cool. 

High time to think about 

winterizing the garden.

No, it didn't snow here, yet.

While there is already talk about the first snow storm in the province of Alberta we are a little better off here on the East-coast.

That's how it looked like today! Way better.

There are still flowers blooming in my garden but time is there to give the flower beds the final "hair cut".

 I did the one's at our local Motel last week, 

 and today I emptied out all their hanging baskets and window boxes. 

I very much like the idea of "recycling". 

Subsequently all perennials got a spot in a garden bed for the winter, and all tender plants were repotted 

and were waiting to get into the "warmth" of my greenhouse.

I was quite busy all day transplanting and carrying pots around, 

but by late afternoon I got things straightened out.

For the time being the can stay here. I have to get them all into the house for the winter, though. That will be quite a challenge.

Now there is only the garden furniture to store away. 

But that is a task for another day.

_______________________________

Auntie's translation

Mitte Okober ist die Zeit den Garten winterfest zu machen.

In Alberta gibt es den ersten Schneesturm 

aber bei uns ist es noch relativ mild und grün. 

Einige Blumen blühen auch noch in meinem Garten

Letzte Woche habe ich den Blumenbeeten beim Motel einen "Haarschnitt" gegeben, und heute wurden alle Hängekörbe,

 Kübel und Balkonkästen entleert. 

Da ich immer gerne Pflanzen wiederverwende wurden die mehrjährigen Planzen zum überwintern in Blumenbeete gepflanzt. 

Die kälteempfindlicheren habe ich umgetopft und in mein Gewächshaus gebracht. Nach und nach werden sie dann ins Haus überführt. Nun brauchen wir nur noch die Gartenmöbel zu verstauen. 

Aber das ist Arbeit für einen anderen Tag.