In a Jam

June means red juicy delicious strawberries. When I was growing up in sunny Devon, my dad's main product of his market garden was strawberries so June and July were busy times at our house, and he even got a second crop in September. His strawberries often won prizes at the annual village Horticultural Show. We lived close to the seaside, and there were plenty of people on holiday who would buy his fresh strawberries, and he had a regular delivery to markets in South Wales and London.

Strawberries every day! I ate so many strawberries that I broke out in red blobs. My mum would make strawberry jam with the smaller berries, and the jam would last all winter, until the next strawberry season.

I think it must be genetic, and I have jam making in my DNA too.

I've already given some to my neighbours, some will go to friends and family, and the rest will brighten up my breakfasts on snowy winter days.

Mama Turtle

I was out for an evening walk around the neighbourhood pond, and I noticed a dark green shape in the grass.  Turtle! She didn't really appreciate me staring at her while she was going through the delicate process of egg laying, so she pulled her head in and peeped at me from the safety of her shell.

She's a Painted Turtle - Chrysemys Picta - one of the eight species of turtle that are native to Ontario. Turtles are ectothermic – or ‘cold-blooded’, which means that they cannot generate their own body heat, and rely on the environmental temperature for this; they warm themselves by basking in the sun. 

These eggs will probably hatch in late summer or early fall. Less than one in a hundred turtle eggs laid will hatch and grow into an adult turtle. Unlike birds, turtles do not tend their nests once laid, nor care for their young once they hatch. Once the female has finished laying her eggs she never sees them again. The babies are on their own!

Painted Turtles have recently been reclassified from Not at Risk, to Species of Special Concern. Extensive road mortality has been the main reason for the change of classification for this species.

Such a pretty face!

Pain Avec Tout

 Pain avec tout.... Bread with everything!

Two loaves made with a combination of white bread flour, whole wheat flour, oats, garlic, onion flakes, grated old Cheddar cheese, chopped fresh herbs from my garden..... parsley, basil and summer savoury. I wish I could transfer the aroma as the loaves came out of the oven. Mmmmmm

A couple of slices toasted with butter, and fresh coffee, breakfast time!

To BEE or Not To BEE

Last year I posted about the mason bee (or perhaps it was a mason wasp?) that was making a home in a tiny hole in the brick at the back of my house. Remember this post?  but I never caught a photo of the actual insect.

It's the perfect spot for enjoying my early morning coffee, and this year the bee, or a family member, was back again. I was ready with the camera.

She (or he?) is extremely industrious, in and out of the hole every few minutes, probably making a nest of some sort, but I haven't noticed her carrying anything. She can crawl in but has to back out. And the actual mouth of the hole seem to be getting bigger. Interesting goings on.

Glass Reflections

A yard sale find, a couple of years ago.... $0.25, yes, 25 cents, a real bargain. 

Daum egg-shaped decorative paperweight, signed, made in France. Daum Glass is made in Nancy, the history of the company is here.

Where there's Smoke, there's Fire

Yesterday afternoon. 

The sun was shining and it was a hot June day, the sky was a brilliant blue, then suddenly.... a column of black smoke billowing upwards. The sound of sirens in the distance. A fire truck zooms by at top speed. Then another one. Then the wail of police cars. This isn't good news.

The view from my deck at the back of the house.

Photo by VS.

Photo by VS.

Everyone, including the cat and the dog, is safe, thank goodness.

The local pool construction company showed up with a tanker truck full of water. There were five fire trucks there at the height of the blaze, and a couple were still there into the evening, with the police and the Fire Chief, just making sure there were no flareups. Those firemen are heroes, no contest!