Simple living

Flying Easter Eggs!

We did not have any rabbits who showed up on Easter Sunday morning.  There was not even a tiny egg hidden, but there were a lot of visiting woodpeckers.  My husband and I sat outside in the sun reading and watching the woodpeckers flying around.  There are a ton of tiny downy woodpeckers around THO.  They are so cute flitting up and down the trees looking for insects.  They are quiet too, so if you don’t keep your eyes open you miss them.  We also have at least one hairy woodpecker he is a lot noisier than his tiny cousin.  Both the flap of his wings and the hammering of his beak on the trees is loud.  They are quite similar in appearance. both are specked and showy with a little red on the back of their heads, but the the size difference between them  makes them easy to distinguish.

My sister has a pileated woodpecker who lives near their place.  Unfortunately, I have never caught a glimpse of it, though she says it is a frequent visitor.  They are very noisy birds!  I saw one only once before and hope that a least one will come to join me in the forest this year.

downy woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

On another quizzical note.  When we arrived on Friday there was a wild animal at THO.  I do not know what it was.  I did not see it too closely because it ran when we pulled the car in.  It was the size, colour and shape of a fisher, but it appeared to have softer fur similar to a cat.  It also had a bobbed tail with a spot of white on the end.  This is not an April fools thing if you are wondering.  I really would like to know what it was.  ANYONE?

Categories: Forest, Nature, Off Grid, Ontario, Open your eyes, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario, View | 6 Comments

I Will Huff and Puff… and Sneak About

Speaking of things that lurk in the forest, it looks like we had a visitor in the night.  Actually I think that there were four or perhaps five of them.  It is hard to guess because the footprints are all mixed up.  They were travelling East.  This visitor left paw prints as big as the palm of my hand.  I think he must be a very big boy!

Can you believe that I never heard a peep or a howl.  Incredible since they were very close to THO, the snow is so crunchy and I sleep with my head next to the open window.

I wish I would have seen them!

Big paw prints

Categories: Forest, Nature, Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | Tags: , , , | 6 Comments

Splurge on Illumination

Beware the ides of March!

Out in the forest there are a lot of things that go bump in the night.  I love this about THO!  Being so close to nature is brilliant.  Even so, I have been very nervous about letting my dogs out after dark.  In 2011 our poor little handicapped Phyllis (who died in 2012) had a very close call with a fisher even though I was just a foot away from her.  If you have never heard one here is a little video.  Imagine how scary is was to have that thing screaming outside your house for hours after scooping up a little dog and bringing her in to safety; bloodcurdling!  The creature was mighty mad that it missed the poodle meal!  Despite what the ladies in the video said, it is my experience that these fishers seem to have little fear of humans, I hear them outside very frequently.   This is why I only bring out the dogs individually on a short leash after dark if they ABSOLUTELY have to go.

I purchased a powerful but costly little 12 volt spotlight last year when I was getting the wiring for the house but at the time I did not have a ladder to get up there. Now that it is warm enough and I have a ladder, I got the light into place.  I wish I had the sort of camera that worked well in night conditions so that I could show you how bright the candle is for this little light, but since I don’t I will estimate that it is similar in brightness to a 200 watt bulb.

Poop Garden spot light

It looks terrific and is bright!  In fact, the dog garden lights up like a ball field.  Obviously, I don’t want to light pollute at THO and keep away the fireflies and other wild wonders, but it is great to be able to get the dogs out and feel safely able to see what is out there.  This said, I won’t use it except to let the dogs out and also to help people see to get to their vehicle at night.  Despite the $100 cost it is a very nice safety feature to have.

Categories: Dogs, Forest, Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | Tags: , , , | 10 Comments

Snowshoes

It is great to get out on a sunny afternoon and snowshoe!  Yesterday, my husband and I strapped up and headed out.

There are lots of tracks out there in the forest.  The little arrows of wild turkeys, our own tracks, coyote/wolf/dog tracks, the little tracks that look like human babies but are really racoons and another long fingered critter perhaps the dreaded fisher.  On our walk about we also found a few holes which may belong to weasels.  Sadly too, it looks like one of our paper wasp colonies died this winter.  Their entire hive was shredded and opened.

What in life could be better than having your own little place and some land to walk on?

Categories: Forest, Nature, Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

Drips

Arrived safe at THO.  It was only minus 1 degree celsius in the house.  I started the heater and emptied the car while Hj shovelled up near the doorway and the gate.  I am grateful to my cousin Kenny who keeps me ploughed out.  I have been able to drive right up to the house so far any time I have come and today was no exception.  The snow banks are about half the size of the house… which isn’t saying too much… tee hee…

As soon as these few little tasks were accomplished, we tapped the maple trees.  They are dripping now into the buckets.  All feels right in the world!

Snow and buckets

Categories: Forest, Nature, Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Sustainable living, Tiny House Ontario, View | Tags: | 6 Comments