Lately

Here are some beauty shots from the end of summer.

These water flowers are growing wild in the dugout:

Big Kylie loves to wade around in the pond to cool off.

Here are some of the babies from this spring with their moms. It's comical to watch them play on the hills.

A few weeks ago I went to the Ellis Bird Farm, which is a beautiful bird sanctuary near Lacombe, Alberta. It's definitely worth a visit if you love being out in a beautiful park full of birds, gardens and ponds.  The day we were there they seemed to be setting up for a private function on the lawn by the old barns.

They have a teahouse in the old farmhouse,

 and a good interpretative center that highlights the species of birds, bats, and other creatures you might encounter.  It has some butterfly gardens by the doors.

This beaver is helping keep the ponds full and has his home near a bridge at the Farm.

This little fellow was friendly and curious.

I made this birdhouse for my sister's birthday. It's called "the Victorian Gardener". It has four nestboxes for swallows, but we'll see who nests there, since my sister lives in the city where there are few swallows. I built it from reclaimed plywood and iron and cedar barnboards.

A goshawk was perched on my back fence. We have many species of raptor here this year. Goshawks are not as common as red-tailed hawks or bald eagles, it was definitely the first picture I've taken of a goshawk at my farm.