Friday, July 26, 2019

Cabin Journal: Beds, Bugs and Birds

Carrots are gone and the beds are ready for planting.
Float cabin living has lots of outdoor activities. Garden beds need to be cleaned out and replanted. Bugs (and all sorts of insects) come out. Birds return to nest.

June 4, 2019

Before we unloaded the boat after a trip to the States, we did a quick walk around the cabin deck. I could tell from a distance that the carrots in the floating garden had gone to seed in our absence and had three foot stems with white flowers on top. They wouldn't be good to eat, but were pretty in their own way. My garlic was about a foot tall and volunteer arugula was flowering bright yellow. There wasn't time to attend to gardening chores that night, everything could wait one more day.



June 4, 2019

The next thing I noticed was a Yellow Jacket paper nest beginning under the eaves near the kitchen window. That would need immediate attention after dark when they are at rest. I checked another favourite nesting spot under the overhang on Gemini's windshield. Sure enough, another nest. We got home just in the nick of time for both. Wayne shot them with wasp spray then knocked the nests into the water for good measure!


June 6, 2019

Barn swallows come to nest every year. We enjoy their company, but when they try to nest under the front porch we have to shoo them away. We've tried several ways to deter them. This year I swept down the nest beginnings and put a broom in its place. I had to keep sweeping and moving brooms until the swallows took the hint and found a better spot.


Coming home is always exciting, especially because we never know what we might find. -- Margy

37 comments:

  1. Heehee...your pictures are lovely! <3

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    1. Welcome back for my real PPF post. - Margy

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  2. Your illustrations are just delightful!!

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    1. Thanks. That's a huge compliment from someone as talented as you are. I loved your alphabet card illustrations. - Margy

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    2. You are so sweet!! Thank you for visiting my blog!

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  3. Float cabin living sounds like fun! And I like your artwork!!

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    1. Glad you came by and commented this week. I always love reading your posts about hiking in the California deserts. Helps me remember my home state. - Margy

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  4. Your sketches and yarns are delightful Margy.
    Cabin living on the water must be fun at times :D) Happy PPF!

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    1. It is a fun way to live, but today there's lots of wind. That makes us move back and forth a lot. Fortunately our steel cables to shore keep us safe. - Margy

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  5. Love your art journaling. Those yellow jackets sound nasty, glad you got rid of them. Birds are pretty, but nesting too close is not always the best idea! Have a great weekend, happy PPF, hugs, Valerie

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    1. Guess our critters can be good and bad at the same time. I enjoyed your multi-media picture this week for PPF. - Margy

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  6. Your drawings are delightful. Happy planting
    Thanks for dropping by my blog

    Much🖼love

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  7. Lovely drawings
    Have a heartwarming en splendid ABC-Wednes-day / -week
    M e l o d y (team ABC-W)
    https://melodyk.nl/25-C

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    1. Thanks Melody for all you do to keep ABC Wednesday going year after year. - Margy

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  8. Lovely journal pages ~ delightful ^_^ ~ wonderful place to live!
    ps. how are your frogs coming along???

    Happy Day to You,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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    1. My someday to be frog rocks are sitting on the porch table where I can see them from my spot on the couch. It isn't like I can ignore them, but I do. We've been busy out in the boat this summer, so that's my current excuse. - Margy

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  9. Hello, your drawings are wonderful. I love the birds. I hope you can take care around that Yellow Jacket nest. Your plants sound like they are all doing well. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend! PS, thank you for visiting and commenting on my blog.

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    1. Love your bird and critter pictures each week. Thanks for stopping by to comment and even sending an email. - Margy

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  10. Love the cabin journal - such a great idea

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    1. Thanks. Do you keep journals with all your travels? - Margy

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  11. What a wonderful place. Your art reflects the beauty.

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    1. I try. Some things are easier to capture than others. - Margy

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  12. It was so fun to read your cabin journal! Your life isn't dull!!!!!

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    1. We are enjoying our retirement. So much to do. Glad I don't have to work in a job any more. - Margy

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  13. OMG I love the style of real life writing, and drawings. Illustrations. I admire them, they catch the story in an image. Carrots gone wild, so funny! Now I see dancing carrots swinging their bras over their heads! LeeAnna at not afraid of color

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    1. I can see it now, a picture worm in my brain. - Margy

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  14. Your illustrations are adorable, Margy. I like that color green in your second piece. And your title Carrots Gone Wild cracks me up! Are you using inks and water colors?

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    1. Yes. I use archival ink pens that don't run and then watercolour pencils that are easy to carry around. - Margy

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  15. Hi! Your cabin journal articles are very fun. The swallow article is the most interesting for me. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Adding the illustrations has made my journaling more lengthy. I keep up with the writing, but the pictures sometimes get backlogged. - Margy

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  16. Glad you took care of the yellow jackets! I love your sketches. You are so talented!

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    1. Thanks. We get yellow jackets every year. Fortunately, after this initial group, the numbers have been low. They make eating outdoors difficult at times. - Margy

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  17. Gardens always take a toll during travelling. I have never though of carrots having flowers :D Your nature journalling is so wonderful. Love the paintings!

    -Soma

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    1. It has been a nice summer without worrying about the garden. Not sure what will happen next year. I just might to a repeat of this one with only a few things that don't need a lot of water. - Margy

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  18. Dear Margy! I say: Wow. It's the nature, on the one side and of course the Quads. Because I know the spezial feeling on the road. By the way, we drive a Honda Goldwing 1800...

    ...have a good week!

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    1. At first I tried a small dirt bike but couldn't get the knack of shifting. - Margy

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We welcome your comments and questions. - Wayne and Margy