SUMMER SKUNKS

We call her "Fluffy".  Taken Sept. 26th, 2015

Skunks have been pretty regular visitors to the yard this summer. We usually see them in the early morning or at dusk. Two have been seen pretty regularly, but last night we had 3! We're pretty sure the one pictured above is "Fluffy", a regular visitor from last year. A skunk's life span is only 1-3 years due to their terrible eye sight, they can only see about 2 feet in front of them, and are often run over by cars.

We enjoy seeing them in the yard and watching them. We had one walk right by us as we sat at the picnic table one night. We could of reached out and patted it, it was that close, but we remained still as statues and didn't say a word until it was a safe distance away.

We don't see them much in the winter, as they prefer to spend more time in their dens, so we are taking advantage of the many sightings now, and Rob has taken advantage of the many photo ops of them in the garden. To read more about them and see some pictures Rob has taken please check out one of his recent blogs by clicking HERE.

Enjoying the garden, Sept. 6th 2015.

BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES

Happy Birthday Rob! 

Lots of celebrating happening at the Mueller household this week!

Rob celebrated his 46^th birthday on Tuesday. We both took the day off to celebrate.

We did a little birding, went for a nice dinner and just enjoyed being together and not at work.

Yesterday marked 8 years of Misfit entering our home. She has such a unique story, she lived in our backyard all summer until Rob captured her and brought her in, she escaped the house on her 1^st anniversary with us, and then she had a huge health issue a couple years back. So, her still being with us and adding what she does to our home is a blessing. You can read more about her by clicking here.

Happy birthday to Rob and happy anniversary to Misfit!

Merry checks out Rob's new birthday Whisky.

Molly had to check it out too!

We always try anything new by doing shots.

Trying to get some birthday kitty cuddles. 

Happy Anniversary Misfit!

Love this picture Rob took of us at the vet a few years back.

LABOUR DAY - WEEKEND FAN EXPO

A normal sighting at Fan Expo.

Fan Expo was a bit of a mess for me this year. I had originally purchased a ticket to attend the “Hogwarts Reunion” featuring a Q & A with four of the Harry Potter stars; Bonnie Wright (Ginny), Tom Felton (Draco) and the Phelps twins (Fred & George). This was a special event taking place on the Friday night and required a separate ticket, but I still needed to purchase a ticket to get in on Friday, so I bought that too. Then a couple of the stars had to cancel because they couldn’t attend , Bonnie and Tom, so the event got cancelled. My special event ticket got refunded, but not my Friday admission.

Then just a couple days before the weekend they rescheduled the Hogwarts Reunion to Saturday night, because Tom Felton could come after all, and Rupert Grint (Ron) was coming too!! Unfortunately for me this day didn’t work, and I really didn’t want to spend another $50 on another daily admission. One year I will get my act together and do Fan Expo weekend like my friend Vitra, I think she has the weekend down to a science and plans her weekend very well, attending lots of the free Q & A’s with some celebrities from her favorite TV shows and movies.

Still, I had a ticket for Friday, and Friday afternoon I went for a couple hours with my friend Pat. Pat had never been before so just seeing the cosplayers was huge fun. For me too, it’s actually my favorite part. I love all the people who dress up and admire the work, time and effort that goes into some of the costumes. I had “Harry Potter" radar going on, and was rewarded with a few sightings.

My fingers are crossed they do another Hogwarts Reunion next year.  I was so upset I didn't get to see/meet Rupert Grint (Ron) who happens to be favorite character in the movies/books, Rob watched not 1, but 2 Harry Potter movies with me over the weekend!    

The Singing Monsters

Hermione!!! She looked great, even had the earrings from the Yule Ball.

I kinda freaked out when I saw the actors from the movie. 

It really is Tom Felton! (Draco)

Pat and I played with some Minion toys. 

Pic of a pic, so very blurry. The whole thing was made out of Lego. It was incredible! 

This was truly amazing.

And then Velma came to life!!! (I love cosplayers)

Life size Loki cut-out.

Moaning Myrtle was awesome!!! Great idea for a costume.

Spider-man  needed a rest, Fan Expo is hard work.

Ran into these guys as we were leaving and they graciously stopped for a photo-op. 

BACK WHERE THEY BELONG

This picture captures the joy of releasing birds back to the wild better than any words.

Rob has been a volunteer driver for the Toronto Wildlife Centre for a while now. I don't often get to join him on pick-ups or releases because of our working different shifts, so it's a treat when we can do it together. 

An email went out to the volunteer list this past Saturday morning and we decided if they still needed someone we would do it. Rob picked up 8 orphaned Mallard ducks that were ready to return to the water, and also 3 warblers and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird that had had run-ins with downtown windows a few days before. Thankfully there are organizations like FLAP to help these songbirds, and the Toronto Wildlife Centre to care for them.

It is very rare for a hummingbird to survive a window strike, it was an honour to release him back to the wild to continue his journey.

Rob released the 3 warblers first, and they were gone like a shot! They perched in trees for a few minutes in our sight and then were off hunting bugs to eat to gain their strength for their migration. Rob let me release the hummingbird. So tiny he was, and in such a neat set up in the box with food. Then we both released all the ducks, opening the two enclosures at the same time. We backed up away from the carriers to give them space, but stayed close enough in case we had to corral them back towards the water. One by one, out they came, staying close together. It was such a great feeling to see them go into the water!

Rob releasing one of the warblers. Click on the photo to enlarge, you can see the bird.

Uncovering the hummingbird.

There he goes!

Getting himself situated.

Checking out his surroundings before he continues on his journey.

Cautious at first.

Making their way slowly to the water.

They took to it like ducks to water!

There really are no words to describe how amazing and rewarding it was to release these birds.