Happy First Day of Spring!!

Hope all of you lovelies out there are experiencing spring's bounty. Around here - not so much. But hey, the snow is gone, the days are getting much longer, and I went to the island on the weekend!!!

You know it's still cold because those are arctic ducks swimming around in the lake. But it was still super fun to ride our bikes down and get on the ferry for the trip over to the island to do a bit of work on the boat.

Soon the boat will be right there again. And then the BBQ will get fired up and the sun will be shining!

Of course the real reason I volunteered for boat maintenance was because I wanted to see how my swans were doing. And I swear they recognized my voice!!

Big Daddy Swannee and Mommy Swannee came right over and seem to have sent their teenagers off on their own.

It's so wonderful to see them again! And I'm wondering if they will have another clutch of cygnets this year for us to oooh and aaah over. I can't wait to see if they do!

Fall swans

The fine fellow sent me a lovely photo of Dougie feeding the swans (and the ducks)!!

So glad the gang is all still together and I can't wait to see them when I get back. Just hoping the leaves haven't all fallen. They are so glorious right now!

small swan drama

So I've been learning all kinds of things about swans this summer since I was adopted by big daddy Swanee on my very first visit out to the marina.

Some kinds of swans have white sygnets and some have brown and if one of each becomes a pair they can have a mixed batch of babies and the colour is not related to the sex of the sygnets. But the brown ones in this family are much bigger.

All was well for quite a while after one disappeared a while back. The sygnets are almost grown and have the most beautiful feathers and are learning to fly.

But last weekend something strange was going on. The smallest white one was not with her family. She was still there, but hanging back far away from the rest of the group. Her long neck was tucked back and even though she'd still come up to the boat after the others had moved away she would not eat.

It made me very sad to see her looking so alone and forlorn. I asked the fine fellow what we could do and he said we had to just let nature take its course. I said, we'd take Marcel to the vet, and he said they're not pets. But they are like pets, I love them like pets, they're our swans.

One evening, while we were by the camp fire, she came drifting over all by herself and I went and sat by the edge of the water and just sat there saying to myself "all will be well little swanee, all will be well, please be well".

(he's biting her and chasing her off)

So I was a little afraid at what I would find when I went back a week later. But lookey here - they're all back together! and everybody came for a snack!

I'm so, so glad, and very, very grateful!

blog break

I know I just had a vacation but I think I need to take a little blog break.

Went to see Eat, Pray, Love and wasn't totally annoyed by it, yet it made me want to read the book again to hear Elizabeth Gilbert's voice and not Julia Roberts'. Now I feel the need to do a little more inward looking and a little less outward looking.

I'll be back next week, but can you believe that the tiny little puffs of sygnet from the spring are now almost as big as their mama?

sad day for Swanee

Please count the babies in the photo.

There is one missing.

Earlier in the day, I noticed that Swanees big wing feathers looked like someone had taken thinning shears to them.

I didn't understand why until the whole family came for a visit later in the day.

Well, almost the whole family; a little white one is missing.

The fine fellow thinks perhaps a mink came looking for a meal and Swanee fought him off.

They have worked very hard for these babies, and they are the only ones we've seen all summer. Please Swanee, keep the rest safe.

not ugly ducklings

Remember the photos of the little-tiny handfulls of cygnets I showed you last month? Well here's how Swanee's five little babies are growing.

They are still very, very cute, but growing so quickly!

They all do this very funny thing where they float around with one foot out of the water and it makes them look a bit lop-sided. Sometimes they even swim with only one little webbed tootsie.

The fine fellow thinks it's because their feet get cold. Maybe they need some socks?

It's kinda hard to believe that this little sweetie will eventually look like this.

things I did for my b-day - part 1

I spent a lovely day on the boat on the island with the fine fellow,

and fed Swanee, his lady love and their adorable 5 little cygnets!!

I just wanted to scoop them up and pet them!!

Island fauna

I spent the weekend on the Toronto Island on the fine fellow's boat.

(view from the boat)

It's just a short bike ride and ferry ride away but it feels very far from the city, and it was amazing to be on the water and surrounded by all the spring flora and fauna. We spent quite a bit of our time admiring nature and feeding the animals.

Penny the cat came over for a bit of scratching,

and Swanee came right up behind me as I was basking on the dock hissing like the dinosaur he is and insisting on being fed. So I gave him some bread and he also tried to snack on my fingers! Turns out swan bites don't hurt cause they are vegetarians but they can break your arm with their wings if you don't fork over some food.

(this is not a close-up)

The peacocks were feeling pretty lazy perhaps because it was cool on Sunday and they let me get very close to them. Look at that peacock blue!

(neither is this)

The donkeys were very interested in the celery, as were the goats, but then goats will eat anything.

The Shetland ponies are so cute and I can't wait until the gondola is running, the log ride is splashing, and the water is warm enough for swimming.

But I did find the first lilac of spring and it was all a little bit of heaven!