Highlights of 2021

It's become a tradition for me to look back over my blog posts for the year and pick out the highlights from each month.  These aren't necessarily the best photos, but they represent highlights of our life together, things we can look back on and be pleased about.

Every year for a while now we have gone in search of Snowy Owls, and we did again last January, driving around the countryside NE of Paisley - successfully I might add.  It was Jan 6th, and I will never forget it because I checked my phone for some reason, probably to check the map, and saw that people were storming the Capitol in Washington.  The world has never been the same!

During the winter I started reading about the Arctic, and I learned a great deal.  I posted about the early explorers, about the search for Franklin's ships, and about the amazing work done by Parks Canada in finding those two ships.  I also learned that local traditional knowledge played a big part in our understanding of that mythical history. 

In reading about the Arctic I also learned about the Arctic communities and all the limitations they face.  The enormous and fast shift from a traditional lifestyle into settled communities is the story of the Arctic over the past 70 years.  Those communities depend heavily on the annual 'sealift' for their year's supplies - of everything!

In March or April we go hunting for Sandhill Cranes, which are among the early birds to arrive back from migration.  This photo is from an earlier year, and later in the season, but Sandhill Cranes searching, in both spring and fall, has become a regular part of our year.

And a little later in the spring I spotted a Fox sitting out on the golf course.  Over the next 5 months or so we watched it (there were actually a pair) come and go, and then appear with a litter of three kits!  It was our most interesting wildlife sighting since moving here.

I can't pick out the highlights without touching on the amazing garden Mrs. F.G has created with her green thumb.  This rich red Clematis is only one of many flowers that bloomed, starting in early spring.

And a little later in the summer all our Day Lilies come into bloom.  This is one I can get really close to, but it's only one of about 15 different varieties.

The patio that Mrs. F.G. spearheaded, designed and planted an entirely new garden around has certainly brought a summertime transformation to my life.  I can ride down there easily and get close to a lot of different plants, watching their growth over the season and taking just as much pleasure in it as does Mrs. F.G.

More highlights tomorrow; meanwhile the house is smelling of turkey today!  (I wrote this on Christmas Day some hours before our turkey dinner!)