Hummers, Monarchs and Other Critters

Over the summer season we've had a number of types of critters in the garden.  We've seen birds, butterflies, and a variety of insects - a cricket kept Mrs. F.G. awake half the night last night.  And yes, we've had several mammals, those squirrels, rabbits and chipmunks that occasionally do damage in the garden!

The best pictures of the entire summer might be these two photos of a hummingbird.  Shooting right out the window where I often sit, I just aimed and got the photo.  Unretouched except for some cropping.  I was just very lucky! 

These bright orange sunflowers are Mexican sunflowers, and they provide a bright spark of colour at the front of the house.  The hummingbird seems to visit every flower in the garden, but it kept returning here.

We kept some milkweed in the garden for the Monarchs, and we've had them flitting around for weeks.  But 'flitting' doesn't make for easy photos!

The Monarch too was enjoying the Mexican sunflowers.  In fact, sometimes I watched as the Monarch and hummingbird headed for the same flower!  They didn't come to blows though.

Early in the season, when we hadn't been getting much rain, this young Flicker stopped by for a dustbath.  It threw the dust around and stayed for several minutes enjoying itself.

What struck me were those incredible wing feathers of yellow and brown as it stretched out its wings in the sun.

It kept preening itself for what seemed like ten minutes before flying off.

We often equate the term 'wildlife' with just mammals or birds, but when biologists refer to creating habitat in your garden, they are usually referring to the whole gambit of critters, including insects.  This was the easiest insect photograph for me, a grasshopper sitting on the front sidewalk.

And finally, we have that pesky little chipmunk that has fallen in love with the taste of tomatoes, particularly those large reddish ones that are almost ripe enough to slice and put in a sandwich!  You can imagine what Mrs. F.G. thinks!

Down the Road Through the Swamp

We were searching for the sunflower field, but we're a little late and it was closed.  So we went exploring, and after driving over to Sauble Beach, we found our way back through Hepworth to Shallow Lake.  We turned left there, and headed down through the swamp, just for fun.

Can you see the distant swan in this picture?

Did you note the second big bird, a Great Blue Heron I think.  (The swan is too obvious to miss!)

Past the swamp, we turned down the back road we always take to eventually come out at  Copper Kettle, and found the adjoining fields planted in a crop of oats, an uncommon crop nowadays.

The road closes in on you briefly as you go over a small rise - probably bedrock at the surface, so it was never cleared.

Over the rise and our way was totally blocked by a big grain truck and a large tractor pulling a grain cart.

It's amazing how the grain spews out through the grain cart's auger, filling the truck quickly.

So we sat there in the shade of some big maples and waited.  It's a big grain field they're harvesting.

We could see the combine working away, far to the south.

Soon the farmer pulled the tractor and grain cart off into the field; we waved and were on our way.

Around the Neighbourhood

There are lots of interesting flowers beyond our little garden of course.  Here are some of the ones that have struck me during the various rides I've taken recently.

This is an enormous deep pink Hibiscus on a neighbour's front lawn. The bush has not only survived but flourished!

The individual blooms really are the size of a dinner plate.

Another neighbour has a light blue 

These are huge bright red Zinnias, grown from seed by Mrs. F.G. and bigger than any she saved for our garden!

Another neighbour's lawn features this enormous ornamental grass.

And another this large Hydrangea, nicely blocking the view in her front window.

In a more distant corner of town I know a spot where pink Sweet Pea trail through other greenery, eight along the edge of the road.

This is a big Sugar Maple I'm a little worried about.  It appears healthy all summer long, but then starts turning colour in early August.  This picture was taken a few days ago; it's been turning much more orange already.

And this stump has always been a favourite, but sadly it's beginning to show serious signs of decay.  I won't be surprised to see it removed in the next few years.

More Early Fall Flowers

The garden is looking like a jungle, and all of Mrs. F.G.'s tomatoes, peppers and cukes have been growing like mad.  There is just so much foliage now, and the harvest, especially of tomatoes, is outstanding.  Of course some varieties are better than others, but the best will be chosen and grown again next year.  The three towers have added a vertical dimension to the garden that was never there before.

Nasturtiums have been dominating one of the towers for some time.

The Verbena has spread very well this year; we have lots of it.

One of my favourites is the Fall Anemone, a light pink flower that will go on blooming well into the fall months.  The buds are almost as pretty as the flowers.

A close look shows a very pretty flower, even if one bloom is hiding behind a stem of Verbena.

This is a new one for us, Painted Tongue, but it's adding a variety of colours.

Finally I discovered out front just the other day, a new Morning Glory is blooming out front, having climbed the tall obelisk.  I love the contrast of the blue colour.

 

It's Fall in the Garden

Time to go back to the garden I think.  We're definitely into the fall group of flowers, a group that takes over the beginning of August I think - far too early!  It always seems a little sad to me, with the Day Lilies, Lavender, Crocosmia and Hostas all finished blooming.  We're coming to the final flowers of the summer. 

A lot of them are Echinacea, mostly the original pink variety which has spread so easily in our garden.

But someplace we picked up red and white ones, as well as a few others.

Cosmos are probably the other most common bloom at the moment.  They spread easily and range in colour from white to bright pink.

This must be about the last of the Day Lilies, a very pretty variety.

And this is the lonely single bloom of Cleome.  One of my personal favourites, I'm simply fascinated with the structure of the flower.

Historic Old Homes Part 2

This group of homes is of a similar age, but mostly smaller.  Some were built on the edge of town while others show some particular architectural interest.  The older homes near the edge of town can often be identified by architecture like this, symmetrical front windows and often a sharply peaked roof over the centre door. 

This one has that symmetrical pattern, with a sharp peak in the roof over a small window leading to a porch above the front door.  Note the sharp peak in the upper window and the curved lintels below.

This one has the same symmetrical windows across the front, with a door in the centre.  Just a window upstairs with a small roof overhead.  This is one that looks beautiful in the spring when their daffodils bloom.

Further east on the same street is this home, recently renovated, but retaining its historic features - the tiny balcony on the left, and the tiny window under a sharp peak on the right.  However, this has an asymmetrical pattern with larger windows and roofline on the left.

This appears to be an older house, closer to downtown, and it has that asymmetrical facade.  Still has those sharply peaked rooflines, and some interesting gingerbread trim.

This one is totally different, and the only house for which I've been able to find a name.  It's the Cleland Clarke house.  Described as the 'jewel in the crown of the historic houses of Meaford' (Cathcart in Historic Homes of Grey County), it's described as an outstanding example of Second Empire style.  It retains all its original trim, and has both the square towers and the shallow hipped roof design.  Built in the 1870s by James Cleland.  I wish I'd been able to find this much information about all these houses!

I'm intrigued by this home since I watched it being renovated last year.  It was built in the 1930s so it has art deco design features.  It's recently been for sale, for $1.3 million!

This is a very different, smaller house, in a different part of town.  Sorry for all the wires, but I wanted to include that hydro pole draped in Virginia Creeper.  The house does have an interesting roofline.

But look at the curved stone lintel above a stained glass clerestory window.  This is relatively modern stonework I should add, but very effective in any case.

And thus ends my short series of historic posts on Meaford.  Hope you enjoyed them.

Historic Old Homes

Over the years, before I got interested in the downtown commercial and industrial buildings, I gathered quite a few photos of the interesting old homes in Meaford.  Some of these are magnificent architecturally, while others are smaller but typical of their time.  Unfortunately one thing I have not been able to find is any information about these, built and lived in as private homes.  That doesn't make them any less interesting though.

This is a huge old mansion on Trowbridge Street, a street that seems to have a lot of unique historic homes.  I presume it is slowly being fixed up inside by the new owners.

Just look at the difference from when the house was listed for sale 3 years ago.  Gone is the huge old tree shading the entire front lawn, and gone are the overgrown shrubs at the front of the house.

It leaves the house more exposed, but there's been some new planting, and that stump is now gone.  Architecturally, it's fascinating!  Look at the varied roofline and that huge covered porch!

It's the smaller architectural details that are most interesting.  Look at this tiny second floor porch over the front door, with its own tiny roofline, and an echoing small roofline above that.  A unique house in town indeed.

Further up the street to the west is this unique house with a tower.  I'm fascinated with these round towers on old houses, in this case with the front door, a small second floor balcony, and that unique conical roof!

Going the other direction, closer to downtown, is another big old house with a tower - simpler in this case, all enclosed to the roofline.

This one is really unique, with a very large round front corner rooms on both floors.  Can you call this a tower when the new copper roof is so squat?  The house has been renovated and is gorgeous.  Known as 'Riverside' it sits right beside the Bighead River.

This one, just a block from downtown, has a tiny unique bit of round roofline over a second floor porch.  Above a large front porch is a smaller second floor porch, with a small round roof above.  It's a really unique interesting architectural detail.