More Morin Music, this Sunday

JOYFUL NOISE CONCERT

with

The Morin Heights Elementary School Choir

bring you Joy

SUNDAY

JUNE 3rd, 2018

@ 3pm

United Church, 831. chemin du Village

Morin-Heights, QC

Thespians Sought

WANTED!

Theatre Morin Heights is looking for actors!

Rekindle a passion of step on stage for the first time.

Your audience awaits!!

REWARD

Laughter, camaraderie, good friends 

and a sense of giving back to the community.

Contact Theatre Morin Heights at:

579 765 3999

or

theatremorinheights@gmail.com


www.theatremorinheights.ca

Live at the Legion!

This Saturday, June 2, The Keepers will be playing live at the Morin Heights Legion, 127 Watchorn, starting at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $10 at the door.

Poor Frantic Phoebe

We had a pair of eastern phoebes who made a very poor choice when they decided to nest on the sill above our kitchen window.

In part, this was because the kitchen window overlooks the path we use multiple times a day to go to and from the house. Very nerve-wracking for small nesting birds.

More of a problem for Mr. Phoebe was the alarming number of Other Males Phoebes (OMPs) who appeared all around the house and at our cars. They were, of course, his own reflection in windows and side mirrors. We watched one day as he had a total meltdown trying to eliminate the upstart in the RAV's mirror. He would plaster himself to the house windows, clinging to the screens, tail spread, fury radiating from every pore.

I hung a mobile outside one of our picture windows to discourage any bird, phoebe or other, from splattering him or herself on the glass. Our phoebe found it (the mobile) a splendid perch for surveillance of the threatening OSP that lived in that window.

Guests would be awoken at 5:30 a.m. by our frantic phoebe's attacking their window. He got called epithets.

I started pondering the meaning of "bird brain".

Willie offered to remove the nest but I refused. They were here first, I said.

I saw the female sitting on her nest and I tried to stay away. One alarmed phoebe is plenty.

I don't know if we were too much or if she had to take her gentleman for therapy, but they've gone. Two days ago, the tempest of phoebe fury vanished. Our screens are serene. All we're left with is the poop under the mobile and on the car, and an empty nest.

Firewood Fire Sale

Back when we were building our house, quite a few trees fell by the wayside. With simple Scots frugality, Willie bucked and split them for future use in our woodstove. Except, we got a propane stove. The wood has been neatly stacked (until some of it fell this week) in a dry, protected spot behind the garage.

We are willing (gasping) to part with it. The price is: you come get it.

Since it is behind the garage, a few helpers might be a good idea, to pass it to the front and your trailer or pickup or whatever.

Give us a call at 5106 if you've any interest.

Invasive aquatic plants

CRE Laurentides wants to remind us, once again, of the steps we need to take to prevent the arrival and propagation of nasty invasive plant species in our lake. They can wipe out local, indigenous species and cover the lake edge with meters of their splodgy selves. Best avoided.

At each entrance gate, we have a black-and-white poster with a red band across it, outlining ways we can protect our lake. I suggest everyone take another look at it. It's been there so long, is may have become slightly invisible (I know I barely notice ours).

Below is the poster put out by CRE Laurentides last year. I posted it last fall and...here it is again! As with the one at the gate, I suggest you take a gander at this one, too. Spread the word to guests, as well.

If You Go Down to the Woods Today...

...beware of a big surprise.

Well, it's not every bear that ever there was, but a group of five bears has been seen by our hunter/guardians on Lake Anne land near Rainbow River. Unusually, they are hanging out together. Normally, bears are pretty solitary critters.

The main thing to keep in mind is that bears are best avoided. They can be dangerous if surprised or if you come between a mother and her cubs. They don't like us much and would rather not meet with us, so making enough noise as you go will often be enough to send them scuttling before you ever get close. Bells can be useful noisemakers.

Please, be careful and keep you dogs on a leash if you are walking in that area.

The Snowbirds are Back

Spring has sprung and we're back in the saddle, at the Lake, watching geese come and go, flickers probe the land, and phoebes go mad (about which, more in a later post).

The ice finally went out on May 8/9, making it pretty late compared to recent years. There was a lot of rain which, contrary to popular belief, doesn't really help the snow go, so there was still a great deal of that lying about when we returned on April 26. The great snow melters are warmth and wind, and these arrived at last. The snow is finally departed. However, that sodden snowpack was, on balance, a good thing as there wasn't a huge amount of sudden, urgent runoff and the water percolated into the ground rather than rushing overland into the lake. This makes our water table very happy.

The loons are back and vocal, particularly around 3:30 a.m. Thanks, loons.

A lovely male goldeneye duck appeared off our dock one day, before the ice went, presumably on its way to more northerly parts. What an attractive bird it is.

The geese are tailing off in their migration north. The last few skeins have pretty much gone.

So, blog is back, we are back, here comes Spring/Summer 2018.