the birds and the beavers

We continue to have a cooler than average summer here even as most of our family and old friends swelter in the states. We even got a rockin’ one millimeter (one 25th of an inch) of rain yesterday. It’s been lovely weather for our outdoor projects. I’m emptying some junk from one of the bays of our firewood shed to stretch our winter supply. Jude and I will soon try out our new electric splitter.

Our dogs Katoo and Tooka are reveling in the season. There are plenty of garter snakes to chase and ample visitors to the nearby Lucky Jim Mine to charm. We met a lovely young couple from Victoria there yesterday when we were walking the kids. In the evenings they bark at length at the beaver couple swimming in the pond near the house. (I call it Pond Near so I can call the other one Pond Far for a cheap Star Trek joke.)

The real stars of the summer, though, are the barn swallows who are nesting on the eaves of the house. One of their three nests is close to the back deck. When I recently got close to it, one of the parents alerted the other adults and all six of them created a defensive flight pattern. One of them would swoop just past my head and cuss me out.

Yesterday I counted nine or ten of them, so I’m guessing the fledging chicks have earned their wings, so to speak.