What's It All About, eh?

Cape Breton evokes deep memories and strong emotions for me as well as a deep appreciation for the beauty of my adopted island. My hopes are that you too might find the photos evocative - maybe a view you've not enjoyed before, or an 'Oh I've been there', or if from away that you may be encouraged to visit this fair isle so that you might come to love and breathe Cape Breton as I do. One word about place names that I use - some are completely local usage while others are from maps of Cape Breton that I've purchased over the years. I frequently post travel and other photos that are of interest to me - and hopefully you.

On the right hand side bar find my take on Single Malt whiskey - from how to best enjoy this noble drink to reviews (in a most non-professional manner) of ones that I have tried and liked - or not. Also musings, mine and others, on life in general.

Photographs are roughly 98%+ my own and copy-righted. For the occasional photo that is borrowed, credit is given where possible - recently I have started posting unusual net photographs that seem unique. Feel free to borrow any of my photos for non-commercial use, otherwise contact me. Starting late in 2013 I have tried to be consistent in identifying my photographs using ©smck on all out of camera photos I personally captured - (I often do minor computer changes such as 'crop' or 'shadow' etc but usually nothing major), and using
©norvellhimself on all photos that I have played around with in case it might not be obvious. Lately I have dropped the ©smck and have watermarked them with the blog name.

COMMENTS are appreciated as feedback is the driving energy of blogging - And if you like this site please pass it along to a friend. Thanks!

NOTE: TO ENLARGE PHOTO, CLICK ON SAME - If using Firefox also click f11 - photos will fill the screen ...... ----------------------------------- ......TRANSLATION BUTTON AT TOP OF LEFT COLUMN!

Sun On Marsh - near Colum's last home


Underfoot


The Moon Last Night - Sunday 30 July


Northern Red Squirrel



The American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) is one of three species of tree squirrel currently classified in the genus Tamiasciurus, known as the pine squirrels (the others are the Douglas squirrel, T. douglasii, and Mearns's squirrel, T. mearnsi). American red squirrels are also referred to as pine squirrels, North American red squirrels, boomers,[3] and chickarees. They are medium-sized (200–250 g) diurnal mammals that defend a year-round exclusive territory. The diet of these tree squirrels is specialized on the seeds of conifer cones. As such, they are widely distributed across North America wherever conifers are common, except on the Pacific coast, where they are replaced by Douglas squirrels. Recently, American red squirrels have been expanding their range to include primarily hardwood areas.[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_red_squirrel 

Dead White Pine


several of the white pines that I planted a few years ago have succumbed to a disease that I suspect to be because of nearby gooseberry bushes - White Pine Blister Rust 

After The Shade Upgrade



the two spring hives are in full swing at mid summer and these two 'landing' photographs show two healthy hives with loads of bees coming and going BUT not 'bearding' the outside of the hive to escape the over heated air within - the shades worked great!!!


Slug Patrol


no photographs with this post (yet) but for this little off-beat post I am just commenting on doing the 'Slug Patrol' - i.e. this is the time of year that slugs - "common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc" - a common night crawler, are becoming prolific and one can scarcely walk onto the porch at night without squashing one or more.  So with a square of paste-board and an ash shovel from the winter I did a quick patrol of the porch support walls and collected perhaps 30 odd slugs or so ranging in size from less than an inch long to one great seven inch long by a girth of perhaps close to three inches - imagine stepping on that in the dark in one's bare feet, uggg - which I then trans-located several hundreds of feet deep into the wood - we should be porch free of slugs for a while.



The Green Beetle


haven't  identified this bug yet but he/she is gorgeous - perhaps 3/4 inch long (say 2 cm)

when I was a kid there was a great comic strip called 'The Green Hornet' which this guy brought to mind

 

Bee Shade










small blocks of wood hold the square of plywood high enough for nice ventilation on the hive lid and  for a good part of the day the upper two tiers are also shaded - happier bees



Hot Weather Hard On The Bees


with the temperature in the high 90s (deg Fahrenheit - deg Cel @ 37) in the shade and our bees exposed to direct sun, we decided to provide a little shade 

(been very busy lately and fewer chances to take photographs and probably for the next few days it might be the same)