The Phoebe nest in the barn has a vacancy sign on it. These little guys fledged a few days ago and now it's pretty quiet out back -- their mama is no longer yelling at them, urging them to get going.
Meanwhile, there are bigger things flying around in Mississauga. 
My friend Ron sent me these amazing photos taken from his office.
The windows have reflective glass so the Red-Tailed Hawks can't see you on the other side.
Amazing to be so close to these regal birds. Thanks for the photos Ron!
On Saturday I helped organize the annual book sale for the Glengarry Pioneer Museum, which was to be our last and to go out with a bang. Music! Beer! Books!
We had big plans and thousands of books.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't get an invitation to the party so she rained on our parade.
But book buyers are a tough bunch and a little rain wasn't going to stop them from getting a good bargain.
My friend Julie and her daughter Shauna came prepared with a large umbrella.
Some of our musicians braved the rain until a huge thunderstorm rolled in and everyone ran for cover.
Meanwhile, others stayed dry in the old Greenfield Hall where there was more reading material offered.
At the front door, Flora and her helper Barbara were selling Flora's homemade pies for $2 a slice. (I had a slab of butterscotch pie --yum-o!)
When we got home, to put up our tired feet, another storm rolled in but this time it hailed like crazy!
I froze a bag of this amazing hail to put in our drinks on some hot night.
The better part of the folowing day was spent in Richard's gazebo drinking mojitos. And yes, it was a lovely, partly cloudy, but mostly sunny, DRY day, darn it!
I love looking at cakes. I just can't help myself. There is a terrific cake display at one of our local grocery stores and I decided to photograph it. (But blue roses...honestly, yuck!)
They had a fun set of Canada Day cupcakes covered with maple leaf shaped candy confetti. When asked, the confetti was unavailable for sale; I guess they want you to buy the cupcakes.
Many places don't like you shooting their cakes, thinking that you're working for the "other guy" and taking away trade secrets. (I generally ask permission at most bakeries, by the way, but that particluar day it just seemed too complicated. And I didn't want the gal to have to call the manager and all that...)
So there I was with my mini-camera, crouching down and shooting these when the lady behind the counter says, "Can I help you?"
Richard took off to the bread aisle, fearing the lights dimming and a spotlight shining on me, the culprit. 
Instead I stood up and said I was just looking. She turned away and I continued on my important mission.
To show my blog readers as many cakes as possible. Wherever and whenever. Cake spy...that's me. 
I've been painting quite a lot lately, trying to get ready for some fall shows I have lined up.
It seems odd to be painting like a fiend when fall seems so far away.
But we all know how fast the seasons seem to creep up on us.
So paint, paint, paint for me.
I love this large cheese server, about 14" across, made as a request for a friend who wanted something that looked like the aftermath of a great party. Cheese crumbs.
My chipmunk feeder has had a new visitor lately.
A blue jay has discovered it and feeds from it regularly.
When Richard and I are throwing peanuts to the chippies, Mr. Blue Jay is there and grabs the peanuts from them. To see a great photo of that jay, go to Richard's blog.
Okay, so the healthy, grilled fish of Sunday night's supper was brought on by the bad, bad, bad-for-you-lunch we shared that day. A medium poutine at the local greasy spoon.
But there was some nostaliga to the whole thing. Herb's Travel Plaza and Restaurant, right off Highway 417 (at the Vankleek Hill exit), was the place Richard and I had our first date over five years ago. And we shared our poutine at a picnic table in the warm sun. How romantic is that?
Richard and I had stayed inside during a rainy Saturday and watched cooking shows on TV. One of them featured a grilled rainbow trout. So we thought, "Why don't we try that?"
We decided to stuff it with garlic scapes...
...the curly, green fronds that grow from the top of a garlic plants.
We also wanted it to be full of parsley and lemony flavours.
So we stuffed the sucker with those three things.
I tied it up, thinking we'd lose some ingredients in the barbecue...
...but cleverly, Richard bought a fish cage, so it didn't need the twine. 
The first line of copy on the fishy cage-thing said, "Use our hinged fish-shaped basket on your grill and avoid the inevitable fish-turning disaster."
And it delivered the goods. No fish-turning disaster for us.
Within 12 minutes, Mr. Fish was cooked and ready to eat.
I also made a red potato mash (with milk, butter and parsley) and a sort of puttanesca tomato sauce by simmering onions, garlic, diced ripe tomatoes, capers and olives and cooked them for about as long as the fish took to grill.
Mrs. Chicken, an acrylic on wood painting I did last winter, was chosen to illustrate an entry of an intriguing website called Nature Works. At its helm is Doug Subbiondo, a gardener, landscaper and personal vegan chef. To see more click here.
Richard and I picked strawberries at a pick-your-own spot about 15 km west of here.
Pretty easy to spot a ripe one.
Richard is an old pro at it.
The sun seemed to be spotlighting the ripest berries.
Time to take 'em home and make strawberry shortcake.
