Monday 4 June 2007

Monday Mission - Travel Guide



Spring and Summer in Eastern Ontario - Ten Best Locations

The G Estate

Location

Arriving from Florida via Point Pelee, this portion of Ontario can be accessed by following the lakeshore, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario north shore and the Rideau Canal System. Follow the Tay River to Perth, pick up the Mississippi and then the Clyde and fly west and south from the junction of the east and west forks of this river.

Amenities

This estate has four acres of mowed grass, with a centre of bedrock protrusion that makes a fine vantage point in the early morning and evening. A fine selection of hardwoods surrounds the open area, with red and sugar maple predominating. The owners fertilize and care for the grass; in fact we are told that this spring JG is topdressing the portion of lawn in front of the house. Please be advised that latecomers may find the best trees taken early and overflow accommodation is not to everyone's taste, so arrive early if possible. Nest building on the light fixtures, regrettably, is not allowed.

A garden bench and concrete turtle provide fine daytime perches, and the house is surrounded by fair sized trees, excellent locations for lawn surveillance. The estate has no cats, but the occasional red shinned hawk skimming through is a real danger. Fortunately, the hawks seem to favour the location of the bird feeders, and the smaller lawns are always quite safe.

Shopping

The owners tend to leave string and other detritus from gardening in easily accessed locations. The occasional piece of tinsel from the Christmas tree may also be available. Longer grass on the edge of the mowed portion is abundant and there is a pond area adjacent which provides excellent mud. Deer hair is also found in some locations.

Dining

Excellent bug hunting and fair to adequate worming is available throughout the site. The top dressed section provides a gourmet worm experience, but its proximity to the bird feeders makes hawk vigilance a priority. The adjacent woodland is heavily infested with forest tent caterpillars in most years; this delicacy cannot be overrated. Unfortunately the owners destroy webworms, however, so robins in search of this treat will have to venture farther afield.

Entertainment

Red breasted Grosbeak performances are available regularly as are American goldfinch choruses. Dragonfly ballet in the afternoons centres on the rock protrusion. Comedy turns are provided by the owners of the estate during blackfly season.

12 comments:

  1. This is inspired!

    It makes me want to fly on over to The G Estate, set myself up in a nice red maple and start hunting for some tent caterpillars.

    And the last line: brilliant.

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  2. I love the Monday Missions for how surprising & creative all the entries are. This is wonderful, Mary.

    Also, nice photo! I can't believe those are your lilacs. *sigh*

    Lastly -- you are the very first person to give me a virtual hug. Thank you. I am pms'ing at the moment and I really needed it!

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  3. Argh, this is inspired. We have a robin's nest over the posrch light on our back deck. Sunday morning the baby robin was hatched. I've been trying to figure out how to blog the story and here you've gone and scooped me. I should've known that there was gold in travel writing.

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  4. Makes me want to get all feather and worm hungry!

    Love it!

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  5. The mental image conjured by the last line of this post made me laugh out loud! But even without such outstanding entertainment, I would definitely pick "The G Estate."

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  6. Wow.. what a writer you are!

    First time visit here. It was very pleasant!


    Peace,

    ~Chani

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  7. Thanks a lot! I was rather taken with the idea when it finally popped into my brain after a weekend of fumbling. (Can't let Jennifer down, but that's no good. Nor that.) I'm so glad you like it too.

    We are overrun with robins. They love it here. At present we have a nest on top of the mast where the electricity wires go into the house (overflow accommodation), and I can't wait for the wretched chicks to fletch so that I can take the hose to it. Fried baby robin, mmm. And no frying on the useless stove. Worry, worry.

    I had designed a cover for the tour book, but Blogger won't let me post it. Don't know why, snarl. Other .bmps of equal size have been fine.

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  8. Hah! An OS/2 bitmap works, with the colour somewhat changed, but hey, it's there.

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  9. So clever!

    I know I look for "fair to adequate worming" whenever I make MY travel arrangements.

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  10. Ditto B&P - "fair to adequate worming" is critical!

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  11. "Longer grass on the edge of the mowed portion is abundant..." Oh, can I relate! This is a great "entry" -- I'm having so much fun reading everyone's "missions".

    - Jennifer (Faking It)

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  12. This is great! You did wonderful things with the Monday Mission.

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