Teeny Baby Mouse

Macro Monday/My World Tuesday/Camera Critters

Hubber's found this little sweetie in the grass before he set about mowing the lawn. Not including tail length, this baby deer mouse is just over 1-1/2 inch long.

Newly out of the nest, he is not yet fearful of humans, so I picked him up and put him in a container, until the lawn had been mown.

When it was safe, I let him go, back near where he was found.

Click on the small pics to enlarge

The deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), is grayish to light brown on top, with a white belly. It has large ears and a furry tail and has eyes that appear to “bug out.” The deer mouse is named for its colouration, which may resemble that of a white-tailed deer. The typical city-dwelling house mouse, is usually entirely grey or light brown (no white on the belly).



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The Sugar Bush - My World

When spring thaw begins in Canada, the maple sap starts to run. The sap is collected from maple trees and turned into the delicious product, Maple Syrup.

We went to the *sugar bush on Sunday. Here's some photos from our outing.

Click on a pic to enlarge it

The wagon ride through the bush.

The horsepower.

The tour included a section of the stand preserved historically, and depicted the old way of collecting the sap and turning it into maple syrup. The operation today is modern and much more efficient.

The old sap collection method

The old method of boiling down the sap with a wood fire

Modern sap collection via tubing strung from tree to tree

The tubing surrounds the perimeter of the stand of about a thousand trees

There are sap ladders at various locations to keep it flowing

The modern method of boiling down the sap, a wood fire is still used

The finished product -  Maple Syrup

*Sugar bush refers to a forest stand which is exploited for maple syrup. The tree canopy is dominated by sugar maple or black maple trees. The maples are tapped for their maple sap in early spring, whenever the weather has warmed so that day-time temperatures are above freezing — 0 °C (32 °F) — while night-time temperatures remain below freezing. Typically there will be snow cover on the ground during the tapping period. The tapping period ends when the supply of maple sap ceases, as when night-time temperatures begin to be above freezing.

From Wikipedia

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Market Murals - My World Tuesday

When its minus 12 degrees and the ground is covered with snow, shopping and eating, at the indoor farmer's market is the only way to go! Our Covent Garden Market was formally established in 1845, but was rebuilt about 10 years ago.

The Market has farm-fresh quality produce, organic foods, award-winning meats, ethnic foods, and the largest assortment of cheese in Southwestern Ontario to tempting sweets, coffees and teas, and beautiful flowers. 

Twice a week (Thursdays and Saturdays) during the summer, an outdoor farmers' market features fresh produce, meats, and baked goods. Arts and culture are the focus of the Market's mezzanine where a number of cultural organizations and artists are located –there’s even an art school and a theatre!

I like the murals that decorate the entrance ways.

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Solar Tree - My World Tuesday

The Tourism centre in my city now greets visitors with a giant, photovoltaic metal tree, and companion solar panels, that will produce 10,000 kW of solar energy annually.

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The Solar Tree is designed in the image of the City logo; a visual landmark to highlight this clean, renewable energy project. The giant metal tree features twenty-seven solar panels, each mounted to a leaf.

• It is a 8.6 kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic, ground-mounted system
• 3 pole mounted arrays (about 8 kWs) plus one unique, solar tree  (about 0.5 kWs)
• Solar Tree is 7 meters (23 feet) tall, has 27 leaves, each producing power
• The system will generate 10,000 kWh’s per year, about ½ of the annual electricity needs for the tourism building .  (When the sun is shining, these panels could power up to 7 homes)
• Cost of project: $160,000
• Expected revenue: $165,000 over the 20-year contract
• The system will offset up to 10 tonnes of CO2 per year from coal-fired power plants

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It's Still Snowing

What can I say...it's still snowing.

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Canadian eh? - My World Tuesday

We get a lot of snow here in Canada, but this set a record in our city

We had almost 80cm(31inches) of snow fall, over a 2 day period (Dec 6-7)

Our front yard

Me in the driveway

The front of the house at night

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