Birthday fun, part 2!

First off, apologies for not keeping up with replying to comments and visiting blogs the last little bit! I promise to get my act together asap.

And today I found out that a black cat is living in our granary. I am sure I saw this kitty back in October, but he ran off when I got near him, and I didn't see him (her?) again until today, when he was under one of the birdfeeders, no doubt hungry and looking for a meal. I tracked his prints in the snow and indeed, like Emily before him, he has been going in and out of the granary. So I put out some food, went back 15 minutes later, and saw him in there! He scampered off but had already finished his meal. I put out some more grub and it disappeared too. I left out sardines for an evening snack. 

We'll see how this goes. He seems pretty shy but for now I will work on ensuring he is fed, and building him a shelter (perhaps like this) and I will get another heated water bowl like the one we have for the chickens. Worst case scenario, we could trap, neuter and vaccinate him and have a barn cat. Best case scenario... anyone want a pet cat? He is not anyone's lost pet. We live a kilometre from the closest house on a road of farms and I know my neighbours' cat collections. He's either barn cat offspring that has wandered, or he was dumped.

We shall see what happens! I will keep you posted.

Meanwhile, here's part two of my birthday fun in Montréal last Wednesday...

After the Biodome, we visited the Insectarium. I love this place. 

Unfortunately their beehive wasn't in operation. They have a glass-fronted demo hive, but I know from my experience working with the hive at the Natural History Museum in Halifax that those hives don't always thrive and need to be replaced. But as you can see above, Gordon found himself a bee anyway!

And check  out these amazing beetles...

Jewels of the insect world!

Oh look, a bee is eating my brains!

The Insectarium has a spectacular display of butterflies. Here are a couple for you...

And check out the way these moths camouflage themselves...

Incredible!

After the Insectarium, we visited the greenhouses at the adjoining Botanical Gardens.

Here's Gordon looking at a cinnamon tree, with a smiling Sri Lankan woman in the background!

They have an exquisite collection of orchids.

Great place to visit on a cold January day.

Finally, we had supper at Lola Rosa, a vegetarian restaurant near McGill University. We aren't vegetarians but neither do we eat tons of meat. Nice to have a good veg meal out!

I had this yummy quesadilla with cheese, avocado and a side of brown basmati rice and salad. It was really good!

Gordon had a tasty tomato pie.

The tables at the restaurants are actually old writing desks with a little drawer on either side. People write all kinds of notes and leave them in the drawers for others to read. It's amusing to read them while waiting for your meal to arrive. This one was hilarious...

Yes Faye, there should be cats. Cats and brownies!

Speaking of sweets, Gordon had key lime pie for dessert...

And I had pineapple-raspberry cheescake in a Mason jar. Extremely yummy!

And they gave me my dessert free because it was my birthday.

Next year, it's the half-century mark. I need a year to wrap my head around that!!

Please think good thoughts for the black kitty in our granary. We want him safe and looked after.