Nancy's Notes

Compilation of Everything!

by Nancy Bremner

Notes On Work

As you have probably gathered from the front page of the newsletter we have had a very busy June. June 17th featured Power for The People to celebrate 100 years of hydro electricity at the now retired Pinawa Dam. Starting at 2:00 in the afternoon we couldn't have asked for better weather. Food, mini donuts, and lots and lots of entertainment with a children's activities tent, it truly was a family day. The Reunion tent had at least 15 to 20 old time residents from the original Pinawa. They made the trek from British Columbia, Calgary, Winnipeg and the surrounding area to meet family and past friends and acquaintances.

The highlight of the day for the Friends of Old Pinawa was when the Minister of Conservation, Stan Struthers and John Clousten, a representative from Manitoba Hydro unveiled the conceptual drawing of the proposed Old Pinawa Centennial Spillway Trail. This trail will soon be under construction. We are hoping with the donations from supporting businesses and grants from the local municipalities to hold this event that our committee will actually be able to buy a bridge that will connect the spillway trail to the nature walk. The Minister and Mr. Clousten both received a framed print of the dam. The original is a piece painted by Vivian Thomson and coincidently the prints are for sale from the Friends for $20.00 and postage & handling of $9.00. The original is being offered in a raffle and will be drawn on September 1st. Tickets are for sale in various locations and at the Town Market at the Birthday Weekend June 16th, noon to 4:00.

Please go to the Friends website for details to purchase your own print and check out the Old Pinawa Celebrations Photo page for pictures of the event and the framed print.

June 25th was our big cruisin event and that is covered elsewhere with a link on the front page of the newsletter.

Notes On Nature

This month I wanted to write on a variety of things such as the old saying leaves of three leave it be - which doesn't really make a lot of sense to me. Check out the photo page of plants that have three leaves. There are photos of poison ivy which people often have a hard time identifying. I really don't know why as it is one of the first leaves to turn red in early August. So check out the pictures and if you have any questions feel free to email me.

On the Pinawa Channel the Goldeneye duck has 18 darling ducklings and the two families of geese have 9 goslings all together. The older goslings are already sporting white cheek patches! I have also come across two snapping turtles and a couple of painted turtles.

I received this note awhile back from Anita D. and 2 photos:

"Almost got run over by these two young deer. I was watching for butterflies and birds and then I saw the two deer coming across the Diversion Dam. I was on my bike and they walked on by me. I had camera in hand. I thought one of these might be nice for the Pinawa web site or next newsletter. They were taken today, May 30, 2006."

Thanks Anita, we always appreciate contributions to the newsletter. Goes to show you, you have to be a safe driver everywhere.

Notes On Gardening

A happy note for me is that my Easter Lily is blooming with a couple more flowers on the other two stems that grew out of the main bulb. My Amaryllis is finished blooming after it had 4 blossoms of the most vivid colour.

A vivid Amaryllis blooming in June. N. Bremner

Helen had me over yesterday to look at her spectacular climbing rose (name unknown at this time) with stems of 20 blossoms. It has truly outdone itself this year.

This month's topic is insects. As we are all aware there are over thousands of insects in our backyards. Some are extremely valuable as pollinators and predators of other insects. I saw a Yellow Jacket wasp this past weekend eating a Spruce Budworm Moth. Since we normally have infestations of this pest I say bring the wasps on until of course they ar buzzing around my diet cola - yikes! I would like to bring to your attention the most valuable insect - the Lady Bug because right now their larvae are out in full force and some are already "pupating". If you don't recognize this insect in its various stages then you might tend to kill them so here is a quick refresher with a little history lesson.

The following information comes from a little book that I am a proud owner of. My Dad gave me this book called Field Book Of Insects from Putnam's - originally published in 1918 and revised in 1948 - a family heirloom for sure. It does have the most beautiful hand drawn and painted insect illustrations.

Lady-bugs (Coccinellid) and the three stages of development, larvae, pupa and adult.

"Lady-bird, Lady-bird! Fly away home. Your house is on fire and your children do roam." Except little Nan, who sits in a pan weaving gold laces as fast as she can." As most gardeners know aphids are eaten by Lady-bugs as well the larvae have particularly voracious appetites for aphids (the first creature on the extreme left). Many of the "children" come in other colours depending on the adult. Some have black, blue or orange markings. The larvae that are red or yellow with black spots eat aphids while the ones that are totally black, or black with red or yellow spots eat scale insects. The rhyme itself started in Europe or the British Isles when the hop-vine (which is susceptible to aphids) was burnt after the harvests. The children are the larvae and the Nan is the yellow pupa. The name Lady-bird or Lady beetle references back to the Middle Ages when these insects were dedicated to the Virgin and were the "Beetles of Our Lady."

I am including some pictures of moths and butterflies with their larvae so that if you want to have butterflies/moths in your yard you will take care to examine who exactly is eating your plants. There are lots of books and informational pamphlets on plants that are specifically planted for a variety of butterflies.