Summertime . . .and the Livin' Is Easy

In the past week, I've seen an adult bear and (a few days later) a coyote from my bedroom window. Both times they were moving too fast for me to get to my camera.

But this little guy has found his sweet spot and is staying put.

Oh, Deer!

This is why we can't have nice things  gardens.

In My Garden

I've been spending time many mornings (while Josie is sleeping) editing or deleting the thousands of pictures I've taken over the past eight years. Since digital entered my life, I take LOTS of pictures, hoping that a few will be what I want. But I haven't been good about deleting duplicates and near misses.

So that's what I'm doing. It's a trip down memory lane and a reminder of how very seasonally ordered my life is. Christmas decorating and popcorn stringing, snow, orchids,  birds, food, spring bulbs and blossoms, Easter Party, garden beginning, irises,garden growing, daylilies, garden harvest, autumn leaves, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, family, and here we are at Christmas again. 

The garden pictures -- all that corn and beans and tomatoes especially -- make me a bit wistful as this year's garden has been much curtailed -- a lot of rain has caused the tomatoes to blight earlier than usual and made spraying the cole crops difficult. 

Also, despite John's best efforts with electric netting and other netting, the critters pictured here have enjoyed much of what did make.  And the wild turkeys pecked at the tomatoes.

These guys are so bold that they don't even budge when I drive up the road.

Also, I think the yearling in the first picture is laughing at me.

Wildlife, Fleeting and Otherwise

. 

Coming home from the grocery store, as I turned off the bridge to head up Anderson Branch, I saw this heron standing in the shallows. By the time I stopped and poked the camera out the window, he was feeling alarmed and decided to leave. I was lucky to get the one shot.

Then, coming up the road below our house, I spotted a bunch of turkey poults. Unfortunately, Bob the Dog spotted them too and took off after them Again, I was lucky to get the one shot before they disappeared.

Just then a flash of red on the mountainside caught my eye. This one didn't run -- but she was pretty far off, testing the limits of my lens.

John comments that all the deer he's seen this year seem redder than the usual mousy brown. This girl certainly is.

Last sighting -- just above my herb and lettuce garden. He didn't move -- too full of parsley, probably.

Pleasures and Treasures

A perfect day -- sunny, clear, and cool. The white irises are illuminated and even the trees sparkle in the sun.

On the edge of the woods, a native flame azalea reaches for the light.

A glistening galaxy of dandelion seed trembles just before going nova.

And in the box beds I was weeding, I met a tiny toad.

How tiny? This tiny.

The size of a large netsuke.

He looks so wise for one so small.

This shitake, on the other hand, was HUGE -- larger than my open hand.

Pleasures and treasures of a perfect day.

 

  THIS JUST IN! Kathryn Stripling Byer has included Miss Birdie and me over at her Poet of the Day blog!

Groundhog Young Uns

As I was driving down the road yesterday, a scurry of movement below the big barn caught my eye.

Four  Three bold young groundhogs, venturing out to take the air.

The lush green grass is calling...

One cautious sibling stays behind.

Sometimes a Great Gobble...

The sound of gobbling caught my attention yesterday morning and I looked out the bedroom window to see two big boys strutting their stuff,

We counted over thirty turkeys in all and I was far more fascinated by the gobblers than were the rest of the flock.

The two big boys stayed side by side much of the time and wheeled and advanced on the ladies with a slow and stately step.

It was like some ancient ceremonial dance, involving large fans.  I snapped and snapped, wishing I were closer.

Then some of the flock noticed me and took wing. Amazing to see how well these big birds fly!

The courting gobblers were not to be deterred. They just herded their harem away from me and continued with their dance.

 

Where'd It Go?

Look what I found on the floor by my laptop!

Miss Susie Hutchins is not amused.

"I left it right here," she mutters. "But that's not it . . .

The Critters Awww Scale

Critters -- or creatures -- are marvelous things, enriching our lives in so many ways just by being around and being themselves.  Cute fluffy kittens, gangling turkey poults, a bandit raccoon, a lumbering box turtle -- they can all be a source of delight.

But there's something about those moments of communication between different species that tends to make us go 'Awww...' and smile and maybe feel a little better about life in general. 

 

I know I feel that way when I see Eddie the cat snuggling with one of our dogs ... and this picture from an unknown source of a young deer that comes every morning to visit his friend the cat sure elicited a big Awww . . .

 But as far as I'm concerned, this video below -- another of those internet wanderers -- went right off the Awww scale.  Awesome!