Just When We Thought We Had It Made...

Here it is... March 19th.  You'd think we could expect some mild weather... some green grass, perhaps a crocus or two, popping their heads out of the cold ground to welcome the sun.  That's what you'd think, right? 

HAH!  It is snowing, once again.

 

Snowing so hard, you can't see the mountains.

The poor little birds are chattering their protests

to no avail.  The snow keeps falling.

Frankly? I'm pretty positive Leprechauns have something to do with this.  Tricky leprechauns!

Green Beer

We got a late start....  St. Patrick's Day fell on a Thurs. (a preschool day) and I couldn't get home early enough to get the corned beef simmering, the Watergate cake made, and the cabbage chopped.  Besides... I'm usually pretty well exhausted by the time I get home from preschool. SO- Bruce and I decided to celebrate St. Patrick's Day on the 18th this year!

While waiting for dinner to cook, Bruce thought he'd try some green beer.  When it came right down to drinking it, he wasn't quite sure his idea was all that sound....

Apparently, it wasn't that bad!  (but then... Bruce IS a brave man :)

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Happy Birthday, Mama

Happy Birthday, Mama

You are so loved, and so missed.

A Wonderful Man

Have I told you I love my husband?  Let me tell you a story that will explain one of the reasons why.

For awhile now, I've been worried about our wildlife.  Winter is lasting too long- so long that the deer could be in trouble.  Bruce has had reports of fawns, curling up under trees and dying of malnutrition. It seems like they get thinner, and bonier every day.

The problem is that we've had so much snow, and it's lasted so long, that travel is difficult for the deer. They are using up so much energy, getting from one place to another looking for food, that the food they DO find, doesn't give them enough nutrition and energy to balance out their efforts. They keep  getting further and further behind. I've tried to help by throwing apples in the yard, under trees, etc. but now... I'm out of apples, and the deer are more in need than ever.

It was with this in mind, when I announced... I HAVE AN IDEA!  Now, those of you who know me, realize I ALWAYS have an idea.  I take after my Mother in that respect.  And one of the reasons I love Bruce is because he is so patient in putting up with my ideas.... wonderful as they may be   :)

ANYWAY...

I was determined to find something nutritious for the deer to eat. I'd even tried beet pulp pellets (see what I mean about my ideas?) but the deer just spit them out. That's when I remembered that deer LOVE witch's hair!  You know... that black, mossy stuff that hangs off the branches of trees?  AND the important part is that Bruce says it's super high in protein, and VERY good for deer.  My idea was to rake it out of the trees! 

It was much harder than it sounded.  I was out there with a plastic rake, reaching way up high in the branches, snagging the mossy stuff... but it was so sticky!  and it wouldn't just come out of the trees as I'd supposed.  BUT, those of you who know me understand.... I was DETERMINED!  and I stuck with it.  I'd probably have stuck with it far into the night when I heard my husband's voice. "Mere?  This will work better."

He had a little hand saw thing on the end of a long pole type thing.  He'd already sawed branch after branch of "deer gold." :)  He had branches stacked up, heavily laden with black, sticky moss, and he was going after more.  Have I told you how much I love this man?

The deer didn't even wait until he went into the house. They were already chowing down, while we stacked branches in our garage so I could dole it out- some each day.

I know it's wrong to artificially feed wildlife-  I know all the reasons.  But there is something to being... what?  humane? empathetic?  *shakes head*... no, I think it's just KIND.  To help out a little... especially in a natural way (in other words... NOT with those horrible deer feed pellets they sell in stores... and NOT with hay- which deer cannot digest anyway).  Just maybe reaching up a bit higher than a deer can stretch, to pull down some food during a rough Winter. 

I can feel Bruce shaking his head and sighing :)  but he puts up with me anyway.

(and between you and me... I have some GREAT ideas! :)  At least, the deer think so).

And one more...

And one last extraordinary deer.... Lucky.

See that hole in Lucky's ear?  That's a BULLET HOLE!!!  This whitetail buck is aptly named.

Although, I'm sure it hurt when he was shot, it's nothing compared to how close he came to being someone's dinner!  Hopefully, he'll be a bit more wary from now on.

Imp

You all know how much I love, Raggie... well, let me introduce to you another of my special animals...

Imp.

Imp is a 9-10 mos. old whitetail fawn.  

We usually see him with, what we assume is, his family group.  A twin sister, his mother, and a yearling buck.  

We got to calling him Imp because of his outrageous behavior.

Imp sees nothing wrong with coming up on our back patio, and nibbling at the withered plants growing RIGHT NEXT TO the sliding glass door.  Drives the Shelties NUTS!

He has been known to peek in our bedroom window.

And last Fall, when we had our cornshocks, and pumpkins on the front porch, Imp walked up the steps, and spent some time munching on the ears of corn still connected to the stalks! Once, he marched up to the front door, and tried eating the Indian corn I had hanging as a decoration.

You can see how he quickly became one of our favorites. The little IMP!

Yesterday, I saw Raggie in the field, and I grabbed my camera, and scooted outside without first looking to see who might be hanging around.

I scared poor Imp... although he didn't run far.

He peered around the trees, probably supposing I couldn't see him! LOL!  Or maybe he knew I'd soon be preoccupied with taking photos of Raggie.

He was right, of course!

Taking Care of the Residents

From reading this blog, you've probably surmised that Bruce and I have a large menagerie to care for on a daily basis.  It's true- with 2 dogs, 3 cats, 3 parrots, 3 horses, 3 bunnies, and 10 chickens, all needing to be fed, watered, etc. twice a day, we keep very busy (and broke.... our feed bills are ridiculous!)  However, I would never consider living without our animal companions (but you'll notice, I don't try to speak for Bruce in this matter! :)

What you may NOT realize, are the many local residents we've taken on... residents who have come to rely on our kindness (or gullibility *shrugs*)  For example- the birds.

Bruce has to fill the feeders at least once every day!

We have regulars that we look for.  The cheeky little Downey...

the tiny Pine Siskins...

 my favorites- the chickadees and nuthatches (couldn't get the nuthatch to sit for a photo... perhaps soon)...

the flocks of Grosbeaks...

and the beautiful bullies of the bird world... Stellar Jays.

Sometimes we get visitors passing through... like this Northern Shrike! Today, we had a Rufous sided Towhee! (again... he flew off before I could get my camera focused. *sighs*)

They sit in the trees, and watch as Bruce fills the feeders.

You can practically hear them saying... "HURRY UP! I need to grab some seeds before the Stellar Jays come back!"

Most days, our "bird tree" is alive with birds of all kinds- often, literally, COVERED with flapping, flying, hopping, eating, grateful birds.  We can't let them down.

The Songbirds have to share, even though the Stellar Jays get disgruntled about it.

It's been a tough Winter, and the deer come in to glean whatever birdseed they can get.  Bruce and I have been known to throw apples under the tree. Just a little nutrition to help get our doe and fawns through this critical time.

and the turkeys aren't ones to be left out.

They come into the tree in flocks of 15-20.

Bruce says there is very little Winter range around here for Turkeys... very little for them to eat. I don't mind helping them out, although, they do tend to take advantage!

and of course, there's Raggie.  He's learned that the horses will share some of their hay.  Well... Journey will.  When Dakota and Wynter notice the bull elk feeding with them, they often get a bit irritated.  And they tend to let him know about it.  

That's when he steps over the fence to find the hay I've dropped just for him. I don't give him much... it's important he gets the majority of his nutrition from natural sources.  I just can't help myself from giving him a bit of a treat... I'm hoping it will keep him around for awhile. (and Bruce is hoping he'll drop his antlers here- a gift among friends).