Outside My Window

When we were defining the floor plan for our new home, the placement of the rooms reflected our desire to live close to nature.  Only two rooms were placed in the south facing section.  Our master bedroom and the living room fill that space.  Each has a large three section window and a generous closet nearby.  The stairway to the basement completes the use of that half of our home.  At this time of year sunlight from the low in the sky sun and the heat that comes with it makes both rooms bright and warm.  Becky was sitting soaking up the sunlight when she saw our deer.

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As is her custom, Becky always takes her coffee while looking out on our gardens and lawn.  On this first day of crossbow deer season, this impressive buck and his three lady friends were feeding on our plants.

 

Most of our deer visitors are ladies and their offspring.  They treat our gardens and lawn as their own are are slow to leave when they are feeding on plants that are special to us.  My wildly waving arms and strongest keep the students in line voice are slow to impact the herd's behavior.  Just yesterday a doe was munching on violets in the shade garden and would not move until I was uncomfortably close to her.  It was unclear just who was going to win that round.  Finally she moved a short distance toward the wild ground.  My continued shouts and waving arms eventually convinced the group that it was time to move on.

I do not hunt but knew that this beautiful male would move away when he first saw me.  Using the basement door, I was able to get close enough for two pictures.  Surprised that his initial movement was short, a second picture was snapped.  Now he and his three ladies have left the area.  Buck sightings are rare while their rub marks on our small trees are common.  This cold day is off to a great start.
 

Frozen Beauty

We located our home so that the distance ridge was between us and the rising sun or moon.  Their appearance here is delayed by 45 minutes at this time of the year.  When we want to see a full moon rising above a more distant horizon, a walk to the road is required.  There we can see the emerging moon against dark skies.  From the house the full moon appears in skies already fully illuminated by moon light.

Last night featured temperatures in the single digits under clear skies.  With those conditions frost forms everywhere.  Warming sunlight makes quick work of eliminating these strikingly sharp crystals but while they remain the trees glitter in the sunlight.  The distant trees look like they have been rolled in diamond dust.  A walk in the frigid air was required to reach some shade.  Low in the sky bright sunlight makes pictures impossible if the camera lens is hit by sunlight.  So I burned my airways a little to record this wonderful sight.

Recently we saw eight deer cavorting on our lawn.  They were here for more than a romp since they are well aware green grass lies hidden just under the new snow.  They look right at us but quickly return to feeding.  Somehow they know that we pose them no threat despite the fact that they regularly eat my lily buds.   Their favorite place to eat is on the slope just to the left of the house.  There the sunlight hits with force, thinning the snow cover.  The deer seem to be aware when we are watching them.  They look right at us but quickly return to feeding.  Once darkness falls on a frigid January night, the deer feed on the still green clover and grass.   They know we are snuggled inside the house for the night.  After sharing this space for two decades we know their habits and they know ours.  Watching the wildlife in the garden has added great joy to our life.  I can't help wonder if they enjoy watching us.

Before The Shooting Starts

I never know exactly what I will see when I look out my living-room window.  Now that it is November, I very frequently  see a very young male deer with just four points.  Often his twin sister is around as well.  They sometimes sleep in the lawn area between the stone wall on the right and our house.  The gardener in me wants them to go away and stop eating my plants forever, but I have enjoyed watching these deer since they were tiny fawns.  Today I saw  the young male eating grass in the lawn close to the stone wall.  It seemed like he saw the eight point stag step out of the woods  just about the same time I did.  He quietly moved  to the opposite side of the wall from that big buck.  I got the binoculars to get a better look. Wow those big horns  horns looked sharp!  The young deer moved towards the safety of the house while the stag charged with amazing speed clearing the stone wall with ease in a single leap.  Unwilling to let nature take it course, I opened the window and shouted at them both.  The young male, knowing I am totally harmless, took the opportunity to take off to the east as fast as he could go.  The big buck unaccustomed to my bellowing retreated to the edge of the tree line.  He stood there looking majestic long enough for me to get the camera.  Ed got a chance to see him too.  It was not until I saw the picture that I noticed the young female standing motionless in the tall grass right between the two bluebird houses.

Since the young male was now gone, after a time he turned and walked away into the woods.  The young female remained where she was still motionless.  We thought the show was over and the tail of the big buck would be the last we saw of him.

It was then that the young female decided to move.  The buck stopped and turned his head in our direction once again.  There was time for one last picture,  then the female raced off to the east as fast as she could go.  The magnificent stag went after her.  We watched as he bounded across the lawn and then in the tall grass.  His leaps seemed effortless.  His feet barely seemed to touch the ground.  It was not unlike a well trained ballet dancer leaping across the stage. In a flash it was all over. All of the deer were gone!  For four more days that stag will be the force to be reckoned with around this neck of the woods.  However when the shooting starts his magnificent horns will not give him the advantage.  Before today we had heard about this eight point buck.  It was wonderful to see him but it's clear, when push comes to shove, it's the young deer that I have watched grow up here who have captured my heart!

Deer Everywhere

June has seen at best a single rainstorm that gave us less than one tenth of an inch of rainfall.  Weather systems carrying moisture pass either north or south of us.  Our plants are nearly surviving on the dew that forms each night.  A chosen few get a sprinkling can of well water during the early hours of the day.   Hours are spent each day carrying water to the plants.  I have become such a regular part of this scene that a bird recently landed atop my hat like I was a fountain in a park!  That was a first for me.

This coral bells is directly in front of me in the first photo.  The deer seldom come inside of the square but the field grasses are crunchy dry.  Moist plants that received water from the sprinkling can appear to now be at risk.  More wire cages might be an answer but one of my larger rectangular cages was flipped on its back by some animal.  That has never happened here before.

This white phlox is to my right in the first photo.  Cut stem ends show that a deer trimmed this plant to the height of the cage.  Phlox are at risk early in the year but the foragers have moved on to other food sources by now in a normal year.  Taller cages are unsightly but may become necessary.

We call this plant Inga's mallow in memory of the gardener that first gave us this plant.  It self seeds and so far it faithfully reappears each year.  The rusty old cylindrical wire cage was placed early since the deer love to eat this plant.  The plant is far too beautiful to risk losing so protection is a must.

The potatoes receive daily attention.  Two five gallon cans and both sprinkling cans are filled with water and trucked to the garden near the woods.  Hand weeding and hilling revealed dampness just under the surface of the soil.  This was a welcome sight as I was unsure that my meager efforts were supplying adequate moisture.  Yesterday I was working on hands and knees at the far end of these plants.  I looked up to see twin fawns standing just outside of the fenced area.  Their first reaction was to freeze motionless.  This gave me a good long look at them.  Then mother called her offspring and they bounded into the tall growth at wood's edge.  Despite the deer damage recently inflicted onto my plants, seeing two fawns up close was a real thrill.

Comings and Goings In The Garden

Before breakfast this  morning there were deer to chase from the garden.  It was cold so Ed did his  deer scaring by shouting out the opened living room window.  Begrudgingly they left and headed for the tree line.  We also had a kind of visitor we seldom see here.  A human clad in orange vest and hard hat was  busily entering the numbers from our electric  pole into his machine.  As we watched he climbed up the hill, made a bee line past the house, and crossed the grass toward the tree line.  Clearly he was headed to his next assigned pole.  Ed and I marveled as he headed up the hill climbing up and over a downed tree. Then he continued on up the ridiculously steep hill into the pines.  We can only assume he continued on through the brambles then down the hill in the back to arrive at the neighbors' electric pole.  We had not been here long before we discovered that  the shortest distance to the back might be a straight line, but meandering paths are a much easier way to get there.  The deer and all the other critters that hang out here know that too.

When I did venture out with the camera, I was not happy to find that the deer had been munching on my bluets in the shade garden.  It's bad enough that they take a big bite, but when they don't actually eat the plant it really ticks me off.

It got to be quite nice out toward the middle of the day. Ed took his baby lettuce plants outside for  a little time on the wall to enjoy the spring breeze.  Air circulation makes for stronger plants.  Cleaning out the bluebird boxes was on his to do list today.

Little plants are sending up new shoots everywhere.  I'm pretty sure these are Glory of the Snow making an appearance.

After lunch I went back out with the camera.   I was hoping that the winter aconite buds would be open, but the sun went behind the clouds and the air became chilly.  At least for today these buds stayed tightly closed.  Ed stayed outside cleaning out a few  more of the bluebird houses, but I headed back inside the warm house.

There I found that Amy's nutmeg geranium had very tiny, but very beautiful flowers.  This is not your average plant.  Purchased at the  Buffa10 bloggers' convention, this plant made the trip  across the Empire state to her bathroom where it got all leggy.  It was then moved here and is making a comeback.  It's so nice to see it flower again.

Deer Spotted In The Garden

Yesterday morning, like most mornings this time of year, there were deer in the garden.  I counted seven in all.  I opened the bedroom window to get a picture.  That was enough to get them to stop grazing and look at me, but I had no trouble taking my picture.  They just are not threatened by me.  Ed walked into the room a few minutes later and they were gone in a flash.

It was when  I came inside and loaded the picture in the computer that realized  I was not just seeing deer, but spots  too, well one spot  anyway.  Since I had opened the window I knew the problem was my camera.   After repeated tries to clean the lens of my beloved little Canon A3100  IS camera, it became apparent that the spot in the lower left of frame wasn't going away.

I didn't really want a new camera.  I especially didn't want a NEW camera with all sorts of new features. Any videos I have ever taken required Dramamine be dispensed to the viewing audience.  I typed my fingers to the bone searching the web for a new camera like the one I have.  Finally success was mine.  Amazon came through.   The new camera should be here on Friday.  If anything exciting happens in the garden before then I guess you'll be seeing spots again too!

Lily Fever

It was early this morning when I heard Ed shouting from the living room.  He had opened the window and was addressing his tirade to this deer in the garden. The deer heard Ed.  You can tell because it is looking right at him.

Clearly the deer was not impressed.  Not only did the deer turn his head away ignoring the tirade, but he proceeded to step onto Ed's potted lilies. That was a step too far.  Ed loves his lilies and he hates to be ignored!  Immediate action was required.

What happened next in the garden sent the deer speeding away tail raised in alarm.  My reaction was different.  Obviously  I was laughing hard enough to shake the camera.  Perhaps it was the warning shot from the  rifle that frightened the deer or  perhaps it was because Ed was not wearing the camouflage it is accustomed to seeing. The important thing is that the deer was gone.

With the deer  out of sight, Ed stopped to inspect the damage to his prized potted lilies.

Deer foot prints were everywhere, but I think the pot with Ed's new Pandora lily was the worst.

Later after eating breakfast and adding pants to his attire, Ed covered his precious lilies with wire cages. You might think he's locking the barn after the horse has been stolen, but trust me that brazen deer will be back! To the deer around here we are the intruders.

So that no one thinks Ed is scaring children on the passing school bus, our home is not visible from the road.  He did take the time to slip on his garden rubbers but that deer had to be quickly moved away.