Bambi & Other Wildlife

A few weeks ago Nelly & I left the house early to go on our morning walk. I hadn't yet put Nelly's leash on & once we got out of the garage she took off running to the vacant, wooded lot next door. I looked up in time to see what I thought were 2 small red dogs. When they turned to run I realized that it was wasn't dogs but a pair of foxes. We've always had them where we live here in the city because much of the lots & land around us are very wooded & there's still quite a few vacant areas where they live. But, we haven't seen them in awhile. I have a 'pit' on the lot next door where we throw yard debris & things that won't compost well (or draw too many fruit flies) such as watermelon rinds, corn cobs, etc., so I guess they were scavenging. Glad Nelly didn't catch one.

Went up to the country house for the 4th of July weekend. Greg closed his business on Saturday, Monday & Tuesday so we had a nice long weekend. I drove separately so that allowed me to have a couple of extra days.

We got up on Saturday & drove to get sausage. There's a place about an hours drive from our house, that has the best sausage. We like the fresh links & buy a whole bunch of it & vacuum seal, in small portions for the freezer. As we drove through the branch area on our way home, a huge doe jumped up in front of us & ran all the way across the field & jumped the fence on the far side of the property. Later in the afternoon, we noticed that she had returned. My Dad & his wife were also up for the weekend & he remarked that she probably had babies nearby.

Greg started mowing grass that morning & a fawn jumped up from beside the railroad ties that line the driveway & ran off only to get caught in a fence. Greg was able to free it & it ran off but was staying the area because he saw it (or it's sibling) in the adjacent field several times that afternoon.

I got up early Sunday morning to let Nelly out to do her business & noticed something over by one of the maple trees. A fawn was lying the grass around the tree! I ran inside to get my camera.

He/she just laid there like that until the sun rose over the house then it turned around. It eventually moved up by the front porch to sit in the shade for awhile. Then ran off back towards the driveway & branch.

We didn't see them anymore through the 4th. Greg left to get back to the city & I stayed on for a couple more days. As I was packing to leave on Thursday I looked over & it was back in the same spot.

Hopefully they will stick around & we can watch them grow, but I doubt that will happen. We put some corn out in the branch. Will check the game cam next time we are up there.

Gotta love the wildlife.

Relaxing Weekend

We left last Friday night to head to the country house. We weren’t able to get out of the city before 5:30p & it is about a 3 hour trip so it is dark by the time we arrived. We usually go ‘the back way’ because we have come to loathe Interstates, too many close calls in too short a time period.

Not that accidents can’t happen anywhere but I swear people are just idiots on the Expressways. I remember waaaay back when, you could trust the semi-truck drivers the best because they had the most experience & knew what they were doing.

Not so much anymore. The new drivers are let loose well before they are fully trained & even though they are responsible for many more tons that a regular vehicle, they TEXT. Yep, one almost ran us into a guardrail about a year ago. We were in the left (passing) lane on a three lane highway with a car in front of us that decided they were no longer in the mood to pass & had slowed down & another car behind us so we had nowhere to go. The semi, in the middle lane, just kept easing into our lane. I looked up & he was texting, not just reading a text but actually typing. We were just inches from the concrete guard divider, honking the horn, me flailing my arms. He finally realized & jerked back into his lane. A couple more close calls & we decided to find a different way to go. We did & now we avoid the interstate altogether. It is much more pleasant & a much less stressful drive.

We got the truck unloaded & made an adult beverage & sat on the back screened porch listening to the quiet. So very quiet. Off to bed early with not much to do the next day. I did a couple loads of laundry & hung them on the clothesline & clothes rack & piddled in my raised beds. Otherwise, just kind of took it easy . all . day . long.

My niece & a friend were coming to spend the night on Saturday but didn’t get in until around 6:00. Greg fried the last of our Mayport shrimp & we had cheese grits, broccoli slaw, sliced tomatoes & hush puppies.

We had started our first fire of the season earlier in the afternoon. After supper, we sat by the fire & looked at the stars. It is so remote that you can see millions & millions of them. We turned off the porch & flood lights so all you saw was sky. Absolutely beautiful!

The next day we drove over to a local Goat Farm. The people that own it are friends of friends of ours. When we told them where we were from & where our country place was, they asked “Are you MT’s cousin? We heard about you. Are you going to raise for personal use or with the intent to sell? Don’t go buying this or that without checking with us, it’s possible we already bought it to experiment with & had to upgrade & can sell it to you a whole lot cheaper than brand new. Etc.” Gotta love being in the country.

I didn’t get any pictures but they are just getting started, after many years of planning & getting inspections & finally approval, they are now licensed to sell & are just getting underway. They sell milk, about 8 different kinds of cheese, soap, honey, etc. Super nice people, I asked if I could help out a few days a week, once I’m retired, so I can gain some hands on education before I actually jump in the livestock wagon.

We got back to our place just as my niece & her friend were leaving. We packed up & went over to see my Dad & his wife since they were up as well. They had been on vacation in the mountains for a couple of weeks & instead of driving on to Amish Country, which my Dad loves, they decided to take the rest of their vacation at “The Farm” which is what my Dad & his brothers & sisters call the property.

Oh well, just wanted to document our weekend, we sure do live an exciting life huh?