Day 286 - Season's end

"Corn and grain, corn and grain
All that falls shall rise again."
Wiccan harvest chant

Day 272 - Can you stand another deer pic??

Y'all are going to get sick to death of deer photos, but they finally figured out the obvious so I had to record it. I took them from our bedroom window, so they're not that great, but they're the only ones I took today.

Anyway, while the fence between our yard and the field, rusty, rickety and falling apart as it is, still provides a bit of barrier, my next door neighbor took down some of the fence in his yard so he could tackle the weeds more easily. So, there's a large gap in the fence that's been there for a couple of years. Today these younguns finally figured out they could get to that nice green grass on the other side by just bounding into his backyard... which they could have done ages ago!

If you look closely, you can see red things lying on the ground. My neighbor has an apple tree, but apparently they could care less about the juicy, tender apples and preferred munching on the surrounding vegetation instead.

See Lew's Other Pics for a few more shots.

Day 252 - Sunny Acorns

Oak trees come out of acorns, no matter how unlikely that seems.
An acorn is just a tree's way back into the ground.
For another try. Another trip through. One life for another.
Shirley Ann Grau

Day 195 - Stormy weather

On an otherwise pleasant and sunny day, the skies suddenly turned dark and ominous and that humongous black cloud mass proceeded to empty itself of its load of water. We lost power instantaneously but rain in July is always welcome - it's good for the grass. ;)

Day 182 - Free as a bird

There really is a bird in this photo!

Nothing says freedom like a grandly soaring hawk. I was only able to get one shot of this one looking for something to eat in the wheat field before it disappeared. It's not the best shot, and I actually thought I'd missed it, but when I looked at it on the computer, there it was. It's a little hard to see against the green in the first photo, but I cropped it a good bit to give a better view in the second.

Day 172 - Wildlife visitor

(taken with Lew's Nikon D40X SLR)

Looky who came to visit us today! I almost fell out of my chair! Having lived here for over thirty years, I've seen my share of deer... out in the farmer's field. Once recently, in the darkest of night, a slew of them came up to the fence, but this is the first time I've ever seen one this close in daylight. I was astounded! Isn't she a beaut?

Actually, she was a little thin - we could see her ribs - which probably explains why she came so close to civilization. Had it not been for what's left of the fence, she probably would have been in the yard, munching on my azaleas!

(taken with my Nikon Coolpix 4800 point & shoot.)

She moseyed along the fence in one direction, then turned around and walked back, stopping to feed along the way. Here, I caught her in mid-munch. I have another shot of her with leaves in her mouth, but I'll be posting it on my regular blog for Camera Critters on Sunday. Both of these were taken from inside the house. (I just love my camera!)

Day 27 - Mr & Mrs

The cardinals have been coming to nibble on the seed bells we hung and every time I try to get a picture, they fly off. I finally lucked out today when the Mr. & Mrs. opted for some acorns on the deck. Not as focused as I'd like but not too bad considering I took them quick through Lew's office window.)

Day 24 - Emptiness

I'm not wild about winter anyway, but when there's no sun to counterbalance the cold, everything just seems so... empty. So, when I saw this empty bird nest in its empty tree on the way home from the dentist, it just epitomized the dreary, empty coldness of the day for me. I hope the former residents have flown far, far south for the winter to somewhere nice and warm.

Day 21 - Brrrrrr

"Many rhododendron species protect themselves by turning their leaves downward and rolling them parallel to the midvein when it is extremely cold. This protects them by decreasing the area exposed to the sun, which keeps the leaves from warming up and losing water." (Pamela S. Mercure, Univ. of CT)

Even the front yard rhododendron have hunkered down and snuggled together to stay warm in the bitter cold we're having. Taking a teeny-tiny clue from nature, I didn't even attempt to stick my nose out the door today... wellll, except for sticking it out the window to take the pictures!

Day 8 - Cozy little nest

Winter (when we're not having record-breaking temperatures of 73!) in my neck of the woods means bare-naked trees. After the leaves and acorns drop, the squirrels scurry around gathering their winter stash of nuts, and some of the leaves end up back in the trees in the form of squirrel nests. This one lives up at the tippity-top of our maple tree.

P.S. Lew bought a new camera - a Nikon D40X - with an awesome telephoto lens. 'Course I get to use it too - provided I can hold the stupid thing steady - and with the help of a tripod, I got this waaaaay up there shot. Wheee!

Day #307 - Deer danger?

This was the weirdest thing. A whole bunch of deer ran out of the woods, across the field, and then just stopped! The whole story is on my regular blog - Lil Bits of Me.

Lew, being the cool dude that he is, ran upstairs and got my camera for me. I'm always impressed with the zoom on my camera; where they were standing is about 1/4 mile from the house - the photo was taken with the zoom all the way out.

Day #289 - Furry fauna ...

The fauna were restless in my yard today. Between the birds and the squirrels, my beasties were going nuts. This little guy was especially busy and spent a good bit of the day digging, eating, and burying acorns right outside the door while the cats stalked it from inside.

Day #256 - Great oaks from tiny acorns grow...

It's unusual enough that the leaves are falling so soon, but even the tiniest acorns are falling too. Must be because of the lack of water summer we've had.

Day #252 - Transformation...

I'm not quite ready for the leaves to turn yet. Time will fly now and before you know it there will be little people bumping on the door for Halloween treats, a turkey thawing in the fridge for Thanksgiving dinner, and a Christmas tree to decorate! Oh no!!

Day #251 - Huh?

What the h*ll, you may ask, are those!? Hah, haven't a clue! Some kind of caterpillar things, I guess, but they've been hanging out on the patio for a couple and made for a good picture. I didn't examine them too closely (wuss that I am) but I think they're quite dead. Or hibernating or something... they didn't move when I gave a little shove. But they are pretty, little furry things, aren't they?

Day #236 - Green grass in August???

Amazingly, the grass isn't brown and crunchy yet, an unusual occurence around these parts this time of year. A few well-timed thunderstorms in the past month or so have rewarded us with the green stuff.

Day #221 - Stormy weather...

After a couple of 100+ degree days, we enjoyed a respite from the stifling heat when a welcome summer thunderstorm came through. After turning ominously dark, the skies opened up and cooled things off delightfully. Hope it's cooled down where you all are too!!

Day #193 - Deer sighting...

Caught sight of this little lady prancing across the farmer's soy bean field today. Taken from my dining room window with the zoom all the way out so it's not real sharp but at least you can tell what it is.

Day #168 - Big Bird...

They grow 'em big here in the fields of Maryland. Caught this monster taking a leisurely dip today. The beast could eat my cat with no problem!

Day #157 - And on a brighter note...

It's a glorious day in Maryland today! The sky is blue, the birds are singing and the temperature is delightful. There's a lovely breeze tickling my wind chimes and all is right in my little corner of the world. :)