My Theory . . . and a laugh!

The other evening three of our herd of buck came up to eat. It's always special when they come up when we're sitting out there. Of course, there's definitely rank and file as Mr. Big Guy tells the younger guy to move, like in the picture below!

As I mentioned in my July 10th post, November, four years ago, I asked God to provide opportunities for me to take pictures of buck. I'd taken a good number of snaps of does and fawn, but very few of buck. So I petitioned God for this desire.

The very next July is when our herd of buck began coming up! Every evening. Every morning. It wasn't until that August I remembered my prayer of the November before. When God does something He does it in a big way!

My theory that our herd of buck keep coming up is because they've been eating at our back gate since they were fawn. We've been putting out corn for 10 years now, and each spring we'll have two to five fawns to enjoy. These same fawn, now grown, are coming back to their favorite eating place because it's they're normal routine.

So when I see the fawns below from this year, we just may have nine or ten buck in another year!

Last Saturday I found this doe and fawn on a hillside enjoying the early morning cool

My photo shoots on Saturday mornings will be coming to an end. Mornings are beginning later as the sun keeps coming up later. It has certainly been a treat going out looking for fawn. Don't get me wrong. If I see fawn through the fall months I'll definitely take their picture.

It's been a thrill this July and August to go snapping for deer! I wonder what I'll get into next!

Now for your laugh . . . the other evening Jerry and I were sitting out back and Tweezers (below) came up. Jerry named him Tweezers last year because when you look straight at him his antlers are in the shape of tweezers. Tweezers is not one of the herd, but comes up each day by himself. He's very comfortable around us. He was enjoying the corn for awhile when a squirrel from the far side of the yard started running across the top rail of the fence. It stopped at the post closest to Tweezer. After a few minutes the squirrel climbed down the rail and sat there. In a flash, he ran around the back of Tweezer over to the corn on the other side of the fence. He promptly sat down and started eating. We laughed! He didn't want to sit next to that big brown thing, so he decided on his plan of action and took off! Smart squirrel!

A Fine Romance

 


Early morning beyond our gate the herd visited. Light was low but I like this snap of Mr. Buck!

  Many of us enjoy reading or watching a happy romance story. I do. And one set in a historical setting is indeed interesting. Have I got a book for you!

Susan Branch, well-known artist and author, has written a charming book titled "A Fine Romance: Falling in love with the English Countryside" I know you've seen her art on everything from stationery to quilting fabrics and teapots. Her books are watercolored and completely hand-written, similar to books my friend, Karla Dornacher, creates with her art and words. (Love your books Karla! I'm going "Down [my own] Garden Path" this summer!)

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Susan is a woman who loves England and people from there, like Jane Austen, author; Laura Ashley, designer; Rosemary Verey, garden designer, James Herriot, country vet; Ellen Terry, actress, Emma Bridgewater, pottery designer, and Beatrix Potter, author and artist, and many more. She spent two months in England in 2012 and kept a diary of her experience. What a delight! Her book is her diary, filled with history, pictures, and personal thoughts.



Rose of Sharon early morning

It's been a delight to journey with Susan and her husband to the many homes and gardens of her heroes, learning a little about England's countryside along the way. One interesting fact I learned is hedgerows were planted a thousand years ago to make boundaries and enclose farmlands and pastures. Once you begin walking it never stops. They are located behind every small town, criss-crossing the country.



Busy eating that corn!

Susan shares about the towns and dwellings they stayed in and the food they ate. England calls a darling cottage "A Box of Chocolates." Isn't that great? What a delicious name! She also shares recipes of delight!

I love my oriental fountain grass, anise hyssop and the morning glories in the background!

"Behind every small town in England, criss-crossing the country, there are public footpaths, some even hundreds of miles long, that wind across fields and farms, through woods and towns, along rivers and over streams, and through areas of Outstanding Natural beauty, connecting every country village," Susan shares.

Mark Twin said: "Rural England is too beautiful to be left out of doors."

A zinnea patch in my neighbor's garden. He's proud of the blooms!

The only thing I missed, and obviously noticed was absent, is no mention of God who created everything Susan saw, or thankfulness to Him who gives all things. Nevertheless, if you'd enjoy reading a story filled with the romance of England as they travel through, and the beginning romance of Susan and her husband many years earlier, I encourage you to get this book for a good read. I'm not finished yet, but it has been a delight learning about this country through the eyes of one who loves it!
 

Another low light snap early in the morning.

  Susan has a great post titled: "Letter Writing 101" ( of course, I think so) on her website. Pull it up and read her words on how to write a great letter! http://www.susanbranch.com/letter-writing-101-how-to-write-a-good-letter-save-the-post-office. I love the quote she shared (can't remember if it's in her book or on the letter writing post) by William Wordsworth: "Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."

On another note . . . lovely quote from Angela Thomas in her study titled Choosing Joy: "May God whisper His truth into your soul . . . hope will rise!





A Walk is a walk is a walk

Some of you may remember that I was considering becoming a dog walker when I retired. I did a lot of investigating of the area businesses, created a business card, and dreamed. I've always had dogs and enjoy being around them!

The first week of retirement I began walking Sam in the park just down the road. We started easy, not going around the hilly path, but walking around the parking lot. Both of us were out of shape, and I didn't want to put any pressure on us.

We started the end of October, and a week before Christmas I damaged my knee. I haven't been able to walk for exercise since. No dog walking for me.

It's been almost two years since that happened, and it looks like my dream will come true--only a little different. My friend, Cindy, has asked if I would be interested in letting her dog Aspen out in the yard while she's at work.

Aspen is an energetic medium-size dog who is fun to be around. I've taken many pictures of her, but haven't been able to find any of them!?! I don't remember what type of dog she is; not a well-known breed, but you can be sure I'll take her picture so I can introduce her to you.

I'm sure Jerry will share in this new venture at times, which begins in two weeks, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. You know, it will be kind of nice to be responsible for something again. With a fenced-in back yard, I can let Aspen out and get a little loving too!

Sam may not be too happy about this. But, she's slowing down, now in her 9th year. Her days of chasing squirrels and deer are behind her. Stretching out on Mom's end of the couch suits her just fine.

The top snap is sunrise beauty as I left home to look for fawn one Saturday morning; a deer enjoying fresh food at the end of the field; a lovely dahlia in my garden; a newborn calf, and a young foal horsing around!

What Birthday?

Tomorrow my Mom will turn 90. A number not many reach. We'll have lunch at her favorite restaurant: Red Lobster. We may browse a store or two. It will be a small, quiet affair. She has no family left, and only one friend.

I always love it when my birthday rolls around, although most people I know don't want to be reminded of their age. My entire birthday month is spent celebrating this day that only comes around once a year. So I'm getting older. To me it means I'm getting that much closer to my heavenly home.

Mom has been with us exactly one year, and God went before us and made it possible for us to all get along fine. It's truly been a miracle.

Just think, I now get to go out to lunch at least two days a week instead of one! I decided that would be nice for Mom. She sees her one friend once a month, but other than that she's here, sitting on the front porch in the morning and sitting in the back yard in the afternoon if the weather is good.

Ninety years old. I honestly don't want to reach that birthday. Nor eighty. And ten years ago I prayed that I wouldn't reach seventy. The longer I stay in this body on this earth, the more I desire being with God.

As lovely as my garden is, and the enjoyment I have sitting in the garden early in the morning, I know I will be awed at His creation in heaven. As thrilled as I get when I see a fawn, or calf, or lamb and get some snaps of it, I will be overwhelmed to be able to lie down with a lion and lamb in heaven. As much as I crave eating chocolate, ice cream and potato chips, I know I will be satisfied with eating from the tree of life and its delicious fruit in heaven.

There will be no depression, broken heart, headaches or sadness in heaven. My heart, mind and emotions will be overwhelemed at the love of my Father.

We'll try and make Mom's special day a happy one, and I'll continue celebrating the entire month of my own birthday when it comes. But because Jesus died for me and forgives my sins, I can hardly wait until my eyes see my Savior when I arrive in His heavenly home.

The Weeder's Digest

Yes, you read right. The Weeder's Digest. That's the subtitle of a little magazine know as: GreenPrints. Their website says: "Only GreenPrints magazine shares the human side: the joy, humor, frustrations, and heart in fine prose and fine art . . . It's the best personal garden writing, old and new . . . It's funny. It's tender. It's truthful, It's inspiring."

This little magazine found it's way to my home through my Mom's friend, Mary. Once again she sent over something to read that I'd never heard of before. It's a cute little magazine that comes out each season, and occasionally special magazines like The Weeder's Reader which is GreenPrints greatest stories.

The first article I read, My New Year's Garden, shares the heart's desire of the author to grow enthusiasm, harmony, patience, love, etc., instead of anger, resentment, frustration and judgment. It was a cute little story to remind us of what's important in our life.

I really laughed at My No-Grow Azaleas where Robert Christensen shared how his azalea hedge wasn't growing any bigger the third year. He asked people everywhere if they knew what he could do. Then, when he began digging them up after frying them with nitrogen, he found a metal identification tag that said: Dwarf White Azalea. It gave me my laugh for the day.

Of course, I enjoyed the article: A Grown-Up's Snow Day. I liked what Michelle Bobier said: "I like to watch my garden while it sleeps . . . annuals are simply dead . . . Perennials are about endurance, and they are about hope. They are the ones that see me through the winer."

A cute little rhyme by Rudyard Kipling showed up in an article: "Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees; That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees. So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray; For the glory of the garden, that it may not pass away."

I liked the title: To Be Happy, Play in the Dirt, of one of the articles. This was a scientific lesson by Alexandra Schiller that spoke about how the brain triggers serotonin, a hormone-like neurotransmitter that eases tension and elevates mood. When we dig in the earth, we release and breathe in action-packed hormones that enter our body, quicken our senses, and give us a feeling of bliss. I think I need to dig in the dirt more. To think, I could have overcome all those years of depression by digging in the dirt!

Dorothy Gilman said: "What continues to astonish me about a garden is that you can walk past it in a hurrt, see something wrong, stop to set it right, and emerge an hour or two later breathless, contented, and wondering what on earth happened."

Check out GreenPrints at www.greenprints.com. It's a cute litte magazine bound to give the gardener in you some laughs and lessons. It's a Mom and Pop operation out of Fairvew, North Carolina.

GreenPrints—like gardening—offers hope, joy, encouragement, peace, humor, beauty, friendship, and so much more. And who couldn’t use those things, now or anytime? It’s a much-cherished present—for yourself and your gardening friends and family!

Oh Deer

As many of you know, I love to photograph deer. I'm not sure what it is about them, but they bring me joy. July and August is when I purposely go out looking for fawn. Since I no longer drive to work, this season I've been going out early Saturday mornings, about 6 a.m., and driving those roads where I've seen deer. Sometimes I'm successful, and sometimes not.

The other week, on one of my favorite secluded roads, I found Mom and her twins. They let me snap for 3 minutes until they were no longer in my sight. Mom wasn't concerned about me and just moseyed while the twins were a little more cautious. The snap above and the three below are from that morning.

You can be assured I'll be going out again next Saturday!

Some of you may remember a few years ago in November I asked God to bring some buck my way so I could photograph them. I hadn't been successful in finding many buck, and I wanted to photograph them too! The very next summer was when our herd of buck started showing up in our backyard.

The below two snaps were taken that first summer looking into our neighbors yard. I enjoyed seeing the two young bucks taking a drink out of our neighbors bird bath.

This week God provided opportunity for me to snap our herd of buck again. I posted the first one on Facebook last week, but here are a few more that I like. Look at that rack!

This second one I snapped behind our wood pile. I had taken Sam out a little before 7 that evening. I looked down the lane and saw the herd making their way to our backyard. I ran back to the house, grabbed my glasses and camera, left Sam in and ran back down to the woodpile. They started coming around the corner just as I got there.

They didn't know I was there for about 30 seconds when a few of them realized something wasn't right. They stayed about 3 minutes until one of them snorted. They ran down to the corner and let me take some more snaps.Never been so close to get a snap like the one below!

The only thing about having our herd of buck is the doe arn't coming up, which in turn means, no fawn. But it's been a joy having these buck come up in the evenings from July through November. Occasionally we see them in the morning too.

One of my favorite snaps of fawn in our back yard is the first time Mom brought her triplets up. I had Jerry take down the middle rail earlier so I could see the fawn better.

So . . . the beat goes on as I continue to snap deer. Who would have ever thought I'd have my own herd of buck when we started putting corn out back some 10 years ago. What a thrill!

"Thoughtful" Thoughts

Nine years ago my friend, Paula, gave me a journal for my birthday. I'd never kept a journal or diary (except as a young girl). After some thought I decided to turn it into my "Thoughtful Book", a book I'd fill with quotes and words I read that I enjoy and identified with. I'm now on my 8th "Thoughtful Book."

I thought I'd share some of my first entries as I began this new adventure . . .

Of course, at the very beginning of the book I had to put my candy to start things off right and a word from the Nestle Chocolatier: "Can't be alone with chocolate."

And a word from God to encourage my heart: "Thy God can do much more than thou canst ask."

A word on serenity . . . "The best things in life move slowly. They can hardly overtake one who is in a hurry. We are making haste to ill purpose if we haven't time to read good books, to think quietly, to visit our friends, to comfort the sick and sorrowing, to enjoy the beautiful creation of God, and to lend a hand to a struggling brother. Time is precious, but more precious than fleeting hours are truth, love, benevolence, friendship, service, a serene mind and a happy heart, for these are the essence of life itself." Gilbert Hay

A funny bit of advice . . . "If some bit of gossip come, file the thing away. If a scandalous, spicy crumb, file the thing away. If suspicion comes to you that your neighbor is not true, let me tell you what to do--file the thing away. Do this for a little while. Then go out and burn the file." Streams in the Desert 2 , Mrs. Charles Cowman

The thought of a gentleman . . . "How wonderful, at evening, to be able to say, 'What a day! Lord, What a day! Because I could pray!'" P. J. Wolz

A word from Thomas Kincade about "living in the light of the lovely." . . . "Simply put, beauty is found in anything that delights the senses, nourishes the soul, fires the imagination."

A word from Dorothy Kelley Patterson from her book "Beatitudes for Women." "Scripture makes it clear that every person has a reason for his or her existence . . . If contentment is the ultimate goal, you should negotiate with the cows to take over their pastures. Their contentment with grazing in a grassy meadow seems to overshawdow the satisfaction of most beings with their life situations."

A word for the perfectionist . . . "A healthy perspective on household chores includes determining your maximum acceptable dirt level." Unknown

A word from Eeyore . . . "A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference."

For the writer . . . "I have only made this [letter] longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter." Blaise Pascal

A word of thought from George MacDonald: "Few are needed to do the out-of-the-way tasks which startle the world, and one may be most useful just doing common place duties, and leaving the issue with God. And when it is all over, and our feet will run no more, and our hands are helpless, and we have scarcely strength to murmur a last prayer, then we shall see that, instead of needing a larger field, we have left untilled many corners of our single acre, and that none of it is fit for our Master's eye were it not for the softening shadow of the cross."

And to close this post my opinion of snow as said by Dennis the Menace, " ... and when you decided to make snow ... that was a REALLY COOL idea!