Bringing Up Bobbin

Tossed salads and scrambled deer

It hit 107F on the deck today. We all but melted in the balmy 79 that was the indoor temperature. It was so hot today the mama deer came begging for water.

She showed up this morning as I was out in the yard. 10 feet away from me, with eyes that were demanding apples. In a docile yet wild and skittish kind of way. Like she knew I was good for them, and if she just stood firm and didn't run away, she'd get the prize.

Naturally I didn't disappoint. She followed me to the deck, staying back a closer-than-I-was-comfortable-with 10 feet the entire time, as I went up the hill into the house to get the rest of the apples we had saved for her. I was a little wary; Bobbin was on the deck and I was hoping that Mama Deer hadn't gotten too brave or too hungry since I had last seen her. She wasn't so bold as to make her way onto the deck, but she stood right next to the house at the bottom corner, waiting patiently as Bobbin looked down on her from the deck railing about 8 feet directly above her head pointing and yelling "Hi Mama Deer! Hiiiii-eeeeeee! How are you dis mornin' deer? Are you hungry? YAH?! Hiiiii-eeeeeee! GOOD MORNIN!" I figured if she stayed through the enthusiastic greeting and interrogation she deserved the apples.

I tossed out about a half dozen. She ate them all and didn't stop looking at me or start walking away until I had held out my hands, empty, shaking my head saying "all gone". Like she understood any of that; she knows I'm quick with the apples. If they weren't forthcoming within 3 minutes of silent, doe-eyed pleading then obviously she wasn't going to get anymore from me and she decided on her own to move on. Likely to wait out the day in the relative cool of the forest by the house. A seasonal stream runs through it but with this heat wave, I don't think there's much if anything flowing.

Later this evening she returned. She was breathing really heavy - I could see her ribs and stomach heaving rapidly. And she had her mouth open and tongue out. She was hot and thirsty and looking for more apples.

Problem was I had given her everything this morning. So I ransacked the fridge to see what we might have that would appeal to a deer. Not a whole lot. Some bags of peeled organic baby carrots and lettuce left over from our BBQ friday night. I tossed out the carrots over the balcony railing. She sniffed and turned up her nose and looked me in the eye to let me know this was not what she wanted. I tossed out the lettuce and she seemed quite interested until she got up close and had her mouth open about to it it, and then backed away wildly. I looked in the bag. There was a half onion in there with the lettuce. Otherwise I think she'd have eaten it. I tried some watermelon chunks with the rind still on. She sniffed the air, interested, but couldn't locate anything on the ground worthy of consuming. I had nothing else to try.

She looked so sad and desperate and uncomfortable that I made Tim go outside to give her a drink. She started getting a little skittish and jumped away as he hauled out an old cooler that we had just washed and had left outside, and filled it with water from the hose until it was overflowing. She seemed tempted when it had filled but in the end she just decided to walk away. Maybe she smelled onions in the cooler.

Tim spent the better part of today mowing and cleaning the yard. It looked immaculate. He suffered some minor heat fatigue too as a result of being outside all day in the scalding sun. Now, however, the yard looks like a giant tossed salad; watermelon chunks, lettuce leaves, and orange baby carrots littering the otherwise beautifully manicured lawn.

Shopping list for tomorrow includes a 25lb bag of apples. And I need to become more familiar with deer diet. I do know now that they won't eat anything that remotely smells of onions.

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What's good for the goose is good for the gander

Tim took this photo of a couple of geese parents and their offstring strolling nonchalantly through our yard the other day. Likely on their way over to the golf course that butts up against our property line. We hope they made it ok. We know for a fact we have coyotes and owls hanging out in our woods in the back yard. But it was broad daylight so hopefully that boded well for the little family.

I hope our wetlands gradually morphs into a year-round pond so we can attract more such critters. Last year around this time we had a pair of ducks looking for a nesting spot down where the tall grass starts. For their own sake I'm glad they eventually moved on, as I suspect they wouldn't have lasted a night. The year before I saw a heron or crane regularly take off and land somewhere out near the back of our wetland.

Man would it be cool to have geese and ducks hanging out on a regular basis out back! I'd be willing to put up with a bit of poop as a result. I know... be careful what you wish for ;-)

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Do Not Feed the Animals.

Tim and I were sitting at our respective computers this evening when Tim glanced out the window and noticed two bunnies next to my car.

I grabbed my stash of carrots from the fridge and headed out on the deck to toss them out to the bunnies. Only a couple of carrots actually hit the car. One came within an inch of hitting a bunny. I walked out and deposited the rest in little piles around the yard and in the garden. The bunnies hopped over to the bushes for cover. It's not like they needed them; they're out there every night chomping on clover. But I couldn't resist.

I started walking towards the deck to head back in when a huge reddish brown hawk took off from the same bushes about 10 feet away, sailed a couple of feet directly over my head, and just over the roof of the house.

I followed the hawk around the house to get a better look and came face to face with a deer. She was standing quiet and perfectly still in the middle of our back yard, and looking at me expectantly. I went inside and told Tim the deer wanted an apple. He tossed one off the deck to her.

Well, 3 out of 4 ain't bad. And who knows... maybe we did end up feeding the hawk too, if inadvertently :-)

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Deer and baby bunnies

I was out in the yard pushing Bobbin on the swing on Sunday, my mind roaming free as I stood under the blue blue sky with the sun streaming down and a gentle breeze blowing. I was thinking about what a beautiful day it was, about how pretty my newly planted flowers looked, about what we'd have for dinner, about what kind of cake we should serve at Bobbin's birthday party in 2 months, and wondering where I could find a Wizard of Oz snow globe; all kinds of random stuff as I pushed Bobbin on her swing, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth....

Then all of a sudden I heard a high pitched giggle and a "Hi Deer! How are you!" and I was startled out of my revery. Dear? Deer? Wha? Is she talking to me? Is she calling me "dear" now? I looked around and saw nothing. Then as Bobbin swung forward again she said "Deer! Hi! Deer! Come here deer!" I looked around the play structure and sure enough, 30 feet away, was a deer grazing in our field. She looked up every time Bobbin called to her and then would resume eating, calmly and quietly. As if grazing next to a swingset with a 22 month toddler waving and calling out "Hi deer" in her cheerful little voice was the most normal thing in the world for a deer to do. We kept swinging and watching the deer.

This morning as we were leaving for school a rustling of leaves on the ground caught my eye. Sitting no more than 2 inches away from my foot was a tiny baby bunny munching on some weeds in our little triangle patch garden. I pointed it out to Bobbin. "Baby Bunny!" she exclaimed happily, and crouched down next to it for a closer look. This got the bunny's attention and he promptly hopped across the path and into the bushes on the other side. But not before Bobbin got a wonderfully close, long, look at the little thing. It was so small it would have fit in the palm of my hand.

Man, I love living here!

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More "Signs of Life"

After checking out the equipment (see previous post), and verifying that the power was disconnected from the house (George sent someone out to do that today), we took a little stroll in our forest ("our forest" - I just love that :-)).

On previous excursions I came face to face, quite literally, with an adolescent owl (it was the middle of the day and it was napping on a lower branch that I almost banged into). Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me at the time. But since then, in his own wanderings of the forest, Tim came across what he believes to be the location of the owl's nest. We believe that this particular tree is where its nest is located because at its base are littered countless small rodent carcasses and skeletons, in various stages of decomposition, including this tiny, intact skull. In reality it measures no more than about an inch and a quarter in length. An interesting find though.

I took several other pictures of the carnage and the tree as well as other new Signs of Life on today's little excursion.

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Harvest Time!

Went out to the property today to check out the orchards. It had been a while since we had been out there and I figured there would probably be some fruit to pick - I was right :-)

I picked a laundry basket full of fruit - about half of it apples (I think we have 2 or 3 varieties - the brilliant red ones remind me of the poison apple in Snow White - with perfect white flesh and the most amazing brilliant red skin I've ever seen) and the other half pears, with some italian prunes thrown in for good measure (most of those were rotten already but there were a few good ones!). There appear to be plenty of apples for us and the deer to be quite contented, which is nice. We have an unspoken agreement - they get the low hanging apples and the stuff that falls on the ground, and we get the apples in the upper branches. It appears that deer don't like pears at all - just apples. Fine by me!

Finished picking just as it started raining, promptly got home, and made a pie! My mom's recipe (which I believe has traced its origins to the Joy of Cooking)

Mmm.... :-)

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Signs of Life

Those of you who know us personally, know that we are in the process of building our dream house! We have a gorgeous piece of property complete with seasonal stream, wetlands, forest, and the start of an orchard! It backs up onto a local golf course as well, so it is extremely private.

We're very close to getting our permit and starting the demolition of the double-wide that is currently located there (the double-wide... that in and of itself warrants its own entry!).

Most weekends Tim and I head over to the property to hang out and do some work - mostly we clear blackberry bushes, mow the lawn, check the orchard, and just generally hang out to see if we can spot wildlife. To date we've seen deer (Mom and baby), a coyote, an owl (face-to-face, literally), numerous moles and shrews, hawks and many varieties of birds, snakes, and bunnies!

A couple of weekends ago we were out there doing some general clean-up. It was way too hot (in the high 90s! In Seattle!) for any critters to be coming out of the shady protection of the forest, so instead, while Tim mowed, I busied myself with searching our property for proof of the wildlife that was currently hiding from the hot summer sun. I call the results "Signs of Life" ;-)

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