Did March Come In Like a Lion or a Lamb?

Saturday, on the last day of February, it snowed. And it snowed some more. These deer in the field at sunset didn't seem to mind the snow. The snow continued until well after midnight. By Sunday morning, we had six inches of beautiful snow, covering the recently scarred earth around here, where many broken limbs still lie.

There were many hungry finches and other birds out there enjoying the sunflower seeds I pitched out the window. I usually fill the feeders, but in ice and snow, I stay in, and do some pitching. The birds don't seem to mind.

By mid morning, the sun came out in full force, and the six inches of snow began to melt.

By late afternoon, it only covered the grassy areas, like the field, where the deer were congregating again.

On Monday morning, some pink March clouds, looking like lambs, grazed in the blue sky.

Did March come in like a lion, since it snowed until well past midnight, or a lamb, since the sun shone brightly by mid-morning on Sunday, which was officially the first day of March?

So, will it be an early spring, or will we have six more weeks of winter? Time alone will tell.

I took all the pictures from my kitchen window, and the one of the deer in the field looks like it, doesn't it? lol.

Thank you for visiting.

Blessings from the woods!

A Cat and Deer Tale- in Pictures!

Here is a little cat and deer incident that I was lucky enough to capture on camera recently.

Felix the cat, was just lolling in the field, enjoying a breeze, minding his own business. A doe came out of the woods, and noticed Felix. See the doe really looking Felix's way? Her ears are like antenna's, pointing towards the cat.

The doe decides to move closer and check out this creature lying there, and you can see the cautious expression on her face. Felix isn't budging from his spot.

The doe moves even closer, really taking a good look now. Felix looks back, but isn't a bit intimidated.

"Nothing to worry about," the doe seems to be thinking, or maybe even saying in deer language, since you can see her mouth moving.

"I wasn't worried," Felix the cat seems to be saying, as he continues to enjoy his spot in the field.

The doe finally walked back into the woods, and Felix got hungry and came to eat his lunch.

The End! :-)

I hope you enjoyed my little cat and deer tale in pictures. Animals can be very entertaining.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

Success at Last!

The other day, I was reading blogging friend Linda's This and That blog post, when I discovered a solution to my grrrrr problem! Linda wrote about being ticked off because she forgot to take her memory card out of the reader, so even though she had her camera along at the 4th of July cookout she attended, she couldn't take any pictures! So she was ticked off! And who can blame her?

But you know something? I was glad she forgot her memory card, because writing about it, I had the chance to find out about memory card readers. Sorry, Linda, but it's true. :-)

Memory card reader? I have never heard of it. Could this possibly be a solution to my uploading problems? I called our local Radio Shack and asked about it, and the guy said, "Yep, it will work with your camera. It works with any digital camera." So I went to town yesterday, and bought a memory card reader, and voila, I can get my pictures uploaded from my camera! Woo Hoo!

The last few days, I have been enjoying taking pictures of sun and shade, light and dark, and although they are not real good pictures, I thought I'd show them anyway.

This is Dottie, the doe with the lump on her face. I wrote about her before. She's had this growth on her side for almost six years now but seems to be doing well. The other afternoon, she was standing in the shady side of the field, watching me, while the sun shone brightly behind her. I thought the sun and shade effect makes an interesting shot.

Yesterday at dawn, this young doe was out in the front early. I saw her from the kitchen window and went out with my camera. Her glowing eyes make her look surreal, don't you think? But she posed for me nicely.

Here is my front yard in the early morning. This picture really has to be enlarged to see the sun and shade better.

And here the sun was playing peek-a-boo through the tree tops.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my sun and shade attempts. I'm just happy I can upload pictures again, and will post my purple castle pictures soon.

Have a great day, everyone!

Happy Summer!

Today is the first full day of summer, and I hope everyone is out there, enjoying some lovely weather. Our weather in the Ozarks has been heavenly the past week and a half-mild, sunny days in the low 80s, and cool, good for sleeping, nights. And I have been out and about, enjoying it.

I went to some yard/garage sales this morning, followed by a nice lunch, with friends. Our small town is already getting ready for the Fourth of July, as the tents are all set up in town, selling fireworks. I can't believe the Fourth if July is already almost here!

My favorite neighbors in the woods, the deer, have been around, as usual, and I took a couple of pictures of them. I have not been able to take pictures of the new fawns as of yet, although I have caught glimpses of them. It will be a little while before they will follow mama to the field, where this "odd" human lady lives that talks to them. :-) But they will come eventually.

Before we began mowing my field, it used to be a beautiful meadow, full of wildflowers and butterflies! But, I soon discovered that besides butterflies, many unwanted insects liked the tall grasses and flowers as well. So did the various and sundry snakes, like copperheads and the more benign, but equally unwanted black snakes. They all enjoyed my beautiful meadow. So now, we, or I should say my son, Greg, keeps it short and almost looking like a suburban lawn, and I can see any unwelcome visitors clearly!

My posts have been sparse lately, but there is just too much happenning in my world, that I want to partake in. Even my writing has been neglected. Thank goodness for reprints!

Thank you for reading, God bless, and have a wonderful week, everyone.

No Snow In My Neighborhood!

The weather predictions for Saturday were ominous, with freezing rain and snow in the forecast. Well, we had torrential rains all day, but by the time the temperatures dropped to freezing, late at night, most of the moisture was gone. Oh, we did get a dusting of snow, but that melted as soon as the sun came out this morning. So, no snow in my neighborhood, to take beautiful pictures of. (Thank goodness!) But it was a beautiful, sunny day, and I decided to take some pictures anyway.

The small pond is at the northern edge of the field. It isn't a fancy pond, it is a wildlife pond. Behind the pond are the woods. The pond, field and woods are a nice habitat for the wildlife that live around here. And the birds always find water to drink or bathe in.

The field is east of the house, and it is where the deer and wild turkeys like to congregate. Behind the field are some more woods.

The grass is brown nowadays, and some of the oaks which hang on to their leaves until spring, are somewhat drab, but I like my snow-less landscape. It has its own "rustic" charm.

Of course, it never fails. Whenever I'm outside, the deer appear. Here is a doe and her teen aged fawn, posing for me nicely.

And here comes another doe with her twin fawns. The fawns will hang out with "mom" even after she has new "kids," next spring, and even after they give birth to their own young. The bucks stay with "mom" for about a year, after that they join the "boys," who usually hang out together in the woods.

I hope you enjoyed my "snow-less" pictures.

A Good Day

It was a good day today. Eating out, chatting with friends, browsing around in the stores, was fun. Ran into Garnet, who is walking now with the aid of a crutch, after a nasty fall last week. She is fortunate that she didn't break anything, or that hitting her head on some stone steps didn't do any great damage. At 87, she is a tough old bird, God bless her.

It was a beautiful day today. Sunny and warm, but not extremely hot, as it has been for a month now. Still dry though, but one of these days, the rains will arrive to refresh the parched earth around here.

The deer show up earlier and earlier. This morning they were out there at dawn, looking towards the house; looking for me! didn't let them down!

In the morning, it's back to working on Grist for the Mill. I write fiction so rarely, but when I do, I lose myself in the story. When I finish Grist for the Mill, I will go back to The Purple Castle, which is now sitting in my documents, half done. I'm looking forward to going back to a story about a strange dream, and how it eventually comes true. But enough of that for now. Grist for the Mill is waiting, the heroin, Liz, wants to solve the mystery of the manuscript she found!

Time to put my mind into a sleep mode, so I can go back to Liz refreshed, in the morning.

It was a very good day today!

Still No Rain!

Well, we still haven't had any rain, although some dark clouds are forming, and the forecast says showers are possible today. Because of the clouds, it's not quite as hot as it's been, but still 90 and very muggy out. The resident deer spend a lot of time in the pond, to keep cool. I feel sorry for the butterflies, as there are so few flowers anywhere, because of the drought. Wildflowers that were always abundant along the roadsides and around the field and woods, have dried up. Just before, as I sat on the deck for a little while, a tiny butterfly landed on my arm. It stayed there, his feelers tickling my skin a bit. I don't know what he was getting from my skin, but he stayed quite some time, so it must have been something. I even came in the house, while I held on to the tiny butterfly, and put some droplets of hummingbird nectar in my palm. Once outside again, I placed the butterfly near the sweet nectar, and the tiny jewel was drinking the droplets! Then he flittered off, hopefully sustained for a while. The hot dry weather is hard on most living things. Well, except for the dragonflies (and most insects) that zip around the field like tiny helicopters. They love the heat, I read somewhere, when I was doing research for an article on these interesting creatures. Nature is filled with wonder and beauty, but it has it's harsh side as well. Just like all life.