Evening Visitors

These white tailed deer come to scrounge at my bird feeder every night. Most nights, it's too late to get pictures. But, Sunday night, they came early. They're so beautiful, and I'm glad to see that they have weathered our winter in fairly good condition.

There are two does, and their yearlings, and, that one little one knows very well I'm standing at the window.



I have noticed that there is always one on watch. Most of the time they stay closer to the group than this, but one is always actively looking around for danger.



The slightest movement, or sound, puts them on high alert. A noisy truck was responsible for this startle, and, an instant later, they were away, white tails flashing.



I love having the critters come to the yard. But, I'm always very careful to make sure that they stay wild. I guess this may seem mean, but, if I go into the yard, and any critter, be it turkey, duck or deer, is there, I chase it. I don't want them to become used to human beings.

They'd be easy pickings for hunters, if they didn't fear them. I don't have anything against animals being hunted. It's a better death than starving because of too little food to maintain the population. But, hunters ought to have to work for it.

More Spring Signs

Yesterday was one of a string of clear, bright and warmer days that we have been seeing lately. We'll get more snow, but, this is a welcome break. I saw a couple more signs of Spring, even though they weren't the most glamorous things to see. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, so we'll have to rely on stock pictures.

First of all, the Turkey Buzzards are back. As soon as I went out of the door, I saw them floating up there in the sky. Up close, they are uuuuuugly, but they certainly are magnificent at catching the wind currents.



The second sign of Spring that I saw yesterday was a motorcycle, whizzing by the house. Oh, not one of those beautiful Harleys, but one of those obnoxious little "Sport" motorcycles. Harley riders behave themselves, but the young kids who like to play "Rocket Man" drive me nuts. At least I won't have to be scared stiff on the way too and fro work any more. That crazy weaving in and out of cars used to make me crazy.



But, fate was saving the best sign for last. This morning, I looked out of my back window, and saw that the turkeys were out there. And "The Man" was in full display. He's not as stunning as Joanna's Franklin, but he's pretty magnificent all the same.

Look at me, girls!



Good Side



Other Good Side



And, going.



You'll notice that the girls don't seem too terribly interested in him. The corn and sunflower seeds on the ground are, apparently, much more enticing. And, yes, that is Mr. Smarty Pants Squirrel making his presence known in all of the turkey pictures.

Out of My Rear Window 3/7/10

A new feature starts here today. I thought that, every Sunday, I would take a picture or two out of my rear window. Week by week, there may be little change, but, over the course of a year, we can watch the seasons change, here in Western NY. Today, we have snow (not a big surprise), sun and that smart little squirrel who has managed to figure out how to get sunflower seeds from my "squirrel proof" bird feeder.

it's Coming, I swear!

So what if there is still a ton of snow left on the ground. The first, if very faint, signs of Spring are beginning to appear.

The Forsythia buds are filling out nicely.



The Hydrangia buds are turning red.



And, the first, tiny Daylily shoots are beginning to poke up their noses.



All of which reminds me that one of my chores this weekend, while the weather is nice, had better be to get the bluebird and the wren houses up.


Happy Weekend to you all!

Bad Night

I had a bad night last night. I have some arthritis in my hip, caused by over 30 years of walking the hard concrete floor of the factory. Most of the time, I don't even notice it, but every once in a while it kicks up. Last night was one of those nights. The cats even left, in disgust that I was tossing and turning so much.

As often happens, my brain choose that time to shift into overdrive. At first, my thoughts were pretty dark. I kept thinking about how I'm getting older, and how I really have never accomplished anything.

But, I gave myself a good kick in the butt (hard to do when you're laying down) and reminded myself of all of my blessings. I have a roof over my head, food to eat, critters to enjoy, and, most importantly, good friends who care about me, just to name a few of the more obvious. I volunteer, and I try very hard to do no harm.

So, there I was, pondering my future in the middle of the night. I came to the conclusion that I may be in the sunset of my life, but sunsets can be very beautiful, and we have the choice to make our own sunset so. With that, I finally drifted off to sleep, somewhere around 3 AM. Oh, another thing to be grateful for. Because I'm retired, I didn't have to get up at 5 AM to go to work.

As Roy Rogers would say "Happy Trails to You." And, beautiful sunsets, too. Now, I think that I'll go take a nap.

What I Got at the Antique Store

Well, when I went to the antique store yesterday, I did some browsing. I'm pretty immune to stuff like that, having lived in a house that my Grandfather bought back in the 1920's all of my life. We're shanty Irish, so there's nothing really valuable, but, I've lived with "old stuff" forever. Generally, I don't want, or need, more.

I almost got out of there without buying anything. But then, up on a shelf, I saw these plates. They were collector's plates, and were of famous race horses.

I have been horse crazy all of my life. For a large portion of my adult life, I have owned horses. Now, I volunteer for the Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption Program. There is something about a good horse that satisfies my soul.

So, when I saw these plates, I couldn't resist. I ended up buying two of them.

Secretariat



And, one of the horse who was my most absolute hero all during the time I was growing up -- the great Man O' War, with his groom Will Harbut, who was a big part of his legend.



I didn't get any deal. I checked Ebay and I paid the going rate for them. I don't care, I just love these things and am very happy.

Now the big question. They had four more plates. Alysheba, Genuine Risk, Ladies Secret and one more that I can't remember. I have been coveting all night, and am still coveting this morning. Do I go back and get them? The horse, though famous, aren't well known to anyone outside of us horse crazy freaks. But, they sure are beautiful plates.

Painted Stores

Today was the day of the artistically painted stores. It didn't start out that way. I had to go to Lori's Natural Foods, to pick up some cat food that you can only get in a few places. I had my camera with me, and it occurred to me that it was an unusual store on the outside, as well as the inside. So, of course, I took a picture.



After that, I went to an antique store that I have passed many times, but never stopped at. What do you know, it had another of those artistic outsides, that you can't see from the road.







I like the effect. It's sweet, and folksy, and makes you feel at home. Maybe they'll start a trend.

Oh, I bought a couple of things while I was at the antique place. More about that tomorrow.