Peek-a-boo!

Last week while sitting in the gazebo at The Puddle, I kept hearing an odd noise like a bleating.  I asked Mr P what the noise was and his reaction was "What noise?".  I waited until I heard it again and then said "There, that noise!".  His answer "A woodpecker".  I knew it wasn't a woodpecker and several minutes later a tiny fawn came up the bank from the cornfield behind our property.  It walked within five feet of where we were sitting, bleating for it's momma and scurried into the woods behind our house.  We could also hear another bleating sound coming from the direction the fawn was headed which sounded like the calls this one was making.

Yesterday, Mr P looked outside toward our garden and saw some movement.  There were two fawns bedded down and hidden underneath our potato plants in the garden.
 

 

 

 

 

He watched both of them moving around in the garden, chomping on the potato plants and then moving off into the woods.  There was no sighting of the momma of these little ones but I'm sure she was nearby and keeping an eye on them.
They are really small so obviously almost newborns and seemed skinny to me.  Mr. P assured me that for their age they both seemed normal in size.

We had another deer sighting that was amazing the day after we saw the lost fawn last week.  Again, we were sitting in the gazebo relaxing and a doe came up the same path that had been used by the fawn the night before.  What a shock to us when the doe stepped into The Puddle, keeping close to the bank where she could touch the bottom, and walked 3/4 of the way around The Puddle munching on lily pads.  It was quite a sight!  She leaned out into the water, snatched up a lily pad, giving a pull and munching all the while.  She seemed to bite off the long stem that attaches the lily pad to the roots once she got the lily pad all chewed up.
After she made a circut of 3/4 of the pond, she turned back the way she had come and made another pass back all the while sloshing in the water.  She didn't get all the way around to her original starting point when another doe came up from the creek towards her.  Their ears went back as they approached each other and the first doe even reared up on her hind feet in confrontation.  They seemed to come to an agreement that they could both be there and share the lily pads so the second doe stepped into the water and began seeking delicacies to munch.  We watched them for about 20-30 minutes until they both went out into the cornfield using the path they used to visit The Puddle.  They enjoyed the newly planted corn plants in the field for a while before drifting off.

It was warm again today but not realy unbearable.  It's overcast right now and rain storms hit most areas around us but we remaind dry for the present.
Tomorrow brings the downside of the workweek with the weekend in sight.  Here's hoping you had a good day today.

We've got mail...

Check out Mr P's latest purchase!
Our home sits about 300 feet from the roadway where our mailbox sits at the top of our driveway.  Mr P must have gotten tired of making the walk up to the mailbox only to discover that the mailcarrier hadn't arrived yet.  He said he spoke to our mailcarrier and got the go ahead to install this gadget.

The little black plastic strip is caught in the door of the mailbox.  When the mail is delivered and the box is opened a spring mechanism pops the little yellow flag up in the air.  Mr P can see the upraised flag from a vantage point on the front porch meaning only one trip to the mail box each day.

 

My walking buddies ohhed and ahhed over the gadget on Saturday.  One of them wants Mr P to research whether or not this comes with a flag on a 10 ft pole since their mailbox sits at such an angle nothing else would be visible. 
It was a scorcher today with the temperature hitting 91 degrees and the humidity was high.  More of the same tomorrow.
Hope you are staying cool wherever you are.

Super Moon

Last night there was an opportunity to view the Super Moon.  A bigger, brighter full moon than normal because of the proximity of the moon to earth.  We took a walk to The Puddle to take a look and while it was hazy, below are two pictures snapped around 9:30PM.  Isn't it a beauty?


There is the reflection of the Super Moon in The Puddle in this next picture.  Although hazy, it was a beautiful night.  

When my walking buddies and I met up this morning for our 6AM walk, the clouds obscured any chance of seeing it this morning.  The moon will sit be full tonight so maybe there we be a few other pictures to be had later tonight.

The butterfly bush has lots of flowers on it and the butterflies flit from flower to flower.  I love the purple color.

It's been a busy month.  Mr P and I visited OnlyDaughter and her family recently for six days.  We were entrusted with the care of Grandson's #1 and #2 and the two dogs and cat while they went to a writer's convention.  We had a grand time with the boys.  We baked hot milk sponge cake that we loaded with slightly sweetened strawberries, made Rice Krispy treats, took a walk every day and a bike ride several days too.  Grandson #2 got over his fear of not being able to balance on his two-wheel bike and was zipping around like a seasoned pro on our last day there.  The boys painted glassware for their Dad for Father's Day (and they each did one or so for their Mom too) and the glasses were baked to set the paint so the glasses can go in the dishwasher.  We played several loooonnnggg games of Monopoly too.  We had a grand time and I think they enjoyed themselves too.  OnlyDaughter and OnlySonInLaw had some flight snafus but all in all I think they too had a good time while they were away.

It's very hot and humid outside today.  I have been working outside today in my flower beds to get the weeds that exploded while we were away under control. I don't think I am 1/3 of the way through my largest bed so I know what I will be doing each evening this week.
I hope you had a good weekend wherever you are and managed to stay cool.  

June already!

Here are two pictures of The Puddle Pond taken on the 1st of June.  I can't believe that May is gone and June is here!  The first picture below was taken from one end of The Puddle looking toward the fields behind.  You can see the "gazebo" that Mr P put up at The Puddle where we often sit in the evening enjoying the peace and quiet.



This picture was taken from the area next to the gazebo from behind the grape arbor.  The lily pads have already gotten a head start.  Mr P took an afternoon last week and sprayed the entire pond in an attempt to eradicate some of the lily pads before they begin to really spread.  This is a never ending battle each year.  We're not sure if hiring someone with a track hoe to clean the pond would dislodge and kill them or if it would only serve to spread them even more.

Mr P and I spent some quiet time down at the gazebo this morning and as we were leaving we saw the most enormous snapping turtle digging a hole along the bank near some cat-o-nine tails in preparation of laying eggs.  I stayed put and Mr P came up to the house to collect a firearm to dispatch the huge critter.  There were what appeared to be about three turtle eggs that had hatched at another side of the pond so there will be more down there in the future unless the fish eat the little critters.
If our neighbor was still living in the area, we would have given the turtle to him to make turtle soup, which was his speciality in the past.

Several years ago a bat took up residence behind the big, round thermometer at our garage.  Mr P purchased a bat house and placed it on the side of the garage according to the specifications that came with the house.  We haven't seen our friend behind the thermometer since the house was put up.  It's too high on the side of the garage to get a good look inside to see if he has moved but we are hopeful that he found it and is happy in his new digs.

Unbeknownst to me, Mr P has been working over the last few week restoring a tractor that we obtained when my Dad passed away almost 25 years ago.
My brother says that Mr P helped my Dad and my brother bring the Farmall home when Dad purchased it.  The tractor has served a farmer until its demise in the field one day where he left it sit.  My Dad bought it and my brother remembers helping him rebuild the engine.  Dad used he tractor for years and when he passed away, we purchased it from my Mom.  Mr P has used it over the years to plow and cultivate and obviously decided to restore it to its former glory.  My Dad would be very proud of the work Mr P did, how great the tractor looks and wow, it still runs.
We're not sure if one of the grandsons would be interested in owning it in the future but our hope is to keep it in the family.

It has been incredibly hot and humid here these last few days. My walking buddy and I were hoping for some rain during our walk this morning to cool things down but now such luck.   A little rain fell late today and now its cooler.
Here's hoping you had a good weekend and a better week this week.