PROGRESS BEING MADE

Workers have been busy at our house all this week.  Much of the progress is not too noticeable from the outside, but the electricians, plumbers, a/c men and cornice workers have been very busy on the inside and outside of the house.  We now have a front porch.  They worked on that today and put the little curved "eyebrow" on at the end.  The fellow who did it was so proud of it and came to get us to see if we liked it.  We gave our approval!

I was also surprised this afternoon to see that we had a bathtub in our upstairs bathroom--full of WATER!  They said they were testing the system for leaks.  I was excited to see that we now have a bathtub.

Next I found a chair in my "studio" ready for me to set up my easel and begin painting.  I just might do that in the morning if the workers are not there and while it is still cool.  However, the workers worked all day last Saturday and seemed to think they would come again this week.

While we were showing a friend our house Bossy Mama and our neighborhood does came with their four babies and paraded back and forth in front of our living room window--showing off their youngsters for us to admire.  Bossy Mama came right up to the window to make sure we saw them out there!

Bossy Mama and her crew are definitely NOT shy!

WE'VE HAD VISITORS!

Son #4 and family has been visiting this weekend. Miss Ella Bella and Little Brother kept us entertained for two days. Little Brother has grown a bunch and has the most beautiful smile that just grabs at my heart. He is trying so hard to talk and Miss Ella Bella has certainly mastered the art of conversation. We were watching the deer and I pointed out the buck with "horns." She told me that they were NOT "horns," they were "antlers!" Sigh! And she is only 2 1/2! I believe her parents are in for an interesting future with Miss Ella Bella to keep them on their toes. Little Brother is just sitting there watching and taking lessons so he can catch up with his big sister.








Granddaddy did yeoman's duty with Little Brother. They seemed to get along just fine while Miss Ella Bella went with me to visit the neighbors. She charmed them all with her conversation. At one house she asked to see the "pretty room" and took herself off to the daughter's room all decorated in bright colors. I'm not sure how Miss Ella Bella knew about that room, but she certainly knows how to make herself at home wherever she is!



Miss Ella Bella told Granddaddy that the deer needed food, so they went to put out food for the "poor starving deer!"

We had a great time and now the house is very quiet again. I look forward to their return at Christmas. What fun we will have then, but I have lots to do in the next four weeks. Whew!

Busy Days!

The past weekend went by in a flash! On Saturday and Sunday I helped with a Story Circle Writing From Life workshop. It was a wonderful experience with about 20 participants exploring "the women we were," "the women we are," and "the women we hope to be." We also learned more about writing Legacy Statements or Ethical Wills. Some recommended sites for more about writing Legacy Statements can be found at http://www.ethicalwill.com/examples.html and http://www.yourethicalwill.com/.

Sunday evening we had a neighborhood gathering and birthday party for one of our neighbors. It was a beautiful evening and we had wonderful potluck food and a great time visiting. On the left is a picture of the "birthday boy" with a marvelous cake that his daughter and wife made for him!

We tried for a group neighborhood picture and it was interesting and challenging as we tried to get that many people still and paying attention at the same time.

And, finally, our big buck came in for a bit of food this morning. He was very rude because he used those horns to run off all the females who were also heading in for a late meal. The ladies did not argue with him much, except Bossy Mama, and she got poked in the side. She only tried to eat with him once and then moved on.

Grandkids Are Here = Fun!

Soph is feeding the deer. Little One LOVES standing at the living room window and watching the deer.

Granddaddy found the Big Wheel for Little One--she loves riding on our patio. Granddaddy also found bikes for both Em and Soph in the shed.

We enjoyed a trip to a Lavender Farm yesterday. Kara and Little One were looking at the lovely rows of lavender plants. Em and Soph tried out their pink tractor and suggested that their dad paint his John Deere pink since they had mostly girls in the family. He said, "Ah, NO!" Then we sat at the picnic table and had root beer before we left.

A visit to the state capitol, but first, feeding the squirrels on the capitol grounds like Son # 2 remembers doing when he was a boy.

Thankful Thursday

Last night we had a wonderful treat. About 6:00 p.m. we looked out our living room window and Bossy Mama (the leader of our deer herd) was out front parading her new, tiny, delightful twin fawns in front of our window. She was obviously showing them off for us as she walked back and forth in front of the window. I took a number of pictures through the glass, but when I tried to go outside and take pictures up a bit closer, the babies got skittish and began to leave.

Bossy Mama had her babies about a month ago and we knew she would keep them in some protected place for several weeks before she brought them out for the public to see. It was so wonderful to see the two perfect little things with their tiny, delicate faces, vivid white spots and twig-thin legs. It was also wonderful that Bossy Mama brought them down the street for us to see them. Thank you, Bossy Mama, for showing your babies to us!

Owlet Report

Our across-the-street neighbors are out of town this week so I visited their backyard today to check on the owlet that kept falling out of the owl house last week. When I entered the backyard I saw him (or her?) sitting on the porch of the owl house. Last week his eyes were closed or only open halfway, but today his eyes were wide open. Maybe it was because it was very cloudy or maybe he was just curious about what I was doing. In any case, he seemed to be looking at me no matter where I stood in the yard.

I got several more great pictures! He even leaned down to look at me when I stood directly beneath the owl house. He is so cute!

Next I came home and went into my living room and found this little buck looking in my window. Last summer we named the one who got in between the bushes and the house to look in our bedroom window Bush Buck. I guess this is Bush Buck, Jr!

A Birthday Girl

A wonderful thing about our family is that we believe in family get-togethers that help us stay in touch with each other in a wonderfully refreshing way. This past weekend my brother and his wife came to stay with us and help celebrate their granddaughter's second birthday. We had three fun-filled days of activity--eating, visiting, and watching Bela enjoy her two-year-old self!

My brother certainly enjoyed holding Bela, as you can tell from the big grin on his face, and playing with her during a breakfast gathering of family.

My brother's wife with the Birthday Girl. Thankfully my brother's wife is feeling much better and is now able to attend these family gatherings after being "grounded" for a whole year! We were so glad to have her with us again for the fun and festivities.

The Birthday Girl certainly enjoyed her birthday cake at the outdoor birthday party. The weather was gorgeous over the weekend and very conducive to outdoor gatherings with cool days, no wind, and little humidity. More good food and that delicious cake to finish up with! We all probably won't need to eat again for a week!

We tried a family portrait of my brother, his wife and their oldest son's family. About ten pictures later I finally got one with everyone's eyes open.

And no gathering is ever complete at our house without watching Bossy Mama and her girls come in to eat. Bela really enjoyed the deer and was amazingly quiet while watching them. Several times she put her fingers up to her lips and told us "Shhh!" to remind us to be quiet also. And one last picture of Bela sitting quietly in my lap outside for a very long time--just watching those deer eat.

Thanks to all who came and made the weekend so much fun!

Thankful Thursday

I have mentioned being thankful for the the wildlife in our neighborhood before. Today I would like to be thankful for Bossy Mama and her friends who came into our lives several years ago. She is a beautiful doe who wanders through our suburban yard periodically and is obviously the leader of a pack of 10 to 15 deer. Several summers ago our grandchildren were coming to visit and they always loved to see the deer, but the deer did not always come around during their visits.

My husband decided to provide water and food for the deer so that the grandchildren could see them on a more regular basis. He researched the best food for the deer and put it out in a small dish near the front windows of our living room. The deer began coming in almost every day and my husband has continued to feed them. We have now made friends with them and named a few of our favorites. Bossy Mama always appears in our yard and checks out the food dish. If there is food, she somehow communicates this to "the tribe," as we call them, and they come running down the street. Bossy Mama eats, but I have also seen her clobber a deer with her hoof for being too greedy. She keeps those deer in line!

If there is no food out for the deer, Bossy Mama watches us with her soulful eyes and almost seems to talk. She has also been known to stomp her foot if we are slow to put out food and she will march into the garage, if the door is open, and begin eating the food my husband stores in there. Recently, my mother and I were leaving in the car and Bossy Mama was standing by the driveway waiting to sample the smorgasbord in the garage when I hit the button to close the garage door. It was comical to watch her expression of surprise and disgust as she looked from us to the closed garage door and back again. She actually stomped her foot and snorted at us! Mother and I had a good laugh over Bossy Mama's reaction!

We really enjoy the deer who inhabit our neighborhood and our grandchildren enjoy helping my husband put out food for the deer. We then go into the living room for a front row seat of entertainment. In the early part of the summer Bossy Mama is the first new mama to bring her babies for us to admire. She always has twins and is a very good mother to them. They follow her around for a year or two until they begin to have their own families. We have noticed that Bossy Mama is partial to some of the grownup deer and we suspect that they were her babies.

Last summer I had surgery and was in bed for a couple of weeks. Each afternoon one of Bossy Mama's young bucks that we have named Bush Buck came and rested behind the bushes in front of my bedroom window. About 3:00 each afternoon he stood up and looked in the bedroom window and began moving his mouth like he was talking to me (or maybe chewing his cud). I talked back to him and we carried on a conversation for five or six minutes until he wandered off down the street. Even now, I sometimes find Bush Buck between the house and the bushes looking in the window. I always wonder what is going through his mind when he is outside looking in.

Visitors This Weekend

My sister and her daughter-in-law came to visit with the children this weekend. The children had fun helping my husband put out feed for the deer and playing in our back yard with Daisy. We did not actually see the deer at our house, but walked down the cul de sac and saw them in the woods.

Today was a beautiful springlike day--just too pretty to stay inside! Our trees will be bursting into bloom soon if they can bloom without any moisture since we have not had any real measurable rain around here since last summer.


We really enjoyed our visit and hated to put the children in the car for their ride home.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for the wildlife that frequent our property, even though we live in a well populated part of town. Many people dislike the deer because they eat much of the vegitation--even that on the "deer will not eat" list. However, we love the deer who come to visit and we have named several who have such distinctive personalities. We call the boss lady of this herd Bossy Mama because she keeps everyone in line. You can see her with one of her little ones in the picture to the right.

One of her little bucks entertained me last summer after I had surgery by coming to the bedroom window and looking in. We call him Bush Buck because he loves to get between the bushes and the house to gaze in the window.

To the right is a fellow who has a marvelous rack of horns. I hope a hunter does not set his sights on our friend who came begging for food one afternoon last week.

The grandchildren love to help their granddad feed and call the deer when they come to visit.

And then we had an armadillo that dug into the soft, damp earth by our pond--under our banana trees. Our dog had been barking like crazy for several days and was digging up the whole flower bed. We could not figure out what was going on until my husband decided to see what she was digging for. With a little help from Daisy, he came up with this very terrified armadillo which we quickly deposited in a neighbor's yard, safe from Daisy.