Too Precious

Not for anything, I know we have way too many deer here in upstate New York.  Way, way, way, too many.  But when I just went to the bathroom and looked out and saw five deer lounging in my backyard, and a couple of them still have their spots, I just have to stare in wonder, and grab my camera and sneak photos through the glass without scaring them away.  I have a regular deer sanctuary back here, because it is so quiet, and there’s lots for them to chew on.  Here’s what I saw.  One older one to the left:

“I see you, woman”

Three little ones in the middle:

And one older one to the right, in back of the Rose of Sharon:

And here are close-ups of the middle ones, left to right:

See the bend in the neck. . . he was ready to plop his head down:

Sleep good, baby.

The middle one is already sound asleep:

And the right one is close behind:

I can barely stand all of this deer cuteness. But these guys are why I can’t walk around my own backyard with bare feet.
 

Six Deer

I mentioned on my FB page that I saw six deer the other night in my backyard, but was too lazy to take a photo.  The next morning the six deer were in my yard once again, so here’s a photo I took.  However, you can’t really see the six deer, but they are there, I did count them!

Six deer

Watching the Sky, Woodchuck in a Tree, & More

It’s getting to that time of year again where when I leave for work the sun is just rising, and there have been some gorgeous sunrises this week.

There’s also been some intense cloud action on the way home.

Last night we walked in Mt. Hope Cemetery (in between the rain) and saw a woodchuck hanging out in a tree. We couldn’t believe our eyes, so I took some pics.

I’ve never seen a woodchuck in a tree. What’s the deal with this?

The hyrangea shrubs were beautiful – starting to turn pink.

We saw a couple of owl boxes.

And a tree with interesting burls.

Sassafras saplings just waiting for a hole in the canopy.

Cicada exoskeletons were stuck to various places:

Some of the trees are acting stressed this year, including horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum).

My Walking Area. . .

is being invaded by bow hunters. Which I have no problem with because there’s so many deer around here.

But, yeah, since I work, I walk before 10am or after 3pm, so I guess I’ll be finding a new walking place, for now. Which is okay.  Even though I was finally comfortable walking here.

And yes, every sign that is put up around here has to have some stupid grafitti put onto it.

Eeeeeek!

We had a skunk in the building at work the other day!

But wait, what’s with the golden tail and feet?

Oh, it’s just Coraggio!! What a cute little skunk! Happy Halloween everyone!

The Dog

I was downloading photos off my boss’s cell phone and came across some of the cutest photos of her dog.

I never noticed before, but it looks like he has a little mustache.  Senor Coraggio.

Not for nothing, but he is one of the cutest little dogs I’ve seen.

He looks so pathetic with those big eyes.

“It’s tiring work trying to rip this thing apart.”

“How do I get this thing moving!”

Is there anything cuter than a sleeping dog?

Or a dog that chews his toys with his hind legs sprawled out like this.

Or a dog that just had his bath.

Or a dog that has to endure stupid Halloween costumes yet again this year.

“I am NOT a devil.  And this thing makes my ears stick out.  Take it off NOW!  Please?”

Seeds

are so cool.

Clematis seeds

Box elder tree samaras. Even though box elder trees are “weed” trees, you have to give them a lot of credit. They are bound to multiply with all of these seeds!

And I have to give some blog time to my Mom’s kitty so she doesn’t get jealous.  As you know, she is very hard to capture in photos because she doesn’t sit still:

Cat eyes are so cool.

National Feral Cat Day

I saw that it’s National Feral Cat Day on Julie Z’s blog.  I didn’t realize it was coming up, otherwise I would have taken pics of my brother’s cat, who was a feral cat, and is the biggest lover boy around.  The first time I saw him in person, I said he looks like expensive furniture.  His fur is beautiful, but these photo’s don’t really show it.  I’ll have to capture him in photos another day.

My brother rescued this feral cat.

Showing some of his beautiful fur as he sits as close as possible to my brother.

Beaver Lake Nature Center

Today the Onondaga Historical Association had a picnic for its volunteers held at the Beaver Lake Nature Center.

It was very nice, except it rained cats and dogs, no kidding. A tour guide came to get us at 3:00 for a walk in the woods and the sun was out for a few minutes, but then it poured again, so I don’t have much in the way of outdoor photos, even though this is a really cool place. So here’s some indoor photos, even though I don’t like the thoughts of dead, stuffed birds and animals, they’re there so here’s some of them.

Belted Kingfisher. I would love to see one of these in real life!

Really cool display of birdie eggs, part 1

Really cool display of birdie eggs, part 2

Pileated Woodpecker. Nice to see up close to really see how big it is.

Touchy feely table, part 1

Touchy feely table, part 2

During the three seconds that it wasn’t raining, I captured some photos from their herb gardens.

I had intentions of taking many more photos to finally make a decent blog post, but the weather had other ideas!

Wow Wee!

Time goes so fast, I can’t believe I haven’t updated my blog in a while. Some iris from last week

I totally love iris

I love watching them grow and unfurl their petals

To show us their beautiful colors

And if you look closely, they actually sparkle

And then there are poppies

Another flower I absolutely love. The petals are so soft and flimsy, and their centers are so cool

And then there’s my Mom’s kitty, who is shedding enough fur for another whole cat right now. Pet her and your hand is full of fur

She’s still a little sweety, and it’s still very hard to capture a good photo of her!