Babies Everywhere!

I went downstairs to the garage to do some laundry yesterday morning and I see this tiny little creature puttering on the floor in front of me. It was TINY! I bent down to get a closer look and see this baby mouse.


So cute! It didn't run away, so I quickly dropped a box on top of it to catch it. I'm going to take it outside. As I took it outside, it starts to squeak (so cute!) and it caught the attention of the dog and cats and they came barreling down the stairs to catch the squeaking.

I went outside, leaving the animals inside, and took the little mouse out to a little area I found that is far from the house and let it go. It just sat their and squeaked until I prodded it with a stick, and even then, it didn't run.

I went back inside to do my laundry and there, right where the other had been, was another baby mouse, but this one was dead and surrounded by three cats and a dog. I guess they caught the squeaker they were looking for.

Wandering Through or Staying for Dinner?

The other day I was out playing in my garden and I noticed that my big tomato plant was looking kind of weird. It looked like something was eating it from top down.

Now I know why...

There is a family of deer that wanders through morning and night just about the time I wake up or start winding down for the day. I looked out my window one morning and saw these three deer - mom and two babies - but they aren't babies so much anymore - but the thing that caught my attention was that Mama deer was leaning over the garden fence eating my tomato!

I had my phone with me and snapped some very bad pictures, but by the time I ran (more like hobbled) down the spiral stairs to grab my camera, they were gone! Ugh!

You can barely see them at the edge of the trees. Sorry for the horrible phone camera picture.


I need an automatic, motion sensor camera or something!

With The Pretty Comes The Scary!

I am terrified of snakes. I don't know why, but they give me the shivers. Kind of like spiders.

*shudders*

I just let the dog out so that she could relieve herself when I noticed that one of my tomato plants had fallen over. I mean, the stakes I used to make a cage until I could buy one tomorrow, fell over. It was laying on top of my tomato plant - oh no! I went down the steps and entered the garden from the back where the fence is loose. (I need to make an opening closer so I don't have to walk so close to the tall grass.)

I fixed the cage - took away the stakes and tossed them aside. "I'll just get a cage tomorrow." I thought and turned to leave. But then I noticed the oddness of my black soaker hose. It wasn't where I had put it.

I reached down to move it, and it moved!

It was a garter snake! Eeeep!

I know you're all thinking - "What a wuss! Those are GOOD for your garden!" Yeah yeah, I know, but they still terrify me.

Normally I would scream and jump back, but something told me not to. Maybe it would launch itself at me and eat me! It was less than a foot away after all. I slowly backed away, and walked around the garden to the opening in the fence. All the time, my eyes never left that long slithery creature.

It never moved, but I could see it's beady little eyes watching me too. I think it was sunning in the evening sun - it's starting to go down so maybe the snake will go find its hideout and stay there.

In the future, I think I'll take a stick and poke the soaker hose before I attempt to reach down for it!

I'm Surrounded..

by total gorgeousness...

Just a few random pictures I took around the house this afternoon.

A bee on a flower - nap weed? It's all over the place here. It's so pretty blowing in the wind - it looks like an ocean of purple!


A field of tansy backed up to the mountains. It looks like a sea of yellow!

I have no idea what these fuzzy things are, but they are very soft.

Nightshade Potato

Last week I noticed a small plant in my garden that looked like a potato plant. Since I have 25 potato plants in my garden, I figured that it was an anemic or miniature potato.

A few days later I noticed that it was growing berries. HUH?

I know potatoes don't grow like berries, but I thought it was some really weird potato plant and I left it alone.

A little later still, I came across something on the internet (shocker huh?) about nightshade. I nearly did a double take - it looked EXACTLY like my anemic potato plant!

Now tell me, doesn't this look almost the same??

Potato

Nightshade

As I did further research, I found that potatoes are in the same family as Nightshade! So are peppers and tomatoes! After reading this, I ran out to the garden and looked at my tomatoes and peppers. Sure enough, the flowers are all VERY similar!

Who knew?!

Empty Nest

Our little baby birds have flown away.

Late yesterday morning I was outside watering my potted plants and I walked under the deck where the water was so that I could turn it off. Above me I heard squeaking and saw something from the corner of my eye. I turned to look and saw a bird fly away. No doubt it was Mama bird, I thought to myself as I turned off the water and went back inside.

A few hours later, I went outside again, this time to clean out my car. To get to my car, I had to walk near the nest. Suddenly, I hear a fluttering sound and I turned around. Two baby birds were flying in circles and then flew across the yard to a tree.

The nest is empty. The three baby birds are now gone. I hope to see many more of these little birds around soon!

More Surprises

When I wrote the blog New Surprises Around the Corner I had no idea that there were more in store for me! After the nest of eggs, there were the Wild Turkeys, and I thought that would be it. There are no more.

How wrong was I?

The next day I saw this cute little bird watching over my garden. Or is it EATING my garden? It watched me for about 15 minutes as I weeded my potatoes.

I think it's a Cordilleran Flycatcher... never heard of it, but it likes to eat bugs! Yum yum!

Two days later, I get an awesome snapshot of the moon - I love the coloration of the sky.



Then hubby came home after a very long time out . We had so much to do! We went through all the boxes and things from the old house and threw half of it away or gave to Goodwill. You know, old clothes that didn't fit anymore or were way out of style. I'm sure they'll come back in style soon though. I can't believe that I still had clothes from high school! The later part of his home time, I was walking around the house watering my plants and I heard squeaking right above me. I look up and see a small nest of baby birds!


So cute!! I believe they are the babies of the Flycatcher. From up above, they have the same color feathers as the other bird.

And no sooner had I found these little babies when I heard a thud against the window and saw feathers floating toward the ground. I'm sure the bird just stunned itself, so I went outside to see if it was okay. I saw it - poor little thing broke it's neck. Poor little bird...


At the old house, I had never seen so many different kinds of birds!We had robins and chickadees and an occasional mountain blue jay. When we moved out here, I have seen more different types of birds! Ohh and bugs too... so many different bugs out here! No wonder the birds like it out here! haha!

No doubt there will be many more surprises while we're here - and many good ones I hope!

Wild Turkey

Yum yum! Thanksgiving dinner!

Just kidding!

The other night, my hubby and I were standing on the back porch admiring the cool breeze. Out of the corner of his eye, hubby saw movement. A pack/ flock / family of wild turkeys were traversing the driveway and making their way through the yard to the field that lays just beyond my garden.

There were 8 all together. Mama, Papa, and 6 little ones...and I do mean little ones. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them - darn! But they looked more like this, minus the fence...


I'm so happy to see more wildlife around the new house!

New Surprises Around the Corner

I was outside working in the yard again, tending my rose bushes that are on my deck, when I noticed three tiny blue spots directly under my feet.



I had seen a bird's nest under the porch when we moved in, but I thought it was empty. Certainly it would be empty as soon as we moved in and started making a bunch of noise.

I hope that momma bird hasn't abandoned her nest because of all the foot traffic now - I hadn't seen any birds over there since we have been here, but maybe she is just being quiet. I did see a momma bird sitting on some eggs in a nest on the other side of the house, but I haven't been over there because I didn't want to disturb her. I don't know if she's still there or not. I don't want them to leave!

First we were surprised with potatoes, an alien embryo growing on the window, and now little blue eggs. I wonder what surprises will show up next?

Welcome to A Walk on the Wild Side!

Welcome to A Walk on the Wild Side!

Recently I have been posting blogs on my normal blog about all the things I see in nature around me and our new house. Blog after blog after blog, I've written about the birds and plants and animals I've seen here, and I have many more to come!

So I've decided that since I have a love of nature and feel it's a large part of my being, I have split out another blog specifically for such things. Welcome to A Walk on the Wild Side!