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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Some New Year's Ponderings



Well it's that time again. Time for thinking about the New Year and the one that's passing. I've decided that things can be categorized under three headings.


The Good
My family, especially Mr. Tommy. The animals, both domesticated and wild that fill my life with joy and amaze me everyday, My friends, my health, the watershed, my house and garden, my art, my car, my job. Actually, the list is endless.

The Bad
We're having a real winter, snow, ice, freezing temperatures, the whole nine yards. The deer who have never had to deal with this, are starving. I've seen behaviors I never thought I'd see.  I haven't been blogging about this; because, quite frankly, I thought it was too upsetting. I'm feeding them more and it's helping somewhat. I've gone to a number of different sites and asked for advice and the only unhelpful thing I've learned, is that starvation is nature's way of keeping the deer population down. One pius jerk actually told me that. This is same person who was ranting a month ago about the horrible hunters. I don't know, but to me a clean shot is better than slow starvation. I have to confess, I actually told him that. I guess one of my New Year's resolutions should be to keep my big mouth shut.
 
The Ugly
I'm a clutterer. Yes, I'm a clutterer and it's driving me crazy. It's not so bad that I need to call Clean House and have the whole crew over to lecture me about my mayhem and foolishness, but I am living with clutter and it's going to go. I bought a book called, "Clean Your Clutter in One Week." One week! maybe one year is more realistic. But I am going to tackle this problem in one season, this one. You guys are going to keep me honest, because I'm going to report every Sunday how I'm doing. Starting with this one.

Anyway, Happy New Year. We're having a blue full moon tonight and if you think about it, go outside later on, look up and make a wish. And my sincere hope is that all of your new year's wishes come true.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Holiday Grumblings

Have you ever noticed that you are constantly making tradeoffs throughout the holiday season.  I'm going to this party, so I'm not doing something else that has to be done anyway. I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, shopping, wrapping and decorating, so I'm not keeping up with the friends I did not see at the parties mentioned above. Gee that bit sounded like a work related memo.

The big trade off for me is feed the deer, who are extremely hungry or see Kitt, the most patient forgiving horse in the world.  So guess who loses.  The weather isn't helping things, either.  Apparently, we have a window of opportunity today.  It's sunny, so I'm going to be doing all the errands I didn't do yesterday, and won't be able to do next week, because we have a party every night. Grumble, gripe, whine, complain. 

I am so ready for January, when I can sit, work on my needlepoint, read some books, I've been meaning to, catch up with friends and maybe, weather permitting, actually get to spend some time with my horse.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Peace on Earth



May the joy and peace of the season be with you and your family now and throught the year.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

OMG It's a Monster!!

Well, like I said in the previous post, we had a blizzard. There's a good two feet of snow out there. So I waded out to feed the deer, who as you might expect were waiting for me. It was so funny.  I was wearing my white down jacket and a hat.  To say the least, I was covered in snow. Pixie and Charlotte stared at me like they couldn't believe what they were seeing.  And then, in unison they jumped, did a fast turn and ran away.  And I do mean ran away.  They were out of there and didn't come back for at least 45 minutes.  I guess it was the hat.  :)

Saturday, December 19, 2009

We're Having a Blizzard

We have about 18 inches of snow and it's going to keep on snowing until tomorrow morning. I'm going to try and go out and feed everybody a little later on.  I don't know if the deer can even get here, but I'm going to put out some food just in case.

When I was looking out my kitchen window, I saw a robin and I find that troubling.  I wonder why it didn't leave with the others earlier this fall. Oh well maybe he's the bird that has taken up housekeeping in my robin house.  I'll wade through  the snow when I go out to feed the deer and leave something especially for him.

Anyway, peace and love to all of you.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Ye Old Stink Eye

Who knew a couple of whitetail deer could make you feel guilty. It's the holiday season and I've been a bit late putting out the snacks, parties and all of that stuff. So when I got home yesterday and went outside to trot out the food, Charlotte and Pixie were waiting for me and they were not happy.   Talk about the stink eye followed by the "just where have you been, missy?" look, followed by the hiss and the tail flick.   They told me.

They were of course not too done in by the huge indignity of my transgression, not to come trotting back two minutes later for their treats.

Girls, really now.  I heard you, but it is the holiday season, so some slack should be cut.

Monday, December 14, 2009

His Name is Harmony Jack

I invite all of you reading this to go to flikr and check out the Horsewhispers photostream in order to understand the power of love.  I've name him Harmony in honor of the special relationship between a person who would not give up on a foal who should have died. This stag is always there for the fawns, always. I've named him Jack, because it's a nice, masculine name.

Hey there Carl, this bud's for you!!!


Sunday, December 13, 2009

This Handsome Guy Needs a Name



This handsome guy needs a name. I seem to have no trouble naming the girls, but I'm drawing a blank with him. If you look closely at the picture, you can see he's had a rough go of it, lately, but during the summer, whenever one of the fawns was in trouble, he was right there to help.

Any and all names will be considered.

Friday, December 11, 2009

The Boys Are Back In Town

The caption says it all.  These are my good boys, not the whatever it was that was here earlier.



Comfort Food

Today because I have a rotten cold, I've been thinking about comfort food. So I decided I'd give you all one of my favorite recipes, my layered flavor spaghetti sauce which is really easy and very good.


Ingredients


1. 2 pounds of ground meat. I like to use ground beef and ground pork, but whatever you like would be fine.
2. 2 different spaghetti sauces. I like to use Wegman's portobello mushroom sauce and their sauce with olives.
3. 1 can of pasta ready diced tomatoes.
4. 1 can of mushrooms, drained.
5. 2 cloves of garlic, diced
6. 2 tablespoons of worcester sauce
7. 1 tablespoon of Louisiana hot sauce  (optional)
8. 2 bay leaves
9. 1/2 bottle/ can of beer
10. salt and pepper to taste.

Brown the meat and then once it's done rinse it to remove all of the grease and fat.
Place the browned meat in a large sauce pan
Add all of the rest of the ingredients. Stir.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for at least 45 minutes. The longer it simmers the better it tastes.
Add salt and pepper to taste.


Enjoy

PS: If you try it and like it, please let me know

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Thank You

thank you glitters



100 Wonderful people have looked at this blog which means alot to me.  I hope, from time to time during this busy season,  you'll stop back to pay us a visit.

PS: Don't forget to click on my view my complete profile, so that I'll know you were here.

Monday, December 7, 2009

An Update

There are no pictures. My girls are too stressed out.  Anyway, I got home a bit late and there were deer around, so I called out to them, "Hey Pixie, hey Charlotte, I can see you. Come and get it. " It wasn't Pixie and Charlotte and the deer hissed at me, like a cat, and took off.  Two seconds later two more deer came up and I called out "Hey Charlotte, hey Pixie, I can see you and dinner's ready."  They stayed, so I said."Dinner's ready and I'm just leaving now." They came and ate.  This level of trust, blows me away. These are prey animals, and they have no reason to trust me, but they do.

Please click on my profile, so I know that you were here/

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Update






Charlotte and Pixie were just here and Charlotte was totaly freaked out.  She kept looking over her shoulder and licking her hips. I guess she was torn there as well.  Once she even turned and walked away to where she could see into the fields behind her.  I guess if there was a human bully/rapist lurking out there, I'd be nervous too. Pixie was nervous as well. So,  I decided not to stress them further by shooting pictures.  It will probably be a week or more before I do it again.  I want her to calm down.  Suffice it to say, I'll be getting Mare14 (a mare and foal feed) for her. 

This isn't the way it is with horses.  Kitt never met a male, stallion or gelding, she just didn't love to bits and when we had a stallion at the barn, it was all I could do to keep her from sashaying herself right up to his stall any chance she could get.  I swear she would swing her hips and bat her eyes at him and we don't even want to go into the winky routine.  Those of you with mares know what I'm talking about.

Oh yes, it's snowing and it's beautiful.

Remember, please click on my profile, so that I will know you've been here.

Now I Know What Was Up With Charlotte

Well unfortunately the whole thing happened when it was too dark to photograph anything, so you're just going to have to trust me on this.

 Now I know why Charlotte has been acting so strangely and Mr. Studly has been hanging around.  The whole time he was doing his innocent, who me? routine, he was waiting for just the right moment.  He was waiting for the nanosecond that Charlotte went into season and it happened last night.  I had just put out my treats when I saw Charlotte scoot past me and Pixie and Vivi came up to get a snack.  Then as I was watching, I saw him sidle up to the group and nothing too unusual happened for about a minute.  Then he exploded. He started making all of these very loud grunting noises and then he reared and stood straight and I do mean straight up.  He was entirely vertical.  He held on to a branch for a second and then after this display, he pounced on Charlotte, who somehow managed to get away.  She took off, faster than I've ever seen her run and he was right behind her.

Well if he caught up with her, I guess there will be a fawn next spring and if he didn't, I suppose he will continue until he succeeds.

Remember:  Please click on my profile so that I will know that you've been here.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

What's Up With Charlotte


Charlotte has been acting very strangely lately, not herself at all.  I even came home from work and found her in my backyard, something she has never done before.  Also, she's constantly looking over her shoulder into the woods and it seems like the smallest thing or noise would make her bolt.

Here's what I think might be happening;

1.  It's that time of year and love is in the air.  Maybe she's tired of being chased and chased and chased.  The buck is back and you never know.

2.  She was chased out of the protected area by some studly buck and was shot at and now she's terrified.

3.  There are strange deer around, there are, and she doesn't know if she's still the queen bee.

4.  The coyotes or a pack of wild dogs are out there and she knows it. 

5.  The worst of all, hunters have invaded the protected area and she knows it.

Please keep checking my profile, so I know that you're there and I'll post more later

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Thank You


I decided that when I had 50 people who  cared enough to look at my profile, ie: let me know you're there, I would thank you. You're interest means more than you can know.  If you're at all  concerned, please come back.  Tomorrow, I'm going to talk about what's up with Charlotte.  She's scared and I have thoughts, but I have no answers.

PS: Please forgive my spelling.  This program doesn't  have spell check.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

The Truth About Some Cats


Just look at the picture below me.  How old do you think that cat is.  Four weeks, four months.  NO, he's four years old.  And how much do you think that teensy,weensy little thing weighs.  Fourteen pounds, if he's an ounce.  Now I, on the other hand am three years old and weigh, eleven pounds.  And I'm going to set the record straight.

I was born an only child and spent my gently raised toddler time in a gracious home; while some cats were born in a barn.

Maia here:  All right you two the inmates are not taking over the asylum.   Sorry guys.  You've had your say.  Now what pithy and insightful thing was I going to post.  Hmm...

Friday, November 27, 2009

Hello, Equal Time Please


Am I cute or what?  Aren't I as cute as that stupid fawn?  We cat's demand equal time.  We were here first.  So the next several posts had better be about us. 

Dweezil and Sqigg

Hey Dweeze, where's my picture. You Hoo, where's my picture.   I'm cute, too.  This isn't fair.  WHERE IS MY PICTURE?

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

He Came Home


He came home today.  I was so beside myself.  He came home.  About a month ago I heard gun shots and I haven't seen him since. I tried to be big about it.  I understood when I first started caring for these deer, that hunters would be a necessary evil.  But I didn't want it to be him.  Not my good big boy.  And it wasn't. He came home.  Pixie brought him in.  She does that.  I stood out in my yard and I told him how happy I was to see him and how much he meant to me.  He was hungry and thin, too much F and F, I suppose.   But I looked straight into his eyes and told him how much he meant to me and how happy I was to see him. Guys, he looked tired and starved, but he came home.

The Cast of Characters

Someone asked me on flicr, "So, Maia, where are the deer? I've been all over this blog," which I'm sure wasn't too hard to do," and I don't see the deer.  There's a reply I could make about the first page, but I won't.  snicker:)

So here they are:

1.  Pops


Pops is the deer, I mentioned in the previous post.  The one who protected his little group and stood guard while they ate.  At the time I assumed, because he was bigger and more muscular he was a male.  However, after my internet research on deer behavior, I learned that the males do not stay with the females.   So I named her Madge, as that seemed fitting for a large, aggressive, muscular doe.

Then one day last May when I was sitting on my deck watching the group, I noticed something was growing on the top of Madge's head.  What on earth.  I'd been right, Madge wasn't a female at all.   She was a he, and his name is Pops. 

I haven't seen Pops for awhile.  It's rut season and I assume he's out doing his manly bit.  It's a hard job servicing all of those horny does.  But good old Pops is soldiering on and I hope to see him by Christmas.


2.  Charlotte


Charlotte is the alpha doe and if Pops is the protector Charlotte is the disciplinarian and the She Who Must Be Obeyed.  I've seen her run off several stray deer who were naive enough to stumble into her territory.  She decides who in her little group eats first and leaves when.  Up until recently, she was the one who ate first and left last.

She is also an excellent mother.  I'll be writing more about that later.


Vivi
 Vivi is Charlotte's yearling fawn.  She has to be Charlotte's because if she wasn't, Charlotte would have run her off months ago.  She is the one who eats last, if at all,  and leaves first.  I don't know when deer achieve sexual maturity, but things could get interesting if both Charlotte and Vivi end up with fawns next year.  But then again, by the time May rolls around I might notice something growing on the top of her head and decide to name him Victor.  Without getting closer than Vivi would be comfortable with, it's really to soon to tell.

Pixie
Pixie is this year's fawn and the sweetest little pea on the planet.  It's been wonderful watching her discover her world and explore new situations. Her interactions with the cats have been histerical.  I shouldn't have favorites, but this little girl (crossing fingers) is by far mine.  She is now the deer who eats first and leaves last.  But I expect there is a very good reason for this which will go into a later post.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Do You Believe in Magic





It was one of those winter nights when moonlight reflects off the snow and the air glistens with possibilities that I first saw them.  Five deer were lined up at my feeding areas, from the largest to a yearling fawn.  They were thin, wary; and looked as if they had been traveling, only resting here for a moment before heading on.

In order to get a better look, I walked out onto my deck.   Seeing me, the largest deer stepped forward in front of the group, reared up and pawed at the snow.   I immediately went back in, but he remained stationary guarding the rest while they ate.  He stayed there until all of his group turned and moved silently into the woods.  Then and only then did he follow.

"it's alright, Pops," I said as he left.  Your safe here and the buffet will be out again tomorrow.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch


 There he is folks, the nemesis on my bird feeding premesis."  The rodent that, in his greedy feeding frenzy, had managed to break almost every bird feeder I had.  But finaly there was hope.  Hope in the form of a twenty pound bag of something called Critter Dinner.  A formula guaranteed to lure squirrels away from temptation.

So following the directions on the bag, I dumped a big pile of the stuff at least ten feet away from any and all birdfeeders.   Then I filled my one remaining bird feeder with bird seed and scattered some more  on top of the snow in three separate areas.

Job done, I went back inside. Within a few minutes, the cardinals found the scattered seed.  At last, the poor birds were finally getting something to eat.  Did I mention that the pest loved to chase the birds away from the feeders.  After he was in sole possession of his objective,  he would knock the feeder down, breaking it open, and then eat all of the seeds. And these were guaranteed squirrel proof bird feeders.


So you can imagine how thrilled I was to go outside the next morning and find that every seed, every nut and every corn kernal was gone.  My feeding areas were picked clean.  It was as if that miserable rodent had put up a big sign directing all of his likeminded friends and relatives to Maia's, Abundanza, 24 hour, All You Can Eat Buffet. 

I was so mad, I felt like taking out a gun and shooting him.  Presupposing I had a gun, which I didn't and I don't.  So I was left with the only other alternative I could come up with.  I would  give this routine some more time.

Monday, November 9, 2009

The Woods Were Lovely Dark and Deep





I had a pretty good idea where Roxy lived, so one snowy morning I set out to find her den.   From my internet research, I'd learned that foxes liked to create homes in high ground. And, it was my understanding that about 1/2 mile away, there was a very likely hill.  Likely, because it was the only hill in our area , and doubly likely because through the years several generations of foxes had lived there. 

I  came prepared.   I had a tinfoil pie plate and the highest quality dog food I could find.  It was loaded with vitamins and antioxidents and the blurb on the back of the bag  guaranteed  that your canine companion would love it.  While I don't have canine companions, I do have two feline ones, Dweezil and Squig; and they were following me.


Locating the hill and what I assumed was her den, I sang out, "Roxy, foxy, I have a little treat for you.  A little treat for later.  Right now, you just stay snug in your house. There's no need to get all nervous and come out and defend your territory or investigate anything.  We're just going to dump this yummy food and leave."  Well I was just going to dump the food and leave.  The cats had other plans.

From the corner of my eye I saw Dweezil making a beeline for her den . "Dweezil" I screamed," as I scrambled up after him, "get away from that hole" I grabbed him by the tail as he was half way in.  "Trust me on this one," I admonished as I got a firm grip, "Roxy does not want to be your friend, and if you go down that hole, you're not going to like what you find at the bottom." Did he listen, hell no.  Because right then, I lost my footing, slipped backwards,  and slid down the hill. Sensing a window of opportunity, he jumped out of my arms and ran back up.  As I was chasing Dweezil away from Roxy's den, I noticed Squigg dive face first into the dish and start eating. "Squigg," I yelled as I grabbed Dweezil, "the last time I checked you were a cat.  That's dog food. Get away from that dish right now."  In response, he turned, gave me his most deceptively innocent "who me" look, and then calmly went back to eating.


"Great, this is just great," I muttered to myself as I grabbed Squigg. I was, wet, cold, covered in snow and carrying the two squirming cats.  Oh well, at the worst, I figured, our performance  certainly gave the cross country skiers a good laugh and hopefully we gave Roxy something nutricious to eat that she was guaranteed to love.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Thawing A Little More

One night, last January, as I was managing my flicr shots, I heard a very distinctive sound coming from the fields out back.  It could mean only one of two things was going on out  there.  Either, there was a masked maniac with a chainsaw chasing some victim, OR there was a female fox in heat, advertising.  I immediately remembered my conversation with the bobblehead, "it was a little golden fox and it looked hungry."

There was an underage blond fox soliciting.  It was snowing.  She was probably hungry and cold and, if she had anything to do with it, before too long would be a mother.  I drummed my fingers on the desk.  I could help her.   Just for the winter.  Give her babies a good start.  I wouldn't be really involved.  Just sort of helping out Roxy.

OMG, I'd named her, what next.

Friday, November 6, 2009

The Beginning of the Great Thaw

One day, about a year ago, I was out for a walk when I bumped into one of my neighbors.  She is one of the those consistantly cheerful sorts, who's major claim to fame was feeding that repulsive feral cat.  So being polite, I asked how kitty was doing, at which point she turned into a bobble head and the conversation went something like this:

Me: "So how's it going with Mr. Kitty?"
BH:  "Blah, blah, blah, Mr. Biggie's got a buddy."
Me to myself:  "Oh great. Now there's two and soon there will be a hundred. Great, just great."
BH: "Blah, blah, blah, and they share with each other.  It was so sweet, blah, blah,  blah. But they won't share with the fox."
Me:  Shreik: FOX !!! A fox approached you?  Did it look sick? Was it rabid?  Do we need to call animal contol?  Where exactly did that fox come from?"
BH:  "I don't it where it came from. It looked perfectly healthy, only it was sort of small and it looked hungry."
Me:  "Was it  a tiny, baby fox?"
BH:  "No, it looked like it had just been kicked out of the nest. Sort of a tween aged fox."
Me:  "Den," I corrected to myself, not wanting to get into a discussion of den verses nest.
BH: Continuing along, unabated. "It was a pretty, golden color, but the kitties just didn't like it and wouldn't share.  In fact, Mr. Biggie, smacked it right in the face and then it ran off."

Walking away from this scintilating discusion,  hard as that was to do, I continued on and promptly forgot it. 

Things stayed that way for the next few months.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Where We Live

I live in Maryland and share my life with my husband, Tom, cats, Dweezil and Sqigg and horse, Miss Kitt.  My backyard borders the an area called the watershed.  It is protected by law and contains acres of open fields,woods, rivers and streams.  Up until a year ago, I considered it nice.  As in isn't it nice that no one can build where I can see them. But that was about the only positive thing I could say about it.  Mainly I considered it a breeding ground for the insects that ate my roses, the weeds that choked my garden, and the ticks that never seemed detered, by my liberal application of repellent. Dweezil, being 1/2 maine coon cat is the original tick magnet. Oh yes it was also home to the black snake that ate my garden toad, the ferral cat who periodically beats up my guys, and the squirrel that decimates my bird feeder.  It was not exactly my favorite place on earth.  But all of that was about to change.



Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The Start of it All

Yesterday was just stellar. All of the deer, well almost all of the deer came back and Roxy was out in the back fields practicing rodent and rabbit control. Dweezil and Sqigg were up to their usual stuff and I have finally decided to breed Kitt. Whew! But wait. This is what's going on now, but it doesn't tell anything about who the deer are, who Roxy, Dweezil, Squigg and Kitt are; and how I went from being a sane, rational photographer, to the neighborhood's Ellie May Clampett. So I guess like all good tales, I'm going to have to begin at the beginning.