My Blog List

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

"I Guess You Say... Talking Bought My Girl"

Here she is folks, my little weensie bot. I have to say, I'm totaly prejudice. But isn't she just the sweetest little pea on the planet.



Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Thursday, September 16, 2010

The Shot That Got Away

Have you ever kicked yourself around the block because the perfect shot presented itself and you did not have a camera, handy. I've been going to the barn everyday this week to take care of Kitt's skin issues.  I have a gergillion bad shots of horses with their nose on the ground.  Or, if they're walking to me, they're ears are a mess.

Yesterday, I went out without my camera.  Hey, it's one more bag to shlepp.  Well wouldn't you know this was the day of days.  There was a horse in the mare field, who had been on a week of stall rest because of an injury. When they let her up into the mare field, she bucked and reared and danced all over the place, which made all of the mares do the same, which made the ponies in the pony field do the same, which made the geldings do the same.  There were horses flying their tails, bucking, dancing and running; and where was I? Right up there with them without my camera and long lens. Standing there thinking expletive deleted.

Today, I packed up all of my camera equipment and it rained. Oh well.

Someday soon we're going to talk about shutter speed and how to get that wonderful shot. I just have to figure out how to set it up in a way that everyone will understand.  And yes, this fall, you will so get the rule of thirds and the S curve of beauty.

Stay tuned,

Monday, September 13, 2010

Late Night Musings

I'm sitting here listening to Keith Jarrett and thinking about how fortunate I am.  I have the best horse on the planet who loves me. She hears my car and she stops whatever she is doing to come up to me.  When she knows I am upset, and she wraps her neck around me and offers me her love.

I have her at a warmblood breeding barn, where every single person who is associated with that barn is tremendously excited about Miss Pixie, her foal. I have trainers volunteering to work with her and young girls volunteering to be the first person to ride her.  I know that when the time comes, those girls will be in college, but I let them think,  that that might happen.  They love Kitt and they are so excited about Pixie, what else can I do. I am so grateful for the love that surrounds us.

Good night and sweet dreams everyone.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

My How Time Flies

I was out at the barn yesterday testing my refurbished telephoto lens and I took this picture of the teenagers in their pasture.  Actually they're two and three, but we call them the teens:


I swear it was only yesterday, when I could hardly wait to see Miss Ole, the one on the left on her first day out in the world.

Where does the time go?

Thursday, September 9, 2010

My Girls, Pammy, Pixie and the Babies

No, I didn't do labels. I probably should have but back in the day, I didn't. I got hornswaggled into feeding the deer. I thought I was feeding squirrels, to keep them out of my bird feeders. I found out I was feeding starving, injured deer. Pammy and Pixie were one of the last pair to come up. They were picked on by the dominant, at the time doe.  After they had been driven away and the others had eaten, I used to run out and call, Pammy, Pixie come on girly girls, dinner's here, and they would come.

The last doe, lost her fawns, and she comes up after Pammy and Pixie and the babies, with her yearlings. The Pammy crew are not afraid of me.  They aren't afraid of my husband or my next door neighbors. It's like we have a deal.  I don't come up to where they are hiding and they don't threaten me.  They are, however, terrified of anyone else. I feed them something called "Deer Crunch" until the beginning of October.  Then I mix it with a horse feed called, "Mill 12," two to one Deer Crunch to Mill 12.  Starting in January I switch it, 2 Mill 12 to 1 Deer Crunch.  If this is a bad winter, I will have anywhere from 6 to 18 deer. I feed them, because I've seen what starving looks like and I can't have it.

About hunting,  As I've said above, I've seen starving and a clean shot, beats that anyway you want to count. I love Pammy, Pixie and her new crew and on some level I think they understand that. Oh yes, I have an apple tree, thank you birds, and this time of year, I add a few apples to their food.

If you want a relationship with a wild animal, it takes time and patience and respect. They will never be a pet and you can't make them one.  The best you can have is what I've got and that's quite a lot.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

What's Up With Pammy and Pixie

I have no clue how many of you have been with me since the beginning. Pammy and her fawn Pixie were my emotional favorites during the blizzards of '10. Because I kept Pammy alive by feeding her, her new fawns were not aborted or died within two days of being born. She has behaved differently than any article I've read.  She has not kicked her last year's fawn,, Pixie, away. She has not driven Pixie away from the food. She has twin fawns, who I have yet to name, and Pixie acts like the older sister. Pammy positions the babies with Pixie and then she walks away. 

This is a really bad picture, my long lens is winging it's way back from Canon,where I had it fixed.  This is the best I coud do with what I had. Understand what you are seeing goes against anything that's ever been written about doe behavior.  You'll see the two fawns, the deer coming up with them is Pixie, the yearling.  The blur in the background is Pammy, the doe. What continues to blow me away is that they don't come unless I call them. After I've spred the food, I yell, "Pammy, Pixie, babies, come on girly girls, come on fawnies and within  five minutes they arrive.

Friday, September 3, 2010

What's New on Howard Street

My hospital office has huge windows that face Howard Street, a main thoroughfare in Baltimore.  It is also a magnet for fruit loops and crazies. Just this week we saw a man drop down on the sidewalk, do three push ups, roll over on his back, lay flat out for five minutes, and then roll over do two more push ups and then stand up and walk away as if nothing he had done was strange.

Today we watched two young lovebirds turn Howard Street into Lover's Lane. After ten minutes, one of my coworkers said that they should "get a room." After fifteen minutes, I said that maybe, "Our maintenance man, Wild Bill, should toss a bucket of ice water on them.  After twenty minutes another coworker, looking out the window, shrieked, "Oh my God, he's taking off her bra." And this is going on on one of the main streets in town.  The looks on the passersby and the shop owners was priceless.  Cars slowed down to stare.  It was beyond funny,

We have had people having very loud arguments with nobody.  Police chasing a suspect and throwing him to the ground, gun battles and all sorts of goings on. Ever wonder where Super Nanny finds those children? We saw one little girl pitch a huge screaming, fighting, kicking fit right on Howard Street.

So today, we decided to bring our video cameras and start chronicling  the goings on, on Howard Street.  Stay tuned, as soon as we get a live one, you'll be the first to know.