Walking along our driveway one morning in Mid-March, I noticed something odd in one of our blooming Forest Pansy redbud trees. As I stepped a little closer, I discovered a female mourning dove sitting on a nest, with purplish-pink blossoms all around her. I wondered how long she had been sitting on the nest before … More Gentle Mourning Dove
Forrest had to put in a lot of work to keep the wildlife feeders and water tub filled during the recent winter storm. Normally, we hand-carried five-gallon buckets of deer feed down the slope to the feeders, but more than ten inches of snow cover made walking to the bottom much too treacherous. So Forrest … More Playing ‘Possum
Last week, the weather forecast remained fairly solid that New Year’s Eve would bring a winter storm. I was hopeful that, at the very least, the timing of the real danger of ice and freezing rain would start later at night so that Forrest and I would not have to cancel our dinner reservations to … More Proceeding Without Much Ado…
I am generally up anywhere between 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning, thanks to Oscar, our three-year-old Japanese chin, who gently paws at the bedroom door when he is ready for me to get up. Sometimes, for whatever reason, he thinks 4:00 is ok too. If I feel I’ve had enough sleep, I go ahead … More My Eight-Eyed Coffee Companion
As I stepped out into the wind this morning, I took off my ear flap cap and let the wind ruffle my short, unkempt hair. Finally and enjoyably, Mother Nature was providing the first well-above freezing temperatures of the week. City workers restored power to our neighborhood last night, and I slept well knowing the … More Ice Storm – A Pioneer Spirit
It is always interesting to collect information and stories about various injured or orphaned wildlife that we take in. The main point in knowing the animal’s background has always been to determine how to proceed with treatment. With that background knowledge, we try mimicking the scenario that the particular species came from, and continue care … More Everyone Has a Story…
With FD working from home under the COVID-19 Safer at Home guidelines, the pace of life around here has changed a little. It’s much more relaxed since FD doesn’t have to be dressed up for work, or preparing to fly off to some destination. I get up an hour later than usual, at 6:30 now, … More Luna See in the Barn
Three weeks ago on a Friday, Mr. T, our eldest Japanese Chin, decided he no longer wanted to eat. I had known for a couple of weeks that he was losing ground. In the last year, there had been many health issues for him to overcome. Last August, we opted to have the eye removed … More Mr. T’s Velvet Kisses
I was a bit sleepy-eyed yesterday as I walked towards the deer pen in the dim morning hours. There, I knew I would find Tukker on the other side of the gate, anxiously awaiting his bottle of warm formula. As I slipped through the gate, he began bopping my leg with his nose, hoping to … More Breakfast Interrupted
I have written, more than once, about how the Eeyore in me tends to look first to the down side of everything. For instance, when FD’s mother passed away in March, all I could see around me was a lot of chaos and overwhelming work to do. The house she lived in had not been … More Tukkered Out
I generally take to walking the animal trails through the woods when I have a bit of time to hike to the river. I’m familiar with those paths, and I have my favorite landmarks to stop at and rest or scout around a bit. But recently, FD and I took to doing a little mushroom … More A Turn in the Road
Day by Day the Farm Girl Way... 