Tomato-snatchin' Swine-Deer

This post has been two weeks in the writing... not that I've sat at the computer for 2 weeks, but the incident that perpetuated this post happened two weeks ago today.

I've learned a wonderful truth... if I keep moving DAILY I don't hurt as much. I used to *take Sunday off* from taking my walk but soon realized that those are the days that I REALLY hurt. Welp, I love walking enough that adding a 7th walk each week is, frankly, a delight.

So, Sunday a fortnight ago, Harley and I were just returning from our evening stroll. As I rounded the corner into my backyard movement in the tomato patch caught my eye. I caught two 4-legged thieves in the act of pilfering my prized tomatoes. (I'd noticed a partially eaten tomato a couple of day before and thought, stupidly, that it was the birds!) THEY were surprised at my untimely return and bolted, not towards me and out of harm's way, into the backyard... from which there is no escape! (Dun! Dun! Dun!)

I brandished my dog-deterring, fly swatter, sans the swat, and challenged, "And now what are you going to do?!" They stared mutely back. I loosed my fierce hound-companion on them. They quickly sized up the situation and decided that this Grammie looked less intimidating than said fierce hound and bolted past me and sailed crazily over the newly erected fence and existing hedge meant to keep THEM out and ran home to their mommy.

I waved my swatter-less swat again and hollered, "And don't come back!"

I suppose that it was too much to hope that they would actually leave my open tomato patch alone, even though they've never ventured there before. This meant, you guessed it, more fence building.

My original plans from nearly two years ago had included this section that closes off the raised garden from the side parking area but I had hoped that I was really finished with the fence. No such luck.

I got another section of hog-panel and made a temporary fence whilst I build the new, TALLER section.

The first order of the business was posts. I measured and the center post, at 8 feet, landed right behind the beautiful boxwood bush on the left (pictured below).

WELL, THAT WASN'T GOING TO HAPPEN! I've nursed these babies for 10 year and they were finally filling the measure of their creation.

Plan change! I trussed up Bush 2 and Bush 3 like a couple of big fat Christmas turkeys and dug the center post hole between them.

The weather has heated up (it is summer, ya'know!) so I didn't work as fast this time. I took 3 days to put in 3 posts. That used up most of week 1.

Then a wonderful thing happened. I got a surprise visit from my niece, Jill, and her family. They've never been here before and wanted the 10 cent tour. When I showed them the partially constructed fence Doug, her husband, suggested that I carry the picket area at the same level as the first section of fence and then go taller from there, keeping a more cohesive look. I loved that idea!!

Saturday I completed the second gate that leads into the raised garden all by myself (remember I had a great teacher). But when it came time to hang it I called son-Kevin to the rescue me again. He brought Chloe and Ethan and they had a wonderful time climbing Grammie's new fence and finding *hidey-holes* under the grape vines.

Monday and Tuesday this last week I finished the fence off. I'm so pleased with how it turned out. The other thing that is an unexpected bonus is that, since I am slow, the new wood is taking on a wonderful patina in the elements. I like it so well that I'm not going to stain it, but seal it in a couple of weeks when all of the new wood is burnished red.

Gordon points out that the deer can still jump over the lower fence into the backyard and then into the garden. I just hope that the swine-deer don't figure that out before I get something tall planted along the inside of the backyard fence.

Keep it on the down-low for me, OK??

Poor Babies

You know that I have a love/hate relationship with the local deer. I love that they are right here in my yard and that we share a neighborhood BUT I hate that they vandalize my garden.

That being said, I can't help but feel sorry for them in the winter time. I know that the whole Bambi thing comes back to me when he says, "But I'm so hungry Mother!" I've never been hungry other than by choice! And the thought of any creature staving just breaks my heart.

I was sitting here in my perch-up-on-top (aka my office) when I caught some movement through the partially closed blinds. On closer inspection I saw that it was our neighborhood Mama and her twins. I've watched this little family all year. (On a side note, Bekah has a similar trio at her house and they literally sleep right outside their master bedroom window and have eaten her yard to bits!)

They were scavenging on the berries dropped by the *fat-flappers* that also share my neighborhood!

Now, help me understand how this works... there is this whole flock of robins that DO NOT fly south for the winter. They just stay here in their plentiful neighborhood all year long. Besides many trees that keep their summer fruit on the tree through the winter, nature's bird feeders, there are plenty of folks that have out regular bird feeders. As you can see they are not hurting for food-supply! But the deer? Well, they don't have wings yet so they only get the droppings or what they can reach from the ground.

This little deer-family stayed for quite a while and let me get some sneaky photos through the blinds (NEVER pull the blinds up!). Finally Mama ambled across the street to see what they were serving up over there today. And this little slow baby finally followed.

I have to tell you that I felt so bad for them that I dug out some of the ancient, sprouting carrots from my vegetable drawer in the fridge and horked them out under their feeder tree. Poor babies...

Good, Deer Friends

Harley and I went on a late afternoon walk to *blow the stink off*. On our was back I decided to cut into our neighborhood since there were horses, kids on skateboards and dogs our on Canyon Rd. As I was passing the Wilding's house I saw 3 deer just across the fence in Heidi's side yard. I stealthily removed my MPC (aka iPhone 5S) from my back pocket and was at the ready to capture some wonderful photos of my GOOD, deer friends (as opposed to the naughty 2-point buck who loves to vandalize my trees).

I love how alert they are; ears pointed forward. Harley is always very quiet and cooperative when we are around deer; which I don't fully understand since he whines for any other animals. I watched as the first adult jumped over the fence. She was quickly followed by this adolescent.

I almost wonder if the last deer is the mama. She is craning her neck to keep me in view.

When she sees that her baby has gone safely she follows.

Can I just say, once again, how much I love where I live?

Swine-Deer Repellant

Our first year in Springville (this is our 9th spring here), I was delighted to see beautiful tulips in my island planter! I was thrilled! I went out and took photos of them in the evening... AND IT'S A GOOD THING TOO!@$#

The next morning all of the tulip heads were pulled off! Having just moved from So CA I thought, "Punk neighbor kids!" WRONG!! Punk SWINE-DEER! That was the beginning of the battle over the tulips. I tried several repellants, including a very expensive one called Roe-pel! Yeah, they just thought it was a tasty salad dressing.

Our snow just melted this last week so I went out today to see if I had any tulips peaking up through the cold winter ground. I count myself lucky that this is the only clump that have been munched!

But those *svine-deer* (think Col Klink) ravaged my Hens and Chicks! PUNKS!

The good news is that a couple of years ago I found a dandy natural deer repellant AND I'm going to share it with you.

Swine-deer repellant
1/2 c milk
1 egg
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1-2 T dish soap
1-2 T oil

I whisk all of this together and put it in my watering can and fill it up with water (about 1 1/2 gallons) then sprinkle it on and around the plants I want them to leave alone. It has worked so far. You need to re-apply when it rains. The plants seem to like it too.

Harley- Bane of Swine Deer Everywhere!

Now that we have copious amounts of snow on the ground here in our little corner of heaven it means that the *swine-deer* will be making frequent visits to my neighborhood to forage for easy pickin's!

Harley's favorite perch 365 day a year (366 last year) is right by the front window. Right now the couch is pushed up to his window so he it in full *puppy-hog-heaven*!

Earlier today I heard him barking at something outside so I glanced out of my sewing room window to see what his problem was... the culprits! Swine deer have invaded his domain! Yeah, but Harley-boy... they are across the street.

This is what my ivy bed looks like many winter days- (but not this day... there is a foot and a half of snow covering all but the stragglers on the sidewalk. This photo taken a couple of weeks ago). Apparently the swine-deer and I have an agreement: I grow the ivy. They eat the ivy! This ivy bed is just outside Harley's window.

So a few hours later I hear Harley go nuts lunging at the blinds like the UPS man is here (sorry UPS man!) I hollered, "Harley! No!" (There are already bite marks on one of the slats!) and then went to investigate.

This is what I found this time! I burst out laughing! Some poor mama-swine-deer got the scare of her little-girl-life! In three huge bounds she was across the lawn snow and *outta here*!

Maybe this is why the snow hasn't been methodically moved from the ivy bed to the sidewalk every morning... word's gotten 'round that there is one MEAN dog guarding the ivy!

Mom, You Really Are The Little Red Hen!

I mentioned earlier that Gordon got me a new Bosch mixer. I love it! I realize I didn't NEED it, but it is wonderful.

Since yesterday was Grammie-dinner AKA 3rd Sunday family dinner I decided that I wanted to make some wonderful whole wheat rolls. So after church I ventured into the dungeon to get a can of wheat... from 1978 (oh yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about)! I had to really dig to find my Magic Mill II which was lurking in the back corner of my pantry; poor thing hasn't seen the light of day for a decade! I pulled out my Madge May Whole Wheat Roll recipe from 1974. She was a sweet lady I knew in Priest River, Idaho who helped me learn to bake good whole wheat bread and rolls.

Fast forward through the mixing, shaping, while the home teachers were here, making a cake, in the new Bosch, turning chunk pineapple into crushed pineapple with the food processor attachment (what? that's not a fast forward?) Camille and family arrived just in time to see me putting the rolls into the oven.

"Mom, are those Rhodes dough rolls?

"Nope."

"Jessica's rolls?"

"No."

"Well?"

"I got wheat from the dungeon, ground it and made my very own rolls!"

"MOM! YOU REALLY ARE THE THE LITTLE RED HEN!!"

The other fun thing is this...

"Holy Deer-Poo, Grammie!" Doug cracks me up.



But you know... he's right!  When the snow melts  this is what my lawn looks like!

A Winter Wander

[You didn't really think you could get rid of me that easily did you?]

Today was one of those cold, crisp, windless, sunny winter days that I just love. And after spending way too many days sick [and in bed] in the last month I was grateful to be able to go out and take a little *walkie*. I took my camera along with me, somehow I just can't seem to leave it at home.

I thought you might like to tag along with me. I love how the sun plays off the clean, white snow.



Doesn't this look just like a Christmas card?



I mentioned that my tree yesterday was filled with fat robins. I suspect this is one of their many food sources. My friend Sheri intimated that the reason they DON'T fly south for the winter is that they are just too fat! Love that concept.



This tree... with these nests... I only see them in the winter and always forget to look when the tree is covered with leaves to see what sort of ginormous bird inhabits this! Now this one? Yep, he went south!



I also couldn't resist capturing this snow capped post. It just looks so cold and frosty.



I got back home and saw my tiny icicles. I had a moment of serendipity when I caught this drip.



But here is the best part: I'm standing in the drive way and here comes a whole herd of deer [10+] motoring up the street. They headed into the yard next door before the spotted me standing still and quiet. But the alpha-mama didn't like the looks of me... she pogo-stick hopped down to the cul-de-sac with the other babies [yearlings] and mamas in close order. This fellow? Yeah, they don't like him so much... he was all by himself.



And with all these photos do you really think that my 2011 photo-book will be any smaller?

Happy New Deer

So... I'm sitting in the chair by the front window talking on the phone to grand-daughter Makenzie when I see ear (yes, EARS) out of the corner of my eye. I peeked out through the blinds and there are 4 (count them... FOUR) deer eating the ivy in my front planter bed! If the window wasn't there I could almost touch then.

I sneaked upstairs and got my camera... by the time I got back there was only this sweet little girl munching the ivy. I stuck my lens through the blinds. She looked up when she heard my camera through the window.



After the girls left I went out and got evidence that these friendly little ladies get up on the front porch and can almost ring the doorbell!

204- Hobble Creek Canyon Moonrise

We took a little explore up Left Fork looking for *God's little creatures*. It is just such a nice restful drive up the canyon. The sun was going down, turning the sky pink in the west and its partner, the moon, was peeking over the eastern mountains. I love this time of year... long evenings, cool breezes, and contentedness just hanging in the air.



We saw a herd of horses with one that looked like he could have been Blue's grandson. The funny thing is that we had to get almost back to our house before we saw any deer. We saw one big doe still while still in the canyon, but the handsome young buck, with his antlers in velvet, with his little companion were on the steep bank right by 30 Oaks Drive!

159- Ivy

Early each spring my poor ivy bed, right by the front door looks like a patch of sticks; the deer have stripped off all the leaves during the winter. We have an understanding- I don't trim the ivy... they do!

But now in late spring it is beautiful, shiny, green and succulent; it makes me glad that the deer have all moved up to higher country with the cougars!



And speaking of cougars [you know, the 4-legged kind], Gordon and Harley saw one tonight up the left fork of Hobble Creek Canyon... following the deer.

111- Rainy Day Tulips

It is a typical spring day: raining one minute and sunny the next. I sneaked out just before enormous drops started pelting down (I got one splat right on top of my head) and captured my tulip island!

The deer have left my tulips alone since I put on the milk/egg/dish soap/oil/cayenne pepper mixture (imagine that?) but you can still see the gnawed off ends on some of the leaves. Tomorrow, after the rain stops, I will go dose them again and hope my *deer* neighbors will leave them alone.

101- Spring Flowers

As I arrived home from church today I saw that my spring bulbs are just starting to bloom. I love these happy spring flowers. My mom always had lots of flower bulbs in her gardens. I love the way they *take turns* showing off their wares!

The hyacinths have such a strong heady fragrance! I love the way it hangs in the air.



As a funny aside- do you see my poor cropped off tulips? I used the homemade deer repellent and it seems to be doing the trick. The commercial brand I got a couple of years ago only seems to attract them more!

070- Swine Deer

Just before I left on vacation I carefully cleaned up my flowerbeds so that the weak March sun could start working its magic on my bulbs. HA!! What I didn't factor into the equation is that I was also uncovering all of my tulip shoots!

Enter the swine deer! The cropped them off right at the ground. Ooh... I like to give them such a whoopin'! If you have any good ideas for discouraging tulip-munchin'-swine-deer you let me know, OK?



I just Google this subject and came you with this:

Here is a recipe I obtained from my local greenhouse, and they advise it was from Backyard Magazine:
Beat together 1 egg and 1/2 cup of milk. Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, and 1 tablespoon of dish soap. Add 1 galloon of water and shake or still well.
Spray or sprinkle plants every two weeks or after a heavy rain. Store in a covered container. DO NOT SPRAY ON EDIBLES.
NOTE: I blended 1 large clove of garlic and 3 teaspoons of Cayenne pepper powder into the mix. I have had no further trouble with deer, but I put the mix into a sprinkling can and applied it where I had trouble with deer eating. Maybe I was just plain lucky.

059- Tulip Shoots

I saw these tulips shooting up a few days ago but finally got out there today to take a photo. I did my first shoot, uploaded and started editing- "What the chicken? Why are these photos so grainy? Ah, my camera is still set on 1600 ISO from yesterday at the BYU basketball game."

So out I go again, laying on the matted down grass to get up-close-and-personal! "What the chicken? What is on my sock??" (You're not going to believe this!) A deer hair! I'm not kidding. The coolest part is that it is tri-colored... very cool. (BTW they have very kindly trimmed back all my ivy for me this winter since the snow melted!)

ANY-way, this is the start of a very beautiful tulip. It is one of my favorites. She lives right up in the little corner between the house and porch so she is protected. Stay tuned for more photos of this beauty.


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145- Memorial Day Sunset

This evening Gordon, Harley and I went for a little drive just to see what we could see. We ended up driving up Maple Canyon. I'd never been up that way before. There is a wonderful campground up there. The campground is separated by the creek, which in heavy run-off stage was making a waterfall across the road.

We saw lots of deer and decided that they were congregated in one spot to lick the salt up off the dirt road. They would run and hide when a car drove past, but we went up, turned around and then parked and watched them for several minutes. Sadly without a tripod all of my shots were pretty blurry so they aren't here. Sweet Harley, he loves all animals so much and wanted to get out and make friends. I didn't think the deer would like that.

We started back down the canyon just as the sun decided to put on a spectacular display! I just love sunsets like this that turn even the eastern sky pink... what a beautiful sight.



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144- Rain, Beautiful Rain

This is our 3rd Memorial Day weekend in a row that we've had cool and rainy weather (in 2007 we even had a freeze warning and I had to cover my tomatoes!)

THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT! I love the rain! (It's just an interesting observation!)

Today after choir practice I notice my ivy was all shiny, clean and covered with raindrops... PHOTO OP!

I just love the look of raindrops on ... well, just about anything! This ivy meets me at my front door and in the winter it kindly sacrifices itself as deer fodder.



By now, you all know that one of my favorite flowers is the Gerbera daisy! These lovelies wait for me on my new deck... ahh, I love their colors and happy little faces!



And let's hear a big shout out for my 300th post!

114- Black-hearted Tulip

One of my favorite things about spring at my Springville house are my tulips. (Sadly, it is also one of the swine-deer favorites as well!)

I have all those beautiful yellow to apricot colored tulips featured yesterday. They live on what I refer to as my island (a kidney shaped planter at the corner of our lot). Ann gave me some deep purple parrot-beak tulips several years ago that also live on the island.

But right up by my front door is this one bright red black-hearted tulip. I just love to look down into the bowl of it. Some years it has been enormous, perhaps 4" in diameter, this year it is smaller but still just as beautiful.



I love the fact that these sweet little flowers come back every year and every morning that wake up and they are still there my heart just sings... but I also realize that any day now I might awaken to nothing but stalks with all the heads nibbled off... and if that happens *it will just have to be ok*

063- Deer Neighbors

So do you think that I just made a typo on the title? Nope I really do mean DEER- neighbors. I just love the fact that they are my neighbors (in spite of the fact that those swine-deer eat my tulips!!)

Yesterday Harley and I went for a walk in our beautiful 68 degree weather (I have to enjoy them when they come... today was cold and VERY windy. I thought I was back in Palmdale again). Anyway we were walking on the Hobble Creek trail that starts *in town*- 17th East and Canyon Rd- and continues all they way up the canyon to the golf course. But we weren't all the way up the canyon... we were right across from the Pizza Hut church (another whole story to follow) with houses and streets and everything. There is this garden area with some nice fruit trees and there was a whole herd of deer. Yup... I love it! There were 8 of them but this little guy was the cutest. I was no more than 30-40 feet from them. Most of them didn't even get up, they just kept lounging in the sun (just like me enjoying the sunny day).



OK... so here's the story about the Pizza Hut church. Living in Utah there are tons of churches (just like other parts of the country, but here most of them are LDS Churches) so people have nick-named them- there's the old white church in Mapleton or the Copper-top church, also in Mapleton.. you get the idea! When the properly named Canyon Chapel was first built there wasn't any steeple AND it had a red tile roof... hence the Pizza Hut Church. People all over the valley know that one! Yeah... and please don't tell President Jacobsen I told this story... he doesn't like it when people call it the Pizza Hut Church ;)

A Change of Heart...Project 365

So I know I said I wasn't going to do project 365, but now I'm looking at all of the cool photos and blogs that are doing it...

Noel Joy has got the coolest frame and format. Yeah, I can like that!

Liv had a good thought. Take a photo everyday, but you don't necessarily have to post every day! Hmm, *thinks I*, I can do that!!

Then Amanda Taylor says why put it off for a whole year just because you are a few days behind. Why indeed?? So I will play catch up, make-up and insert and get up to speed now on day 12!

I grabbed on to the December POTD project and it was very good therapy for me.

As an aside, for those of you who know me *(and now for those who don't) you know that I lost 2 children 27+ years ago... some years are better than others and frankly year 27 was much harder than some of the recent ones. There were several triggers, if you will, that threw me back in the grieving process or as my sister Sue pointed out... I have PTSD. I am grateful to know that it is ok to have these setbacks and to realize that I will NEVER GET OVER LOSING MY TWO CHILDREN! Does this mean that I don't have a strong testimony of the power of the atonement rought by Jesus Christ and the reality of the resurrection? No, it means that a loving Heavenly Father let me know in those first moments after they'd died that "Joanie, you will be an old grandma sitting in your rocking chair and you will still cry for these babies."

So the point is that with the absence of the POTD the days have been harder. So for more than anything else, I've found something that distracts me, even for a moment and I don't want to lose that positive energy. This project is for me... if y'all want to come along for the ride you're welcome.

So here we go with some catch-up...
let's run this backwards, because that is how the other ones will fall (you know, started at 1 now I'm on 12... oh, well, I'll bet you can figure it out!)

012- Happy 1st anniversary Harley!
We adopted him one year ago today! This is a photo of him on his first day at his new home!



011- DYI
My custom do-it-yourself ice sculpture. This is a little bush outside our garage AND this photo was *for really* taken on the 11th.



010- Reindeer super-highway
All of the deer tracks in my front yard. I wish I could figure out what they are munching on but I'm happy to be of service to my 4-legged neighbors.



009- My wonderful view ...
from my workroom window. I just love it! I ran a Lomo action by PSE Frank on this photo.



008- 12 day of Christmas
I am one of those girls who loves to leave up Christmas for a long time. I got this shot the same night I got out my baby tripod to shot the moon shadows.



007- My favorite #7 guy...
Stuart was frequently #7 when he played soccer. I delved into the mission photos for this one. It is Elder Lewis and Elder Rollo in early 2006. *Is there something in my nose?* (Where does he get that from??)



006- Brandon
Rewind one year ago to 1-6-08 and we were in Katy TX with Erik and family. We went for Brandon's ordination as a deacon. Sure miss those guys.



005- Moonshadows
This photo is *untouched* with the exception of cropping it to fit my format. On 1-11-09 we had a beautiful full moon and I enjoyed the moon shadows.



004- Up Close
Our friendly deer making themselves at home last winter in the ivy patch. This is taken through my front room window.



003- Birthday Boy
Now you may wonder about this one... why a photo of Spencer on his 21st b-day (which was 4 years ago) and on the 3rd, when his b-day is the 22nd... well, I'll tell you! Spencer was due on January 3rd, but didn't come for 3 more weeks! And this is the last time I was with him on his birthday. It was our first year in Utah.



002- Baby Sweet
Our little Riley on 1-2-09 in Palmdale at Auntie P's house. I enjoyed my visit with him. Keep your eye out for this photo in a cool layout coming soon.



001- Here's a *Happy New Year's Suprise*...
a photo of beautiful spring iris from my yard and "played" with several months ago. Auntie P always had January blooming iris at her folks house. So it reminded me of those Palmdale days. (remember having to improvise here! LOL)



So here I am several hours later and feeling much better, thank you very much.

Edit... I forgot to post the credits for these pages- (FONTS- Problem Secretary, CK Cursive, BRUSH- KPertiet_LedgerGrids-9, Overlay- kimi overlay edge 1)