This tiny fellow managed to slip in through our basement door and sit on a basket in my laundry room.
These critters weren't here in our area when we moved in 46 years ago. They're harmless and eat other little critters, so are OK to have around.
Not to worry. He wasn't harmed. He's safe.
:),
Lois
Catherine sent me this image that she took outside a local restaurant.
The pretty image reminded me that we no longer have glads in our garden. I'll have to add some for next year!
Thanks, Catherine. Very pretty.
Love you,
Mom
Good morning,
If you look carefully at the short video, you'll see a coyote come up my front stps, walk to the side of my porch, and after a few seconds, he passes by the camera once again.
We're not happy to see the coyotes this close to the house. They are known to attack pets and fences don't stop them from coming onto the property. I've stopped filling my bird feeder near my front porch. I think the character in the video was here checking the bird feeder.
So, life goes on in the city! Now we have coyotes!
All the best,
Lois
This fellow was signing his heart out in the trees behind our home.
So pretty!
Ah, yes, winter....
Lois
My phone buzzes during the night when our security cameras pick up visitors. This is one of two ladies who were in our yard this week.
Perhaps they are scouting for Santa's reindeer?
;),
Lois
It is so much fun to watch the birds at our feeder.
On this sunny morning I shared some of my home made bread (no preservatives) that seem to hit the spot for our feathered friends.
Enjoy!
Lois
At the beginning of the Summer we were warned that this would be a huge season for cicadas.
Well, not so much here. We saw and heard very few of them.
Perhaps they are all saving up for a surprise attack next year.
Stay tuned!
;),
Lois
Catherine snapped this image and sent it to me.
What an excellent service, especially if it is difficult for your pet to move. Or, perhaps your pet is too big for you to move him or her.
Hopefully, we won't need this....
All the best,
Lois
Lily takes her job as Back Yard Monitor very seriously.
For long periods of time she sits on the patio and carefully surveys her domain, making sure no bird, butterfly, or other scary creature invades our space.
Should that occur, she is quick to chase off the threat.
She is very good at her job.
;),
Lois
Each Spring for Mother's Day, one of my gifts from Catherine is the cleaning out of our gold fish pond.
The pond is self sustaining except for the annual cleaning to remove excess debris and leaves that have accumulated in the bottom throughout the year. It's good to leave a little of it in there because the decomposition of the dead leaves provides warmth. In winter months we have a tank deicer in the pond that prevents it from freezing. In the summer we have a floating solar fountain that isn't very big, but is pretty. This year Lily managed to "catch" the fountain so we'll probably have to start all over again with that....
So much help and so much fun....
Lois
We had a visitor to our property recently.
Many of the properties around us use chemicals on their property. We do not for a variety of reasons: our dogs, the bees, and, of course, the lovely lady pictured above.
We love seeing the wild life. Fortunately, the dogs didn't notice she was there. Our dogs are restricted to the fenced area on the back of our property, but they could have seen this lady through the French doors in the living room or dining room.
Enjoy!
Lois
Kjell took this image yesterday evening. The hawk is perched atop a neighbor's chimney where he has a bird's eye view of the entire neighborhood. It's a shame he just turned his head around when Kjell took the picture.
Since the hawks moved in several years ago, we have stopped seeing feral cats and bunnies in our neighborhood.
When our dogs are tiny puppies, we are careful to go out with them each time because they could just be small enough to be of interest to that big feathered guy.
Ah, the critters in the city!
Lois
I snapped this picture while sitting in my recliner. The picture was taken through glass and a screen, but still is pretty good.
Mr. Squirrel has mastered the bird feeder and was enjoying some of my home made bread. Kjell built the bird feeder last year and added the plastic around the bottom to keep Mr. Squirrel away, but even that has now been conquered.
The birds still get their fill, too, so it's not all bad. ;)
Happy Summer!
Lois
Well, well, well, the critters are still here. I have to get moth balls to spread around the front porch and they won't like it here any more.
From a distance, these guys are pretty cute, but I wouldn't want our dogs to meet them. Our pups don't have access to the front yard where the ground hogs are seen here through our french doors in the living room, but they certainly do see them and tell them how they feel about them being here. Shortly after I took this picture, Wendy and Elsa gave them a very loud send-off.
Although they run from humans and other critters, Ground Hogs can do a great deal of damage to foundations and walls with their extensive burrows. These guys and gals will have to go.
It's always something....
Lois
I got an alarm in the middle of the night that there was activity in our driveway.
When I checked the cameras, I found this.
Very cool!
Lois
I took these images through glass and a screen, but am still glad I have them.
A groundhog seems to like my bread that was knocked off of the bird feeder.
We had problems with them under our porch a couple of years ago. Here's the whole story.
Lois
We order almost everything on line now so the delivery people from a variety of companies are here often.
When Kjell went outside to pick up the two items delivered by Amazon today, this Milk Bone Dog Cookie was on top of the packages. Now is that sweet, or what!
I'm confident the drivers can see Wendy and our other pups watching them as items are delivered. That's Wendy in the Blog header watching out the front french doors.
Our pups have never come into direct contact with the drivers, but they all surely know the others are there. Maybe the "Wipe Your Paws" front door mat is a clue, too....
I'm so impressed and so are the pups.
Lois
That picture above was captured on our front door Ring camera. It was taken the morning after the blizzard when the temperature was -10F out there.
We order about 90% of what we need on line now, so always take a look when we get a Ring motion notice on our phones to see if there is something that needs to be brought into the house. Catherine orders much of what she needs for her office to be delivered to the house, too, because we are generally here to bring it inside and she is sometimes out of her office at client offices. When I texted this image to our daughter who was at her office, her reply was, "Did someone order fresh venison?"
Hopefully, you'll be able to see this short video, too.
We love having so many critters in our neighborhood. We live in the city, so these visits are extra special.
Be safe and warm as you enjoy New Year's Eve!
All the best,
Lois
A beautiful sunrise and we have visitors already. :)
I have been putting small pieces of my home made bread (no preservatives) on the ledge in front of the camera.
Such fun!
:),
Lois
Our friend, Erica, now has another link in the food chain at her country home. ;) She has homing pigeons that are "learning that they are home now" before they can be released.
Lois
