Yard ornaments

Seriously...we have so many of these guys...I feel like they are a permanent attraction.  They often eat things they are not supposed to (or that I don't like that they eat) but I do love spotting them from my windows.

At first I thought she was alone...

But then I noticed a rustle in the overgrowth.  Can you see it?  A small orange blur?

There she is!  She emerged...triumphant.  How cute is that?

Spots and all..she was all a twitter...hopping to and fro.

Eating my Red Bud tree.  BAD deer baby!  Bad!

Watercolor Sky

Words can't compare.  Well there is one word.  WOW!

Fixing the aftermath

In an earlier post I showed you the damage our farm sustained from the recent deluge of rain.  Never fear...Mark and I don't take long to get things back in order.  No moss grows under these stones!  A few more pictures of the damage...and a few of the cleanup.  Enjoy!

Our poor gate.  It didn't stand a chance.  :(

We removed all of the fence boards and the "no-climb" fence from the posts.  Mark cleared all the debris from the area and we hung strands of electric tape.  A much better design don't you think?

The debris was piled pretty high when we started.  Thank goodness we have the skid steer.  BTW...Mark bought new tires for it to thank it for all its hard work.

Thank goodness it didn't take out our new bridge.  Phew!

Now THAT is a sexy look.  Mark was preparing to get in the stream and remove more debris.  He had to do it.  I was busy taking pictures for you all.  I know...the sacrifices I make.  You're welcome.

Isn't he the cutest?

Unclogging under the bridge.  Good job Mark!  (I was on the sidelines...taking pictures and cheering him on...fanning him too.)

The finished product.  This design is much better.  Now if we have flooding issues, we can either unhook the three strands of electric tape and let the water flow freely, or we can just let it break.  Either way a much better design.  In a battle with mother nature, she will always win.  So we think it's best to figure out ways to work with her.  Works for me!

Mother Nature's Fury

Boy...who the heck pissed off Mother Nature?  Whoever you are (and you know who you are) please stop!  Apologize...buy the woman some candy.  Our farm is suffering her wrath.  But never fear...we fixed all the damage and made a few improvements.  That post to follow soon. For now...the wrath.  Yikes!

Inside my barn (which is 20 or more yards from the stream) the water was 6-8" high.  Joy.  Not.

You can see the water line on my trunks, filing cabinet and trash can.  Oie!

The grasses indicate the water was this high...holy moly.  Glad I slept through  most of it.  At the edge of that woodpile there is a 7-8' drop off.  Thank goodness.  My house sits high and dry.  Phew!

The rushing stream (and debris) took out several sections of fencing.

Do you see the debris on the bridge?  Yup...the water came THAT HIGH!  Eeeeek!

It also took out our gate...you can see it in the middle there...barely hanging on.  That gate needed to be replaced.  It was almost bent in half. Drats.

This was 5 hours after the rain had ceased.  When I first looked out (it was still dark) this entire field was under water...bridge included.  I was happy to see it survived.  

More shots of the damage.  I just hope Mother Nature is once again happy...and will give us a reprieve.  We certainly need it.

Repair and "after" photos to come!  Stay tuned!!!

Tablet blog posting

Loving my new Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7. Playing with the Blogger app now. Fun!
Hmmm.  Let's try to include a photo.  Now to check it all out in my reader.
Wish me luck!

Loving family

Mark and I are very fortunate to have such loving families.  Families who are giving and caring.  Recently my Aunt (who also lives in Carroll County) phoned to ask if we had room for a few plants at our farm, I jumped at the offer.  Heck we have 22 acres!  Of course we have room!  And when I heard a large part of the donation was cone flowers I was thrilled.  I love this flower.  We recently got everything planted and can't wait to see them bloom this coming spring.

The motherload!  Plants galore!  LOVE this.  (also love that the skid steer carried them for us.)

And dug the trench to plant the cone flowers.  Lots of labor saved here.  (thank you skid steer)

The lineup!  They are going to look so pretty this spring.  I hear they attract birds and butterflies too.  BONUS!

They are behind our house...just in front of a really nice rock outcropping.  The color will be wonderful.

We also received a hosta.  Love hostas...unfortunately so do the deer.  Drats.  We already have plans to spray it with deer away.  PU.  But it works well.

And this little guy is already flourishing in my front bed.  Yay!

Tough life

Yeah...his life is SUPER tough.  Really.  What?  You don't believe me?  Here...let me zoom in closer for you.

See?  Told you.  His life is tough.

Special notes

Earlier today I returned from an overnight retreat for a program I am enrolled in through my job.  Warmed my heart to find this note from Mark.  Could he get any sweeter?  (Nope...he's pretty damn sweet).

Would you believe...?

That some of this stuff was gifts?  (for other people?)  No?  I didn't think so.  Hey you can't expect me to travel to OC and then the boardwalk and not completely O.D. on sweets.  O.D. in OC.  Yeah!!

He's so fine...yeah yeah...gonna make 'em mine...yeah yeah

Oh wait...he's already mine.  Yay!

Do NOT...I repeat...Do NOT feed the seagulls

Mom learned this little tidbit the hard way.  (I tried to tell her...she didn't listen)

Life's a beach

And our time there this past week was so wonderful...beyond words.  If you have not made time to visit a local (or maybe not so local) beach lately...do it.  You won't regret it.  Promise.

Irene? Pffft...she's no match for Mark

We were prepared for Irene...Mark spent the better part of Friday and Saturday making sure every lantern had oil, every flashlight had fresh batteries and we had overnight bags packed should we need to evacuate.

I was not worried at all...I mean...look at him?  Would you have worried?  (okay...don't answer that)