Oh deer...

It's really lovely and interesting to have wildlife all around us. We have our own little ecosystem with birds, bugs, bats, snakes, foxes, groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks... in addition to the stray cats, and, oh yeah, the deer.

This year, we have started some work on the yard and landscaping since the inside of the house is basically done. We rigged up a deer fence for our veggie garden which seems to be holding so far, but i think the deer have realized that the rest of our yard is completely open for their all you can eat buffet. Thank goodness I've gotten almost all of our plants off freecycle, since within days of planting, the deer have eaten them down to the ground. I'm not sure if it's a word or we made it up, but we call it "nubbed" as in bit it down to the nub, as in "the deer nubbed that hosta last night honey."

So far, our friendly evening and early morning snacker has eaten black eyed Susan's, echinachea, hosta, almost all of my bulbs, sedum, morning glories, tomato plants, impatiens, daylilies, bleeding hearts, apple tree saplings, and several shrubs. Of course, we do see that some weeds are nubbed as well and for that we say thank you.

A few nights ago, as we were getting ready for bed, Honey and I heard a scratching on the outside of our house. We theorized about what it could be. The next morning we found that about a foot of a large shrub had been eaten. The shrub is at the corner of the house by our bedroom and we think the branches scratched the electrical box as it was being mauled.

So what to do. Well, we are currently investigating fence options which would clearly be the best way to deal with this guy. It's pretty expensive though to install a wood fence, and really good deer fencing is expensive as well. Plus it will take a while, and I'd like to stop waking up every day to find another landscape design decision made for me. I don't think scaring him away will work, since we see the deer in broad daylight while the golf course landscapers are using loud machinery. Doesn't seem to phase him. I did half jokingly (well - maybe not half) ask Honey if I could get a shotgun. I'm not a fan of hunting for sport but we do have a big chest freezer and I am a pretty good cook.

Once the back yard is fenced of course there is the decision about the front yard. It seems like the deer leave all herbs well enough alone, so the herb garden might be moved to the front yard next year. We'll see. This year, I'm just glad to see my vegetable garden intact each morning, even though the rest of the yard is becoming one big patch of dirt and mulch.

Unplanned Landscaping

I do like the snow. I have to admit, I have wished for more of it during my time living here in Virginia. I've pshawed when schools close, rolled my eyes at drivers who won't go out in an inch of snow, lost patience with the multiple mentions of black ice... in New York we built igloos at the bus stop. Please people. So perhaps this is my fault - we have had so much snow this winter it's crazy! The last few snows have been fine - enough to have fun and play in, but the roads got cleared pretty easily and everyone got back to work fairly soon.

Peanut has loved playing in the snow! We just finished our first month of preschool where we learned about winter and snow, so we've read every snow related book, done experiments with snow melting, made clouds out of cotton, found animal tracks in the snow and made snow angels. She's got a lot in her head that she wants to do right about now, and seeing the snow makes her chomp at the bit! Here's some pics of the last storm - she found a stick (like Peter in The Snowy Day) and made tracks with it. She made her snow angels, and just really loved being out there. You'd never guess she was 25lbs with all that gear on.

When it began to snow yesterday, it was exciting! It began fast and furious, and Peanut started talking about going out to play. With the forecasters saying two feet or more of snow, I gently reminded her that if we couldn't play outside we had tons to do inside.

Well, she's 2. You can't just tell her it is too deep. We got all bundled up this morning, and went outside. I carried her down the deck stairs and when I was knee deep in snow (yes - knee deep) I plunked her down. She decided to go back inside and play with daddy and Pumpkin. Good plan. So I trudged around in the snow, cleared off the vents and mechanicals for the house (again - Honey did that a few times last night) and went around to check out the yard. Our crazy dog came along, sticking to my heels like glue in the path I made.

Last night we had begun to notice some of our trees were pretty low to the ground. We also heard some cracks and creaks as the snow continued to pile on and knew we'd lose some trees. One is really close to the house and leans our way. I got a little freaked out before I realized that we were being given an opportunity to landscape differently. I keep saying how I want to expand the garden, and lament where some of the trees are. Here you go - they are not there anymore! Honey went out a few times to scope it out before we turned in for the night trusting that we would wake up house intact. One of the funniest parts of last night was that every time we looked out our front window, our neighbor was out there shoveling - "got to keep ahead of the storm". Yeah. At midnight? We just stayed in our warm house and surveyed the scene.

On my expedition around the yard this morning - it felt like an epic journey - I did break a sweat out there - I found several trees down, some about to go, and our fence crushed in a few spots. We had planned on replacing the fence - now I am so glad it was at the bottom of our list! I'd hate to have trees fall on a brand new fence!

The scariest part of all this, is that these photos are from 8:30am, and it is now 2:30 and STILL SNOWING! I have had visions of going completely stir crazy by Monday if it just keeps coming down. At least Pumpkin is napping now. Peanut is in bed, singing and talking to her babies, and intermittently calling for someone. She's convinced she needs to pee, poop, blow her nose, get a drink, and have a snack rather than sleep.

We've pulled out all the stops today to ensure that we don't go nuts. I'm scheduling our days up with art projects, activities, snack times, and more so Peanut has plenty to do and doesn't become a TV watching zombie who refuses to sleep at night. This morning, we painted in the "museum" as Peanut calls it. We have paper taped to the walls in out downstairs hallway that the kids used for preschool artwork. We've added quite a bit to the masterpiece today. We also had a craft time and decorated our small snowmen, again leftovers from preschool (it worked out great for us, huh?!). Even Honey got into that one. Peanut directed him where he had to put stickers and a hat and all on his snowman. Sadly, I think these are the only snowmen we will be making for a while. The snow was perfect for sculpting, but it is just too deep! Maybe once we can get out on the deck, we can make a real one.