Monday, June 26, 2017

Another early morning breakfast visitor. . . . . . . . . .


. . . . . . .and this time it was not my granddaughter!

On opening the dining room blinds early this morning I was quite surprised 
to see this larger than usual visitor checking out the bird feeder! 
In the almost thirty years we've lived in the cottage, we've never had deer
in the garden, and we can count on one hand the times we've seen one in the 
cul-de-sac. . . . . . . until yesterday early evening when a neighbor called to tell
 me a deer had just walked up my driveway. I didn't get photos then as it jumped
 over a fence and was gone in no time flat. We are not in the country and are 
actually just a heartbeat away from a very heavily traveled main road.
This morning I was able to grab a camera, managed a few shots from the
 window before this one toddled off over the lawn, then crossed the street into
 the small wooded area opposite.




We really don't want deer knowing how they can enjoy three meals a day
 once they find plants and shrubs on their menu growing in your garden. 
My neighbor has tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions coming along 
and is going on vacation soon. As I'm going to be cat-sitting for a couple of 
weeks I've been given the go ahead to harvest - and enjoy cooking/eating - these
 summer veggies. I'm growing a lot of basil in pots, so I'm ready for fresh-picked 
tomatoes.

- Neighbor's veggie patch -

Methinks I may be spending more time in the garden in my robe these
coming mornings! I have big plans for gazpacho, ratatouille, pasta sauce etc. -
and I may need to be out there ahead of the deer if those are veggies they enjoy!

If you are growing veggies and have visiting deer - do they eat them?
Any tips will be welcomed. . . . . . but no instructions for building deer 
fences please, too late for that.




Just taking a break and sitting in the garden on a sudden whim is not really an option
 for me at this time of year. . . . . .unless I spray heavily with messy, smelly bug
 repellent I become a feast for every mosquito within a square mile.  
This morning I did venture out after the deer left, after all I was already armed
with a camera, nobody was around, being in pj's and robe was acceptable,
 (it's actually one of those 'old lady' habits neighbors expect I think!).
  The garden did look pretty in the early sunlight. . . . . . . and I wanted 
to share a little bit of North Carolina with you.
Have a fabulous week dear friends.

Bob will be heading out with the mower shortly - as you can see, time to
tackle the grass again, grows non-stop at this time of year.

20 comments:

  1. Your surprise guest is lovely to look at but I can well imagine the havoc he would wreak if left to his own devices. Good luck saving the veggies whilst your neighbour is away. Your basil plant is gorgeous I can almost taste it from here, will you make pesto? I've given up my potager this year, turned it back into a lawn (as if we needed somewhere else to sit!) but have still kept one small raised bed for herbs and soft fruits, the golden raspberries have been plentiful this year. Wishing you marvellous week ahead.

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    Replies
    1. Oh yes Maggie - lots of pesto planned, love it!
      The growing veggies thing is now a summer chore of past years - it's such a lot of work and not worth it for just the two of us really - we are finding gardening hard now. The Farmers' Markets, even some of the grocery stores, will have plenty of local produce coming in all summer - so we'll buy there.
      Raspberries of any hue are my favorites - glad you've had a good crop this year.

      Hugs - Mary

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    2. Hi Mary, what a blessing to have wildlife in the form of this beautiful deer in your garden. I loved your post; thanks for sharing. Jo

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  2. What a thrill to have a deer wandering through your garden!

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    Replies
    1. May I pack it up in a big crate and ship it to you Barbara!!!!!?

      Hope you and your dearest are well and enjoying the weather your way.
      Hugs - Mary

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  3. Eat everything. Even my lily pads. Even with acorns and corn feeders.

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  4. We have had deer in neighborhoods that we have lived in and they never touched my veggie garden. But they did eat a lot of neighbors shrubs. We have seen one pair of deer here in our new community 2 times. We see rabbits every day as well as geese. A neighbor sent out an email after seeing a huge bear the other morning while walking her dog. Country life...I love it!

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  5. This is one of the major reasons I'v loving the idea of moving to our hill country. The deer are everywhere in this kinda wild country-like neighborhood, and they're protected, so they come right over. If one leaves a treat out for them before 15 minutes passes the entire family will be there munching away. I've discovered the LOVE celery! Just so beautiful. One doe has twins! And the papa deer with antlers came too. We were thrilled. My dog was NOT. xx's

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  6. Oh dear! I hope you can keep the deer away from your garden. They do like to do more than nibble. Jim and I are headed north to Victoria this morning. Have a good week, dear friend!

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  7. Mary, who created your wide blog header for you? I love this and would like to do the same.
    Thanks so much !!

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    1. Hi and thanks for stopping by today.

      Technology is a challenge for me - it's because of my age of course!!!
      I make all my blog headers with PicMonkey - which I also use for almost all photo editing (plus some basics in iPhoto - as I use a MacBook Air).
      PicMonkey is awesome - easy, friendly, I think still free for the basic plan, but so worth the low annual fee for the Royale plan with many extras. It is online based, not an app. I have used it since day one when they first started, and I bless them for being here for me and all my photos just about every day - guess it's an addiction, haha!

      The headers I make using 'Collage' - very easy to do which is why I change them so often - for the seasons mainly. You can change the size to fit your space very easily - plenty of fonts, frames, edges, retouching, effects, overlays etc. I find it all very easy, a lot of creative fun. . . . . .afraid I would never have patience enough to tackle PhotoShop etc. which seems much more complicated!

      Hope you come by again and can tell me you tried PicMonkey.
      Have a great day - Mary

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  8. The deer cannot have your salad! There's plenty of forest for them to graze in. Besides they spread deer ticks, which is not good at all. I use a product from Bonide that keeps critters from my garden, IF I remember to reapply after a rain. It doesn't go on the plant...it is sprinkled along the edges of the garden or wherever. It deters rabbits, groundhogs, cats, dogs, etc. Less than $10 at Wal*Mart.

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  9. Your gardens are so beautiful! Oh yes, deer will definitely eat your plants. I have no idea how to deter them though, sorry. We used to have deer around here many years ago when there weren't so many houses. Now that the woods in back of us are gone and houses are there instead, we don't have deer wandering around. Though the State Park is only 1/2 mile from our house, so maybe I should be surprised!

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  10. It would be exciting to see a deer or so in the garden if one didn't have plants. They are such gentle creatures. We rarely see them at the lake but when we do, it's just that they curious...they amble down the roads like they own them! I've tried veggie gardens and the rabbits have devoured them in one night. I have no idea how to get rid of any sort of critter.

    I am a true pajama lady well into the afternoon if I have an easy day. I like to do all of my cleaning and lolling around in them before I finally shower and dress. So yes, there I am in the morning just looking like Zsa Zsa Gabor! Ha! Cheers to the unfussy ladies we are!

    Jane x

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  11. Maybe it already helps simply chasing them away. I mean, whenever you spot a deer in your garden, instead of staying behind the window with the camera, go out, talk loudly or sing, and flail your arms around a little - I am sure they'll skip off as soon as the door opens anyway. And if this keeps happening every time they are there, they will soon go and try to find somewhere without disturbance.
    Your garden is very beautiful; such a shame you can not fully enjoy it because of insects.

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  12. We have deer in the garden too Mary on a regular basis - they tend to crop our hawthorn hedge but we do not worry about that as we have to pay 'a man that does' to cut it during September anyway.
    A male deer once came during the rut and rubbed his antlers up and down our new, at the time Cercis (Judas Tree/Red Bud), which upset me - a very expensive tree, but fortunately it managed to reinvent itself and lives on.

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  13. Saw a coyote in the road in front of our house a few years back and ran out in my nightgown with my camera! :-) Your deer photos are great! I do hope it doesn't start chomping on yours or the neighbor's gardens! The garden photos are lovely also.

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  14. We have several herds of deer which come to visit our land and garden year around. We are trying to grow a new allee of trees to our house. Even though we have encircled the young trees with chicken wire, the deer are still getting to the bark and killing the trees.
    Unfortunately Mary, I have no answer for you except to go out and discourage them by making a lot of noise.

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  15. Hello Mary: Interested in your deer sighting. Almost every day we see deer, on Tuesday this week, we saw a doe and her twin fawns, wandering in the field opposite the house. As we stopped to look at them they came towards us, Mama jumped the hedge surrounding our front lawn and babies, not big enough to jump, crawled through a hole, following their Mama on our front lawn and went behind the house. Where was my camera? in the house of course, I use to have a blog, and followed you all the time, you gave me your address, however, when I moved I mislaid it. Have been browsing your blog for a long time, just never made a comment, had to this time. Keep well. Patricia

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    Replies
    1. How lovely that you left this comment about 'your deer family' - they are such gentle creatures for the most part, but of course can destroy a garden with their voracious appetites!
      Hope you keeping stopping by Patricia and enjoy things I post - wish you still had your blog - how about coming back and joining us some day?

      Hope life is good - enjoy your summer in the countryside.
      Mary -

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I would enjoy reading your comment - thanks so much for stopping by.