January 10

So, before I give you the link where you can follow my photo-a-day madness, I’ll sucker you in to following me by posting a few more favorites.

January 15

January 18

January 29

And there’s a lot more where these came from over at my other blog http://www.estrellitaphoto.wordpress.com.  Hope to see you there! 

And please be patient if I don’t get to uploading every night… Rest assured some little photographic morsel is awaiting it’s debut on my CompactFlash card.

And because things seemed extra special, I brought out a box that has been buried in my parent’s attic for ages.  Filled with old My Little  Ponies from the 80’s – Back when they were normal looking.  These two girls thought they had arrived.  Of course I had a lot of accessories to go with them.

There’s a snow suit, a clown suit and a couple dresses for the baby Ponies.  Dresses, shoes, hats and a saddle for the adults – oh, and a crown too.

I even go as far as having a high chair with a bottle.

They took turns feeding the babies complete with suckling noises.

Watching their little hands try and dress and accessorize their ponies was pretty entertaining.  Of course I got dragged in to that for a while… “Mom, I can’t do it!”

They were charmed for hours, which made for some fun observing time for me.

I am so thankful that I kept all my old Ponies.  Look at how charmingly beautiful they were back then… Now (see freak on the lower right with the yellow ‘bangs’) they’re weird looking, not innocent or cute but sassy and strange.  Their little bodies have a Barbie-doll curve to them, along with their legs being shapely, their heads are huge and their eyes are about to pop!  What’s wrong with things looking nice instead of bratty?

I did notice that the girls like playing with the older fashioned ones instead of the new one… And of course, Jessie is there, breaking them out of jail or something.

Pretty soon all the Ponies had “flying powers” and they took off.

And then crash landing…

…And taking off again.  All of which made for nice naps.  A plus for me!

I have definitely been a proud “Deer Snob” for most of my life.  I grew up here in my hometown and we grow deer like no one’s business and they have always been problem animals… Jumping in front of cars, messing up fencing, eating plants that are “deer resistant” and finding ways in to people’s gardens.  Though beautiful, they’ve always been rebels without a cause.

At my other house, deer weren’t usually around mainly because the soil wasn’t as nice as it is here so the grass wasn’t as lush year round.  We also didn’t have fruit trees that were easy to get to and as readily available.  We’re also right next to some wet lands that are full of wildlife and plants that the deer can easily hide in… So we have a plethora of deer here, and I’m growing a bit fond of them.

The other night I took 78 photos of them.  There goes my “deer snob” status… Well, atleast for the ones around my house.  If they’re on the side of the road around town, they’re normally honked at and of course I have to talk my head off about how stupid they are.  But here, they’re serene.

The bucks are starting to come in to rut and are beginning to chase the does around.  You have to be fairly careful around them in this season as the bucks are not scared of you in rut and will actually come after you.  A bit scary for me, but so interesting to watch.

This big guy was following some doe around and then another came from across the road and I knew we’d have a bit of a show-down.

“Hmmm… You’re a buck.”

“Have at you!”  And the sword fight is on… They didn’t get too in to it but I could hear their antlers hitting which was much more light sounding than the rams when they fight.  They also didn’t back up and ram eachother, they just sword fought.  Kinda different.

Then they’d get eachother in to a tangle and someone always had the upper hand — and it wasn’t always the bigger guy either.  Leverage always counts for a lot!

This pretty much ended their little spat and they both parted ways and tended to the doe they each had before hand.  Neither were too agressive but I wonder if their fights won’t intensify as the season goes on.  We shall see.  For now, I just hope they shed their antlers in my yard to add to my collection.  I love finding deer antlers, it’s like a fun easter egg hunt except I’d rather find them than eggs *wink*.

This hydrangea is an Endless Summer variety called Blushing Bride.  It has white blossoms that fade to pink and Endless Summer means they bloom all summer long!  I’m looking forward to hydrangea bouquets throughout the house.

I actually just love the green too, when they start to turn to their regular coloring.

I also got a second hydrangea, one of the more traditional blue/pink variety that is also an Endless Summer.  I planted it next to the deck so it would create a more private deck area and also create a curve in the path to the back yard.

Before leaving them after their watering, I was sure to put a cage around to protect from my volunteer gardeners.

Annie claimed two plants as hers because of their small stature, coming with us in 4” containers.  One lavender and one salvia, both purple in shade.  This bed is about the only sun bed I have here, everything is partial shade to full shade.  This bed is also host to some lovely peonies and iris but I’m adding oriental poppies (red) and alliums (purple) with the other shades of purples.  I thought those would be fun colors to have together.  I also hope to grow a climbing nasturtium along this fence… We shall see.

Annie was very happy to use the shovel she got for her birthday and some new gardening gloves I bought at the store the other day.  So nice to have gloves for her little hands, then the super dirt hands aren’t an issue.  At least for now.

The other day I discovered this pink beauty growing – Anyone know what it is?  I was surprised to have these flowers at this time of year, of all seasons.  It is definitely a fun surprise.

I also bought two Pale Pink Cranesbills Geraniums and put them in the ground (perfect timing on all this because it is now raining steadily.)  I’m hoping this will fill in a corner next to the house and front entry way.  If they don’t survive, I’ll have to take the blame because it’s surely not the soil…

That’s right.  I’m blessed with black rich loam.  And I’m surrounded by it.  I’m more than pleased to not have issues with the soil here.  My other house is mostly decomposed granite and hard ground. I can grow things there in the sun beds at the back of the house but that’s about it.  Here I’ll be able to really have some fancy plants and am hoping to make this a shaded paradise.

And now, since I’m indoors I’ll get to working on those Christmas presents.  Here’s a sampling of the materials I received in the mail today but I certainly won’t be divulging on what I’m making, since most of the recipients read this blog.  That’s all for now…

As evidenced by her face.

I had a 4.3 litre Tupperware lidded bowl and filled it nearly to the top.  I had done so well at not eating any berries while I picked but right at the end my stomach was complaining that it was lunch time to snarfed away about 50.  It was too irresistable.

There is a plethora of berries in this location and though the ones in the shade were sparse, they were certainly fat.  I also noticed that the vines weren’t as “ouchie” as the ones in the sun.  Perhaps because there wasn’t as much dead growth.  In the sun there were tons and tons of the smaller berries so I was able to tromp in on top of the vines and stand there for 10 minutes picking to my heart’s content.  I then moved on little by little.

In all the snipping of vines with the clippers, Maleah found an odd vine that was interwined with the berries.  We both don’t have any clue what it is, but it does have very sharp little thorns on the stems.  Anyone know what this might be?

Annie and I came home and grabbed some lunch before nap time.  Once nap time ensued, Mommy got to play a little with some still-life photography.  The above was my favorite.

Thank you to everyone for the kind condolences on the loss of my pooch.  I certainly miss him but am doing much better today.  The house is certainly quieter however — which will take some time getting used to.