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<—  Here is one of our praying mantis babies (at least I like to think it is).  Four years ago we purchased an egg sack and put it into a bug box.  Then, (as anticipated) we came out one day to find thousands of mantis babies which we released on our property.  Now, we still find them hanging around from time to time and see their offspring in the summer (the offspring are as tiny as ants).  Regardless of their tendency to eat beneficial bugs, they also eat pests harmful to the garden and we consider them our friends and enjoy their company.  The one shown here is medium sized compared to others we have spotted.  They often tolerate a petting on the back and don’t really scurry when approached by human hands.   

We love to watch the hummingbirds come to the feeder outside our back window.

These horses just showed up on our lawn one fall morning.  After their owner was found, they left leaving big dips (from heavy hooves) in the lawn and big piles of droppings!  We were happy to accommodate them regardless.

<— The fainted picture is the real thing.  The darker picture is a copy  to show a comparison as I was trying to match up what kind of owl this was.  However, I am still not 100% sure it was an elf owl since I later learned that the strange noises we sometimes hear in our forest could be screech owls.  Either way, it was neat to see this one visiting and spying on us through the window.

<—  Here’s that hungry bobcat.  When we told our neighbors we had a bobcat hanging around, they looked at us like we were crazy.  “We haven’t had bobcats around here in over a decade.” they said.  [Crazy city people!]   But when you see a bobcat in a tree at eye level, 10ft away, you know what you saw!  Oh well, we had our chickens safely locked up at night in new quarters so, all was well on our home front once again, regardless.  Then, hungry, I presume (since it was no longer eating our chickens) the bobcat was found in the barn attic at a neighbor’s house.  It was trapped, so we got a call from our elderly neighbor to help him make an opening to let the cat out.  The next morning, the bobcat was gone from the attic.  We haven’t seen it since, but he sure did leave an imprint since his time around here kept us on our toes for awhile and made life a little more interesting than usual.        

We are not big cat people but, Papa Green insists: cats keep the mice away so, we try to keep two cats at all times.  If they get out of the house, they are surely prey for a hungry predator.  So, we try extra hard to keep them in.  We get our cats from the shelter and, the younger the better, because they seem to adapt better to being indoor cats when you bring them home at a real young age (like six weeks old).

 

Left:  this dedicated father sat on this branch  on and off, for about a month, and watched out for his mate as she nested then, later, looked for food. 

Right:  this is what was in the nest nearby that his mate was tending to—taken the same day. 

The nest was always too high for us to see but then Papa Green was able to reach up with his arm and snap a picture—this is what developed. 

<—— My daughter took this picture of the sky, via our front yard, one evening as the sun was setting. 

Not sure if this is a good or bad sign on a tree but, it was neat to see all these caterpillars at once ———————>

 

<————  This funny looking thing is called a Guinea.  Not sure if you can see from the picture but, it had polka dotted feathers and a powder blue head! 

It wandered into our yard one day—probably attracted to our chicken flock.  We figured someone must be missing it so we trapped it in our lamb stalls for the day and called everyone in the neighborhood to see if we could find it’s home.  But, no luck.  So, we had to let it go that night when our lambs entered their stalls.  And, it left in a hurry as the chickens made sure to let it know it was not welcome.  I was surprised to see how aggressive the chickens would be to an outsider.

 

Kitty Constance (new from the shelter—about 8 wks old) and Kitty (about one year old)

Something I absolutely love (and love to make) — my own home-made soap!  The photo below shows three batches of hot process soap that has just been cut and stacked for drying.  It takes about six weeks with daily turns to dry completely.  I set it up in my dining room because it is not something to “make it and forget it” - these babies have to be tended to daily.  And, they make the house smell so nice as they cure.