I don’t care how cute you are….

You can’t come in!

Well… maybe if the husband wasn’t home.

I don’t care how cute you are….

You can’t come in!

Well… maybe if the husband wasn’t home.

We were invited to a few get togethers last weekend, but passed on all of them. I’m afraid I just don’t trust people well enough to gather in groups yet.
So I took a picture of my new, appropriately patriotic flowering plant….

And we stayed home to mow the lawn instead.

Yard work is an all day event ’round here, but it’s quite satisfying.

The daylilies are popping…. and when we were through mowing and whacking and trimming we fired up the grill.

And had an adult beverage while the husband stared, still enraptured by his new toy and it’s viewing window.
( Latest Seagram’s flavor review: Wild Berries – meh. Won’t be buying that one again.)

After some truly marvelous steaks, husband raked grass clumps…. and while I was cleaning up the kitchen?
I looked out the window….. and took a picture through the screen which looks like a bad acid trip.

( Or so I’ve been told. I have no personal experience. No. Not me. Uh uh. )
But yes.
That cute little bugger was at it again.

Eating one of the flowers he’s not supposed to like to eat.
Someone needs to revise that list.

Do you see him?

They really do blend in.

But the little chuckers are in there.

Destructive…. but too damn cute to stay mad at.

Yes, you.

And your five furry little brothers.
(Two chucks in this photo)
You never know who’s going to wander up from the woods lately.

The other day….

It was a pair of deer and a pair of turkeys.

One of the turkeys was occasionally headless.

But they all kept pace.

Right up to the feeders for a nosh.

Mother and son.

While relaxing on the barn porch the other afternoon…..

Our peace and quiet was disturbed by one very perturbed rodent.

Momma squirrel was back and chattering up a storm.
She was scrambling up and down the posts.

Running back and forth along the eaves.

And most definitely making her presence known.
Her memory is long.
And apparently all has not been forgiven.
In life, symmetry is rare.

So when you see a baby woodchuck….

In the woodshed?

You reward him with an apple.

Because he’s just that cute.
And he doesn’t always get along with his family.
I think we can all relate to that.
And on the ground.

It was a meet cute.

And apparently they hit it off.

She was a foxy lady after all.

A little snuggling.

A few nips behind the ear.

And viola.
A happy couple.

Or not.
What do I know?
I have no idea why we have a pair of visiting Mallard ducks this year…

But like all the other critters who venture in….. they’re welcome.

Though the drake’s table manners leave a little to be desired.

Is standing in the dish of deer grain really necessary?

Other times he’s a bit like Caligula.

And eats lying down.

Ducks.
I hope they remember how nice we are to them.

It’s fierce.
And when her babies are around?

(Yes, I’m talking about woodchucks…. were you expecting something else?)

When her babies are here….

And her babies are there…

Momma knows no fear.
Take a look at who she chased the other evening.
You go momma chucker!
The baby woodchucks are everywhere.
Behind the barn, in the rock wall, on the porch, under the deck.
Which means….

They’re going to be saturating my blog for a while.

Because really….

If there’s anything cuter than a mini woodchuck eating apples?
I don’t know if I’d survive it.
