Furry Friday

My blogger buddy Jennifer over at My Fur-Real Life has started a series called Furry Friday that I'm going to try to join in on. Maybe it will get me back to posting on this blog more frequently.  She's working on a graphic for the series, but it will probably be next week.  Feel free to join!  The animals that we share don't have to have fur by the way.  I could have shared my Fawns for Furry Friday, but I don't have any new ones so I'll show you the other not furry critters we've had hanging around.  :D

First a little toad that was waiting out the heat of the day on our porch.  He really blends in!

And then there was this cute little guy making his way across the porch.  I was afraid he would get stepped on because Chrome (my horse) was on the porch trying to hide from flies so I picked him up.  Chrome immediately wanted to know what I had so I let him sniff the cute box turtle.  The turtle had his head and legs out so I'm glad he didn't bite Chrome on the nose.  Then it started running through the air and one of his feet was close to Chrome's face, so his claws were scratching Chrome's face.  The silly horse actually thought it felt good and didn't move LOL!!!  I guess we could keep him as a back scratcher hehe.  :D  Just kidding, I turned him loose in the yard where Chrome couldn't step on him.

The fawns are back!

This time the does were out too!  Yes, that's plural!  There are two does and three fawns in total that are staying on or around our property.  I think the does have learned the coyotes can't get to their fawns inside of our field fencing so they leave them here when they go out to eat.  I love it!  I'm so happy I was able to move back to the country.  I had missed this!  Let me know what you think of the pictures.

 She's a little thin from nursing her fawns.

We're going to get them a salt block and we might start putting some feed out for them too.  There's plenty to eat in green stuff right now, but the extra calories can't hurt the mommas.  :D

 I wish the fawn hadn't had her head down.  That doe is gorgeous!

 She finally looks up.  So cute!

 Check it out!  I got one doe and three fawns in one picture!  The other doe was hiding.

 

 Such cute babies!!

 A squirrel spotted me hiding behind the vehicles and started chattering, so the fawn went to her mom.

Oops, I'm spotted!  

I LOVE taking pictures of them!  They are so adorable!

Celiac Disease

So my twin sister got officially diagnosed with celiac disease (can't eat gluten)..... they said I have to get tested because it's highly likely that I have it too since we're twins (and my dad who has the same problems we do will need to be tested).  It's really not a surprise to me actually considering the health problems I've had my entire life (I have the same symptoms she does).  I'm probably going to get tested anyway, but I've made up my mind to go gluten free (after the blood test) so if anyone has any tips or hints I would appreciate it.  I tried to do this years ago and failed miserably because I tried to do it cold turkey and kept buying products with gluten in them for my husband.  This time he's going to do it with me and we're going to slowly wean ourselves onto a healthier, gluten free diet (I can't afford to just throw away all of the food in my house with gluten in it).  I'm not going with the gluten free alternatives (i.e. gluten free junk food because it's still junk food and I want to be healthier), but instead will wean myself off of processed foods onto a natural diet of meat, fruit, veggies, etc.  At least I can still eat rice!  That's my main comfort food so that's a relief lol.  So wish me luck and please share any tips you can to make the transition easier.  Thanks!

P.S. If anyone knows of a safe brand of oats (bad about cross contamination with wheat) that I can buy without going to a specialty store please share and I will be forever grateful!!!!

Happy Birthday Storm...

Today would have been Storm's thirteenth birthday... it's been four months since she died and I still think about her and cry over her all the time.  I can sometimes think about her and smile at the memories, but sometimes I still feel guilty and miserable!  I know one thing for sure... the first day of summer will never be the same without her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twins!!!!

Remember the video of the doe I shared?  I thought by the way she was acting that she must be hiding a fawn somewhere... I was right!  She has twins!!!!

This was the first time I've ever seen twin fawns in person and the first time I've photographed any fawn (I think...), so I'm very excited!!  The pictures aren't great because I was having a lot of trouble getting my camera to focus and I was using full zoom without a tripod so every time I moved at all they blurred.  I'm still so excited and blessed to get to see and photograph these babies in my own yard!  :D

 Itchy fawn.

 

 

 So cute how high they pick up their feet.  :)

 I've been spotted hehe.

 

 There unfortunately was some wire in the way of this picture.

 One of my favorite shots!  So cute!

 

This last one is probably the best shot of the bunch

 (I was propped up against a tree hehe).

I think it's so cool how they look like full grown deer, but smaller and spotted hehe.  So much fun!  My parents have been watching these two play in our yard every morning for a week now, but this was the first time I got to see them (I don't get up early lol).  So exciting!

Deer!

Check out this cool video I got yesterday!  My dad saw a deer out in the pasture and told me about it so I grabbed my camera and stalked out there.  I followed her to the back of the pasture and got really close (hidden behind the pine trees behind the pond) before she spotted me and ran.  Then she stopped, turned around and started stomping and snorting at me (you'll see that part in the video).  I think she must have had a fawn hiding somewhere because I've never seen one so unwilling to leave.  In the video when the camera shakes that's me slapping mosquitoes because they were eating me alive.  Unfortunately the movement spooked her.  I wish the mosquitoes didn't love me so much because I'm curious how long she would have let me film her.  Even after I took off for the house I could still hear her snorting at the back property line.  I'm disappointed I couldn't watch her anymore but I had to escape the mosquitoes.  They are vicious!! Anyway I'll stop rambling and let you watch the video.

Fishing

I've been a total slacker about posting to this blog... sorry guys!  I'll try to get caught up.  As you all know I moved back to my hometown in February of 2013.  Our first year was spent so busy building our new house that we literally had no free time to do anything.  This year I've been busy making up for lost time LOL!

One of our favorite hobbies is fishing.  When I was a kid I always went out on the lake in my dad's boat so I only knew where the boat launches were.  I didn't start bank fishing that much until I moved away.  So now that I'm back I want to do both.  We've been scoping out good bank fishing spots and found a really great marina not too far away.  I'm very happy to have found it because that's the biggest thing I've missed since moving.

This marina has a boat ramp, docks, benches, swim areas, soccer, baseball, volleyball, disc golf, restrooms, pavilions, etc.  Lots of stuff to do!  I didn't get many pictures because it was very overcast.

The fish weren't biting very well that day, but it doesn't matter.  I still have fun hehe.  We both caught turtles (hate when that happens-both were fine) though.  I caught a bunch of small bream like the one below.

We even saw a giant Koi in the lake too!  People are not supposed to do that, but it was still kind of cool watching him swim by.  The really cool part is I caught a crawdad!!!!!

I have never caught a crawdad while fishing (only with my hands when I was a kid-they were tiny, not like this one).  The area we were on was concrete with a bench.  The concrete had cracked and I was fishing in the crevices (that's where I caught my biggest bream).  As I lowered my hook and worm into one of the crevices something grabbed it and jerked it into the hole.  I fought and fought before finally getting it back.

I had no idea what was grabbing it, but I tried again anyway.  The second time the crawdad came out of the hole a little and I saw it.  It was so cool!  I tried again and he pulled it in, so I wrestled it free.  Realizing I would never get him out of the hole I lowered the worm in front of it a little ways off.  The crawdad slowly left his hole and I lured him away from it, then I let him grab the hook.  As soon as he had the hook in his claw I jerked the line up onto the bank, but he let go and fell in the water on the other side.  I was soooo upset!!

So I started fishing in crevices on that side.  I caught a huge bream (green sunfish) out of one and then got a bite in another hole.  I wrestled it away and saw the crawdad.  I was so excited I found him again!!!  I thought he would have vanished at that point.  I lured him out of the hole again and let him have the hook, then swung him back on the back.  That time my hubby was able to grab him and I took the above picture.  :D  So much fun!!!!

We didn't keep any our catches, but it was still a lot of fun.  :D