*The Handcrafted Life*

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

OMG, MORE Animals!

This is getting out of control, guys!

Literally, like 3 minutes after I just hit publish on my last post about the deer I saw in our yard yesterday, I just saw a fox in our yard!!

Yes, I'm working in the basement room again today, in hopes to see more deer. :)

And last night, I thought I might have seen what I thought was a fox, but it was nearly dark out, so it might have been a cat, with a really poofy tail, carrying something dead in it's mouth. And I didn't get a photo of it, so without proof, I didn't even think it was worth mentioning in my last post.

But guys, it was the cutest little fox!! I don't think I've ever seen one in the wild before, only at zoos. And he totally walked across our patio under the deck right in front of me, and laid down in the sun on our lawn for a bit, all the while I could see the shadows of 2 of my cats watching him from the deck above.

But enough excited blabber, here are some pics of the little cutie.

Here is where I first spotted him.

Walking right across the patio, super close to the sliding doors I was looking through.

Taking a quick nap in the sunny yard.

Such a beautiful animal!

I think since the fox seemed to be ignoring my cats up on the deck (and that he's probably been around the whole time we've lived here), and he's not much bigger than my fattest cat, I hope I don't have anything to worry about with them getting in fights. It probably would have already happened if it was going to anyway.

But I'm pretty sure that this means I do have to officially move my office to the other room. Only two days with this many animal sightings means I've been missing out big time!

Salt Lick Success!

....Or maybe I just need to look out the window more often.

So, yesterday was pretty freakin' awesome for this animal lover! If you've followed this blog for a while, you know that I love seeing animals, and have been waiting to see deer here in North Carolina even since we moved here almost 7 months ago and our neighbors told us there are lots of deer around.

Well, I saw deer in our backyard for the 2nd time, and this time I got pictures! I was washing my dishes after eating lunch, when I happened to glance out the kitchen window that looks out on our backyard, when I spotted her. I loudly whispered "DEER!" to my husband in the other room, and started jumping up and down and racing around to find my camera, just like I did two weeks ago.

But this time I was smarter, instead of going out on the deck and scaring her away, I ran downstairs to the sliding doors under the deck, so I could snap some photos without having to go outside. (And it was actually kind of funny, on my new Fitbit fitness tracker, I could see an activity spike when I was dashing around, freaking out about the deer!)

Come on, you know you want some salt lick, it's good for you!

Mmmm, salt flavored dirt!

After about 10 minutes though, I decided to try to sneak out on the deck again, for a closer look, and sure enough, she ran off into the small patch of woods behind our house.

But then I started wondering, if she came out in the middle of the day, maybe she would be back, since in my experience seeing deer growing up, they mainly came out around dusk, so I decided to bring my laptop into the basement room where I took the above photos, so I could work in there for the afternoon, and watch for the deer to come back at the same time.

(A side note, since I mentioned my "experience" seeing deer growing up. In case any of you were curious about what's up with my obsession with deer (other than the fact that they're adorable, magical creatures that I've loved since seeing Bambi as a child). Well, as a kid we used to go to North Eastern Washington State quite often, to visit my great great aunt and uncle at their home in a tiny little town with a population of about 100. In the evenings we used to go on what we called "deer rides," where we would all pile in the car and drive up in the hills on old forest service roads. Bumping around the dirt roads, we would spot a ton of adorable deer, and also other fun things like rattlesnakes, and we even saw black bears and a moose once. "Deer rides" are one of my fondest memories of visiting my great great aunt and uncle, along with spring, when so many baby frogs would come out of their holes that you had to watch where you stepped to avoid them. Yep, baby frogs were another animal obsession of mine, and in 2nd grade I even got to take two home with me, and they became the classroom pets!)

But anyway, back to the present day deer.

I camped out in the other room for a couple of hours, working away yesterday afternoon, and to my excitement, the deer came back! Of course, I was ready with my camera, even though I hadn't had high hopes she would be back.

So pretty! And noticing me on the other side of the sliding doors.

Yum, more salt!

But after only a minute or two, something scared her away, and she dashed back into the trees.

Although now that it was later in the day without as much sun shining through the trees, I could see further into the woods, and spotted her hanging out not to far into the trees.

It didn't take me long to figure out what had made the noise that had caused her to run away again. Another, smaller deer appeared to the left of the yard!

And then I noticed a second new deer creeping out of the trees, in the bottom right of the below picture!

Three deer in total, counting the original one that you can just see the rump of, furthest to the right in the photo below.

I think it's the same three deer I saw two weeks ago, because it's still a bigger female, and two smaller juveniles. The mama is the one who had been eating the salt earlier in the day.

The deer family started munching away at our grass and weeds, and stayed in our yard for at least 45 minutes. Which leads me to believe that maybe they've been there all along, we just haven't looked out our windows often enough. After all, we spend all day in our home offices, both of which face the front of our house. How many afternoons have I missed this while in the other room, staring at my monitors?!

Yes, I may have taken over 400 photos throughout the deer visit!

They were so fun to watch though, although they were very quick to startle at any noise. They constantly looked up from eating, and would sometimes do this funny stomping thing with their front legs. I'm not sure if it was a sign of aggression directed to whatever noise they heard, or a way of warning each other to watch out for something.

Apparently they also liked to stick their tongues out at whatever they heard.

LOL, just kidding, I think this was just a lucky shot!

A few more photos of them being our gardeners and eating our weeds.

After the deer went back into the woods after about 45 minutes on our lawn, one of my cats came out after a while, and just sat down and kept an eye on the woods. After peering in the same direction as he was for a bit, I finally spotted what he was looking at.

The deer were still hanging out nearby.

My cat's nonchalant attitude, and the fact that the deer stayed around for so long eating grass is just another reason I think these deer have been frequent visitors to our yard. I just need to look out the windows more often.

Or better yet, maybe I should move my home office into the other room that faces the woods....looking at deer while working would be a whole lot more interesting than seeing the mailman go by like I get to see now!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Work From Home Style, Fall Week 3

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a great Halloween yesterday. I can't wait to get caught up on everyone's blogs to see what you guys did to celebrate! But first, last week's outfit recap.

Monday:

My allergies have really been acting up the past two weeks, and so I didn't wear my contacts for once. Glasses bug me to death (I hate not having peripheral vision, and my eyelashes rub against the lenses when I blink), but at least they made me look studious!

Argyle Vest: NY&Co, White Blouse: H&M, Grey Slacks: H&M, Necklace, Earrings and Headband: Target

Grey and Black Pumps: Michael Antonio

Tuesday:

I love this outfit because the skirt is so comfy. It's made out of a stretchy woven material, and feels just like a sweater for my legs.

Short Sleeve Sweater: Victoria's Secret, Grey Sweater Skirt: Target, Ombre Infinity Scarf: Old Navy, Black Tights: My Diva's Closet, Earrings: Target

Black Patent Heels: Paprika

Wednesday:

I have a ton of argyle prints in my closet, and am happy to get to wear them again, since they're mostly sweaters that are too hot to wear for half of the year. This sweater was a Christmas gift from several years ago, and the new burgundy tights I bought this year just happened to match the burgundy in the argyle pattern.

Black, Pink and Burgundy Argyle Sweater: Gift, Black Skirt: JCPenny's (part of a suit set), Belt: H&M (came with a dress), Tights: My Diva's Closet, Earrings: Target

Snakeskin Black Heels: Michael Antonio

Thursday:

Thursday's outfit ended up being a little boring. Earlier in the day I'd also been wearing a grey scarf, but I very gracefully dipped it in salad dressing while eating lunch, and didn't snap these photos until after the scarf had already been thrown in the laundry. Whoops!

Purple and Grey Striped Blouse: JCPenny's, Skinny Jeans: Target, Earrings: Target

Grey Studded Boots: Michael Antonio

Friday:

Friday we went to a party that some of my BIL's friends were throwing, but it wasn't a Halloween party, so I didn't have an excuse to wear a costume. Instead I wore this cream and grey dress with black accessories. Next time I wear a knee-length dress with boots though, I need to make sure I wear high heeled boots, to make me look taller. But at least I was comfy standing around the party in my flat boots!

Dress: Target, Leather Jacket: Victoria's Secret, Belt: H&M, Necklace and Earrings: Target

Black Boots: Steve Madden

Bonus Outfit - Saturday:

My wedding guest outfit for Katie's wedding. This is the dress that I mentioned last week, that I'd tried on, then walked around the entire mall before coming back and buying it. By itself, I felt the dress was a little boring, although it did have a slight gold shimmer to it that is hard to see in these pictures. But it was a lot better than the taffeta with giant bows dresses I found in the department stores, so I went back and got the dress, along with a bunch of accessories to spice it up.

Pink Party Dress: H&M (couldn't find it online, but it was $24.95 in store), Black Cardigan: Old Navy, Belt: H&M (also worn on Wednesday), Tights: Missoni for Target, Earrings, Bracelets, Ring and Necklace: all new from H&M

Black Patent Heels: Paprika

I think my favorite part of the whole outfit was the pink owl necklace. Except for the fact that my husband pointed out that I had a hooter on my hooters after I put it on, haha!

I also tried out these Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips last week, since I thought my nails could be another way to accessorize my wedding guest dress. So far, I'm pretty impressed with how easy they were to apply, and how long they've lasted.