Saturday, June 19, 2010

Observations in June

Just a few observations today. The Yellow Lady's Slippers that are along our back drive are in full bloom, they were 28 days behind the Yellow Lady's Slippers that are in our wildflower gardens. This year there were four blooms, that is the same as last year. The clumps seem to be staying the same size.


We saw a skunk on our outing last night..it has a den near an Oak along the fence line a mile and a fourth down the road. It waddled very fast into the tall prairie grasses, sadly I missed the shot of the skunk. Far Guy said I should get out and follow it. He would have waited in the car, as back up support. My brother and his wife and their grands often bike that way. I remember one time when one ran right along side Maddie when she was riding her bike, she was so scared..but she kept on pedaling her bike.    She ran into the house, and hollered "Grandma, I saw a skunk." and then she burst into tears.


We also saw the remnants of a deer leg in the road...HA!  one Lady Slipper eater bit the dust..was it a coyote? A wolf?
I usually spend some time visually drinking in the neighbors horses.. enough so I can imagine their smell. Most of the time Chance is quiet, last night he barked when the horses came to visit. There are an even dozen there now, Joe must have sold two. There are only two more days until the summer solstice. The days have not seemed very long because we have been cloudy and rainy.
 Now here is one thing to ponder.  Who is their right mind would mount a deer stand on top of an old manure spreader?  It isn't something you see every day of the week.  I hope it wasn't one of my relatives or a neighbor that reads this blog...if so what we you thinking?
On the bears,  I have seen only two in my entire life in Minnesota, one at an Auction Sale in the early spring..he awoke to the smell of hamburgers frying, and was relocated by the DNR.  The other one Far Guy and I saw running across our driveway at the resort.  A few weeks ago I missed seeing one because I was looking for Trillium.  Well, I can add one more to the list, one day I was coming back from Menahga on the back roads and saw one lumbering across the road..they truly are magnificent creatures.  I missed that photo op too, by the time I got close enough to take a photo he or she was in the woods. :)

11 comments:

Lynda said...

So is Far Guy feeling a little better since he was able to take an outing last night and joke about leaving you with the skunk? Or does he just persevere no matter how he feels?

The Lady's Slippers really are beautiful and delicate looking. i understand why you enjoy looking at them.

The horses are beautiful. I have always enjoyed looking at them and petting them but have never been too crazy about riding. Maybe it's because their size intimidates me and I was never taught how to handle one. Or maybe it's because I'm not athletic and thought I would fall off. Avoidance of accidents and pain is priority to me.

DJan said...

I am confused about the deer stand, I don't know what that is. But the lady slippers are so pretty, and the horses look very well fed and happy. I only saw one bear up close when I was picking his blueberries in Canada one year, and I think he was as scared of me as I was of him. Anyway I ran even though you are not supposed to. When I looked back, he was running fast away from me!

Rae said...

I have never seen a bear other than at the zoo. They are magnificent creatures. I hate that we lock them up in cages. They should be allowed to remain free.
I am glad to hear that Far Guy is up and about. Hope he is feeling better.
What a crazy idea for a deer stand. That was an accident waiting to happen. Sure makes you scratch your head in amazement.

Lanny said...

For certain it is rather hard to believe that we are a couple of days from the summer soltice. We must be having similar I feel like it is rather late in the evening, say seven or eight, but then I look at the clock instead of the light in the air and see that it is only a little after two in the afternoon. The gloom is not giving up around here. PNW has yet to hit seventy-five degrees this season.

How great is that to have two Lady Slipper seasons!

The sight of a horse very close to the fragrance of a horse. My girls and I still call out in a car and exclaim over the spotting of a horse, a new one or even those familiar to us.

Patsy said...

I do not want to see a bear any where that could run at me.
Patsy

The Retired One said...

I would love to see a bear to photograph in the wild...we saw one, but it ran out of sight before I could get out of the car to get a shot!

Far Side of Fifty said...

Miss Lynda, Far Guy perseveres with his pain, if he didn't we wouldn't go anywhere:)

DJan, A Deer stand is usually made out of wood it is a platform or a small building that has a ladder or steps from the ground up..this one was built right onto the manure spreader and had fallen over, I suspect it was a tad top heavy. The deer hunters sit on the platform or in the little building and they can see a deer coming for a long way. I have been collecting photos of deer stands for some time now..some Fall during hunting season I will post a bunch of them, they are interesting and unique as they are all different shapes and sizes:)

LadyFi said...

Bears - how wonderful! And those Lady Slippers - so huge and lovely.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Wonderful wonderful photos all!
I suppose the person with the deer stand just wanted to go the easy way in making it more mobile. LOL!

I had to laugh at your words about Far Guy going back to the car to be your back up support as you followed the skunk. How generous and thoughtful of him. hehe!

(That's what I do when I send John in to kill a spider. lol!)

Lovely Lady Slippers. I don't think I've ever seen one before close-up.

~Lisa

L. D. said...

We had bears in the Grand Rapids area for years, but the development around the lake slowed down the sightings. My wife and I saw one while walking the road and the neighbors didn't believe us as we were from corn county. They saw him the very next day, ha.

Tami Weingartner said...

What a lovely herd! I especially love the Red Roan in the middle.