June, 2008
Through the kitchen door, I saw this strange “fox”. Neither grey or red, I wondered if they cross bred. A chance conversation last weekend had me search for the photo I had taken. Coyote? I think so. There have been sightings just a few miles from here in recent years.
A short on-line research indicates that the resident groundhog is in jeopardy if he returns. Perhaps I will plant a garden next year.
Catching up post: 5th-10th
The rather ominous looking creature seems to be a fly of the tachinid type. They eat aphids and thrips and their larvae are parasitic on other pests. In seeking to identify it, I found an amazing number of flies that look like other things – bees and wasps, for example. Close up photos make them look very much like science fiction characters or rather, the characters seem to be modeled after flies!
Cleome – I first met this flower in my sister’s garden. Its prickly stems made me take a step back and only admire them there. 
Fast forward to these fighting-the-deer-in-the-gardens years and a friend offered seedlings with the words, “The deer don’t eat them.” Suddenly spiny stems were appealing and I gratefully planted them.
I love the airy beauty and amazingly complex flowers that bloom through the long summer and fall days. I love that they are at home here and freely reseed. I love seeing them from the swing and I smile as they glow pin and lavender and white in the ever changing light of day.
I’ve learned they have common names like Spider Flower, Spider Legs, or Grandfather’s Whiskers.
I thought I would include an update on the resident deer family who love fresh rain drenched hydrangea with tomato, pepper, and sunflower salad – they pick their own!
She is such a good mama, I can tell by the way her children, twins, pay close attention.
They scamper away when I come outside. 
And hide behind the tree while mama teaches them about blueberry foraging and the wonders of our yard.
Or they scamper and hide behind mama after a night of gluttony in the small vegetable garden, eating every tomato and pepper and munching the plants too, for salad.
Such a good mama to keep her children so well fed.
Working at the dining room table, it was as if I could feel the stare; I looked up and through the window. That deer had been prowling the yard for days. I was a bit concerned for there had been rain those days but all seemed well. Until now. I grabbed the camera and walked to the kitchen door, opened it and stepped out. There she stood, bold and bad; posing behind the remains of an Annabelle hydrangea as if to say, “Spray, spray, but I will find a way to feast where I please, so there!” All those stalks had held bloom buds. <sigh>