owl sunset

 

We have an owl that frequents our neighborhood.   I often hear him but rarely see him. When he does show himself it is typically too dark to even think of photographing him. Just the other day, however, I heard him questioning before the sun had completely set. I grabbed my camera and followed the who-ing hoping to spot him before I startled him and he relocated elsewhere. I found him on the phone pole a stones throw down the street and was pleased to click the shutter a couple of times capturing  his silhouette.

chilly, silly, sweet

While the temperature plummeted outside yesterday I decided to warm up the kitchen with some baking. We had been invited to dinner with our friends, Ron and Lura, to hear about their recent trip to New Zealand. My assignment: desert.

Wednesday night I asked Jay what desert he would like. He suggested a banana cake with "coconut glaze" like his mom used to make. The banana cake part wasn't a problem but I had no idea what "coconut glaze" might be. I acquired the needed recipe with a quick call to Jay's mom in Indiana...butter, brown sugar, milk, and coconut, mixed together, spread on the hot cake and put under the broiler for 2 or 3 minutes.

While the cake was baking I noticed two Humming birds feeding on the blooms of the Rosemary outside the dining room. I grabbed my coat and camera and braved the cold to capture a photo of those quick little creatures.


As quick as Jay got home from work we piled in the car and headed two miles up the road to Raindance Ranch. We shared a wonderful meal accompanied by adventure stories from down under.

The highlight of the meal was the large squash Ron had brought home from the market. It was a huge Hubbard squash like the ones he remembered his mom growing in their garden in the Midwest during his childhood years.

We had all kinds of ideas of what could be done with such a large shell.

Good food, good friends, in a cozy warm kitchen. It was a sweet ending to a chilly day.

javelina hoe down

The first few days we were camping I was very careful not to leave "smelly garbage" in the trash outside our tent...but then one day I forgot. We had friends join us for lunch at our campsite. As we combined our foods to create a yummy lunch of tuna-avocado salad sandwiches I discarded some avocado and tomatoes that had passed their expiration date. I believe the smell of these rotting veggies wafting from the plastic bag tied to a chair in our campsite was responsible for drawing the wildlife to our tent at 2 AM in the morning.

I awoke to a bump in the middle of the night. Then there was a crash. As I nudged my husband to see if he was awake and aware of the intruders, I heard the plastic container with our food stash being overturned and emptied. As my husband removed his hunting knife from the mesh shelf over our bed I began praying in tongues. I pictured a bear devouring our food and then searching the tent for desert. As we felt around in the dark trying to locate the keys to the truck we heard our visitors begin to squabble over our garbage. Their noises changed from huffing and puffing to snorting. I relaxed a bit when my husband announced that our visitors were javelina and not the bear that I thought.

Photo from Wikipedia

Once we located the truck keys we were able to startle the large rodents out of our campsite by hitting the alarm button. We exited our tent, plugged in a spotlight, and joined our tenting neighbors who had been awakened by the rumpus. The men started out on a javelina chase armed with one hunting knife, two handguns, and as many rocks as they could find. They chased the garbage thieves through the woods and away from our campsite.

After a bit my husband returned and we gratefully climbed back into the warmth of the sleeping bag to finish the rest of the night.

The next morning, in the light of day, we found our uninvited guests had not only consumed our garbage but two loaves of bread that had been in our food container.

The moral of this story: always removed the smelly garbage from your campsite before going to bed.

dances with wolves

OK...so maybe "dances" and "wolves" is a slight exaggeration.....












how about... backs away from potentially wild dog while shooting pictures with camera










....this morning I took the shortcut, a dirt "road" between two paved streets. When I emerged from the gravel I saw something
standing in the road ahead of me.








What it was I wasn't sure, javelina, coyote, wild dog or stray?....I got my camera out and started shooting...he turned so that I could see it wasn't pig but rather something in the dog family.



Friend or foe I could not know.



I took a step or two in his direction and he turned and began walking towards me.




OK...maybe not too smart to continue this direction. I stand still and continue to shoot, he continues to slowly move in my direction.




I begin walking backwards around the corner of the street, keeping one eye on the animal while spotting the nearest front door I might knock on. One hand is on the camera button and the other holding my walking stick/paint pole intended to fight off wild creatures.


The critter continues to move even as I back away.













I near the second house...one that has four or five dogs in the fenced yard and the wild animal finally decides to find a new route.










I finish my walk anxious to return home and see just how much I can detect from the photos I've shot. He looks to meaty for a coyote and his coat is too dark. Maybe hes just a stray pup as he has that low to the ground look.








Still uncertain of what it was I encountered the matted nappy coat makes me glad I didn't try to get any closer.