Sunday, June 21, 2009

AND Let's Talk About The Wildlife...

When we first saw our home, it was winter, and it was covered with snow.

Then we started working on it in (what was up here) very early spring, and I noticed the woods were absolutely quiet- no animal sounds.

As time went on, we started to hear birds, etc..... and there I had hope that there would be wildlife.

After we moved in, we put out birdfeeders with food- unfortunately, the birds never got to it. We started getting visitors... first chipmunks, and black squirrels, then gray squirrels, then..... this visitor:





A very canny raccoon indeed- she quickly figured out how to dump ALL the birdseed onto the ground, and then the party of critters began.


We gave up on the birdfeeders, and just scattered seed/corn/etc for all visitors. Over the days, we had the squirrel/chipmunk contingent, wild turkey, Missy Raccoon, 2 porcupines, deer, a hawk (more interested in the chipmunks than the seed), and other critters? in the dead of night. It's been a lot of fun watching them.


Today, we got an awesome treat- Missy Raccoon stopped by with her 4 babies. The photos are terrible (taken through a door), but the babies were precious.




That's the mammal category. Here's a cute photo of a little frog in the garden:



And of course, let's not forget the insect world. This year has been a record outbreak of tent/gypsy/canopy caterpillars. We've had thousands of the latter crawling around- they start out in the tops of tall trees, and will soon become white butterflies/moths. It's been pretty creepy.



And the latest are the dragonfly hordes. They are harmless, and avoid humans, and actually not too pesty, but there are literally hundreds flying around...



Last of all, this was not on our property, but here's a photo of a pileated woodpecker- they are big suckers! They are in our area, and we hear them knocking on the trees. This was one we saw alongside a road when taking a drive:

Saturday, June 20, 2009

FINALLY... House Photos!

Finally, finally, finally! I know it's been over a month- my apologies. Unpacking (for the 3rd time in a year), organizing, and having family visit just left me tuckered out. AND getting the paraphernalia found to get the photos from the camera to the computer... whew! Here you go...

Front of the home

View from the driveway

Side view of house

View from front deck

View from side deck

Living room

Living room from stairway

Dining area

Kitchen

Kitchen... and yes! Wallpaper!

View towards living room

My office area

Upstairs hallway

Our bedroom

Dan made our headboard- solid cherry

Second bedroom

Third bedroom/storage

Dan's office/space/"man-cave"

It's a walk out basement area

View of lower deck/bath

Total of 3.5 baths-good for company!

Love the fireplace!

We spend most of our time in the family room

View of second deck where we feed the wildlife and watch them

Looking back through the home- great open floor plan


We're surrounded by trees and really enjoy the quiet. Lots of wildlife here... squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, porcupine, wild turkey, hawk, and deer have all come to visit our daily scattering of wild feed off the side of the house. About 1/2 mile away is the Shanty Creek lodge with ski slopes and an 18 hole golf course designed by Arnold Palmer (too bad I don't ski or golf!)

It's mid-June up here, and the iris and phlox are still in bloom. It's been a cool spring, and we're wa-a-ay behind the cycle of things further south.

Let me know how you're doing... would love to hear from everyone! :)