We had visitors this morning. We were watching CBS, waiting for the Platters to come on as part of a step back in time they've been doing on the morning show, when Fred headed to get some wood for the stove and noticed a deer approaching our back yard. We watched as a lovely big doe came through the pucker brush and cautiously made her way onto our lawn. She was hesitant and frequently seemed to be looking directly at us as we watched - Fred from the window in my office, and I from the bedroom window.

"She's headed for the garden," I whispered as Fred came in and handed me the camera.

"I've taken quite a few pictures," he said. We stood motionless and watched her as she watched us.

There's no screen on my office window, but the bedroom ones have them. It's really hard to get a good picture through the screen, but we always try anyway. The deer spent quite some time in the vegetable garden, chomping away on what's left of the parsley and dill. I quietly moved to my office window, expecting her to get to the beets that I haven't taken up yet, the tops barely showing above the mulch of leaves and hay, but before she found them, she suddenly turned, staring past the house to the lower lawn area, and moved quickly towards the woods.

I ran back into bedroom and saw a young deer just below the grape arbor. The doe slipped quietly into the woods, keeping a wary eye on the intruder. It was almost as if she didn't want the young one to know she'd found some tasty greens. She disappeared into the brush and, with a curious look towards the house, the young deer slipped into the woods as well. Whether they would eventually meet we'll never know, but I would guess not. The doe seemed less than friendly towards the young one - we thought it might have been a young buck, but we couldn't be certain.

Here are some of our pictures: Deer Raids Garden

I waited as long as I could before I went outside to read my rain gauge - I knew there would probably be nothing in it, but just to be sure I wanted to check - and both deer were without a doubt well into the woods by then, or if not, they were quietly watching me from some hidden position, just as we had been them.

We don't hunt deer, and ask hunters not to hunt on our land, and I believe they respect that. There is enough area around us that is open to hunting, and we like to think the deer have a small safe haven on our property.

Fred has gone to help our neighbor, Louise, who has had similar computer problems to what we had recently. The Fairpoint technician will work with him by phone, and hopefully that will take care of her problem. I'm going to continue sorting through the material from Jenny Donaldson's family - it's a treasure trove.