Oh, gosh, I am so sorry to hear that. It’s never easy.
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That’s for sure. Thank you Steve 
So sorry to hear that Red, I’ve followed Abdul’s antics for as long as you’ve had him I think.
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Aww Thanks Kool
Yep … he has been a super sweet and funny kitteh. Some days would be so miserable and he would come and nudge me and tip that silly face at me and all would be well with the world
I have a small workshop in my garage and enjoy building small projects. A few weeks ago I had this dream about building a wooden cube. It wasn’t just a hunk of wood cut into a cube, rather it was 6 sides all joined with 45 degree bevels so that there was no visible endgrain. The next night I dreamed of it again, and again the next night. So I sold a few antiques and an old car so I could buy a nice pine board. I wanted to see if it was even possible with my limited skills and tools. The end result was pretty good, there were a few janky seams since gluing 6 faces together at once is hard but thats what they invented wood filler for. With proof of concept established I took out a second mortgage and bought a nice piece of black walnut. Below is the end result. I’m pretty happy with it. I’m not sure why the universe wanted me to build it but it is strangely satisfying to hold and fondle LOL 
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On a more serious note though … I love it! What a lovely addition to any mantle or shelf! Love the stain you chose too
@StudioMonkey … Your own secret garden path
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Secret garden path looks like it has quite a nettle infestation. Not necessarily a bad thing but…ouch.
I have not been shooting too much this year, but I had to grab the “real” camera when I saw these fawns hanging out in our back yard yesterday.
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Nice, Steve. Deer are a very common sight in backyards where we live. Yesterday I had a young buck eating carrots from my hand, which is something I’ve only known doe to do in the past. Not that there weren’t any doe around. I think we counted 4 buck, 9 doe, and 6 fawns in the herd that comes through daily around 5pm.
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Deer are common here, too. Our house backs up to a decent swath of common ground / easement, so we get a variety of wild life passing through. But I have not heard of people hand-feeding deer. Many years ago, my daughter would feed the deer corn. When she’d go to put the corn out, the deer were comfortable enough they would hang around, but they’d keep a distance of maybe 10 or 12 feet.
Aww … I love wildlife shots So sweet
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Deer are rats with antlers.
It always makes me shake my head when towns ban hunting yet have to call in an exterminator to reduce the deer population cuz they are decimating the urban landscape (read “eating the mayor’s prize rose bushes.”)
That’s one way to see it. There are others.
We built our houses in their habitat. We coexist.
We moved in and took out all their natural predators so in a lot of places they are becoming over-abundant, diseased and underfed. There’s co-existing, and then there’s royally screwing it up. Humans tend to do the latter far too much. They are pretty animals. But they are BIG herbivores and the males will hurt you when stupid season hits them. Hand feeding bucks, not a good idea.
Well, when I said “we,” I meant the residents of the development where I live. Of course the bigger ecosystemic picture has many more wrinkles and implications. Here today, hand feeding a buck for 3 minutes is safe, over there tomorrow it may not be. The buck will decide. For you there deer are a problem; for me here they’re not. One can cite a million things “man” as a whole has gotten wrong somewhere in some way. Entropy is an inescapable aspect of Earth’s nature.
my patio garden a couple weeks ago.
Sundrops in full bloom and the Damask roses just starting (you can see em on the sun side behind the butterfly)
Those roses are from some rooted stolons pulled up from around some plants I found near an 1800s cellar hole while out hiking about 40 years ago. I’ve always grown them on and brought them with me when I move (once keeping some in a friend’s garden for the year I had to live in an apartment.) They are thorny as all getout, sticky with a fragrant resin that deer hate, and the smell of the flowers fills the whole patio and is great coming in through the windows at night.
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Oh and all the dead trees in the background use to be hemlocks. The Adelgids did em in for good last year. Very sad.
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They look lovely! The description of their aroma sounds wonderful too! 