Groundhogs Day and Deer Reprise

Even if Punxsutawney Phil did see his shadow today, I am feeling little tugs of spring in the back of my mind.

Like "Won't it be fun to see my bulbs bloom soon?!?" and

"I wonder if I have room for both corn and tall sunflowers in the back of my garden?" and

"I can't wait for fresh garden lettuce and tomatoes instead of these wannabe's..." and

"It's going to be interesting keeping dirt out of Tyler's mouth this year." and

"I wonder if my strawberries will survive being eaten by the deer?"

Speaking of deer, those naughty critters pulled a fast one on me. The snow cover had given me a (false) sense of security, and I thought they were gone since I hadn't seen them for about 3 weeks.

Then on Tuesday I saw my neighbor out the window, with her camera pointed into the fields behind our houses, and I followed her line of sight to see at least 18 head of deer lazing in the tall grass. It crossed my mind that they might look for food in my yard again, but there were also tractors, dump trucks, and a street sweeper swarming like ants all day, so I thought we'd be safe. They are starting to put in the roadway and utilities for more homes behind us. I will miss the pretty fields and views... 

Well I thought wrong. I was closing blinds at dusk and couldn't see the deer anymore... until I looked down in my own yard. ALL of them were grazing on my grass!!!!

I wish I had been more calm and collected and taken good pictures of 18 deer in my yard, but all I could do was run through the house yelling for everyone to follow me outside. Of course as soon as we opened the door they ran for the hills.

The yard was melted and soggy so now it's a muddy mess. Grrrrrr. Maybe I shouldn't mind the tractors waking me up at 6:30 every morning. A little more development might keep the deer out of my stuff!