Them Shoes

For some reason, Emilia has a fascination with mama's shoes. She actually put these on herself (they're so big for her, she can just step into them), and started cruising around. Of course, the fun ended when they just fell off. Yes, she looks ridiculous, but she doesn't care.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss...

We're not really out in the wilderness, but we do get our share of wildlife here on the grove. Rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, possums, and lizards are common, and you can generally hear the coyotes at night. A few years ago, I even happened across what I think was a mountain lion walking down one of the back roads. So of course, we'll have some snakes around as well. A few weeks back, I found this little guy near my workshop. I was pretty sure it was some sort of harmless King Snake so I just relocated him over to a squirrel hole.

Here's a picture I found on the web of a California King Snake.


This week Connie happened across a rattlesnake near our driveway. It's rattlesnake season so it's not unheard of to see these guys around. But I hadn't seen nor heard of any around our house since I first moved here almost 5 yrs ago. By the time I got there, the snake had disappeared into the bushes. I had no idea where it went so I was just poking around in there (with a shovel, of course), and it suddenly re-emerged (signaled by Connie's screaming). I spent a bit of time making sure it was a rattler because I didn't want to kill it if it was a harmless snake. Once convinced that it was indeed a rattler, I had to take it out since we have kids and the neighbor's dogs in the area. A couple good whacks with the shovel had it incapacitated enough that I was able to finish the job. Even so, it still had some movement left that caused quite a stir with Connie's mom who was fortunate enough to be here for this event. Oh, and all the time this was going on, Em was doing her snake sound... ssssssssssssssss. Cute.

I was curious what type of rattler this might be so a web search uncovered this picture of a Red Diamond Rattlesnake which looks very much like it.


This is a good reminder that we need to be aware of our environment out here. I better go check our septic tank, and see if there are any alligators in it ;^)

It Feels Like Summer

It finally feels like summer with the nice hot weather and being out and about. Grandma is in town which gives us an excuse to visit the kid-friendly places around. Em's been having tons of fun!


Checking out sea life from below...





Checking out sea life from above...





A perfect summer day.

Oh where did she go?

We'll have to work her subtleties of blending in... but a good start for hide and seek!

Beetlemania

Not those Beatles, these...


For the past few weeks, we've been visited by these guys on a regular basis. I estimate that we pick up 50 or so per night inside the house. Which has accumulated to this much in the container. Note the fly on the side thinking "I've got to get some of this action".

They stink really bad so it's time to move them on to another life. So long Beetles. I'm sure you have many more friends that will be visiting us.

Two.

Two. It's been two years of marriage with the two best parts of my life... (soon to be three when three years roll around!) Life is never boring with these two. I can watch them play and do things all day. Imagine how much fun it will be when there's three of 'em! Here's to my two best counterparts and two years of life together!