Dogs & Deer in our Peaceable Kingdom :-)

Our various dogs and resident deer have always enjoyed a harmonious relationship. We've sometimes jokingly called our place "Almosta Ranch," but I think I'll change that to "Ahimsa Ranch!" :-)

Here are some very recent photos of Punky and the girls on the patio. Punky hangs out there frequently because she knows it provides a good chance to cajole treats out of me, and the girls go out there in the winter and bad weather to go potty. And so worlds you'd think would collide merely mingle merrily instead, because that's just how it's done here at Ahimsa Ranch! ;-) ...

It was very cold out, so Tess and Josie wanted in NOW!

Punky seems to be studying their technique for getting inside.

Another very cold morning. Willow also wanted in NOW! But I asked her to wait just a second so I could take this picture. She's such an agreeable girl, she obliged me - just not very happily!...

I love her "I can't believe you're making me do this" look,

and Punky's friend peeking in from the far left of the photo!

This peaceful co-existence has gone on for years. The following pictures are of Jane Doe, the incomparable matriarch of the white-tail clan who share this place with us. We last saw Jane in Feb '08, and while we think and hope she may have just relocated after the wildfire that destroyed their prime habitat behind our house the previous August (especially since several members of her family disappeared at about the same time), we miss her presence greatly every day. She was especially special.

Here Jane and Willow engage in a friendly competition for alfalfa cookies, while Jane's young son Peanut looks on (don't worry, he got some cookies too!)...

Nom, nom, nom - everybody loves alfalfa cookies! :-)

No, your eyes do not deceive you... that's Jane in the dog run with two members of our former pack o'dogs (now abiding at the Rainbow Bridge*), Tater (L) and Pris (R)...

Pris & Tater's ho-hum nonchalance ~ just too cool for school.

Jane usually followed us around while we did our morning and evening chores, and on this particular morning BW had left the dog run gate open for a few minutes while he went to get something, and in waltzed "herself." I happened to step out onto the deck to ask BW something and saw Jane there instead, so I grabbed my camera. I needn't have hurried ~ she made a habit of it after that, often following us through the gate. (She'd follow us into the garage sometimes too, but usually just a few feet. Garages are scary!) BW used to joke that one day he just knew he'd come home from work to find Jane reclining on our sofa, eating bon-bons and reading trash novels! It wouldn't have surprised me. Though I think Jane would have been reading something classier and more sophisticated. :-)

And here are Jane and Willow, starring in a home movie. I made this video for my friend Annie in France (which is why you'll hear me addressing her in it) because she loved the photos of Jane I'd been sending her and told me she'd never seen a deer in person...

All of us at Ahimsa Ranch wish all of you a gentle day among sweet friends! (And plenty of yummy vegan cookies to share, too!). :-)

*P.S. Even if you already know about the poem "The Rainbow Bridge," I encourage you to check out the link I provided. It takes you to a very touching production of the poem. (Though I dislike the use of the word "pet" and its implied ownership of a fellow being, I do love this poem!)

And Molly - I'm almost certain I saw Bruno! :-)

Pancho & Lefty

I looked out my sunroom window yesterday to see Peanut basking in one of his favorite spots by the back fence, and he definitely had all his pieces-parts. A little while later I spied him in his customary spot under my kitchen window, making his mooney-eyes at me in hopes of wheedling a mushroom or carrot. And still he had all his pieces-parts.

But a little while after that (maybe 30 minutes?) I looked out the patio door, and this time our Mr. P was looking decidedly lopsided!

He had clearly just lost his left antler, as the "socket" was still bleeding. So I looked all around the patio and back yard, but I couldn't find it. When I fed Mocha, I searched the barn area and Mocha's paddock, but still didn't find Peanut's missing antler. However, a smaller buck, who is very shy and rarely comes around, had shown up with the regular gang and darned if he wasn't missing his right antler! That was suspicious enough, but then I noticed Peanut giving him the stink-eye, and him giving Peanut a wide berth, and I figured they'd been duking it out. I told BW the story last night when he got home so he'd keep his eyes peeled for Peanut's antler, and that's when he named the shy buck "Lefty," and started calling Peanut "Pancho." This morning I managed to find Lefty's missing antler, but Peanut seems to have hidden his! Note his sly "Nyah, nyah, I've got a secret!" expression...

That's okay, he may be secretive and lopsided, but he's still my sweet boy! :-)

Decked Halls & Decked-Out Critters

Well, the halls being decked, and inspired by Molly at It's a Vegan Dog's Life who graciously invited us in to sit by the fire and enjoy her pretty decorations and fun critter-kids, I'm putting out the welcome mat as well. We're having a winter storm, snowing and 1ºF with gusty winds, so come on in, take off your boots and snow-covered coats and toast your frozen buns in front of the pellet stove. :-) I've made some tea (it's an especially good day for a peppermint-spearmint-chamomile blend, don't you think?) and some pumpkin-cranberry bread, so relax, warm up, and enjoy our little nod to this festive season...

Though the birdhouse collection is in our living room bay window all year, come December several snowmen and a gingerbread man or two populate Birdhouse Village, along with a lighted Christmas tree (the only one in the house!) in the "village square." (If you want a better view of some of the snowmen, click on the photo or view the close-up of a few of them gazing longingly at my bowl of oatmeal in my spurtle post). The Santa fence below the window guards a basket of VegNews magazines. ;-)

The mantle over our pellet stove.

My great-grandmother's quilt hanging in the garland-festooned hallway. The kitchen is to the left (you can see a bit of the cupboards) if you're needing a refill on your tea. Go heppasef, as I used to say as a wee tot. :-)

My talented quilter friend Joanne made me this sweet Santa quilt one year, which greets visitors in the front hall.

Peanut always seems fascinated with the bay window's holiday decorations, and stops by to peer in every year. This time he seems to be noting with some contempt that the star on top of the Christmas tree is slightly askew! ;-)

This is Punky, born this past spring. She's named for her spiky punk hairstyle, which in this photo is covered in thick frost and snow, as is the rest of her! (I took this photo just this morning while dispensing treats to my cold little feathered and frosted friends!) Punky is adorable with flocking, but I wish I could bring her in by the fire with us! Is she not the cutest? (Seriously, click on the photo for a larger view of that precious face!) Don't you just want to scratch her behind her ears and tousle her punky hair? :-)

Tess loves to wear hats and the Santa hat seems to be her favorite. She'll wear it happily till it eventually slides off. Her expression doesn't seem to go with the hat much though, unless she's compiling her list of naughty children and calculating how many coal lumps to order! I sure hope I'm not on that list...

But uh-oh. Looks like Josie is! "I've been keeping a list of who's been naughty and who's been nice, you know," says Santa Paws. "And it's not looking good for you, kid!" Josie receives this news with an alarmed roll of her eye! ;-)

Dear, sweet, patient Willow is less fond of wearing hats, especially when they're so big they slide down over her eyes, but she's a good sport (for a few seconds, anyway!) as she doesn't want to be on that list with Josie! ;-)

Poor Tessa. "All this decorating, all this list-making, all this photographing, all this being irresistibly adorable all day...

the holidays are just so exhausting!"

Thanks for stopping by!

Peeping Peanut

Yesterday's temperature never got above -8ºF and today it hovered between -15º and -20º (not counting windchills). When it's this cold, my deer friends hang around my doors and windows making mooney faces at me because they know it'll get them alfalfa "cookies" and other treats (mushrooms are a special favorite!) For the past two days my sweet buddy Peanut (aka Mr. Peebers, aka Mr. P, whom I've known since he was about 3 weeks old), has been peering in at me through my kitchen window while I do dishes, or through the basement patio door while I'm on the computer. I look up from my typing and I see this adorableness...

Now I ask you, could you deny this face a cookie

when it's -20º? (Or any other time, for that matter?) ;-)

Peanut and Willow in a staring contest

(pardon the look of our den, it's in the midst of remodeling!)

I took this one from the kitchen window yesterday morning and it was such a pretty picture of Peanut that I decided to make it even prettier with the photo editor...

But then I couldn't stop! LOL

It's nice to have fun friends stop by to warm the frigid days! :-)

Peanut

Thought I'd better give the guys equal time, and Peanut was happy to pose for some "GQ" shots yesterday morning! We've known Peanut since he was a new fawn, and he's just as sweet as he is handsome...

This is one of my favorite photos of Peanut (taken about 2 years ago), getting a kiss from little brother Hodie. Hodie and Peanut still hang out together... Peanut's always been a great babysitter and a wonderful big brother! :-)