Hummingbirds zig and zag around the feeder on Aunt Mel's front porch

Every spring the hummingbirds start flying around Aunt Mel’s front porch. They make it known that they’ve returned for the season and expect their feeder to be ready and full at all times.
Aunt Mel always obliges. Its fun to watch the tiny birds feed throughout the day. Their wings flap so quickly you can’t clearly see them. And if you sit quietly on the porch, they’ll zoom overhead and you can hear them peep at one another.
But this past summer, things got out of hand. By summer’s end there were at least 20 hummingbirds trying to use the feeder. As time neared for them to migrate hundreds of miles south, they became very aggressive trying to fuel up foe the long trip.
Some of the hummingbirds would simply loiter around the feeder and when another approached, they were chased off. Others stood on the rim and drank and drank until Aunt Mel was certain they’d pop.
Many times Aunt Mel covered her head and ducked past the feeder so she wasn’t hit in the head by the bossy hummingbirds. How could something so tiny and cute get so darn bossy?
By October, it was time for the last of the lingering hummingbirds to fly south. Aunt Mel brought the feeder inside, cleaned it well and stored it for the winter. Finally the fighting hummingbirds left for their winter home.
Hopefully next summer the trouble makers will find another feeder to patrol!

Returning from errands, one hot summer afternoon, Aunt Mel had to slam on her breaks to avoid hitting deer in her driveway. Five large bucks were headed toward the apple trees. They stopped for a minute to make certain Aunt Mel was not a threat. Once assured, they hopped the fence in front of the truck and continued on their way.

The leader was a very large buck with a rack of at least six or eight points. The bucks that followed were progressively younger, with smaller and smaller racks. The last deer barely had a stub with two points. Their antlers still growing, soft, thick and fuzzy. In the summer, the male deer will bond and form a temporary herd, as there is safety in numbers. They live together until mating season late in the fall. The older bucks teaching the younger ones how to survive.

They five bucks were magnificent and Aunt Mel hopes to see them again.

Hay can be bought in square bales. They weigh about 75 pounds. Depending on the density of each flake, a square bale may last two days. Aunt Mel stores a weeks supply of square bales in her garage. They take up a lot of room and make a mess.

So usually Aunt Mel buys a big round bale of hay. A round bale is a spiral collection of loose hay that is bound together by string mesh. Round bales weigh about 600 pounds and will last almost 2 weeks. They are left out in the pasture for the horses to eat at will. Round bales are best because the horses can graze all day.

Sounds like a win, win for everyone except for one factor. The horse’s day pasture is a slight hill. Aunt Mel totes the round bale in her red trailer, carefully driving through the pasture to the unloading area behind the well. The ground is just a little flattered and supported by large wooden poles on both sides, the round bale stays in place.

Except when GiGi has an itchy butt. When GiGi needs to scratch her backside, she backs into the round bale, leans back and sways from side to side against the hay. The strands do a sufficient job of itching. But one day she leaned back a little too hard. In her itching zeal, she pushed the bale over the pole. It rolled down hill unraveling until there was no more round bale. Instead, there was a four foot wide, one foot thick layer of hay that went about 25 yards across the pasture. Aunt Mel was so mad!

The horses only ate part of the unraveled hay. Instead they used the hay as a soft bed for napping and as a bathroom area. Most of the hay was wasted just because GiGi had an itchy backside. Next time Aunt Mel bought a round bale, it was supported by much larger wooden poles.

During the next few days, the little dog barked when Aunt Mel was working in the yard. Aunt Mel started to wonder if anyone was still living in the house? Surely they wouldn’t move and leave their dog behind?

A few more days passed, it was clear the house was empty. It had been over a week, cold and rainy. The little dog still barked at Aunt Mel. Aunt Mel got in her truck and drove over to the house.

The people were long gone and had trashed the house; removing screens, breaking the porch rails, toys and household garbage was left strewn across the yard. Aunt Mel tiptoed to the back of the house and found the little dog.

The people had constructed a 3 x 3’ cage out of chicken wire and broken bits of wood. It had no roof, and inside, no shelter. There was no bowl for water or food, just the little brown dog fearfully scrunched in the far corner. He was shaking and very thin.

Aunt Mel broke the door and the little dog bolted into her arms. She drove straight to the vet’s office.

The vet determined that the dog was about 6 months old. He was malnourished and only weighed 8 lbs. He should have weighed three times that. The puppy was carefully examined and found healthy except for the obvious neglect. He was given necessary shots and a bag of good puppy food. When paying the vet for their services, they asked “what’s the puppy’s name?”

Aunt Mel answered without hesitation, “Lucky!”

Lucky had a new home at Aunt Mel’s farm. In a few months, he had grown to a normal weight for his age. For a dog raised outside with little human contact or training, he immediately took to living inside and sleeping in bed with Aunt Mel.

He is still fearful of children and strangers. But once he meets you, you are a friend for life. He never forgets someone he meets. It is remarkable that someone left him in a cage without food or water. Luck was certainly on Lucky’s side when Aunt Mel rescued him from the horrible, little cage.

But GiGi had other plans. She gave birth to Nettie a month early in the middle of the night. Aunt Mel received a call from the barn manager at 6 a.m., “come to the barn, there’s a surprise waiting for you in GiGi’s stall.” Aunt Mel couldn’t get to the barn fast enough.

GiGi was standing over a little red baby. The baby was sound asleep having already stood and nursed, she was ready for a nap. She was bright red with a white strip and pink nose. She was the size of a baby deer and mostly long legs. Aunt Mel petted GiGi and told her she was a good girl.

 When the baby woke from her nap, Aunt Mel petted and played with her. She was very sweet and loved the attention. But she loved to eat more. She nursed frequently and GiGi took very good care of her. They had an immediate strong bond.

GiGi taught Nettie may things. She was taught to poop along the left side of  her stall, starting in the back corner and pooping in piles toward the front. She was taught horse language so she would get along in the herd. For instance, rolling your head means “move” to horses. GiGi and Nettie never hesitate to roll their heads at Kain or Joe, telling them to move away from the hay or else! Nettie is very bright and a pleasure to manage thanks to GiGi’s instructions.

Nettie grew quickly and as she grew, she also changed color. By her third birthday she was grey like her mother. Unlike her dainty mother, she was much bigger – taller, wider, stronger.

GiGi and Nettie spend their days in the pasture with Kain and Joe and sometimes other horses. They always stick together, like a team, eating side by side, snoozing side by side. When Nettie is really tired and lies down to sleep, GiGi stands guard over her.

Nettie loves her mother and does as GiGi dictates. She doesn’t mind taking orders from her mother but she seems to enjoy breaks when she works with Aunt Mel in the other pastures.  GiGi yells at her over the fence and Nettie always nickers back to assure her mother that she’s ok with Aunt Mel.

It is hard to imagine life without the two pasture bosses, GiGi and Nettie. It makes Aunt Mel happy that mother and daughter are able to spend their entire lives together. They rule the pasture and the farm. They are two very happy, beautiful Arabian mares.

Each egg is smooth and warm and white. They are the size of your thumbnail. She lays between 3 and 7. She clears a spot in a corner on the floor of her cage and arranges the eggs carefully beneath. She sits all day warming the eggs, moving they around with her beak, and serving her role as diligent mother. But they never hatch because they are unfertilized.

Eggs usually take 21 days to hatch. When the first egg appears, Aunt Mel marks her calendar. On the 21^st day, she removes the eggs so Miss Peep thinks her eggs have hatched. This seems to be a good arrangement. Miss Peep often seems relieved of this duty. She spends the next few days talking, preening and eating and enjoying a good head scratching.

Miss Peep’s eggs are delicate examples of the strength of nature and motherhood.

In July, the tree frog eggs have hatched and the babies live in Lyndon’s pool. He treads carefully to avoid squishing the little green frogs.

Two goats moved in next door.

And the goats seem mutually interested in Aunt Mel’s horses. They hang out at the fence nibbling honey suckle. They reach through the boards to touch noses with the horses. At night they curl up in the undergrowth and sleep near the horses.

At least for a while, the goats hold a fascination for the horses. Apparently goats are to horses like TV to humans – something interesting to watch when there isn’t much else to do.