Quick & Easy Steak Marinade

Summer is not over!  Don't put away the grill until you've tried this quick & easy steak marinade!

(for 2 6-ounce sirloin steaks; adjust for amount of steak to be cooked)

1/2 c. red cooking wine
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 whole minced garlic clove, or 2 tablespoons prepared mince garlic
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. ground black pepper

Stir together, pour over steaks, cover & refrigerate for 2 or more hours, turning in marinade at least once.

Grill steaks as usual, brushing occasionally with remaining marinade.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm!......Good!

One of a set of triplets...

I can never get all three fawns in the same picture, but this is one of a set of triplets that I've watched all summer.  Unfortunately for my daughter, they love to nibble on the tender, young grape vines she was trying to get started.  Of course, my roses have suffered, too.  As have the smaller four Rose of Sharon near the bottom edge of my yard.  An old apple tree just to the left of where this fawn stands is where the doe eats every morning and every evening.

I love to watch the deer, turkeys, quail, woodpeckers, and various birds that come to my feeders.  Now I'm watching out for the bear that's coming back around!

Oh, my bear!

Well, I have bears---one in particular, who seems to think I have the best garbage on this route, but he is "smarter than the average bear". Over time, I've discovered the only way to keep from having to trek up the mountain to gather up my garbage---again---is to keep it in a metal barrel with a lid and a ring that tightens with a bolt to hold the lid in place.  In addition, I lashed the barrel to my fence with electric fence wire.  I've taken all the standard precautions like never feeding my animals outside, bringing my bird feeders in at night, etc.  (Two years ago, I had to kill a bear that would not take the hint, and was becoming waaaaaay to friendly!) 

Anyway, Tuesday night I took out all the garbage and stuffed it into the already full barrel, all but one bag that just would not go, making sure the lid was secure. I also had some other things that I'd picked up outside, an old heater, an old dog bed, and a recently replaced full-size mattress. 

I took my dogs out at 2 a.m. and went to bed.  At 3:30 a.m. I was up again and went outside.  Instead of a deep breath of fresh night air, I had a gasp of surprise.  Mattress half-across the driveway, heater flung out into the driveway, barrel ripped from the fence and lying in the driveway....looked almost as if he were about to furnish his winter home! Mattress to sleep on. dog bed for a pillow, a heater to keep it cozy....Oh, and he wants to be well-groomed when hibernation season is over. The one bag that didn't fit into the barrel?  He did manage to make off with it and I can only assume it was the hair drying it contained which caught his eye!

Since I don't sleep much, I have my camera handy and will try to get a pic of this smarter than average bear!

Beautiful Visitor

This beautiful egret was an unexpected visitor here some weeks ago.  Normally, this is not a bird found in upper-east TN---at least, not one I've ever seen in my 40+ years in this same location.

Isn't he beautiful?  I would love to see more of these around here.

Did I say....

...wild life???  Well, lemme tell ya!  This ol' hillbilly woman has seen one now that tops them all, so far!

This is Fiona, a five-day old fawn some idiot took from her mother:

This is Fiona being tended by my daughter and two of my three dogs

while I make calls trying to find out what to do with her:

And this is one of our cats trying to figure out exactly what kind of cat Fiona might be:

For now, Fiona is safe & warm, well-fed, and like most babies, spending a lot of time sleeping.  I'm working with a lot of people to find her an appropriate home with other rescued deer.  Unfortunately, even Wildlife Officers are not quite sure what to do with her.  She can't be turned into a pet.  I'm hoping one of the doe's that has a young fawn will come to her in the yard & claim Fiona as her own.  That would be ideal.  If that doesn't happen, though, she will have to go to a wildlife rescue---as soon as I can find one to take her.  

For now, just let me say this:

If you find a new fawn leave it where it is!  Don't touch it!  Don't try to be a hero.  And, for goodness sake, don't steal it away from it's mother!  If she isn't around, that doesn't mean the fawn has been abandoned---the doe will most likely return when you go away.  The natural mother is a fawn's best hope for survival!

Huh???

Today has been one of those strange days....You know the kind.  You have a lazy day to do whatever you want---or nothing at all.  You opt for nothing at all.  Yet at the end of the day, you're more tired than on the days you really worked hard.  Why?  Why?

Okay, tomorrow is another sewing day.  I don't think I can take another lazy day!  lol  If I get this project finished tomorrow, maybe I won't be so tired....and I can have pictures to post!  C'ya!

Mother-in-Law's Tongue in Bloom

I never knew the thing would bloom!!!  But here it is:

This is the plant.

Look what tiny, delicate blooms!

Aren't these the funkiest little blooms???

Pie-lee-a-ted what???

Actually, Pileated Woodpecker.  A pair.  In the tree just outside my window.  And where is my camera?  Lying three rooms away, without batteries!  Arrrrrggggghhhhh!  Okay, so after 20 minutes of watching the fascinating dance of a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers, low on the trunk of a semi-dead tree, moving in tiny hops first in one direction, then in reverse, one on each side of the tree, I finally go for the camera.  Of course, by the time I get the camera, pop in batteries, set the date/time....they've move on to another tree, farther away.  I'll have my camera ready tomorrow morning, and hopefully will be able to get a decent picture.

In the meantime, my mother-in-law's tongue (the plant) has done something I've never seen before.  It bloomed!!! I didn't know the dang things could or would bloom, but mine did!  It has three stems of blooms, the oddest little flowers...so unusual.  Apparently, succulents must be root-bound or nearly so to produce blooms.  The stems in this one appeared just as I was ready to transplant to a larger pot.  I'm so glad I didn't, that I gave it a chance to show me what it could do! Now, I suppose the poor thing is doomed to remain in it's current pot...I want to see whether it will ever bloom again!

(Will edit & post pictures as soon as I figure out where I left the camera!)

Stop to Smell the Roses

Joseph's Coat

about 15 years old & still one of the most beautiful in the yard

I call it the Yellow Rose of Tennessee

still in it's infancy, second summer

One of 14 Knockout roses, second summer

Wildlife or Wild Life?

Okay, it might not be so unusual to some, but to others having Thanksgiving dinner walking around in the yard  in the middle of June merits mention.  But what'cha do when that dinner decides to have a roll in the driveway?  Naturally, ya take a picture!

Left: turkey dust-bath

Right: turkey dinner