On the Clips-Board: God Bless America

AND BONUS CRITTER NEWS! Keep reading!

In honor of Memorial Day and Independence Day, I've been adding some patriotic items back into my summer decor. I'll be showing you more items in upcoming posts, but I thought I would share what I have on my clips-board today. For those of you who haven't seen it before, my clips-board is a board with 3 clips on it (Hobby Lobby) that I have in the kitchen above my stove.

I used these same words, "God Bless America," last year, but I put red glitter paper in back of them this year to help them stand out.

I love that I can change this board for holidays or seasons - or whenever inspiration strikes.

Other than that, we've had some gorgeous weather here.

We watched 3 deer eating dandelions in our yard this morning - one was a young buck just beginning to get some little nubs that will form into antlers - and the hummingbirds and goldfinches are extremely active at their feeders. A friend's husband pointed out that the birds wouldn't starve without our supplemental feeding, but we agreed that it sure is fun to bring these beautiful birds close to the house in large numbers just to watch them!

I should also tell you that we discovered what has been emptying our large tube feeder every night lately. That feeder is too high for a raccoon to reach, and a bear would have pulled it down. We turned on the flood lights on the back of the house after dark the other night and solved the mystery.

We couldn't believe our eyes! 




You'll never guess.




Ready? 




Flying squirrels! 

I know! We were surprised, too! 

6-8 of them out there gliding from the tree branches and attacking that feeder! I'm telling you, it was borderline creepy!

One more exciting thing! We saw a dead deer (vehicle collision - not exciting) on the side of the road on Sunday not too far from our home. We really hoped it wasn't Chloe. She's the deer that frequents our yard most often and is the only deer in the area who has figured out how to eat out of our bird feeders. We hadn't seen her for a few days, but we knew she was pregnant, so we hoped that was the reason we hadn't seen her. Sure enough! Just before dusk on Monday night, she was here and noticeably thinner! Then, the next afternoon, Steve saw her and her newborn fawn! He was in the barn when she walked by the open door. He said, "Hi Chloe." She looked at him and flicked her tail - not a bit nervous - as she's used to Steve talking to her. Chloe stopped on the walking path in the wooded area we have between the barn and the house - looking behind her. You betcha! Here comes the teeny tiny fawn in back of her - wobbly legs and all! The fawn caught up with her and started nursing! So, so precious! And no camera nearby. Boo. It may be a while yet before she'll allow the fawn to cross the open area of our yard, but I know it'll happen eventually, and the camera won't be far away!

All is well in the Keweenaw.

P.S.  I'm almost finished with the tour of Abraham Lincoln's home. I may have to split it into 3 posts. Watch for the first part tomorrow or Monday.