Oh Deer!

Scene from my yard

I know it's been a while since I last posted, but I was surprised to see that it's been over 2 months. Nothing dramatic has been happening, but I've been busy--work, home and family have been keeping me on my toes. More work is the good part--I do love billable hours! Keeps the horses in carrots and cookies.

The "home" part has me close to frantic due to the prolonged spring we've been experiencing, which has been keeping the grass and weeds multiplying like this is the Little Shop of Horrors. Not only is this messy and a fire hazard, but the neighborhood deer have been emboldened by the plentiful chow. Although with all this grass, I don't know why they think they must eat my roses and tomatoes. It's now July and I should be surrounded by roses, but all I see are little stubs where the flowers should be. I never promised those deer a rose garden, but they are helping themselves anyway. My tomato plants have bird netting over them but they are eating any part of the plants that have the audacity to venture beyond the netting. All those years I spent defending the deer from my dad's hunting hobby, and this is the thanks I get.

So today I took action and marched to the local garden center, where I spent a heart-stopping amount on a concoction designed to repel the deer. After digging my little garden sprayer out of the garage and cleaning it up, I opened the container to measure out the recommended portion. Opening the bottle was a big mistake. The stench was unbelievable. It would make a suitable substitute for syrup of ipecac. After making a dash around the back of the house where there was still some untainted air to breathe, I girded my loins and approached the bottle again, measured the stuff into the sprayer and added water with the hose--knocking the seal for the sprayer into the sprayer tank, where it sank to the bottom of the foul mixture. The agony was prolonged as I fished it out, splashing the brew on my clothes and hands in the process.

Finally, I was ready to drench my roses in the protective solution. I swear the bushes leaned away from me as I approached. Who could blame them? They took their medicine like little soldiers and when I was done, I still had a vast amount of the solution left.

About the time I finished up, Laura walked by on her way to visit Dexter. She seemed in a pretty good mood until the wind shifted. Then, eyes watering and hand over her mouth, she mumbled an excuse and fled the scene. At least I know that it effectively repels neighbors.

When I fed the horses, I discovered that the wind was causing the odor to permeate the stable area and was wafting it over to the neighboring property, which has just sold and the new people are moving in. Welcome to the neighborhood!

I'll see how it works on the deer. If it keeps them away, I have a feeling I may have won the battle but lost the war. If my roses are now able to put on their usual splendid display, it will have to be appreciated from the distance of my living room, possibly with a bit of rose-scented Glade to set the mood. And I may have destroyed the excellent relationship I have had with my neighbors for the last 13 years. Although they have the same deer problem I do, and if this stuff works, maybe I can pawn off the leftovers on them.

The scent is clinging to my hands even after repeated scrubbings, making eating difficult. This could be a plus for the diet plan. It could even lead to bulimia.

Okay, okay, enough about the deer (guess I could have figured that out about 5 paragraphs ago). How are the horses doing? They seem to be doing fine, although the flies have been on the attack. Cowboy, who is allergic to fly bites, is now shrouded from head to toe in netting to give him some relief. And Dexter has a pink nose, so he gets the long fly mask to protect him from the sun.

Dexter, the Unknown Horse

We did do our video for our Parelli level 3 on-line audition, over a month ago in fact, but I haven't had a chance to even look at it, much less decide if it's good enough to submit. I started working on our Freestyle (riding) audition but Cowboy developed back problems and we stopped while he recovered. Fortunately, he is much better after acupuncture and massage. The fly sheeting also helps as he twists himself into the most bizarre postures while trying to scratch the itchy spots and that can't be good for his back.

Yesterday we went on a Fourth of July ride at Pt. Reyes. We've been riding the same 2 trails for ages but yesterday we actually tried a new trail--Greenpicker (you have to be careful when you say that). Not exactly new, we had come down that trail last winter, which was not a good experience as it was muddy and slippery and we had to lead them most of the way. But it's dry now and we went up the hill instead of down, and had a great ride! It was quite a bit steeper than our usual route but there were some level to gently sloping parts so they got some relief. They really enjoyed the change of scene--Cowboy led the way with ears forward and charging up the hill with relish. We really got to appreciate their trail abilities as they negotiated the switchbacks, boulders and downed branches in fine style. Now we know they can survive something a bit more strenuous, we can actually get a change of scene and try some of the more challenging trails.

I am still, surprisingly, cooking from the Cooking Light cookbook, although I have restricted the recipe list to those that can be prepared in less than an hour and a half and don't require more than 5 specialty ingredients or any ingredient that will trigger hot flashes (alcohol, hot peppers, etc). These restrictions have shortened the list of eligible recipes dramatically.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I need to go find something that will kill the smell of deer repellent that seems to have permeated the skin on my left hand, and the fragrance is getting stronger as the evening progresses. The Chanel people could take some lessons in longevity from these folks. Maybe I'll wash the dishes by hand and see if that helps. Hopefully it won't contaminate the dishes.