Folks,

MG:

Had Dux been the artist and if he had the unmitigated nerve to risk it, he might have titled the art 'Lady' J but no less, as to do otherwise would have earned a hefty blow from a cast iron pan resulting in a painful knot on his noggin and several long, uncomfortable nights bunking in that restored three-holer outdoor toilet of his. Our Dux may not know his onions when it comes to avoiding Olga but he's no dummy.

Dux:

Indeed, we do not complain about any progress made in the style of ladies undies. Ever mindful however that, like their swimsuits, we can only get out of them what they put into them.

Yes we have plenty of wild critters around us (not even counting the 2 grand kids who are with us permanently now). I have recently seen signs that the white-tailed deer herd is moving back across the river to bed down on our property again. Presently they are sleeping about 200 yards away from the house but as the season changes and the nights are colder we'll begin seeing them moving further into the property and feeding closer to the house around dusk.

If we had planted a veggie garden this spring they would have been quite a nuisance I'm sure. As it is, we all love just watching them. We saw several fauns this past spring and counted only one adult roadkill, a young doe. The herd seems to be thriving. If it weren't for fear of hunters poaching on our land we'd put out feed and a salt lick.

An adult possum was seen strolling back toward the river yesterday. It reminded me of the baby we tried unsuccessfully to raise in the summer. The ending was sad but we did our best for the little orphan.

There are snakes too. They have their place and keep down the vermin. Well, all but the occasional door to door salesman or evangelist. Just try to tell that to Lady T. To her the only good snake is one minus his head.

We saw four large snakes this summer. Two were poisonous copperheads, only one of those was too close to the house for comfort. They are our state's most common poisonous snake. The other two were black rat snakes. Soon the chill in the air will send the serpent population, both "good" and "bad" slithering about looking for good, dark places to spend the winter. And that reminds me, we will have to bring Crush the slider turtle and his aquarium inside for the winter.