A Photo Story: The Tale We Have Here Is Something Quite Dear

/ Ally Bean

After writing in my previous post about the ridiculous absurd time-wasting hassle of buying bags of stones, I thought I’d take a few photos of our backyard showing you, my gentle readers and curious lurkers, where the aforementioned hard-won stone is. I took the photos while standing on the deck above the yard and they show the stones + something unexpected.

This photo shows how the stones edge the planting bed creating a clear dividing line between mulch and grass. Not too exciting perhaps, but there is more, and unless you’re a Hard-hearted Hannah [the vamp of Savanah], you’re going to like it.

This photo gives you a better idea of the length and width of the stone edge dividing line. It also shows you something unexpected. Look closely in the middle of the photo, kids.

Do you see who’s lounging under a bush?

Yes, it’s a sweet little fawn whose mother has left it there, knowing it’d be safe and hidden from view from most predators. I could only see it because I was above on the deck looking down onto it [and Zen-Den pointed it out to me]. Now isn’t that dear?

~ ~ 💗 ~ ~

Happy Tuesday, everyone. May something dear, or deer, happen to you today!

~ ~ 💗 ~ ~

210 thoughts on “A Photo Story: The Tale We Have Here Is Something Quite Dear”

    • Barbara, I felt honored that mom deer considered our yard a safe haven for fawns. It happens every so often and I always find it wonderful. Thanks for compliment on landscaping style. We work with what we have, you know?

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    • AutumnAshbough, yes the little fawn was gone by 9:00 p.m. I get anxious about this when it happens, too– so I kept surreptitiously checking on the fawn who just snoozed. Thanks for the compliment about the landscaping. It’s slowly coming along, despite Lowe’s.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Nicole, yes is it was sweet and such a pleasant surprise. The sloping yard, garden, lower level terrace are what happens when you decide to carve a niche into the forest behind your house. Kind of nutty, kind of nice.

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  11. Awww that fawn was absolutely adorable. I cannot write anything else that is ‘Insightful’, I’m dumb. The world needs more humorous easy going people like you!
    ~Divi.

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    • Divi, I agree that the fawn is adorable. I was squeeing when I saw it and there I was with a camera! Thanks for commenting and I appreciate the compliment.

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  12. We’ve had that happen about 5 times, including our previous home. Here, they picked the same spot two years in a row, atop our rock wall in the lily of the valley. And Memorial Day weekend both times. So be on the lookout next year!

    They are adorable until they grow up to eat all your landscaping and charge you during rutting season in the fall.

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    • Bijoux, your little fawns were left in the same place! I’ve seen them left in a few different places around here, but I’ll heed your advice and check this bush next spring. Thanks for the heads up.

      Yes, I know all about the destructive inclinations of deer. We don’t have any daylillies anymore because the deer wouldn’t leave them alone. I liked daylillies…

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  13. Wow, Ally, a great deal of work with these stones, yet effective results. How beautiful and perfect to find the sweet little fawn feeling safe at your home. Yours truly and dearly, a gentle reader and curious lurker. ❤️

    Liked by 1 person

    • Erica the Gentle Reader and Curious Lurker, you’re right it was work to get these stones + mulch where we wanted them, but worth it. I was tickled when I saw this little fawn under the bush. A good reward for our labors.

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    • Deborah, this little fawn was a good surprise. I don’t know if it’ll be back again, but I’m keeping my eye out. The stones worked out as planned, once we finally bought them. Thanks for noticing.

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  17. Da Mama probably comes back in the evening to take change of the little one – that seems to be how it works around here, NIce to be chosen as the fawn-sitter.

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  18. That is just the sweetest thing! The fact that you created a lovely garden space? Good. The fact that you created a safe space for mommas to hide their fawns? Priceless!!!
    ❤️❤️❤️

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    • Deb, while I’m all about wildlife like this little fawn, some of the wildlife we see back there doesn’t charm me. Raccoons for instance. HOWEVER this little guy wins the award for cute, cute, cute.

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  22. Very dear indeed Ally Bean – enough to warm the cockles of me heart. Your last post I read but did not comment, I think I was rendered speechless. The vantage point of this one is sublime –

    Liked by 1 person

    • Susan, yes this little fawn is exactly the sort of sweet thing to make all our gardening efforts seem worth it. As for the previous story, what can I say… other than I was not *wrong*… about all of it.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Robin, it was a delightful moment and I’m glad I caught it on camera. I certainly didn’t expect to be a fawn daycare center when we planted all these bushes, but now that we are I can roll with it.

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    • Lynette, that’s exactly what the look on this fawn’s face said to me. It wasn’t worried about anything including a woman with a camera on the deck above. Didn’t expect to see it there, had to take pics.

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  27. I wonder why we are so awed/delighted/surprised when large animals (even baby ones) enter into “our” spaces? But I know I am, every time. My parents live near a town where deer wander freely, and I still gasp a tiny bit every time we pass one in our car or one emerges from bushes.

    And now I have to ask if you’ve watched any of Sweet Tooth (on Netflix)?

    Liked by 2 people

    • Rita, you raise a good question because we are surprised when we see large animals out in nature being natural. We have adult deer around here and they’re often destructive, but as a baby they are darned sweet.

      What is Sweet Tooth? I don’t know about it.

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      • Dystopian series about a time when humanity is ravaged by The Sick, a pandemic which descends upon us at the same time hybrids appear—humans with animal characteristics. The main character is a deer-boy whose father took him off into the woods as a baby, as the humans are not kind to the hybrids. Many of them, anyway. I’m about three episodes in. I suspect we’ll see more and more stories that feel covid-influenced.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Wow. That’s quite a story going on in that TV show. I’ve never heard of it and I’m not sure it’d be my kind of show, but I can see why you thought of it. I, too, expect to see more covid-influenced series in the future. Not sure how I feel about that.

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          • It normally wouldn’t likely be mine, but (so far) it has a kind of sweetness not common to the genre. It is challenging for my husband and I to find things we both like to watch, and this is so-far good enough for both of us. We like to end our days with a hot beverage on the couch and an episode of something to talk about.

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            • I understand about trying to find a TV series that appeals to both husband and wife. It requires negotiation and detente and diplomacy. Been there, done that. We watch Midsomer Murders.

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  28. Your yard looks great and the fawn is too cute for words…so thanks for using photos. 🙂 What fun to see that! Thanks for sharing it and putting a smile on my face this morning.

    janet

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  30. Oh, how incredibly sweet and beautiful. That would have made my day and week! There is nothing quite so vulnerable looking as a tiny fawn. I’m so glad her mother came back for her.

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    • Nance, I’ll admit that this fawn has made my week. I’m happy that the mother felt comfortable leaving the fawn here and I’m pleased I got a few photos of it. Seems like a perfectly June thing to happen.

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  31. This week, I’ve seen baby ducks, goslings, baby bunnies in the hood. In the past, I’ve seen baby raccoons, baby possums, and baby otters.

    But no baby deer in our neck of the woods. Thanks for a fun post.

    Liked by 2 people

    • John, I can understand your difficulty getting out of the Adirondack chairs. They’re pretty, but low. Thinking on it I wonder why they aren’t made in two seat heights, low and high. I could go for a higher seat!

      Liked by 1 person

  37. Wow, that is so cool. Love your backyard and I could easily picture myself sitting in one of those chairs with a glass of white zin and a good book. Thanks for giving me that mental calm.

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    • Janet, thanks. The backyard has been in progress for years now. The chairs were a good addition and stay out there year-round. Seeing the fawn was a treat, but sitting out there with a glass of wine would be a good treat, too. 🍷

      Liked by 1 person

    • Donna, by 9:00 p.m. the fawn was gone. Mom deer must have come back at some point but I missed the reunion. Still I got some sweet photos so that’s good too.

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  42. Oh deer! (haha) That is the sweetest thing EVER. Oh my, all tucked away safe. I’m sure his mama doesn’t have a great idea of a bird’s eye view, so it must look like a wonderful spot down there. The rocks and garden are all lovely, too.

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  45. Bambi came for a nap. Nice, and the stones look nice. 🙂 The timing is kind of funny because this morning when I was returning from errands, a mid-sized deer was running and jumping right along the road. I slowed almost to a stop until s/he went back into the woods.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Judy, and a nap Bambi did have! Deer near the road aren’t so charming as this little fawn. I’d do the same thing as you. Don’t want to hit a deer, bad for it and for your vehicle.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Laurie, the stones are going to help us keep the area from eroding away while looking pretty at the same time. The fawn certainly looks like he belongs near them. I agree, the hassle was worth it.

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    • BernieLynne, I realize that once this little bugger grows up he or she will be eating everything in sight, so I take your point. But when I saw it under the bush I squeed with delight. So cute, those colors, those eyes. I’m a sucker, what can I say?

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  50. I hope you won’t thinking I’m fawning over you and your temporary resident when I say that’s one of the cutest photos I’ve seen. We occasionally see a deer around here, but I’ve never seen a fawn. I suspect the mamas choose different areas than our landscaped-to-a-fare-thee-well neighborhood!

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    • shoreacres, thank you. My model was photogenic and cooperative so a good photo was guaranteed. I don’t know what kind of landscaping a mother deer prefers, but this isn’t the first time we’ve had this happen here. Not often, but when you live adjacent to a wooded ravine the deer tend to find you. And drop the little ones off for a few hours.

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  51. What a wonderful sitting area in your yard! And the fawn is/was such a very sweet addition!

    We noticed a baby rabbit hiding in the grass last week (he/she looked terrified) – we left it alone; Googled it and learned that animal mamas will leave their babies in what they deem to be a safe place and come back to get them – which the mama rabbit did – and it sounds like the mama deer did too. What an honor to be chosen as a safe place for the baby!

    Liked by 2 people

    • Gigi Rambles, we like the sitting area. It’s fun to be next to the forest without being in the forest. Fewer pests. I’ve read the same thing about deer mothers. They leave their babies somewhere safe then go forage for food. I didn’t know that rabbits did that, too. Interesting.

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  52. That is a very sweet fawn! Of all the critters that visited us in Shell, deer were probably the least common. I saw a big buck in the back yard once, but never a sweet little fawn like that. Up here we have squirrels and bunnies – and the occasional hawk who I am sure is just resting in my tree, not hanging out for squirrels and bunnies. Thanks for posting this! Made my day.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Zazzy, we have our share of squirrels and rabbits, but we also have deer. They can be pests eating everything in sight, but when they are babies they are adorable. This one in particular is a cutie pie.

      Liked by 1 person

  54. I couldn’t let this day pass without telling you, Ally, that this gave me the biggest smile! I looked and looked carefully to find what I was not seeing because I was paying attention to the wonderful design of the rocks with such a lovely seating area. When the photo uncovered the surprise I just had to go back to the previous photo!! Fun post!!! And what a beautiful moment to capture in life. I feel all the pleasure with you today! I remember hoping that you would post a photo off the rock design. You out did anything that I could have imagined & with that wit with words. Same pleasures I had seeing the baby chicks and learning to fly. I’m still grinning from ear to ear…

    Liked by 2 people

  55. TD, I’m glad that you liked this post. It was fun to write. The sequence of events that precipitated this post were weird, but the photos of the fawn are delightful. Thanks for your compliments about the landscaping design, when I wrote the previous post I intended on showing some of the final results but had no idea I’d end up with such a cute model. Occasionally we get fawns around here but rarely do I get the opportunity to photograph them. Thanks for the lovely comment.

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  59. Be still my heart. This is SO darn precious. Thank you for sharing the sweetness. I don’t think you’re on FB, but I follow a group called A View From My Window. It started during Covid with people sharing the views outside their door/window, and lately people have been sharing pictures like yours with the baby deer. I suppose it’s the ‘season’ but I don’t know that there is anything cuter those babies.

    Liked by 3 people

    • Suz, I rarely see fawns this small. Usually they’re bigger and trotting along behind mom so this guy was special. I’m not on FB but it sounds like an interesting group. There’s always some view out the window. Clever idea

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  60. That is so very cute. A little bambi. How privileged are you that the Mama deer had chosen your pretty garden to leave her bub!
    The garden chairs look so pretty with the stone edging. A restful place for a cuppa.
    Coincidentally, we have had our own stone-laying DIY project but sadly, no fawn here.

    Liked by 1 person

  64. I would love to see this Ally – how sweet is this baby curled up in your garden. I’ve gone to Lake Erie Metropark, a 30-mile round trip, hoping to see a fawn and/or deer family and you just discovered one in your garden. I am off to the Riverearly this morning to look for fishflies … talk about an eye candy downgrade. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    • Linda, this little fawn was so hidden that I’d have missed it if it weren’t for Z-D’s sharp eye. We have deer around here, but usually they’re more mature than this baby. I take your point about eye candy downgrade, but I bet you’ll have a good time anyhow.

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      • That fawn looked perfect Ally – almost like an ornament curled up there. I was excited to see two or three fawn at Lake Erie Metropark a few years ago. They were near a swamp with their mom but it was full of mosquitoes and I got a few shots and that was it. It was too buggy and West Nile virus was prevalent, so not taking any chances. I had some baby goings-on of my own right after I commented to you. About 7:00 a.m. I opened the front door to put some peanuts out for the squirrel and a robin nearly dive-bombed me. It was making a nest in my coach lamp “elbow” and since I got the mail yesterday, it had quite the nest going on – no mud yet to pack it in yet though. For years I battled robins and their nests and tore them down and put newspaper in a bag up in the bend. It looked terrible, but they finally got the message. The lamp is over my mailbox and I’d get mud and poop splats and dried grass all over and it was so wide I couldn’t open the front door. They are welcome to build anywhere else, but not there. So before I left for the River, I put a paper towel roll (1/4 paper left on the roll) and blocked the entrance. No entry in “House Beautiful” for me for awhile.

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        • Robin nests are messy, you said it. We don’t get them near the house, but I see the nests in the trees. I like your paper towel roll block tactic. Very clever. Nature is a delight until it isn’t. 😉

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          • Very true and they have not given up yet because I was walking up the driveway and saw a robin with a mouthful of dry grass attempt to land. Tomorrow is an all-day rain and expected high winds so that may destroy my set-up. With my luck, they’ll start another nest when it stops raining.

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  66. Oh that is absolutely adorable – what a great sight to see in your backyard. Our new place isn’t conducive to such sightings sadly – I do miss that joy. Oh & your garden looks just lovely.

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    • L. Marie, the little fawn was sweetness and was so relaxed under that bush. I’m glad that Z-D noticed him. Thanks for the compliment about the yard. It’s an ongoing project that after years looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.

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    • Pam, I’d have missed this little fawn if Z-D hadn’t pointed it out to me. The mother deer did a good job of hiding her fawn. I’d hate to see a fawn running across a busy street. I’d be so scared for it.

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    • Marty, I had to post these photos. I was surprised to see that little fawn who was about as relaxed as can be. The process of shopping at Lowe’s was a story for the ages, but like you said, this fawn was a lovely reward.

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    • Christie, you’re right, the little fawn made my day. I did worry about him though and kept checking surreptitiously to make sure mom deer came back for him. She did.

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    • Natalie, we are fortunate to have seen this little fawn in our backyard. It was unexpected fun. We get deer here, but rarely do I see any this small.

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  80. We had several muntjac deer wander into our garden during the lockdown last year. I guess with the streets being deserted, they got a little more confident, and started exploring the town. The cats were pretty curious, and the deer didn’t seem to be afraid of the cats at all.

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    • Jonathan, that’s cool. Deer are fascinating except when they’re eating our plants. I wonder what the deer thought of your town. Obviously the cats were of no concern to them.

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  81. Pingback: The week gone by — June 20 – A Silly Place

  82. Your back yard looks amazing. I can imagine maybe you enjoy sitting on those garden seats connecting with others whilst enjoying the nature 🙂 Looks a lovely part of the garden to make a pot of tea and have a chat.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Katy, that’s exactly what those seats are all about. They’re comfortable and lend themselves to conversations and libations, sometimes tea, sometimes something stronger.

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