I'm Leeeeeaaving on a Jet Plane

Don't know when I'll be back again.  Remember that song by John Denver?  I think I still have the album.  Yes, I said album.  I don't have anything to play it on, but why would that be a reason not to keep it? 

That's what I thought.

Anyway, I really am leaving, but that first part is a lie.  I'm not leaving on a jet plane.  I'm leaving in a mini van, but that doesn't sound nearly as glamorous, does it?   I didn't think so.  I mean, have you ever heard a song about leaving in a mini van?

And well, the second part is a lie too because I do know when I'll be back, or at least when we hope to be back, but I'll just surprise you with an announcement when that happens.

You see, we are heading out for our annual trip to our properties in Texas.  We have 60 acres of hunting property on a game ranch in the Texas Hill Country and my husband is going to do his hunting thing and hopefully fill the freezer for another year.  We have some really cool deer species and other animals on our property, so with luck I will have some good pictures to show you.  If not, I'll show prior years pictures.  We also purchased a little house in 2008 in Kerrville, the town we hope to retire to someday.  Kerrville is an hour from the ranch so I don't get to spend as much time at the ranch these days, but the house is only 15 minutes from Creations, one of the best quilt shops I've ever been to.  So, the vacation is a win-win for both DH and I, although I do miss staying on the ranch.  Until late 2008, we were able to rent a two bedroom house on the ranch and within walking distance of our property, but the owners sold it in 2008 so it's no longer available.  The amount of wildlife that I got to see on a daily basis out at the ranch was amazing, but we do still see some white tail deer in the yard at the house in town, so I'll take it.  It's better than nothing.

The last year that we were able to stay at the ranch there was a group of three young Sika deer that we saw frequently.  We figured they were siblings.  As we drove the ranch road before leaving the last morning, they were up near the road and I got some great pictures.  The young little buck was so curious and came even closer to the van when we stopped.  While the ranch is a hunting ranch, you aren't supposed to shoot from the road, so some of the deer don't tend to be as afraid of vehicles driving by slowly or stopping.  Even if they run, many times they stop and look back so it makes for some great animal watching. 

Here are some pictures from that morning.  You may not be able to tell, but one of the females is the dark chocolate color, one is the reddish color with light spots, and the male is obviously the reddish color with lot of spots.  The spots are one of the coat colors for this species.  You can see that the male is not a fawn.  He's got little antlers starting.

And here's a picture of them earlier that trip with what we assume is their mother, the larger chocolate female in the picture.

I am hoping to be able to blog some from Texas even if it means a trip to McDonald's to use the wi-fi.  Last year we got lucky and our neighbor didn't have his wireless network secure so we were able to use it.  If he hasn't changed the settings, we will ask him again this year if he minds us hopping on from time to time.

I got all of those little quilts quilted so I'm hoping to get them bound while we are in Texas, along with working on a few other projects.  I get a lot of hand work done in the car while DH is driving so binding little quilts or crocheting are usually my projects of choice for the drive.  If I can't post pictures while we are gone I should have bunches to show when we get back!