So I have gone on and on about how much I love our yard. We are a triangular corner lot with probably half an acre of trees between us and the only side that would have neighbors. I have posted numerous photos of our wildlife, from deer to bunnies to woodpeckers.

The other day I discovered another creature in our yard that I hadn’t seen before.

I was upstairs and saw something moving out the window…I looked a little closer and…

Yea it would be a lot easier to see if that back patio wasn’t still covered in dead leaves…

A mama cat and a kitten! Keith had mentioned the other day that he saw a cat in the yard, but I had completely forgotten/not seen it. I ran outside to go see them, but they darted off before I could get close. I came back inside and went about my business, peeking out various windows every few minutes to see if they would come back. Probably 20 minutes later, I spotted them again and continued on with what I was doing. A little after that, Keith came upstairs to ask if I wanted to go walk Daisy with him and I peek out the window and see this:

A pretty sizable deer munching on our boxwoods. I thought “Oh man, he probably scared away the cats.” Later, I uploaded the photo onto the computer and…

Ha! The cat is just chilling on the fireplace back there. For some reason that was hilarious to me. (Also, I need a better zoom lens.)

So this all happened at some point last week. On Saturday, we were running all sorts of errands and I finally convinced Keith to go get a new propane tank for our grill. We ran out in September and haven’t grilled since then and I have been dying. He figured while we were refilling the other, we could buy one for that fireplace on the patio (black square thing). It didn’t have a tank so we have yet to use it. We go back and open it up to see what size it will take. It looked pretty gross in there, all sorts of leaves and grass and cobwebs and all the sudden, I see something moving in the corning. I crouch down to get a better view and see a mama mouse and three baby mice! She was totally freaked out and trying to crawl into a crack in the side, but couldn’t get all of her babies with her. She got herself in the crack and kept poking her head out squeaking at the babies. Keith finishes looking at the hookups, he shuts the door and I bolt back inside for my camera.

She was there when I got back and just stood there, not moving while I snapped a few pictures. Seeing her explained this big green nest that I thought was probably full of a million spiders (hey, I have an over-active imagination).

The nest is right under where the propane sits. Meaning if we put it in, we will probably squish her and her babies. I left the door open a crack so she can hopefully vacate the premises. After discovering her, I guess that might explain why the cats were on the patio. And I don’t really want to think about it, but I kind of hope they circle of life themselves out of my yard…

*Keith is a McSomething and I will soon be as well. Seems like a fitting name for our home. I had been calling it McSomething Acres, but I guess it is more of a Wildlife Preserve than a farm.