We are back.  We spent roughly 2.5 months in Cadiz, Kentucky dealing with some family issues, which is why we took a break from the blog.  But, we are back in action now.

Cadiz is beautiful country and there are tons of critters there.

Pretty much every night a group of nearly tame deer would show up and patiently wait to be fed corn.  Sometimes, only a single deer showed up.

A lone deer.

Once, something like 15 deer showed up.

Isn’t he a beauty?  This was taken early in the summer.  He is looking to be a 10 point now.  And, isn’t he better in the wild than on someone’s wall?

When we first arrived, we saw mainly very pregnant females, but there were a few yearlings as well.  And, there were some little bucks.  Pretty soon, the momma deers had given birth and we eventually got to see some fawns.

A cute little fawn.

The bravest (or perhaps dumbest) deer would let me get within a couple of feet of them.  Pretty cool, pretty cool indeed.

Hello there Mr. Deer.  (Pretty sure this is the deer we called Nubs).

There was also a pair of bluebirds that nested on the back deck.  When we arrived, there were bright blue eggs in the nest.  Soon enough, there were 5 baby birds.  Adorable!  Well, at least until they got eaten one night by who knows what (probably a snake or raccoon).  Not so adorable then.  But the adult birds persevered and laid another batch of eggs.  I sure hope this batch makes it.

Daddy bluebird guarding his nest.

Bluebird eggs.

We had squirrels hanging out in the backyard eating nuts and doing squirrel yoga.

Squirrel yoga.

The squirrels had weird tails.  Some had no hair at all on their tails (yes, I know what a rat looks like and these were squirrels) and some had what appeared to be bleached out hair on their tails.  Guess those were the punk rock squirrels.

A squirrel enjoying a nut in the back yard.

The lake and yard were full of turtles.

A turtle crawling on the sidewalk.

The lake also had snakes.  Snakes that would sun themselves on the trees.  Nope, I did not get into that lake even once…

Not the best photo, but the best one I got of the water snakes.

There were also black snakes.  This guy was just sunning himself on the steps down to the lake.

Black racer snake.

And check out this huge garter snake just hanging out on top of the bushes right by the front door.

Garter snake.  After repeatedly coming back, he was forcibly re-homed to a place not right outside the front door….

Thankfully, we didn’t see any of the water moccasins or copperheads or rattle snakes, as that would have totally freaked me out!

We also saw robins and cardinals and turkey buzzards and blue herons and white herons and wild turkeys and a ground hog and a possum and a momma raccoon with four adorable babies.  And beautiful fields full of green grasses and yellow flowers and cows and horses.

A really cool looking frog.

But, we learned an important lesson while in Cadiz.  WE CAN’T LIVE IN A RURAL AREA.  We just aren’t cut out for living 30 minutes from the closest grocery and 60 minutes from the closest “big” grocery.  We just aren’t cut out for living in a place where we can’t walk to anything — no mini-mart, no restaurant, no bar, no nothing.  We just aren’t cut out for living in a place without pizza delivery.  We just aren’t cut out for a place with plenty of Walmarts but no Targets.  And, we just aren’t cut out for having a lawn.  And, don’t even get me started on the massive number of ticks.  Rural life just isn’t us.  Even if it is stunningly beautiful.