September 19 -- A Rare All-Day Rain, And A (Nearly) Dinner Guest

Alas, no sunrise shot from yesterday, as the skies were overcast, and the sun never made an appearance all day. Then around 10am it started to rain -- not heavy, as it usually does here in short bursts, but a steady, hard drizzle that lasted off and on the entire day. It didn't bother the back yard critters any -- though I didn't see another bear print from the night before -- and a Mr. Coues made a appearance and once again chowed down on the bird seed --

This photo leads to the question -- do deer have lips? Well, if he does, he certainly seems to be smacking them...There's an interesting feature on the antler to the left (his right one). See that small pointed tine that is pointed down? An "internet friend" said it's called a "down tine" and is "an antler point or tine that grows straight down from the main beam of the antlers of a mature white-tailed deer". Living here, I learn something new every day... Mrs Coues -- I think two -- visited Faranuf's back yard at different times, too. Alas, no more sightings of the fawn I saw with Mom the other day...The hummingbirds were going crazy at the feeders during the rain, especially at the one feeder with 10 ports. At times there were actually well behaved, though they mostly were aggressive towards each other; here's a calm moment when they all got along -- 

There were 4 Gambel's Quail at the bird seed tray, too; they would disappear into the tray then the next moment explode out of it and dive into the nearby brush; here's a Mr and Mrs -- 

In between bouts of rain I was in the back yard, trying to envision how the Desert Willow would look planted in the back -- and where. As this would be my first planting of a tree since, well, forever, I downloaded from the Web instructions on how to plant a Desert Willow (the computer is really an essential tool for living in a rural area).  I pulled a few weeds with a tool I love, a Fiskars Uproot Weed and Root Remover, a device that makes it unnecessary to bend over  -- all you have to do is push  the 3 prongs at the end over the weed,  then push down on a lever with your foot, which grasps the weed and pulls it out by the root (in most cases).. It's certainly easier than being on your hands and knees weeding, and is much more successful at pulling it out at the root. Amazing what you learn out here when you have to... By this time it was nearly dinner, so I was preparing everything and, having a few extra minutes, decided to go out to the front porch and look around. I opened the front door -- and saw an unexpected visitor near the door -- 

I believe it's a male Tarantula, as males are smaller than females -- and I'd seen a much larger female a few weeks back on the driveway. I'd actually seen this fellow earlier in the day, making his way towards the house, and when I came back from the post office he was gone. At the time I actually was wishing I saw him again -- and there he was at the door. Did he bother me? No; tarantulas, despite their appearance and reputation, are actually very gentle -- and some people have them as "pets". So I let him be; for all I know, he may still be out there at the same spot...