We are a "Certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat"!!!!

We have had our property certified as a "Backyard Wildlife Habitat" by the National Wildlife Foundation http://www.nwf.org/backyard/. We should have a sign to post in the yard soon, but for now it appears that the word is out. Here is a new visitor that just started coming around in the mornings yesterday and today. I couldn't really get a great picture because he was about 70 ft away and I shot the photo through a window and screen. I don't have a powerful zoom on my D-SLR yet, so this is the best I could get with a little cropping and sharpen filter in Photoshop.

Kaila was the first to spot this guy yesterday. She said she saw a deer run through the yard and it looked wierd, "like a big dog with huge horns on it." I was a little intrigued with that description so I had her to describe whether the horns were big or little - she said big and made a HUGE gesture with her hands - so I was thinking we must have Bambi's Dad walking around and was expecting like a 12-point or something. As it turns out, this little guy appears pretty young - for a minute I thought it was a goat! Nevertheless, he does have antlers - although I couldn't get a good enough look to count them and I'm not sure my photo is good enough either. Anyway, I hope he sticks around a while and brings a few friends too. Enjoy!

She was \'green\' when it was just a color | Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati.Com

She was 'green' when it was just a color | Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati.Com

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Solar Tour and Artwork

Below are photos of a piece of artwork by local artist, Nicholas Yust that was installed at the house (very early) this morning before the Solar Tour (Thanks Nicholas!) He trained at the University of Cincinnati and does some fabulous metal work. This looks absolutely awesome in our house - the photos do not do it justice - especially daytime photos. I can't wait to take some at night when the house is dark and the only lighting is on the piece itself.

The solar tour today was very sucessful - it was a guided tour on a planned route this year, so we really were only alotted time from 9:55 to 10:30. We tried to keep to that schedule as much as possible, but we still had some stragglers afterward until about noon, and then a few more came around 2:00. All in all, I think there were between 75 and 100 people who toured the house today - not too bad considering last year we had between 150 and 200, but were open all day from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. Feedback on the house was all very positive, and we were also featured on the front page of the Home Style: Life & Leisure section of the Cincinnati Enquirer today. We attended the solar tour kick-off Gala at Governor Strickland's residence in Columbus last night, and were up bright and early getting the house ready for the tour this morning. Overall it was a great day and I think everyone had a lot of fun! Thanks to all who attended!