A rare day visit by big papa bear, he usually comes at night.  Magnificent.

THE BEAR BATH

The juvenile (over 200 pound) bear actually sat in this white Tupperware water dish one day in July, he was so hot.  We took pity, and found a boy's plastic car bed, sealed the screw holes, and filled it with water.  It only took two days for Mr. Bear to decide to take a bath, a ritual he performs at least once a day:

Today he was a good boy and cleaned his claws during his bath (smile):

They go from the cracked deer corn pile, to the cat food, and back again

What big PAWS you have:

Carrying off a half a bagel we put out for the coons:

Occasionally stopping to scratch an itch:

Heading over to the cat food for dessert:

On the far right you can see one of the cats eating from the large dish, this is a daily occurrence.  A few times the bear has playfully chased the cat, who is not alarmed but plays along:

Just for fun, he stretched high on the tree, reached around and knocked off the tree face, then sat and played with it (no damage done):

We finally figured out why the fence rail was broken, it wasn't deer jumping the fence at all!

The tiger canna lilies are awesome that Glenn planted for the first time this year:

Note the fly on the left side that has lit on the petal:

An interesting beetle on this hibiscus:

and the Crepe Myrtle bushes:

Hibiscus coccineus (Red Rose-Mallow) - Tall open perennial with maple-like (or Marijuana-like !) leaves and bright red 3-5 inch flowers. Stamens extend from flowers. A striking ornamental Hibiscus that grows naturally in very wet sites in the southern U.S. but is widely cultivated in any good garden soil with a sunny location. It is root hardy, especially with mulch, well north of it's Deep South native range.

Below you will note Glenn enjoying the fruits of his labors, from the comfort of the swing

Fooled you!  These ones are glass:

Wildflowers blooming in the side yard that Glenn planted earlier:

Few roses, but here were two beauties:

Close up, then panning away so you can see how invisible the cat is where she is hiding:

We won't say how old he is, but he got his first train, thanks to good friends in Virginia.  A kid at heart.  Nothing wrong with that.

Another gift of tree faces to make the woods a special place:

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?  And gator?  Not this toddler, she thrives in our weird home.  (remember, they're just rugs but they DO still look alive). 

Danielle's first real visit to the beach

Enjoying the feel of the waves

Danielle with mom, and her two brothers Josh and Noah

Glenn has gone to the industrial strength/size of home-made cat feeder to take care of our "stray" critters when we are gone (cats, possums, raccoons, rabbits).  Of course, now the bears think this is a major food source too, so he has had to reinforce it even more since this photo was taken:

Enter our ever-humorous Sherman's Fox squirrel ("Sherman" for short)

As our smiling Tree Faces look on:

Our "stray" cats sunning themselves before their daily milk treat:

And a lone turkey has visited our yard the past few mornings:

A drive through Conway in March, just to see the early flowering of the azalea bushes, before most of them froze from an overnight cold snap:

New additions to our Christmas outdoor display are two lighted polar bears (one a gift from "adopted son" Craig.  Also, the leaded crystal snowflake - thank you, Frank (Glenn's brother) and wife Diane! - this beautiful piece gives a different look to the Santa outside:

And this year's Scary Santa award in 2006 goes to:  GLENN:

Glenn's comment:  There is something in the water in Barrow (Alaska, our trip in October). It sure made my hair grow. Heidi said at least the bears won't be a problem as they sure wouldn't want to mess with a crazy man like me.

Heidi's comment:  Okay, so it's this wig he found at a store in Barrow, he scared the heck out of me (and the store clerk) trying it on at the store, now he's scared all the neighbors as well!

A new gift to ourselves of a blonde wolf skin from Alaska to add to the black wolf skin we already had.  Displayed at their fighting best by Glenn and Craig, then shown "guarding" our Christmas this year:

Going to a new level, the largest Chinaberry wood carved Mako and Hammerhead sharks we've had yet!   Gifts to ourselves:

The plush black bear footstool I bought for Glenn:

Our neighbor had a surprising new visitor to their pond, we identified it as a cormorant!

But it was the dry ice it was packed in that pressed Glenn's buttons.  Priceless.

and 4 of them in our side woods near the cat food dish, where they like to prowl:

and snoozing on the warm blanket on our porch at night:

Our September rose

and with the sun shining on the bear's coat:

This is how close Heidi's office is to the two bears that are visiting (we've counted 5 different bears that have visited our yard)...

     

Magnificent, awe inspiring...

Drinking the water left for the deer

and a photo which includes a display case of some of the ivory and bone carvings we treasure too:

Other beautiful scenes around our yard:

Our mystery flower that has come up for a 2nd year now, YES we know it LOOKS like marijuana but it's NOT.  Thanks to Nancy here in South Carolina, it is identified as a Texas Rose, a member of the hibiscus family.  Thanks Nancy!

  

An amazing photo only 10 yards from Heidi's office window, a papa black bear eating the deer's cracked corn.  Wow!  Okay, I admit I took the photo from between the Venetian blinds, yes I am chicken!  A SMART chicken!

An unexpected turkey crossing through our yard too!

For those of you following our home decorating, we have now mounted this tree trunk of solid teak on our bedroom wall on a custom made oak book case (thanks to a master craftsman, thanks Bob!!) with a solid wood top to support its weight (NINE FEET long x Two feet high x 5 to 11" thick variation).  It was carved in Thailand with 20 elephants, all still part of the tree trunk.  We estimate its weight at 300 pounds

and our living "entertainment" room with our infinitely useful new end tables we had custom made, thanks to Bob Johnson, a great woodworker that lives nearby:

Update 4/17/06 (shelving & bins delivered, Glenn is installing them in the building:

4/30/06  FINISHED!  We'll be bringing home the cameos NEXT WEEK:

We hope you had a peaceful and pleasant holiday season. 

Here is a road sign near our house that is decorated for the holidays...

and this year's Christmas decorations, thanks to Glenn's loving labors.  First is the entrance to our driveway with the Snowman and Santa sentinels, a cable of lights overhead, the fences on both sides lined with lights like an airport runway, ending in a HUGE 7 foot wreath Glenn made:

The front & side house lights, and the Christmas tree of lights from our pine tree "flagpole", the tree this year is made up of 9000 lights.

And for the first time, our Dinosaurs celebrated Christmas with us:

From our home to yours,

http://www3.telus.net/camilleallen/camilleallen/id9.htm

and our new family of "stray" cats living under the neighbor's porch, a mama and two babies Glenn has taken under his wing:

And the new Lawn Tractor Shrine:

But in early April, the azalea bushes and daffodils excelled too...

also the purple irises and lavender calla lilies...

and our South Carolina was just MADE for day lilies:

THESE blooms are protected by our resident Fountain Gator...

Canna lilies flourished, though the dahlias are nowhere to be seen this year!

Our "island paradise"...

Lovely floral arrangement?  Real?  NOT!  We slipped these silk flowers in to keep color in the yard, fun to fool the neighbors too!

Grape Hyacinths...

Daffodils in cheerful yellows...

Even irises...

Pink tulips ...

Azaleas...

Another form of hyacinth, I believe:

We hope these bring the beauty of our South Carolina Spring to you in a special way.

Enter the flower children (or Children of the Corn?)..neighbors Craig and Lisa's children decided to pick flowers for Daddy...SO many to choose from, they had their hands full by the time we found them...

And a common sight for us is the Red Bellied Woodpecker...

And here are new flower arrangements of our own making, in silk:

and in glass:

Friends visiting from Virginia found our fossil pile in our back yard a real treasure hunt.  Glenn was upset every time the boys took one of "his" teeth from the pile:

and the dinosaurs never fail to entertain our young visitors Josh and Noah:

even sitting on his arms:

and even the rhino in our neighbor's yard didn't mind a little giddi-yup:

And a current chilly photo of Glenn and Heidi that same evening...

And our guests also enjoyed our new Christmas present to ourselves, a 60" Sony television:

Glenn has managed to lure a family of turkeys (1 tom, 4 hens) to eat the cracked corn in our yard on a regular basis, you see Heidi's view from her seat at her computer:    

And of course, evidence every night of the possum visits to eat the rest of our "stray" cat's food on our porch:

we'll get a good picture of him, we just have to have the camera ready!