Scat!

I wasn't even finished with my morning coffee when Thayer looked out the window and informed me that we had cows in our backyard.  So on went the scarf, hat, and shoes.  We managed to get the two cows and two calves (big ones, not too young) out the gate without too much problem, except for when the cows decided to run over to the stream to get a drink of water.

On our way back, I noticed some new scat (i.e. poop) on our front porch.  Thayer had given me the Petersen's Guide to Animal Tracks (including footprints and scat), so I broke it out and started identifying our mystery poop.

This one appears to be porcupine scat.

Here's a closeup of one of them.

And this, which we found around the side of the cabin, is most likely mule deer poop.

 

[T - identifying animal poop is a rather ambiguous experience]

And Thayer and I have been trying our hands at carving shawl pins (for the shawls I knit).  Here are some of them.  The top two were carved by Thayer, and the bottom one by me.

A close-up of my pin.

[T- my pins didn't earn closeups, due to camera control bias]