Sunday, September 12, 2010

Bandits and A Winner

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I cannot thank you all enough for embracing me and sending such warm and caring emails, comments, and even a very special gift (which I will be telling you about in a future post) regarding the loss of my dear friend Dan.  I know he would be so happy that I shared our unusual story of friendship, and I loved hearing about how some of you have had similar experiences in your own lives!  The internet has truly transformed the way we communicate, often portrayed negatively in the media, so it was wonderful to find out that many of you have found love and friendship through this amazing global technology the same way I did!

 

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The other evening as the sun was setting, Mr. Tide was grilling and shouted for me to come outside.  He said we had some guests, and sure enough up in a wild cherry tree along the back of our property was an oh so cute and furry dinner guest!  He had scampered up our fence and then onto the tree to have a little feast or maybe some dessert!

 

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Then Mr. Tide told me to look a little closer.  Instead of one furry visitor, we had two!  Mr. Tide told me that before I had come out one of the raccoons had run back down the tree to tell his or her friend about the all you can eat cherry buffet in our tree, so the second furry friend had eagerly joined the first.

 

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They were so cute, and reminded me of when I was younger when my brother had rescued a baby raccoon from a camp where he worked each summer.  We had “Bandit” for just a few weeks, while we fed him and helped him grow.  One day we came home to find him up a tree where he was making a horrible noise letting us know he couldn’t find his way back down.  Eventually my brother released Bandit back to the wild and it was a sad day knowing I couldn’t come home each day to play with him and feed him the baby food that he loved, but in time I knew it was for the best and that he would be happier living life with his own kind.  These two raccoons, which I like to think are some of Bandits relatives, had no trouble bouncing around the tree and they were really quite acrobatic and comical to watch as they swung on not so sturdy branches and feasted on the fresh fruit.

 

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The light was waning, so it was hard to get a good clear shot, but it was as if they didn’t mind posing for the crazy humans so enthralled with watching their sweet little bandito faces!  I hope they come back again sometime!

 

Ok, now it’s time to announce the winner of my End of Summer Giveaway!!  Thank you so much for the tremendous response to my latest Giveaway, and I promise I won’t wait so long to host another one.  I have some ideas already about what I want to give away next, so keep checking back to see what I’ll be offering soon!

 

This time when I entered the number into Random.org I put a 0 as the lowest number and then 152, one number higher than the actual number of comments, to make sure that the generator would include everyone.  I’m not sure that it ignores the lowest or highest number, but I decided to make sure by doing it this way for a change.

 

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And the winner is…drum roll please…Sue (Someone’s Mom)!!!  Sue has been a longtime follower of my blog and she is a lover of everything beachy so I know she’ll give these items a happy home…congratulations Sue!  Just send me your mailing address Sue and I’ll get your package winging it’s way to your house!

29 comments:

  1. I'm not quite so fond of the raccoons who live under our house, or their habit of washing their muddy little hands in my pond! I think it is salt water by now...

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  2. Those are great shots! I just think they are the cutest things. Although, I've seen the damage they can do to our patients (I work for a vet), so I know they aren't always as sweet as they look! Congratulations to Sue.

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  3. Hurray for Sue!! She is the sweetest!!

    The raccoons are darling!!

    xoxo
    Jane

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  4. They really do have the sweetest little faces and very human-like hands. It's a pity they can be such nuisances in the city.

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  5. Those are some pesky little critters there, but certainly are so cute! They wreak havoc on us from time to time as our very accomodating little cats seems to think nothing of inviting these friends over for a tasty treat too! Great photos! The only time I ever see ours is when they are knocking over the trashcans at who knows what hour of the night! LOL!

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  6. Our plum tree was stripped bare the night before I was set to harvest the plums - not a plum to be found, and one branch broken by the weight of the well-fed raccoon!

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  7. Oh they are so CUTE :) Congrats to Sue!

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  8. We are over run with raccoons in our neighborhood. they are always tossing garbage in the road. Nice to see some in a more natural environment.

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  9. What great photos, they are so cute and I can't wait to show my 10 yr old son!

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  10. The Bandits are too cute! yah for Sue♥olive

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  11. They are so cute and so fun to watch!! Your pictures turned out great!
    I hope that you had a good weekend and were able to laugh and cry as well.

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  12. Such cute photos. Reminds me of my jr. high days living in Lake Arrowhead, CA. Very sweet.

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  13. Hopefully by providing the Bandits a beautiful tree filled with berries they won't be tossing your garbage cans. They do have the most precious faces though. Oh and lucky Sue, I'm sure she will be thrilled with the give-away gift.

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  14. Kat, I love those shots of the raccoons. We have had quite a few here over the years. When we had outside cats they would come up on the deck at night and get in the cat food. One time we went out to shoo them away and boy they can get angry and hiss at you! Mean little buggers.

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  15. Why is it that your last couple of posts have just blank white spaces where your gorgeous photos should appear? Is it my machines, or is anyone else having this problem?

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  16. Thanks everyone, and I guess I never really thought about what a nuisance these little fellows can be if you don't live someplace where they have plenty of natural habitat!

    BAE I'm not sure why you would be having a problem! I did write these last few posts using live writer as opposed to blogger. I'll see if I can find out why you are having trouble seeing the photos and let you know what I find out!

    Kat :)

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  17. Beautiful photos, they are beautiful creatures, even if they are a nuisance sometimes! And congrats to Sue!

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  18. Kat-I started reading this and realized that I had missed the post about your friend, so I clicked over and read every word of that one. Then, I came back to read this post. Imagine my surprise as I'm sitting here with tears still in my eyes over the loss of your friend...to see my name at the end. I'm very excited and you are so right...I do love all things beachy, so I'm thrilled.

    I am also sorry for your loss. I have a group of women that I've been "talking" to online for 4 years or so. It is a small group, we talk daily...many times. We have shared addresses, phone numbers and numerous joys and sorrows. I consider them very close friends and yet I've never met them face to face...yet!

    I love the pictures of your visitors...they are so cute.

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  19. Congrats to Sue
    and I loved seeing
    the little bandits!
    Your camera really
    captured their sweet
    faces. I've never
    gotten that close to
    one, before....
    xx Suzanne
    PS: Thanks again for
    your dear note. You
    are the best!

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  20. Hi Kat! What wonderful pictures of your dinner guests.

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  21. Kat, what wonderful pictures of those cute little raiders!!! Congrats to Sue too!

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  22. What cute and precocious little fellas! (Or gals.)
    Brenda

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  23. BAE, the only thing I could find to help resolve your problem of seeing the pictures is to try clearing the "Cache" on your computer. I hope that helps!

    Kat :)

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  24. Driving me crazy hearing all about how wonderful these pictures are and not being able to see them!?!?

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  25. They really aren't that great! ;-) Shoot me an email at kgwhouse@gmail.com and I'll try and help you figure it out!

    Kat :)

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  26. Hi Kat,
    What fabulous photos and that raccoon is adorable! You're photography is wonderful. Have you thought of a photo blog? I just started one. I try to post one photo every day--no words. It's fun to show off my photos in another venue beside my blog. No one really reads it though! haha You are quite a talented lady!

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  27. Your photos are wonderful--thanks for sharing them.

    Congrats, Sue!

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