Fall is my favorite time of year. One reason is peaches! Our little peach tree is proving to be a great investment for us and this year is no exception. Since I didn't get the garden planted this year and we didn't get any plums, our attention has been focused on the peach tree and we have been anxiously waiting for the right time to pick these little gems. Curt has been going out and checking them with great diligence and earlier this week said they were just about ready. I happened to look out the window last night and noticed a few peaches on the ground so I told him they must be ready because some of them had dropped.
We went out with a box to gather them up and pick the remaining (we only have one small(ish) tree) when we both noticed it looked like quite a few of the peaches were gone. As we got closer, we discovered a whole bunch of pits lying in the grass - mostly in one spot, but a few scattered beyond. There wasn't a lick of peach meat on these pits, they were completely clean. Hum....very interesting - and quite a mystery. We picked the remaining peaches and contemplated over what could have eaten our peaches - this being the first year anything like this has ever happened. I've heard of people "raiding" other people's peach trees before, Marisa had her's raided last year, and I may (or may not) have participated in such an event somewhere in my past, but usually it involved taking the whole peach, not leaving any evidence behind, if you know what I mean!Curt & I had a rare opportunity of being home this morning and while working in the office with the windows open (another reason I love fall, after the hot summer), thought I heard some rustling outside. I quickly peeked out and scoured all around, looking for what I was sure was the peach bandit - returning to help themselves to more of our yummy peaches when I suddenly spied this magnificant animal staring right at us
We were stunned, and taken aback. I just stood there, but Curt had his phone and quickly started snapping pictures of the deer before it turned and headed back up to the golf course (click on the picture to enlarge the experience). It's not the best picture, but can you see the rack on him? Later, as I was telling co-workers about this experience, they all agreed it was probably the deer eating our peaches, as they do eat them and probably like them as much as I do, and won't swallow the pits. I didn't know that. Or...the other (strong) possibility could be one of these rascals - 
I would prefer the deer!
