Meet My Kitchenlane “Friends and Neighbors”

When I chose “kitchenlane” as my website name I had a reason: Our house is at the end of a quiet tree-lined street and tucked right into a woods. While the neighborhood is actually suburban, in the back yard it feels like we’re right out in the country. The view of the woods from the big kitchen window we added over the sink (pictured at the very bottom) lifts my spirits whenever I’m stuck inside testing recipes all day.

Yes, the setting is almost as idyllic as it sounds, and I count myself very lucky. But living here does means having to share the territory with a host of woodland and garden “friends.”

Many, like the butterflies, birds, and even bumblebees pictured, are a joy to have as neighbors. Others, like innocent-looking Bambi and his buddies—not so much. The deer here are voracious and brazen; they come right up to the deck and would eat my hostas to the ground if they weren’t kept sprayed with “Deer Off.”

Some of the critters are so shy and stealthy we’ve never gotten a single picture: A fox family lives behind the house, but they always sneak past before we can grab the camera. We rarely see the great barred owls at all, but hear them “hoot-hoot, hoo-hoo” back and forth from the treetops every evening at dust.

The owl pictured above was perched right outside the den and is the only one ever to come close enough to photograph! People say owls appear wise, but this magnificent creature seems mysterious and dignified, too.

Here are just some of the other locals in my neighborhood. The bluebirds come back every spring and some years nest in one of the boxes we put up in the yard.

The strange critter on the flower is called a hummingbird moth. All the images were captured by the talented resident nature photographer, my hubby. I hope you’ll sit back and spend a few relaxing minutes enjoying them.

I can often see the bluebirds from my kitchen window (shown below). When I redid my kitchen I made the window twice as large as it had been before. For the pics and story about my kitchen make-over click here.