My son and a couple of neighbors have been telling me of a large buck and some other really good bucks the past few days. I knew that sooner or later the deer would find their way to my pond below the house. It happened this morning at daylight. Six bucks came out to drink and eat willow shoots and several does and fawns also came to drink.

One buck stood out from all the rest, a magnificent stag with antlers at least 24 to 28 inches wide, maybe wider. The antlers were also very tall. We have been feeding these deer corn and mineral blocks (at considerable cost) for over ten years now. It is a great day to watch them spar and kick up their heels and play in the water. Some of them are still in velvet. Some came up to the backyard to graze. I hope the bucks will come closer tomorrow. It's a great show.

Don't we all rejoice that the buck stops with Charlie? (I hear growls and grumbles from the mountain.) Six bucks even.

Instead of an office desk identifier block reading "The Buck Stops Here," I once had a desk-top identifier with my name on one side (you know, the "Allen" thing) that usually faced outward. On the other side was a message which I customarily rotated into view before leaving. It read: "Out to Lunch." (Snarls and subdued murmurs from the mountain. My lunch was always bettered by hot snarls and cold murmurs.)

The sad thing about conservation in this area of Arkansas, is that Chronic Wasting Disease is making its way towards us from Missouri. We need to harvest more deer to stop the overpopulation and spread of the disease before it overtakes the local herds. We hope the Game Department will allow more deer to be killed in our specific area in the short term. Those of us who manage the herds understand this problem and lament.

If you want to come and hunt, Allen, come on, with bow early, or firearm later. I have game cameras to place this week. Lots of turkeys too.

As an east-coast native (or at least a daughter of east coast natives) who has visited Missouri and Arkansas several times during the past nine years, I had to smile at the exchange between Allen and Charlie.

Meanwhile, a few years ago my current neighbors planted Leyland Cypress trees at the back of their lawn to obscure the view of the relatively new subdivision in back. The trees quickly grew so tall and thick that a deer has taken up residence in this new forest. There's no hope for any vegetable garden that isn't surrounded by a high fence. Funny how nature balances things out.

But butterflies have enjoyed the lavenders and wildflowers out front.

Good news my laptop is virus free at last. Bad news though when I reset to factory settings it had upgraded me to Windows 10.

Had a very productive day with my wonderful mentor, Jayne (Patience of a Saint) Osborn and managed to write a Kyrielle (I think) for "Yellow" the Oldie Comp No. 206. It's about time some of us youngsters won something once in a while. :D

I am still on 8.1 and intend to leave it as is. I tried three times to download that behemoth 10 file and the damn thing aborted each time, so a pox on you, Windows, for being too cheap to supply us with free discs.

I think Windows 10 is very good compared to its predecessors. Sadly, the free upgrade ended before I got around to installing it on my wife's computer.

Dave, you should have the option to revert back if you decide you want to. It's pretty straightforwardSee for example here for instructions.

About 6 weeks ago, I got Windows 10 forcibly downloaded on my trusty old Dell, and the darned thing couldn't even get out of it's own way. It was like the proverbial 10 pounds of you-know-what in a 5 pound bag.

I did a fix similar to Matt's, and Microsoft reinstalled Windows 7. Now the old Dell is humming along better than ever, since their Windows 7 install was a lot fresher than my old many - times - patched - up version.

Speaking of good news, last week I singlehandidly replaced the "2 stone chips and one crack" version of the windshield in my 1986 VW Cabriolet with a nice used one, and didn't break it during the install. Now it's time for some top-down cruising on the back roads of Maine while the summer sun still shines.

Thanks Matt the only thing I'm struggling with is Word Online instead of good old fashioned Word (which was installed at time of purchase together with Excell, Powerpoint etc.) I abhor change and am a Luddite where technology is concerned :D