I have a love-hate relationship with deer; those 4-legged creatures that roam the yard! 

When we first moved to our home, I had visions of a lush English-style garden near the front entrance.  The previous owners had added a row of rose bushes that lined the drive and they had also put fishing line strung over and around the bushes. I wondered why?   I later relocated the roses to another spot and combined them with more David Austin English roses and peonies. Absolutely gorgeous.  During the first few summers, they were lovely, pink peony blooms along with Pat Austin and Graham Thomas roses. But then, it only took one night when the rascals found them and completely destroyed the roses. Deer! I tried deer spray, netting, anything I could find to prevent them feasting on my roses.  But, fighting them was an endless task.  I tried to train my dog to go after them but she was….well, not interested  
I admit I kept my neighbors entertained by chasing them with my John Deere tractor waving a cowbell and hollering.  Yes, Even the dog laughed at me. Giving up, I finally moved all the roses to a separate fenced garden(more about that later) where the deer just looked in like they were window shopping.

I realized that marauding deer are a fact of life in the Northwest, even on our island. They’re not going anywhere, and they are cute in a woodland setting so why not celebrate them in my Christmas décor? I started collecting small deer figures a few years ago and I am constantly on the lookout for them whenever we travel. Here are a few that I’ve collected over the years. I scatter them all over the house as a tribute to those beautiful creatures that use my garden as their own bistro.