Posts Tagged "bird feeder"

Fourth of July To Do List

Fourth of July To Do List

Dear Kid,

Fourth of July To Do List:

4h of July. Happy Birthday America. DearKidLoveMom.comMake a cup of coffee.

Fill the bird feeder.

Watch the squirrels eat the seeds I spilled filling the bird feeder.

Put on bug spray.

Pull out wintercreeper.

Provide mosquitoes with brunch despite the bug spray.

Explain to the birds that they should eat some bugs in addition to the birdseed.

Be ignored by the birds.

Watch Puppy nap on the driveway. Decide he has the right idea and call him over for a snuggle. Extra points for a sleepy snuggly puppy.

Wave as Dad and Pi leave for a bike ride.

Plan lunch.

Plan dinner.

Watch the squirrels some more because it’s fun.

Take refrigerator inventory and re-plan meals. Consider stealing seed from the squirrels to make dinner since there’s not much in the house.

Watch the weeds regenerate at light speed. Times two.

Make another cup of coffee.

Watch the squirrels plot how to get to the birdfeeder because eating the seeds that fall is great but insufficient. For the millionth time, wonder whether “bird  feeder” or “birdfeeder” is correct. Decide the answer can wait.

Brush the Puppy. It’s summer, so allow extra time.

Get ready for the fireworks and music festival this evening.

Make another cup of coffee.

Be proud to live in this country despite all its faults. And the mosquitoes.

Happy Birthday, America!

Love, Mom

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Reflections on an Early Morning

Dear Kid,

It’s a beautiful morning.

Dastardly Squirrel eating from birdfeederI’d like to think that the birds are happily sharing the bird feeder, but there is actually a pecking order. The little birds make way for the medium birds make way for the big birds. The nice birds scoot for the less-friendly birds. Which basically means the blue jays eat whenever they choose to. Fortunately (for the little birds), the jays nibble and then move off giving others a turn.

At least one bunny survived the spring. It is hopping across the lawn (fortunately, the Puppy is napping, so the alarms aren’t being sounded). The rabbit hops over to the bird feeder where the squirrels are picking up the fallen seeds. Squirrels flee before the Dread Rabbit Rogers (who ignores the seeds and continues on to do rabbit things).

Speaking of squirrels, they are still trying to figure out how to get up the bird feeder. And I am having a wonderful time watching them.

I want to tag the squirrels. Partly because I think the idea of squirrel bling is adorable. Partly because I can’t tell them apart and I think it would be interesting to know which squirrels keep trying to get up the bird feeder and which accept that the only seeds they are going to get are the ones the jays and cardinals throw on the ground.

Hope you’re day is full of amusement.

Love, Mom

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When Was the Last Time You Frolicked?

Dear Kid,

Many, many years ago we had a mulberry tree in our backyard (now we have a mulberry tree stump, but I’ll get to that).

Squirrel Wars 2016 Have Begun. Dad is --once again -- trying to keep the rodents off the birdfeeders. DearKidLoveMomThe mulberry tree had branches that reached from the back of the yard practically to the house. Dad wanted to cut the branches, but I convinced him not to. During the mid to late summer, the squirrels used those branches as their personal grocery store. They would come waaaay out on the branches and reach for the farthest, hardest to reach, presumably yummiest berries. It was jungle gym and produce section in one.

It was serious fun to watch.

Then we had to cut the tree down because it was dying and unsafe.

The squirrels adapted by trying to do triple gainers from other trees to reach the birdfeeder.

This pleased no one except the squirrels.

As I’m writing this, the squirrels are frolicking in the yard. Seriously, frolicking, as they try to figure out how to get their next meal.

We now have tree whose branches have grown far enough out that I can watch the little dudes up close from my chair on the porch.

They spend a lot of time under the birdfeeder encouraging their avian friends to throw down a respectable tithe.

And they are plotting.

It’s obvious as they pause on a tree trunk or branch that they are engaging in Highly Advanced Physics calculations trying to determine if they can Make The Leap from their location to the birdfeeder.

So far the answer is no, which pleases the squirrels not at all but the humans and birds are happy.

As for the stump, it still sits in the yard. And the squirrels haven’t forgotten it. yesterday, one of them paused on the stump, leaning over the edge, to watch other squirrels play/fight/frolic. Stump as lounge chair.

Très cute.

Hope you have some time to frolic today.

Love, Mom

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Squirrel Wars 2016 Have Begun

Dear Kid,

Dad is at it again.

Or perhaps I should say the squirrels are at it again.

Either way, someone is at it, and “it” involves birdseed and removing tree limbs.

Dad was convinced that the squirrels couldn’t reach the birdfeeder, or that the one clever squirrel had reached the end of his time here on planet earth and was stalking birdfeeders in squirrel heaven.

And so he (Dad) happily went about his business.

Until I refilled the birdfeeders and Dad happened to look outside.

(Insert stabbing music from Psycho.)

Squirrel Wars 2016 Have Begun. Dad is --once again -- trying to keep the rodents off the birdfeeders. DearKidLoveMomWhat followed next was something out of a scene from Caddy Shack. A scene that hit the cutting room floor, but a scene nonetheless.

Dad raced out of the house, shouting at the squirrel to mind his (the squirrel’s) own species, and inviting plagues of curses upon the house of said rodent. The threat of his lineage being cursed didn’t seem to upset the squirrel in the least. The threat of a crazy man descending upon him waving a cell phone made him reconsider hanging out on the birdfeeder.

Once the birdfeeder was squirrel-free (temporarily), Dad went about assessing the situation to make it squirrel-free (permanently).

Saws, loppers, dynamite, drones, schematics, ladders, a laser pointer, and eye of newt were all involved.

Squirrel Plotting to Get Birdseed Squirrel Wars 2016 Have Begun. Dad is --once again -- trying to keep the rodents off the birdfeeders. DearKidLoveMomIn short, one of the nearby trees had its bangs trimmed. And the squirrels seem unable (or unwilling) to leap from the branches to the birdfeeders.

But the hand shears are still on the porch so that Dad can race out and prune away if the need should arise.

Perhaps this should be an Olympic sport.

Love, Mom

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Sunday is a Good Day for Enjoying Life | The Porch, Squirrels, and Ash Trees

Dear Kid,

Sunday is a great day. Whether you are a church-on-Sunday person or not, it is a day for taking a deep breath. The newspaper (remind me to explain to you about newspapers) is full and designed to be read over several cups of coffee or tea (or some other beverage if you prefer).

Spring is a wonderful time! DearKidLoveMom.comAt this time of year, I particularly enjoy breakfast and the newspaper (and my beverage of choice for the day) out on porch. (When we first built the porch you were a wee bit of thing and referred to the room as the “forch.” This makes me smile.) While our grass is something of a hot mess, the birds are enjoying the birdfeeders (at least now that we put the right seed in the right feeder) and the plants are sprouting up cheerfully. It’s a nice place to be. Today it is my favorite room in the house.

Booker is out here with me and is happily enjoying the sun spots on the floor. He is also keeping a sharp eye out for invading cats. He is ready to jump—at a nanosecond’s notice—out of sun-induced sleepiness into full on I-am-an-entire-pack-of-large-angry-barking-dogs frenzy should the dreaded yellow cat appear.

There are two squirrels chasing each other through the trees. I have it on good authority that they are not juveniles playing a friendly game of tag.

Speaking of trees, it looks like the ash tree borer has bored our ash trees to death. Scientists are not sure where they get their lecture material but it appears to be much more toxic than anything you sat through this year. As of yet, we have no plan for taking down the dead-or-dying trees or for replacing them with something less ashy. Perhaps while you are home you might acquaint some of them with the sharp side of a saw?

It’s good to take a little time out every now and then to enjoy life. Hope you enjoy today.

Love, Mom

 

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