Good Morning!
It's a bit chilly in my office (remember, I try not to use heat in this room because of Christmas Cacti and other plants) and we had snow last night! What??? We had heard that we could have a wintry mix, but Fletch said it didn't look like we would. Then around 8:30 he looked out and our picnic table was covered, there was snow on the grass and the cars in the driveway had a dusting. And...it is supposed to get into the 50's today! Talk about a roller coaster.
How was your weekend? Mine was relaxed in many ways. We had dinner Saturday night at Mailing's parent's home to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Dumplings, fish, green beans, etc., etc. All was delicious. I brought a beet salad to go with everything and there were cakes with red bean paste (which I LOVE) for dessert.
Iris had slept for 6 hours straight Friday night!! But, she was cranky and fussy on Saturday. Dinner was early as C&M wanted to get home in time to give Iris a bath and get her settled down for the night. I'll have another chance for Iris snuggles next Saturday when we go to C&M's for brunch.
A pink Christmas Cactus is blooming again...maybe it's a Valentine's Cactus? LOL
My fight with the squirrel continues. Carole had suggested that I get some hot seed for the feeder since squirrels don't like that. Well...I bought hot seed. The bag specifically states "no squirrels, just birds" BUT after filling the feeder, who came to dine? Mr. Squirrel. He feasted for some time and then finally went away (he doesn't even move when I bang on the window now...grrrrr). I thought ok, maybe he will get a tummy ache and not come back. But, day two found him back at the feeder munching on the hot seed. He has pretty much destroyed that feeder - ripping it apart. I also found Mr. Squirrel sitting in the peanut feeder we have hanging on our patio.
Time to have another cup of coffee and try to wake up. I have errands to run this morning and, once it does warm up some, I am hoping to get out for a walk. I hope your Monday is off to a great start!
I hear you. I've finally succumbed to the 'old "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." By which I mean my kids! My two older kids have such compassion for the squirrels, reminding me, "They need to eat, too!" It still frustrates me to see my thoughtfully purchased and carefully placed bird food devoured by squirrels, but I know they don't get ALL of it. The birds DO get their fill -- and I remind myself that the squirrels *hopefully* help plant trees. So. A wee bit of redemption?!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but your battle with the squirrels made me giggle. I do know how awful they can be. Back at our old suburban house they would regularly eat holes in the trash cans to get inside. They tore up everything. Here in the woods, they are very mild mannered-almost invisible. I can't get them to come eat anything. I guess my cats, the owls, the foxes and the eagles have them spooked.
ReplyDeleteAh squirrels. I think they're cute but we have very few out here--so enjoy yours for me!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you in thinking hat squirrels are evil. They have chewed their way into our attic three separate times after we fixed the holes they made. We finally had to resort to trapping them in the attic and I used to get a thrill every time I heard the trap snap. It didn't help that my next door neighbor was feeding them shelled walnuts at the time. We were at Justin's for dinner last night and the drive home was a bit treacherous. We got an ice and snow mix and they hadn't salted the roads at all. But your weekend sounds delicious and you have more Iris snuggles to look forward to!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry the hot bird seed didn't deter your very determined squirrel! We use hot seed only in the bird buddy so the squirrels get plenty of bird seed from all of our other feeders, they sure aren't going hungry! We had some snow this morning, too, but it's supposed to be in the 40s this afternoon - hooray!
ReplyDeleteThose blasted squirrels... I have found that they do not like hot suet in my neighborhood. So I got some "bark butter bits" that are extra spicy! LOL Suffice it to say that as long as I sprinkle some on top of the seeds... the monsters stay away. They are greedy... I put out peanuts in the shell for them!! Also, the Blue Jays here don't like the squirrels at all and they are quite efficient at shagging them away!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun weekend and go Iris for that 6 hour stretch of sleep!
I am not a fan of squirrels; we had one get into our walls, chew its way through some wiring, and knock out some of our power (though karma was swift -- it was clearly electrocuted!). I wish I had some suggestion to keep yours away from the bird feeder! We had rain overnight, but apparently some areas north and east of us got freezing rain, so there was definitely a front moving through. I'm sure your snow will be gone in no time.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry little Iris was fussy on Saturday. I still remember those days and my youngest will be 37 this year. The first months definitely aren't always easy.
ReplyDeleteSquirrels. I had a saying at the lake. "Kill em. Kill them all." Actually I think squirrels are cute and I wouldn't kill them at all, but they can be so maddening. They kept burying their pinecones and nuts in the underbelly of our trailer. They never came inside but oh my gosh what a mess they made.
Blessings,
Betsy
Don't get me started on squirrels. The ones around here will chew/eat anything. I hope little Iris was just a bit fussy. The little ones do get tired and out of sorts. It sounds like her parents know just how to handle those moments. Pretty Valentine cactus!
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I have found that deters the squirrels is my SquirrelX feeder. It has a gate that comes down whenever something heavier than a bird sits at it.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dkhardware.com/classic-brands-llc-106-wild-bird-feeder-squirrel-proof-metal-holds-15-lbs-product-5728996.html
That said - a couple of the smarter squirrels have figured out they can hang from the hook and pull seed out.
But they will go for my sunflower seeds or the peanut feeders first, and leave the mixed seed to the birds.
I bought a dome for the suet and eliminated that squirrel problem, then I bought a squirrel proof bird feeder from Birds Unlimited and it works fantastically!! but not for the raccoon. We bring the feeder in at night. Then the squirrel was eating the grill cover, so we bought a new cover and stopped that nonsense.
ReplyDelete