It is spring – really, it is…

I got up this morning and felt the urge to put on a turtleneck and a sweater.  It just felt like the right thing to do.  At church today, a friend said that she thought about wearing a turtleneck, too, but jokingly said she was afraid people would make fun of her because it’s almost May.  Hey, I don’t care if I get laughed at.  It’s raw out.  They say on the local news that this is not really unusual for New England this time of year.  And I do believe that, but after the winter we had, it would be nice to feel the warm sun on the old face now and then.  Yet we haven’t cracked 70 here.  Even so, I’ve seen lots of signs of spring around.

Of course, I know it’s spring when I hear the spring peepers.  They have been chorusing for a while now.  And that means that the water on the ponds is ice-free and open.

And, of course, there’s the skunk cabbage showing up in its usual places.  That’s a sure sign.

I even found a little fern family coming up the other day.

And the squills.  We have Striped Squill…

…and Siberian Squill in our yard.  Aren’t they beautiful?!

Mr. Cheeky is wondering where that pile of snow went that gave him easy access to a free lunch.

A friend posted on Facebook today that he saw a black bear jump the guardrail on Route 49 and cross the highway.  That's not far from our house.  The bears are out of hibernation.  I think that this means that the birds’ days are numbered in the free lunch category, too.  Sorry, little friends.

Willy-nilly Random Stuff: Squirrels, Pugs and Other Things…

1.  Our bird feeders had been squirrel-free since November 25th of 2011.  On that date, I had finally figured out a way to keep those little devils from cleaning out our feeders.   I know it was that particular day because I wrote a blog-post about it.   Well, the day before yesterday our squirrel-free streak came to an end and the snow is to blame.  The evil geniuses finally figured out that they could climb up on that massive pile of snow in front of our house and take the foot-wide leap to the feeder.  I hate to rain on their parade, but it is going to be warming up here this weekend and that jump is going to get wider and wider and eventually they will have to go raid someone else’s feeders.  But, you know, it’s been a tough winter.  I guess I can’t begrudge them a little suet to tide them over until they can find their nuts.

Thinking, thinking..

Making the approach...

Success!

2.  We’ve gotten a nice variety of birds hanging around this winter.    My favorite so far has been this red-bellied woodpecker.

3.  I have been feeling pretty bad for Olive, the pug, in this weather, so today I let her out the front of the house to give her a little more room to find the proper spot for her very important business.  It took her 285 pug circles and three tries before she finally decided on a spot.  She looked so relieved when she was finished.

Where's the grass?

Ahhhhh....

4.  Who’s watching Grantchester on Masterpiece Mystery?  I guess it's over for now.  I am sorry they’ve only made six episodes.  I am hooked on British mysteries.  I guess that’s because I fell hard for Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh and P.D. James when I was younger and never let go.

5.  Looks like we’re in for a long stretch of snow-free weather and temps into the 40s coming up.  Yay!  I hope you all have a pleasant snow-free weekend.

Linking up to Willy-nilly Friday Five &

Random 5 Friday 

Ahead of the game...

I didn't think I would have time to mess with any photos today but I have to say that I am actually ahead of the game as far as packing is concerned.  I even have all my camera gear in order with clean lenses and about 100 gigs of SD cards at the ready.

I know what this means ultimately...that I am going to forget something major since I think I am ready.  But I am hoping that in reality I actually finally have the hang of this packing to go on a two-ish week vacation.  

Anyhow, I have a friend, who yesterday on Facebook, posted a photo of her hummingbird feeder, or what was left thereof, after the squirrels got to it.  Basically, what was left was the hook it was hanging on.  Squirrels are relentless, obnoxious, frustrating, destructive, clever and about the cutest little devils on this earth.  I had to sympathize, even though we personally have out-squirreled the squirrels and they can't get to our feeders anymore.

So I am looking out the window this morning and see this guy staring in at me.  He even waited until I got out my camera, put the long lens on it and snapped a few photos before he decided to get back to his scrounging around for dropped bird seed.  I'm not sure what he had in mind, but this is what I decided to do with him.  So what if it hurts his squirrely dignity.  I don't really give a hoot. 

LINKING TO A RURAL JOURNAL'S TUESDAY MUSE

A fine dusting...

I had to get up literally at the crack of dawn this morning to make my way into Worcester for a physical therapy session.  I would have loved to stay in bed for an hour or two more but as the sun was coming up, I saw that the little bit of snow that we got yesterday was hanging onto the shrubs and trees in a most attractive way.  So I decided to take my camera along with me.

As I passed our neighbor's house, I noticed a lone turkey making his way through the woods.  Lucky him for surviving Thanksgiving.  Of course, he probably knows that as long as he sticks around in the neighborhood, he will be safe.

On the way home from physical therapy, I decided to drive around a little to  check out some of our local places where I thought the snow might be nice and I came across this little bridge that someone decided to use as a message board to remind us that all we need is love.

I am a real sucker for that copper color of an old leftover oak leaf against the white.

So I moseyed on home.  I still wish I could have stayed in bed for another hour or two this morning, but if I had to get up, at least I got to enjoy the beauty of the fine dusting of snow that we got yesterday.  As I was enjoying my first cup of coffee finally, I took a glimpse out the window and saw this fine specimen posing so nicely.  

I hope you all had a good morning, too.

Spring Cleaning…

Cleaning out my hard drive, I came across some photos that I was reluctant to extinguish so am sharing them with you all.

One day not too long ago while I was walking the pug, I heard the unmistakable sound of the Pileated Woodpecker hammering away.  I spotted him and went in for my long lens but he was so far up in the tree, I couldn’t get a good shot.  Still, I like that I got a good look at him anyhow.  Here he is:

Mr. Cheeky just sits and wrings his hands trying to figure out a way into the bird feeder.  How can something so annoying be so downright cute??

Our early spring brought out the bugs early.  

Here’s one of our horsey friends.  He stood and posed so nicely.

The Grudging Respect Awards…

I have to admit to having a grudging respect for squirrels.  They are devilishly cute and fiendishly clever little buggers.  And apparently, they have a lot of power over me.  They drove me so nuts for years cleaning out our bird feeders in spite of state of the art baffles that I gave up in defeat and quit feeding the precious little songbirds that flit around our parts.

 

But the other night while I was sleeping, I had a brainstorm.  I thought of a spot on our front porch where I didn’t think the squirrels could reach.  So far, in the four days the feeder has been up, the squirrels have not figured out how to breech the feeder that’s hanging there.  They sit on the ground underneath and catch the droppings from the birds.  I’m sure this is beneath their squirrelly dignity, but it works for me.  If they haven’t figured it out in another month, I will feel that I have won and they will have to admit to having a grudging respect for me for a change.  But in my imagination, I can see the bunch of them back at their nest with their protractors and compasses out, doing calculus, trigonometry and other high forms of math I never understood.  It’s only a matter of time, I’m sure, and they will have triumphed over me one more time.

The bird feeder is right above this guy.

I also have to admit to having a grudging respect for the sock that stopped my washing machine.  Who knew a sock could do that?  I didn’t.  Our handy-dandy repairman Michael came out in the afternoon, took the front of the machine off and said, “There’s the culprit.”  And he held up a mangled sock. The fact that it was one of my “No Nonsense” socks makes it all the more remarkable and like it was meant to be.  I guess when a No Nonsense sock wants to stop a washer, it just goes ahead and does it in a No Nonsense sort of way.  Well, the good news is that the machine is working and should be with us for another ten years, according to Michael.  The bad news is that I have to go and finish the laundry.

Oh, yeah…and one more thing.  Before you admit to having a grudging respect for us because we were the first people in our neighborhood to have our holiday lights up, just know that we never bothered to take them down and half of them don’t work anyhow.