As long as the squirrels are not trying to get into your house, they’re really not so bad. Sometimes I think they are amazing; we have a pair which will sit outside the music room windows, staring at us as we play the piano……their taste in music is remarkable: they are as happy watching me playing Hanon or Czerny (alas, I’m over 50…a remedial course of ‘pumping iron’ at the keyboard was called for…)as they are listening to Jim’s Beethoven and Brahms. Of course, it’s possible that what they really want is the bowl of candy nearby…but then why do they come to the window only when they hear the piano?? It’s difficult not to be charmed by such an artistic and musical pair….My best to you & say hello to Charles. Paul Kasten

The snow can really be messy but during a storm like we had this past week I like to think of you in front of the south bank of windows watching the scene from your chair – all warm while the cold flakes fly by – that always make me smile and then I can appreciate the weather for the beauty that it is rather than the nuisance that it can be.

Thank you for these moments inspire me to look past my nose onto the bigger picture

Love H

I, too, am trying to keep various critters at bay. I am using safflower seed, supposedly unattractive to squirrels. But I have two squirrels who merrily munch away at it and can be seen at the platform feeder on the most dismal of days. At least they are not bothering THE ELIMINATOR, my expensive, fancy-schmancy, squirrel-proof feeder, that unfortunately is not dispensing seed very well. Tonight, I hand-chopped a bunch of the larger nuts in the high-energy “Frosty Feast” mix that I provide for my feathered friends. Now the feeder is refilled and rehung, and hopefully it will be able to perform without clogging. And, to ward off the starlings that have been flocking to my suet feeder, while the little downy woodpeckers meekly await their turn, I was told to somehow attach fishing line tautly around the feeder. So, I somehow did this in the dark tonight and will see tomorrow if it has any effect. I do hope that no birds are strangled, or I will feel terribly guilty. Finally, to my dismay last Sunday, I discovered that something (my neighbors’ cat that also leaves “gifts” in my yard?) had attacked one of my beautiful mourning doves, leaving piles of feathers behind. So, my backyard will shortly get a dose of LIQUID FENCE Dog & Cat Repellent, which is the nastiest smelling stuff you can imagine — citronella, garlic, and cinnamon oils along with several other ingredients that I cannot pronounce. If that doesn’t work, I am willing to try wolf or coyote urine. It is WAR now!

I had a beautiful yellow-shafted Northern Flicker at my birdbath yesterday morning. I had never seen one before and was quite impressed!

Here’s to these quiet and peaceful December days, and to all the critters that God gives us to enjoy throughout the year!

Love you,
Mindy