I Might Be Declaring War

Do you know Joey Feek? She was the singer that lost her battle with cancer last month. She loved to garden and would start seedlings in egg shells. This winter, while lying in her hospital bed in the her mother's home, she asked her family to save egg shells for her to plant seeds in. That's where I got the idea to try this experiment.

I collected egg shells for several days....washed them, poked a hole in the bottom for drainage, put the potting soil in and then planted sunflower, geranium and zinnia seeds inside. They came up and looked so healthy. I kept them under a lamp light, kept them moist....basically babied them until they were big enough to plant. I had enough to plant at the beach and the lake and the cool thing is that you just plant the whole thing, egg shell and all.

The results of the experiment.......

The Lake:
1) Lost one sunflower to the cold weather, two weekends ago. The other two look good.
2) Lost all the geraniums to the cold weather, two weekends ago.
3) Lost only 3 or 4 zinnias to the cold. The many others are still small, but looking good.

The Beach:
1) I only planted geraniums at the beach. They were on a covered porch and not bothered by cold weather.  They were looking so healthy and cute.

However, I came to the beach today to find that every ding dong geranium planted in the egg shells were dug up and strewn around on the porch. Dead....every last one of them. Egg shells and dirt and dead geraniums everywhere. What in the world?

SQUIRRELS!

They make me so mad......in more ways than one. I know some of you think they are cute. No! Don't be fooled! They are a pest, a nuisance and probably from the devil.  I might declare war on them.

I was so mad, that I didn't think to get a picture of the mess. I'm back to square one with the geraniums. And for sure, I won't be planting seeds in egg shells anymore.

Cooling off,

Laurie

Squirrel Predictions

A squirrel and his nuts.

This is his favorite place to perch.

 I've heard that if they have a bushy tail, we are in for a cold winter.  If that's true, we will be having a mild one. But, look at how furry his toes are. Wonder what that means? Leg warmers and furry toes....maybe snow?

Wishing and Hoping,

Laurie

I May Be Evil

I'm not sure, exactly, what this thing is. When I was straightening a birdhouse on the side of a tree at the lake, he/she came running out and up the tree. Scared the bejeebies out of me! We stared each other down for a good 15 minutes. And even an hour after he scurried up the tree, he was still there crouched down like this. Is it a baby squirrel or something else? 

Notice how he kind of flattens out and his sides looks rippled. Hmmm, I have no idea.

Back home now....on LaLa Lane. I snapped several photos to capture what mid-spring

looks like here in SC. This is planted in my backyard. It's shrub sized and for the life of me,

I can't remember what it's called.

He hangs out at my back door. Can you see the pollen on his back?

I was hoping for a bird family to move in, but no residents, yet.

I've always loved this poem. It hangs on my front porch.

The azaleas were so pretty this year.

And, so were the dogwoods. This one is growing just inside the edge of the woods.

Just because I love a close-up.....

My front yard.

Clematis

Miniature Roses

Back in the upstate.....a cute little barn that I pass regularly.

Hostas at the lake.

Snowdrops at the lake.

And lastly, another barn that I pass often with the leaves of the trees popping out.

Oh wait, in case you were wondering.....I may be evil. Remember the squirrel stealing the birdfeed? Well, he brought visitors. There's three out there now, eating the birdfeed....like it's the best thing they ever ate in their life.  I'm so sorry, but I just can't have that. Squirrels drive me nuts, no pun intended. I read about sprinkling Cayenne pepper on the birdseed. The writer said that it would send the squirrels packing and wouldn't bother the birds. So, day before yesterday, I tried it. I didn't see any squirrels that day. Yesterday, it rained all day and the squirrels feasted. Either the Cayenne pepper didn't bother them or it was diluted or washed away by the rain. And lo and behold, when I got home from yoga this morning, there they were...hanging on the side of the birdfeeder....chowing down, again.  Gah....I grabbed the pepper and ran outdoors. I sprinkled the pepper around the bottom of the feeder, heavily. I've been watching the squirrels all day, just waiting for them to get into it. I even giggled at the thought of their tongue being on fire from eating cayenne laced seeds. See, I think I'm turning evil. Well, I guess the jokes on me. The squirrels are hovering around it. I think they must smell it and won't go near. The closest they have gotten was when one shimmied down the chain and tried to chew the top off the feeder. It's metal so he couldn't do anything with it and gave up. Have mercy, though, they are still hovering.

OMG! Update!

He did it! He braved up and went for it. You can see the cayenne pepper sitting there on the bottom right. At first, I thought it didn't faze him. But just now, he jumped down and started digging a little furrow in the dirt and rubbing his nose in it. Ha!

Well, there you have it. The cayenne pepper may only put a damper on keeping the squirrels out of the birdfeeders. This one ate it until he couldn't stand it any longer, I guess. And then, had to go rub his nose in the soothing dirt. I'm afraid this is a never ending battle.

 I may be here all day. Ha!

Laurie

Kitter Shanty

What a beautiful Saturday morning. The temperature here must be in the upper 60's. I've already had my coffee, while sitting on the porch listening to the birds and watching the squirrels gather hickory nuts for their winter stash. The pecans will be next. The trees are full. Too bad I don't own them.....Cliff would have him a good squirrel pirleau and I would be making pecan pie. ~Ha!

After checking Facebook this morning, I saw that Whitney had posted a picture of Kitter. And, OMG it cracked me up! There are just some things you can't keep to yourself. So here you go........Just a little Kitter humor to amuse you this beautiful Saturday morning.

 

 "The Kitty Shanty was knocked off it's foundation. She is now living in third world country conditions."  ~Whitney~

 

 

Talk soon,
Laurie