wordsfromanneli

Thoughts, ideas, photos, and stories.

Monthly Archives: August 2025


by 46 Comments

Harvest Time

The squirrels have been harvesting hazelnuts from the trees and hiding them to be retrieved in the winter.

Along comes Woodrow the Woodpecker, innocently looking for bugs.

Ronald Rabbit knows the squirrels wouldn’t like their stash to be unearthed, but, “What to do? What to do?”

“Mind your own business, Ronald,” says Woodrow. “That’s “What to do’!”

“I’m telling,” shouts Ronald. “The people will let their dog out and then you’ll be sorry.” Meanwhile, I have one leg raised and ready to make a run for it.

“Look out, you guys! Here I come. And don’t forget! I may be a teddy bear in the house, but I’m a wolverine in the field.”

“Are you serious?” Woodrow calls to Ronald. “Now that the dog is out, we’ll all have to make a run for it.”

“Aw, do what you want. I’m going up here to higher ground and — oh! What have we here? A hole in the tree. Anybody home?”

And so life goes on … unless you’re a bug in that tree.

 

 

 

 

 


by 27 Comments

First Day of School

It will soon be back-to-school time, and I was remembering my very first day of school in grade one.

My dad took this picture of me that day. It was just a few weeks before we left Germany to come to Canada. I hated my hairdo then and I hated it for many years until I was allowed to have it a little bit longer so it didn’t look so chopped off.

But anyway, it’s not about my hair. It’s about this big cone. Too bad the photo is only black and white. The wrapping on the cone was so pretty. This big decorated cardboard cone is bribery, I suppose. All grade one students get one of these on the first day of school as an incentive to be brave. If you go to school without a fuss on the first day of grade one, you get this cone that is filled with goodies. My mom, who is peeking out the window to watch this memorable moment, allowed me a quick peek into my cone. I remember that it had some of that packing straw in it with a big chocolate bar under it and a bunch of grapes on top of it. Probably there were other goodies lower down, but at first glance I could only see the few things right on the top, and I wasn’t allowed to do any more peeking after that first quick look.

The rule was, you couldn’t indulge until you came home after school. As it turned out, it was a pretty good day,  and I loved school every day after that, even if we didn’t get a cone full of goodies after that first day.

My left hand gives away how I felt that morning before going to school. It’s in a fist. Just a bit of tension there.

Thirteen years earlier, my older sister, Hanna, went through the same thing. Here she is with her “first day of school” cone. Like me, she had a leather schoolbag over her shoulder and I’m sure she felt every bit as important as I did on my first day. She seems a lot more relaxed than I was though.

I think it would be fun to have this tradition for first graders in Canada, but I don’t suppose that’s likely to happen. I just remember that it made an intimidating day into one of happy anticipation.


by 48 Comments

Grade Three-Four Coup

This post is inspired by those beautiful photos on Lynette’s blog where she often showcases the lakes to the north and south of Penticton, B.C. (Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake).  Please visit her blog by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

On one of Lynette’s posts I told her that the kids in my class threw me into Okanagan Lake and I promised I’d post the photo if I could find it.

Well, it’s not flattering. I look like a drowned rat, but you can see from the look on the kids’ faces that they loved every minute of it.

It  was an end-of-the-school-year picnic on Okanagan Lake and I had the help of a few of the parents to supervise and make sure no one got into trouble at the lake. I should have hired someone to save me from getting into trouble myself.

I had such a lovely class and we had a great picnic and games by the beach. But then I heard someone whisper a call for rebellion.

“Let’s throw the teacher into the lake!”

I looked for the parent helpers who suddenly were nowhere to be seen. Next thing I knew, four of my little angels had hold of my limbs, an arm or a leg each, and swung me back and forth. I heard them shouting through my squeals, “One! Two! Three! HEAVE!”

And “Splash!” That’s all she wrote.

 

I still remember shy little Maureen, grinning like crazy. I think it was her mother who took my picture to immortalize the drowned rat who was her child’s teacher.

That was decades ago, but I remember that splash like it was yesterday.

It’s lucky for those little eight- and nine-year-olds that I loved them all so much.

 

Lynette’s posts:

Sunday Bench

 


by 37 Comments

King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas

These king parrots seem to tolerate the two crimson rosellas at the left of the photo (sent by Leslie from Australia). I’m not sure what would happen if there were a shortage of seeds on those brick pavers, but as long as there is enough for everyone, there doesn’t seem to be a problem sharing.

Bright and beauteous, that we are,

Folks admire us from afar.

If they put down seeds for us,

And come closer, we won’t fuss.


by 49 Comments

You and Me and Rain on the Roof

A young eagle on one of his first outings.

Hmm! Great view from up here.

Kind of windy though.

Yikes! That gust nearly unseated me.

I wonder if I should find a better place. A bit exposed here….

Help! Eeeeek! Eeeeek! Mom!

My feathers are getting all ruffled up.

Starting to rain too.

Here comes the rain. Tiny drops are gathering on my feathers. And then there’s that wind. I think I should find another place to hang out. Lots of trees out there with branches for a better grip.


by 23 Comments

Mountain Ash and Holly

As I wrote the title to this post, I thought it might be misleading, with all the local wildfires making ashes of some of our “mountains,” but it is the tree that I am referring to in this post.

Each spring, the mountain ash gets clusters of little white flowers. Later in the summer, those flowers turn into red berries that will supply food for birds that are still here in the late autumn. It’s a time of year when the birds are trying to get the last of the summer’s bounty to build up their strength to meet the coming winter, or to make any lengthy flights they might have planned.

On one of those cool autumn days, the flocks (usually robins) will come and occupy the tree like so many shivering ornaments on a Christmas tree. They gobble down as many of these berries as they can. Sometimes it is already late in the fall and the berries are getting a bit overripe. The birds have been known to get a bit tipsy from eating the wine-like berries.  Beware the windows nearby, little birds, when you can’t fly straight.

 

They also visit the holly trees for their berries, but they eat more carefully. Holly leaves can be prickly.

 

Mountain ash and holly,

They make a late snack jolly,

But berries that ferment,

Can cause flights to be bent.

 

 


by 36 Comments

Red, Aren’t You?

These pears are one of my favourites. Firm and juicy and not so quick to bruise after you pick them.

They are red. Aren’t you?

Let me try that again. Put a little bit of French into the second part.

They are Red Anjou.

So delicious.

These pears are believed to have originated near the city of Angers, France, which was the seat of the Plantagenet dynasty. The pears showed up in the United States in 1842 and now represent 34 % of the  U.S. pear market.

I’m not surprised they’re popular. They are so tasty.


by 34 Comments

A Cool Snake

This carpet python is not the same one as in the previous post, but the story happened nearby. My friend noticed the snake lying near the road and wondered if it had been run over. If not, it soon could be. She dropped a stick on it to see if it would move, and as you can see, it did not. In order to move it away from the roadside, she considered picking it up, but, as these snakes can be heavy and she is not a weightlifter, she called on a friend to come and help. (I chuckle when I imagine that these are her excuses for not feeling comfortable handling a snake. I wouldn’t be either.)

As you may know, snakes don’t hibernate in the sense that mammals do, but they will den up and cuddle for warmth. As the weather cools, the snakes tend to slow down if they can’t find a sunny spot to stay warm.

This particular fellow was stranded in a cool place and his already cool blood was not able to keep him active. He was pretty much stuck. You might say he was close to having “viperthermia.”

In the photo below, notice how the snake is just dangling there, not very active. He needed to be warmed up, and what better way to get his blood flowing again than with a nice cuddle. This is what the friend is doing, trying to warm up the cool guy. He walked with the snake to a sunny patch. With about ten minutes of cuddling and two minutes of sunshine, the snake was feeling better and became more lively.

He was squirming all over the place, and although the friend was in no danger of being swallowed, he didn’t want to get nipped either. See him holding the snake’s head away, just in case.

 

I thank you, Sir, for warming me, 

So I can make my way,

To someplace safe where sun I see, 

But no one knows I stay.

 

For snake blood without sun is cool,

My body sluggish, slow,

I’ll lie beside the swimming pool,

But stay! No need to go!

 

I only want to stay mobile,

And so need to keep warm,

If I can hide in this woodpile,

I’ll be in finest form.