wordsfromanneli

Thoughts, ideas, photos, and stories.

Category Archives: squirrels


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Planning Ahead

Remember us?

We’re all grown up now and we’ve learned all about getting ready for winter.

The hazelnuts are falling off the trees and it’s important to get as many as possible and hide them away for the winter.

But Anneli has raked up a whole bunch of the leaves and the first hazelnuts that fell because they’re mostly the bad ones. She’s put them in this wheelbarrow. But maybe she accidentally raked up some good ones. Better check out the wheelbarrow.

What do you think? Is it worth rummaging through all that debris in case there’s a good nut in there? Oh! Wait! I think I see a good one on the ground over there.

Ahhhhh, yes! This is more like it!

Nice of Anneli to share the hazelnuts, don’t you think? We’re not greedy. We’ve left her a handful.

 


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Gettin’ Down and Dirty

Harriet is rooting around for the last of the hidden hazelnuts from last year’s stash. It’s getting harder to find the remaining ones and her fur is a mess every time she surfaces after “diving” under the old tree stump.

If you make the videos full screen you’ll see better as Harriet is quite small.

 

But as you will see from the video below, she did finally have some success. (Apologies for the last couple of blurry seconds when I tried to zoom in. I should know by now that it often doesn’t work for me.) The hazelnut she finds still has the shell on it, but she makes short work of that.

Watching Harriet, Junior (who will soon be named) tries his best to follow suit, but so far he hasn’t figured out where the nuts are buried. After all, he wasn’t even born yet when Harriet hid them.

 

Playing in the dirt is fun,

But those nuts are on the run.

Maybe they have rolled away,

So they live another day.

 

Never mind the mess I’m in,

Or how frustrated I’ve been,

Next time I will find a nut,

And I’ll put it in my gut.


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A No-Name Squirrel

Crispin and Harriet (of Tom, Dick, and Harriet fame) have had a baby – possibly two, but the baby (or  babies) has been scampering around so fast that it’s hard to tell who’s who. For sure we have one whom I’ll call Junior for lack of a name just now. It’s just a step up from No-Name.

Harriet is going crazy, trying to take care of Junior. Doesn’t he know it’s dangerous to be out in the open like that?

“Junior! Junio-o-o-o-r!” she screams. “Get over here!” See her on the stump below, calling Junior?

“But I’m hungry, Ma!” Junior complains.

“Well, come over here and have some sunflower seeds.”

“Here, I’ll try to find one under the jar. Your father is so messy. He tips the jar over and doesn’t even clean up after himself. Yes, here you go.”

“Thanks, Ma.”

Turn on your sound for a quick slice of Junior’s new life.

Can you think of a name for Junior?


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Adventure Playground

Oh, my goodness! See that woodpile,

I’ll explore it quite a long while,

Please don’t stack it. Let it stay ’round,

It’s my own Adventure Playground.

Sweet the smell of new cut firewood,

Forest fir, a fragrance so good,

Freshens up my furry coating,

“I’m so special,” I’ll be gloating.

Now the truck has left at last,

I’ll explore and have a blast,

Careful though, the wood may slide,

And I could get stuck inside.

So much wood to climb up on,

I can duck in and be gone,

Just in case the heavens rained,

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.


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Sunshine on my Shoulders

 

NAP TIME

In the shed, a squirrel can hide,

But it’s dark and gloomy,

Warmer days now and I ride,

On the branches, “Zoomie!” 

Soon I’m tired of playing games,

Can’t keep up this pace,

Go away ye gents and dames,

While I rest my face.

 

See my head, it’s hanging down,

Too much work to lift,

No more danger all around,

Off to sleep I drift.

Thankful for my furry tail,

Just like in the nest,

Keeps me warm and without fail,

Sunshine does the rest

The squirrel is in the photos of the woodshed. Do you see him in the top left corner just under the edge of the roof? Over the last of the hoses?


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Our Very Own Groundhog Day

We don’t have groundhogs around here, and the closest thing to them might be our marmots who live up in the hills. So Crispin has to do double duty while scratching out a life. He has to predict whether we’ll have an early spring or six more weeks of winter. I asked him what he thinks.

The winter here has been so long, I don’t know how we stand it,

If I don’t see my shadow now, it’s possible to end it.

A shadow means the sun is out, the day is cold and clear,

A cloudy day, though gray, is warm, and pleasant days are near.

 

 

The rainy days go on and on, and everything is  wet,

But daffodils are poking out to promise flowers we’ll get,

I’m sure that spring will show up soon and warmer days will come,

And if I’m not yet singing loud, at least I’m going to hum.

 


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Crispin’s Christmas Dinner

Hi, I’m Crispin.

Time for my Christmas dinner. I know that little seed in front of me doesn’t look like much, but there are more in the jar.

I’m just saying grace before I eat this special meal. See how I put my hands together to say grace? I don’t care for turkey so I’ll stick to sunflower seeds for this Christmas. All you turkeys out there, you can thank me later.

 

I put my hands together

And say a little prayer

Of thanks that in this weather ,

My dinner’s always there.

 

I know that I could look for,

And find my food alone,

But no one needs to cook for

This lad; I’m on my own.

 

My dinner is a yummy seed,

I’ve many in the jar,

My hostess knows just what I need,

She’s never very far.

 

So merry Christmas holiday,

Be thankful for your lot,

Appreciate your meal today,

Be glad for what you’ve got.

 

 

Here I am eating my Christmas dinner. Seasons greetings to you all.

 

Anneli sends her apologies for the last few seconds of blur when she tried to zoom in and messed things up.

But in the Christmas spirit, I forgave her because, in the first part of the video, I think I look pretty cute.


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Crispin ‘s Weather Forecast

 

Waking up, he checks the yard,

Feels like snow that freezes,

Not quite yet, but blowing hard,

Come the northern breezes.

 

News is written on the wood,

Writing looks Chinese,

Anyway it’s not so good,

Says it’s going to freeze.

 

No, oh no, oh no-no-no-o-o-o-o!

This is not good news,

Says right here that it will snow,

Time to start my chews.

Here’s some rope to line my bed.

Captain won’t be pleased.

Likes his ropes kept in good stead,

He’ll be really cheesed.

 

But the Cap’s retired now,

He won’t miss this rope,

If he used it anyhow,

He’d be quite a dope.

 

Watch me shred this fuzzy line,

Stuff it in my cheeks,

It will make that bed of mine,

Warm and soft for weeks.

 

Ropey fibre dries my throat,

Swallowing is pain,

But let’s see what’s in this tote,

Tub has filled with rain.

Watch this clip and see my feet,

See my special toes?

Talent like this can’t be beat,

Every squirrel knows.

 

 

Ahhhh! That’s better. Now to go

Off to make my nest,

Deep inside a woodshed row

Safe and warm, it’s best.

 

 


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Owly Nights

Stay hidden now, my furry friend,

Be still as you can be,

Though warning sounds that night air rend,

Send chills through you and me.

The great horned owl gets hungry too,

He craves a juicy meal,

Let’s make him think you’re tough to chew,

Your flavour’s no big deal.

Instead he sits up on that branch,

And tries to scare some rat,

Whose face with terror then will blanch,

And that, they say, is that.

You can hear the great horned owl shrieking, trying to scare the rat (or anything that moves). He’s hard to see in the dark, but watch to the end and you’ll hear him screeching back and forth to his girlfriend, telling her to come over and have supper with him.

Turn on your sound. If you click to make the video clip full screen, it will look better.

 

My five novels are now available on Amazon for Kindle for only 99 cents in time for the holiday season. Just click on the cover images on the side of the blog post.

If you have another kind of e-reader, you can visit smashwords.com where you can download my books for the same price of 99 cents for your type of e-reader.