Gentle Joy Photography

Friday, February 7, 2014

Lessons- From Squirrels?

This squirrel was jumping and climbing........

They move so fast......gathering nuts in the late summer and fall......flitting here and there other times of the year, whether building a nest or looking for food or just to entertain themselves.

They like to chew on the patio furniture and they leave many tooth marks from their chewing....

We gather and put out hedge apples around our foundation in the fall- it helps to repel spiders and it really seems to work.......BUT the squirrels LOVE them and shred them all over the yard, making a big mess.

The Jump............................

It was amazing to see him in mid-air - not hanging on to anything. What a feat!

Afterwards, he perched on this cut off branch for a while and just watched.

I do enjoy the squirrels and their antics......they are amazing climbers and acrobats..............but they also like to steal my tomatoes. chew on our plastic benches and chew on Christmas lights that we put on the deck; therefore, we have great problems. So, all summer we chase them out of the yard as well as other times of the year when they are being destructive........but they seem to like to come back...........and I take pictures.......

See this tomato thief? They take many of the tomatoes - green and red......sometimes right on the day they are ripe enough for me to pick and feed to my family. One day, I checked the big tomato in the late morning and it looked SO good, but the sun was out, so I decided to leave it for about 3 more hours to ripen a bit more in the wonderful heat of the sun.....and 3 hours later, the squirrel had beat me to it!

They are just doing what squirrels are meant to do.....and they take no care for how their actions affect those around them.....so, we learn to live with their quirks and deal with them - like trying to keep them from taking my tomatoes! I know of other people who struggle with them getting into an attic and doing great damage or chewing wires, causing house fires. So, although they look fun and cute......they need to be blocked out of certain areas to prevent damage. They need to be controlled.

I sometimes see people who remind me of the squirrels - so busy, happy, scampering about and having fun, but not caring about the damage they leave behind them with those who have to deal with the hurt from sarcastic comments, jobs left undone, careless behavior and more. They can be the life of the party and be admired, but how sad if they are uncaring and hurtful also.

I want to be careful to be busy and industrious in my days, but I do not want to be careless and self centered. I want to use words that help, heal, minister and lift up others, not those words that tear down and I do not want to focus so much on me that I cease to care about those around me. I want to be remembered for the ways that I am like Christ, for the ways I show His love and kindness.......not for ugly actions and attitudes. Lord, help us to remember to be cheerful and hardworking, but also to care about others even more than ourselves.

I hope you are having a great day..........

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Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Lots of Snow....

We are still digging out from 10 1/2" of snow.........lots of work, but so pretty.

This is from last night when it was dark and snowing.

It was cold, but it is so nice to be out in the snowstorm to take pictures. I carried an umbrella to protect my camera and it helped.....but was a lot to hang on to, especially when a phone call came and they brought the house phone out to me also. :)

It was fun for the kids to make the paths in the storm - the guys were waiting for the snow to get deep enough to start the plowing, so they worked hard here while they were waiting..... :)

Looking at the snow from inside the house is much more cozy that being out in it.

It looks so calm and peaceful at night - it was still snowing, but the flakes don't show in this picture.

My kids had a "great idea"......no hills for sledding on the property, so....they made one. They stacked lots of snow on the stairs of the deck and made a trail for the saucers.....the funny thing is that my husband said, "Let them go ahead and do it." :) They put a board on the steps to protect the edges of the steps and then lots of snow. They have had SO much fun out there......this picture is before the snow quit. The snow continued into the night.........and after all were inside, I found out that one son had iced the saucer hill, which concerned me....after all these are the STEPS-he assured me that the one side has no ice-that is where they walk up to slide :) .............then snow continued to fall. It did look like so much fun - I wanted to get out there and sled also.....but the family kept warning me not to as I am still recovering from a foot injury that has taken months to heal and still troubles me at times............it is tempting though. :)

This morning, the snow is done....just blowing...and it is cold. We have been out taking pictures this morning and the kids were still sledding.....sure looks like fun.........

After taking lots of pictures..........I went down this hill on the saucer.......yes, it hurt to have to sit cross-legged and pull my foot in.............but it was really FUN! :) I love surprising my kids...........and my foot isn't any worse, thankfully. My husband thinks I am crazy, though. :)

Like I said........a LOT of snow..........finally enough snow to satisfy the kids!

The wind made some interesting drifts.....

It is much colder than it looks.........My guys are doing plowing and shoveling in various places - the girls and I did a double driveway by ourselves to help out............we are TIRED and I am ready for spring!!! :) We all agree that we don't know how the guys do it.......and there was so much ice under all of the snow.....

I liked the design of the drifts.........

So many interesting things to look at.......but now I am content to stay inside and keep the food hot for the guys.........chili for lunch as soon as they came home.............and cooking Homestead Hamburger Soup for supper.

We are enjoying the snow.......and I am so glad that we finally got enough to make it worth plowing. I do hope to get out in the next day or two, to find other interesting things to photograph.

Lots of snow..........hope you have enjoyed the pictures. Thank you for visiting the blog.....come back anytime and have a great day. :)

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Monday, February 3, 2014

Foiled By A Chipmunk!

I used to love those "cute" little chipmunks - especially when I was a child..........they were just SO "cute. :) Hmmm.......being an adult and knowing the damage they cause has changed my view a bit and I understand what a nuisance they can be, but here are some pictures.....showing that they still are rather "cute"...............

He looks similar to his cousin, the squirrel.

They run and dig much and can damage driveways, decks and house foundations. We had never had them before and at first thought they were, as I said, "cute".......Then we found out how all of their tunneling threatens our house, deck, driveway, etc, so we decided that we were here first.............and they had to GO.

They weren't too fond of the idea and we even had trouble getting pictures since they are so fast and like to hide........and be out VERY early in the morning.

After research, I found that the "best" way to get "rid" of them (ok, I am admittedly rather squeamish about it) is the bucket method.

So, anyway, here's the idea - a 5 gallon bucket, half full of water.....and a trail of nuts, sunflower seeds or something leading them up the board to the bucket. I used a plastic lid on the water to put the seeds/nuts so they would be attractive to the rodent. Yeah, it's a rodent........that makes me feel better..........

Goooood.....he's checking things out......We'll get him yet..........

He ate some of the nuts and then ran away..........oh, we didn't get him. :(

Maybe, he'll come back..............................

He's back........maybe this time will be successful on "The Chipmunk Hunt". He's pretty wary though... we'll see.............. No, he's NOT THAT cute.............he is a RODENT!..........

Ok, now he's interested.........that's right, get up on the nice board........see those yummy seeds...........climb right up there................

He ate all of the nuts.........and went up the board...........he's ready to go in.........that's right....see all of those nuts down on top of that water? Go and get them..........

Oh.........he is just too smart and ran away at the last minute.........will I ever catch that chipmunk?

Finally, he comes, AFTER I replenished the seeds and nuts............and I didn't see him go in, he just disappeared, but I went out to check.......and he was IN THE BUCKET!   I got him! But rather than being happy................I cried...........and felt so very guilty.
     I called my husband and he laughed at my tears........hmmm....well, they are sort of cute............kind of....................then he picked up the bucket with the drowned chipmunk, that I now felt ever so guilty for killing..............and dumped it out back in the brush...........

A few minutes later, my husband came in to tell me that the chipmunk wasn't dead, he had scampered away when he hit ground..................I never knew that chipmunks played "possum".

     Though the trap HAD worked, IF we waited longer, I didn't reset the trap...........just felt too guilty and emotionally spent from the trauma.........but I now know that we can't trust those guys to be really dead for a while..........he must have been holding his breath, or something.......

Here he is safe and sound............and taunting me that he escaped my trap. Sigh...............

Those tiny paws.......

Well, they ARE a little cute.........sort of............but what about the house, deck and driveway......oh, the dilemma.....................

When spring gets here, he will probably be back, reminding me that he WON. Hmmph...........maybe I'll set the trap again.................or maybe I'll just take some pictures.............