Squirrel World ~ the Final Chapter

I've finally been able to get pictures of the baby squirrels at Blake's parent's house. They are pretty much full grown and on their own now. They come and go as they please - no more cages, they make their own nest, they forage & have learned what's good to eat. And they have had encounters with the local wild squirrels which are rather territorial, and most importantly - have learned to beware hawks & other predators. But they are so use to the Back Porch Buffet available 24/7 at Ma & Pops' they have stayed close by. Considering the free & easy peanuts and sunflower seeds - theses babies know which side their bread is buttered on ~ OR should that be which pocket the peanut is in! Life is good, and young squirrels can live large at the Back Porch Buffet.

It will be interesting to see how long this behavior lasts. Will the wildness take over or will they aways hang around and possibly teach future generations about the Back Porch buffet? Only time will tell.

My Solution

School is ending next week. (WOW, the year has really gone by fast!) This is Cole's last year in elementary school, so I wanted to give a little something to his teachers...but with finances being what they are, I basically had to come up with something for nothing. My solution - and I think it's a grand idea, if I do say so myself! - is quilted bookmarks. I have plenty of fabric, plenty of batting scraps, and this weekend provided plenty of time. I just layed them out, freemotion quilted them, and then cut them apart. The hardest part was the wee-tiny hole for the ribbons. So I ended up making a boo-coo load of of bookmarks...enough for Cole's teachers - including his PE teacher who is retiring & intends to stay home & quilt to her heart's content, and one of his Sunday School teachers who is retiring from teaching school after 31 years, as well as some for my co-worker's birthdays.




They were easy and fun, but also creative and useful. USEFUL is a key thing, in my opinion when giving teachers gifts. (How many #1 teacher mugs to they really need??????) So I always try to think 'outside the box' and give them something useful. In years past, I've given them packs of lightbulbs, which my boys think is just plain weird, but when I attach the cute little poem Blake wrote about 'Thank you for making me brighter, and A+ = a 100,etc, etc, therefore these 100watt bulbs are for you' it all makes sense. =) BUT then it became unfashionable to use regular 100 watt bulbs...we're suppose to uses those compact florescent thingies - which are not 100 watts. So that messed that up.

Anyway.... Bookmarks were the solution....and might be the answer to Christmas this year, too!

Chattahoochee Nature Center

Just a few more pictures from the nature center. We had a lovely day there. The weather was pleasant, the butterfly garden and hiking trails were great, and most of all...the boys were civilized! What more could a mom ask for for Mother's Day!

The Chattahoochee's natural color isn't this pretty...but a little Photoshop made it look like a artist's fantasy pond.

A pair of Canadian geese....see the baby trying to hide.

A Picklehead.

Thistle blossom

Striking colors of the purple iris among the red roses.

Bald Eagle


The reason for my Happy Mother's Day.

I am not Roadkill!

For Mother's Day I told my guys I wanted a pleasant family day together at the Chattahoochee Nature Center. We had free tickets, thanks to Blake doing some volunteer surveying there...so it was right in our price range! Wahoo!

Among the animal exhibits was this beaver. He was so funny...just laying there snoozing the day away. Every now & then he would twitch & stretch. Then he sat up & swayed...he was really sleepy.
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Then he yawned & stretched out on his back - just like Riley likes to stretch out!....but then he looked exactly like roadkill!


But I'm happy to say he's a happy, contented little beaver, still enjoying his little pond at the CNC.