Nutty McSquirrel...

is still alive and well.

That is all.
:)

if you build it, they will come

Christina put together this cute little bird house (which I think was a present from Doug), filled it with seed, and placed it on the railing of their balcony deck.

picture by David

E.T. and friends

This weekend was the fun, kooky, and (yes, even) informative UFO Festival in McMinnville, Oregon. Mike likes to go, and I'll admit it's a good time! The weather was beautiful and people watching was excellent. ;) One of the speakers was Travis Walton, the UFO witness and abductee on whom the film "Fire in the Sky" was based. I hadn't seen the movie before, so it is on our Netflix list now. (As a bonus it features James Garner, whom I really like.)

This is Travis talking about those pesky aliens who abducted him:



A cool part of the festival is the parade in downtown McMinnville. Here is an alien float...



And an alien family...



And even an alien dog...

garden '09

Yesterday afternoon Hubby and I planted our little garden. I had gone to the local farmer's market in the morning and picked up some starter plants: tomatoes, cauliflower, peas, potatoes, and onions. Plus we've got rhubarb from last year. Hmm... That's kind of a weird assortment now that I think about it.

In any event, we had a bluebird that was very happy we were working in the garden because we brought up some earthworms for him to eat. (Click to enlarge)



And here's Marble mentally calculating if he has enough time to make it from the side of the house to the garden before the bird flies off:


(Marble decided, "Nah.")

more from the enchanted woods...

I wasn't going to do another post about Rufus (because I've been told the pictures were faintly disturbing)... but Offspring #2 sent a new picture today (again taken out of his kitchen window) and I just couldn't resist.

Offspring #2 reports they had some snowfall overnight, and a deer came to visit Rufus:



If you reaaaallllllly want to see Rufus -- who looks like a bit of a penguin now -- you can click on the picture to enlarge it. He appears to the left.

I'll give you the close up of the deer though...

rufus the rigid robin (plus an update)

On Friday (when we were visiting Offsprings #1&2), we noticed a robin outside the kitchen window of Offspring #2's apartment:



The robin (named Rufus by Offspring #2) stayed in this very position... for the entire day. I'll zoom in a bit, but the picture was taken through a window so it isn't super clear:



I don't mean to be macabre (or maybe I do), but Rufus was "a goner" as my grandmother used to say. It was, in a word, weird. I have never seen a dead robin just perched like that in a tree.

However, Offspring #2 presented an alternate theory which is a bit more upbeat: Perhaps the woods in the back of his apartment are enchanted. After all, that is where he saw Hedwig's cousin--pictured below. (I posted about the owl some months ago.) If that's the case, hopefully the spell on Rufus will be broken soon.



UPDATE by Offspring #2: Rufus on Day 3
Rufus has folded his little wings and bowed his little head as if in prayer. Make of that what you will...





---------------------------
top picture by offspring #1
bottom pictures by offspring #2

the birds

I'm hoping it's not Hitchcockian, but...

birds seem to be attracted to Offsprings #1&2.






When Offspring #1 lived in the dorm, a pair of robins built a nest in her window. She watched the entire process from nest building to the baby birds finally flying off. Here is one of many pictures she took:



Now an owl seems to have found Offspring #2. He took this awesome picture from the kitchen window of his apartment.



Perhaps I should ask Tippi Hedren when one should start to worry.

what I'm reading at the moment...

The last time I was at Starbucks I bought a book on impulse -- The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. The book jacket proclaimed: "(This book) has everything: love, tragedy, redemption, danger...!" How could I not snatch it right up?! Plus it looked interesting because it's narrated by a dog.

A canine narrator! I'll bet HotCup and Diane are probably both slapping their respective foreheads and asking, "Why didn't I think of having my dog (Mocha Java Puppy and/or Scout) write a book?!" I'll admit I was thinking, "Geez, Marble could have penned a novel." Of course he would have called it:


Yep, an entirely different philosophical approach to life.

saturday morning poetry

I went on an early morning bike ride today (and had my camera along). It was a beautiful, 'picture perfect' kind of day. In fact, it stirred my inner poet. However, the words don't quite seem to be falling into place...

Attempt #1:

Birdie, Birdie on the bench
Oblivious to the Longview stench...

(You see, Longview has mills so it's sometimes smelly here, but mentioning that probably doesn't help convey the right message.)

Attempt #2:

Geese and duckies by the lake
Waiting for our next earthquake...

(Yeah, we're kind of in an earthquake zone, but mentioning that sort of comes off negative, don't you think?)

Attempt #3:

Llama, llama, eating grass
You sure have a funny a$$...

Hmmm, falling short there too. Sigh. Let me get back to you on the poetry thing.

the plot thickens...

OK, Hot Cup has a point (see previous post and comments). Nutty McSquirrel does look uncannily like Mr. Peanut...



However, if Mr. Peanut is indeed considering a lawsuit, he might want to think twice about being in the same courtroom as Nutty McSquirrel. I think the temptation to eat Mr. Peanut might prove too great for Nutty.

Nutty McSighting

I went on a misty morning bike ride around the lake and came across my old friend Nutty McSquirrel! For those of you following the saga of Nutty, I am happy to report he still has his sweetie (pictured below):



However, I looked inside the big hole in their tree and sadly found that the "cupboard was bare". Things are looking up though! The ever resilient and creative Nutty has taken to dancing for peanuts:



I think donations will be rolling in soon. I mean, who could resist Nutty with his little top hat and cane?

McSquirrel McSaturation

I know, I know. You are tired of the Saga of Nutty McSquirrel.



But I thought you might be interested to know Nutty (here on the right) has a new sweetie:



Yeah, they were acting all squirrelly today...

from the news desk...

I managed to get in a bike ride yesterday before the rains came. Ran across this on my way home:

(For those of you familiar with my fair city, this is right across the street from Longview Presbyterian Church.) How does one tip a car like that in a 25 MPH zone? The driver had to be going at least, hey, 30 or 35. :)

Or course I couldn't tell for sure in the 20 seconds I was pedaling by there, but I don't think the driver was really hurt. (At least I hope not.) The ambulance left driving a regular speed and without the lights and sirens, plus there was nothing in the morning paper.

In Other News:
(or... The McSquirrel McUpdate):

It appears that Nutty McSquirrel is going overboard in protecting his few remaining peanuts...


Yikes!

animal updates

For those of you following the saga of Nutty McSquirrel...
The latest field research (i.e. bike ride) has uncovered the fact that ol' Nutty is totally out of acorns. (It was bound to happen -- he was eating them like there was no tomorrow.) However, he won't be going hungry because somebody has been leaving him peanuts. Yep, there are empty shells all over the place!

In yet another animal story (I feel like Marlin Perkins of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom)...

We've got an eagle down at our local lake! I suppose he could possibly be Stephen Jr. (Stephen Colbert's bald eagle) trying to find his way home. In any event, it was a big surprise to spot an eagle there. In fact, I nearly tipped over my bike doing a double take. He was a ways up in the tree, but I think you can spot him: (Of course, you can click on the photo to enlarge it.)



And finally... Marble has a new bed. We've noticed it's been getting more difficult for the lovable old geezer to get in and out of his 'garage' bed, so I bought him a new one with two levels -- he can use the bottom one for sleeping or as a step:

Nutty McSquirrel

Remember that post I did back in October about a tree at our local lake that had a big hollow filled with acorns?

Yeah, didn't think so.

Anyway, I went on a bike ride Sunday afternoon and happened to see a squirrel poking his head out of the hollow! I have a new empathy for people trying to photograph Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. By the time you fumble for your camera you've almost missed the action -- and what you do capture is blurry!

In any event, Nutty McSquirrel has obviously been eating lots of the acorns. Here's a comparison between the number in October and the number in January:


Come to think of it, Nutty McSquirrel better go easy. There are still a couple of months of winter left to go.