TURNED OUT TO BE A SQUIRRELY KIND OF DAY

IT'S EASY TO SEE WHY THEY ARE CALLED 'RED SQUIRRELS' & THIS ONE IS A BABY:)) 

The promised deluge of rain didn’t happen today & for that, the human population & all the soggy earthworms in the area are very grateful.
OUR RHODODENDRONS WILL BE BLOOMING IN A FEW DAYS
It was Doug & JoAnn from LIVING OUR DREAM, along with Fillmore the Wonder Dog, who after following our blog for awhile, tracked us down in Yuma Arizona a few years ago. And, it was Doug & JoAnn who on our first meeting proposed an idea to us. It was they who put us in touch with ranch owners Jeannie & Ray over in Arizona’s Cochise County. Because of that meeting with Doug & JoAnne, the Bayfield Bunch now have a whole host of wonderful ranch sitting memories near the dusty little western towns of McNeal & Elfrida, Arizona. Cochise County has become like a second home to us. We will always be grateful to Doug & JoAnn for that connection. Doug is now fighting Stage Four cancer in Florida & their blog reflects the reality & positive attitude Doug & JoAnn have taken towards their changing future.

THIS MOTH WAS ON OUR INSIDE WINDOW & THE GREEN BACKGROUND IS THE OUT OF FOCUS MAPLE TREE LEAVES OUTSIDE 
I am seeing some lengthening time gaps in some fellow bloggers posts & figure it must be one of two things affecting people. Either the overall dreary weather has kept people away from their computers or the frustration over Google’s ongoing problem with Blogger is preventing many from updating their blogs. Either way, I hope both those scenarios turn a positive corner soon.
 

FORGOT THE NAME OF THIS BUSH BY OUR DECK BUT IT WILL BE IN FULL BLOOM SHORTLY
Noticed the GYPSY G-MAS have not posted since April 29th & was wondering if anyone has heard how they are doing. I like the rolling purple fields in PIDGE'S new header picture.

  

About 3 years ago I came across an old wooden & rather large discarded bird house in our Park’s recycle area. A few well placed nails put it back into shape & I fastened it onto one of our tall Pine trees nearby. Last summer I noticed a small Red Squirrel coming & going several times & about a week ago I noticed something else. Baby squirrels:)) I have a direct line of site now right from my recliner out the living room window to the Squirrel house about a hundred feet away. How nice it is to watch the Mom keeping an eye on her kids from the doorway as the 3 tiny energized furry Rascals scamper up & down the Pine tree like a bunch of exploding little fire crackers. I did notice last week the rotting floor beginning to fall out of the Squirrel house so quietly grabbed my stepladder & power drill to screw a couple metal straps under the floor to hold it in place. I have my 7x50 binoculars beside my chair & have been zooming in on the gang to see if I could do some lip reading & see what they were were all talking about out there......no luck yet.
 

I THINK THAT'S MOM ON THE BOTTOM & JUNIOR JUST CLIMBING OUT & UP ONTO THE ROOF

    
We have 3 types of Squirrels in our front yard plus Chipmunks. Pidge, the bigger black Squirrels are the bad guys who outsmart me on a daily basis & scramble onto the bird feeders sometimes dumping them on the ground. We also have Gray Squirrels who seem a tad smaller & never bother the feeders. Next in line are the small Red Squirrels who also never bother the feeders. Smaller yet are the Chipmunks & we rarely have a problem with them either. And, about a 40 minute drive away in Exeter, they have pure white Squirrels which are about the same size as our Black Squirrels. Had a pic of an Exeter White Squirrel in my May 25th post as well. I think all Squirrels are cute, as well as the Chipmunks & I enjoy watching them all frolic around our yards. It’s just the bigger Black Squirrels who frustrate me to no end by trashing the bird feeders all the time. And remember, I am a guy who has raised Hamsters & Guinea Pigs years ago so my love of small animals stretches far afield. Oh, & I have raised tropical fish as well but of course that is a different kind of love:))
 

IN TOTAL I COUNTED 4 SQUIRRELS WHICH I THINK ARE A MOTHER & 3 BABIES...AFTER I TOOK THIS PIC ANOTHER ONE CAME OUT & THE 3 BABIES SCAMPERED UP THE TREE WHILE MOTHER REMAINED IN THE DOORWAY KEEPING WATCH 

Donna in our Shout Box wondered about the Frog picture I had in my May 25th post. Took that picture in the big pond across the road from us. There are a lot of Frogs in that pond this time of year & I caught that fellow with my 200mm lens while standing on the bank. He was on the move & that’s why the water around him is choppy. A cloudy morning sky gave the water a white appearance:))
YOU CAN SEE THE METAL STRAPPING I PUT UNDER THE SAGGING FLOOR >>>
And, Don B in Oklahoma enquired via email today as to how our little Cora ‘aka’ Motormouse came to stay with us years ago. My post is getting a bit long today Don so I will answer that shortly in an upcoming post. Thanks for asking:))

CUTE LITTLE DICKENS EH:)) 
GROANER’S CORNER:((  "Prepare yourself for a rather long Squirrel Joke:))"

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.

A social worker finds the shivering grasshopper, calls a press conference and demands to know why the squirrel should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate, like the grasshopper, are cold and starving.

The BBC shows up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper; with cuts to a video of the squirrel in his comfortable warm home with a table laden with food.
The British press inform people that they should be ashamed that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so while others have plenty.
The Labor Party, Greenpeace, Animal Rights and The Grasshopper Council of GB demonstrate in front of the squirrel's house. The BBC, interrupting a cultural festival special from Notting Hill with breaking news, broadcasts a multi cultural choir singing "We Shall Overcome". Ken Livingstone rants in an interview with Trevor McDonald that the squirrel has gotten rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the squirrel to make him pay his "fair share" and increases the charge for squirrels to enter inner London .

In response to pressure from the media, the Government drafts the Economic Equity and Grasshopper Anti Discrimination Act, retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The squirrel's taxes are reassessed. He is taken to court and fined for failing to hire grasshoppers as builders for the work he was doing on his home and an additional fine for contempt when he told the court the grasshopper did not want to work.

The grasshopper is provided with a council house, financial aid to furnish it and an account with a local taxi firm to ensure he can be socially mobile. The squirrels food is seized and re distributed to the more needy members of society, in this case the grasshopper.

Without enough money to buy more food, to pay the fine and his newly imposed retroactive taxes, the squirrel has to downsize and start building a new home. The local authority takes over his old home and utilizes it as a temporary home for asylum seeking cats who had hijacked a plane to get to Britain as they had to share their country of origin with mice. On arrival the tried to blow up the airport because of Britain's apparent love of dogs. The cats had been arrested for the international offence of hijacking and attempt bombing but were immediately released because the police fed them pilchards instead of salmon whilst in custody. Initial moves to then return them to their own country were abandoned because it was feared they would face death by the mice. The cats devise and start a scam to obtain money from peoples credit cards.

A Panorama special shows the grasshopper finishing up the last of the squirrel's food, though Spring is still months away, while the council house he is in, crumbles around him because he hasn't bothered to maintain the house. He is shown to be taking drugs.
Inadequate government funding is blamed for the grasshoppers drug illness'. The cats seek recompense in the British courts for their treatment since arrival in UK .

The grasshopper gets arrested for stabbing an old dog during a burglary to get money for his drugs habit. He is imprisoned but released immediately because he has been in custody for a few weeks. He is placed in the care of the probation service to monitor and supervise him. Within a few weeks he has killed a guinea pig in a botched robbery. A commission of enquiry, that will eventually cost GBP10,000,000 and state the obvious, is set up.

Additional money is put into funding a drug rehabilitation scheme for grasshoppers and legal aid for lawyers representing asylum seekers is increased. The asylum seeking cats are praised by the government for enriching Britain's multicultural diversity and dogs are criticized by the government for failing to befriend the cats. The grasshopper dies of a drug overdose. The usual sections of the press blame it on the obvious failure of government to address the root causes of despair arising from social inequity and his traumatic experience of prison. They call for the resignation of a minister.

The cats are paid a million pounds each because their rights were infringed when the government failed to inform them there were mice in the United Kingdom .

The squirrel, the dogs and the victims of the hijacking, the bombing, the burglaries and robberies have to pay an additional percentage on their credit cards to cover losses, their taxes are increased to pay for law and order and they are told that they will have to work beyond 65 because of a shortfall in government funds......and there ya have it folks:))

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right
now...... AL.