Humans have done a lot of ugly things to the planet, but pardon me for reveling in the way yellow leaves cast their color on black asphalt. Pretty, non?
Whenever I return home, many mornings of the week, or as in today, after errands, I take great pleasure in turning onto my street. During our many pre-ownership drives to this house, I shrieked, “It’s so pretty! It’s going to be absolutely gorgeous in the Fall!”
And it is.
I’m not even gonna pretend that having 1.3 acres in the city is not my own little slice of heaven, because even when I haven’t done much with it yet, it is.
When we moved here, I had wanted to feed the birds.
Moo loves birds. It started with learning about the kookaburra in kindergarten and blossomed from there.
mini moo, posing with the kookaburra at the atlanta zoo, many moons ago
While we were at The Palace of Rules, my in-laws had feeders, where Moo learned much, much more.
Alas, I hardly see birds here — a Robin here or a Woodpecker there. Just yesterday, I found myself about a foot away from a Cardinal hanging out in the Hibiscus. I had never been so close to a Cardinal. I could see the yellow and green in his eye! I tried not to breathe and dared not move, but when he saw that I saw him, he flew away.
We do have squirrels in abundance: Gobs of squirrels running about, launching themselves from tree to tree. I can identify two of them apart from the others. One is Chubby Squirrel, because, well, he’s chubby. He’s not particularly shy about humans, and he’s certainly not shy about food! The other squirrel has dark patches on his belly, and is a bit skittish, but I haven’t called him anything yet.
A few weeks ago, Chubby Squirrel climbed up into the green apple tree, where he picked an apple and sat on a branch, just munching away on it. I swear to you, it was one of the most precious things I have ever seen!
I’ve seen them hold onto the trunk of a tree with only their hind feet, stretching to seemingly nothing. I’ve seen them cautiously bury food in the yard. I’ve seen them chasing one another, leaping onto higher and higher branches. I’ve seen them give my dog a good what for, squawking and chattering madly.
I had no idea so much entertainment could come from watching the squirrels! Now, we have squirrel entertainment ALL THE TIME!
The Mister wasn’t too thrilled when I came home with a squirrel feeder, nor was he pleased when I implored him to drive a stake into the tree…but Chubby Squirrel won him over, and now, he feels compelled to make sure they always have corn. It really is fun for the whole family.
two-thirds of our pets like watching chubby squirrel, too
And yes, we carved those pumpkins, we did!
Well, not Sassy, because she said she would only carve her pumpkin if someone else cleaned it out for her. Isn’t that sad for her?
So I carved mine with a moon and stars, and Moo asked me to draw her a scaredy cat outline, which she cut out, all by herself.
We were very pleased with the results.
We thought one of the tiny squirrels was going to climb into my pumpkin. He came close to climbing in. I think he felt anxious in front of an audience. Maybe next year.
moo won first place at the pumpkin carving contest on friday
Trick-or-Treating was delayed due to violent thunderstorms. So Friday, we took The Angel, and The Snow Queen, to an altogether different Halloween from what they’ve ever experienced — the kind where Moo was glad to have a fur-trimmed bonnet, and even the kids didn’t want candy as much as they wanted warm beverages. It was a far cry from walking the hot, palm-lined streets of our old neighborhood in Georgia. It was rather spectacular, I thought.
Despite the enduring cold, I planted 54 tulip bulbs over the weekend. While wearing my barn jacket. With a woolen cap on my head.
I’m enjoying the return to Fall almost as much as I thought I would. It’s just not complete without a hayride and a bonfire.
joeyfullystated 
After two years we’re just now seeing squirrels returning to our area. Drives Le Moo and Butthead insane. On the bird front, we had few birds around until we put up bird feeders. It took a while, but now they’re out and about in abundance. Try feeders for the birds (which the squirrels will partake of, so beware)…and I bet in a year or so you’ll be seeing more and more! 🙂
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I may. I may. Perhaps in the Spring. Maybe they will come. Or, maybe the squirrels will monopolize the feeders. I will give it a whirl.
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I have always loved watching the squirrels but have found that the ones up here are extremely scarce and tiny red ones. Not NEARLY as much fun as the antics of the gray and black ones. Your pumpkins were AWESOME!!!! Thanks for the smile as always Joey! ;o)
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Thanks! You have bears and crows the size of basketballs — what do you need with squirrels? LOL
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I think squirrels are taking over the world. They are everywhere. I’ve yet to name one though. Or feed it. I’m not sure where you live, but I’m going to tell the squirrels in my neighborhood about you so they can all scurry your way. I’ll tell them there’s a super nice lady with yummy treats just waiting for them…
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🙂
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Gorgeous fall color there, and Chubby is adorable! I love that picture of your dog and cat looking out the door! And I also love the moon and stars carved on your pumpkin, I may have to steal that idea for next year! 😉
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The moon and stars looks particularly good on a small pumpkin, all the way around. But, I couldn’t pass up the cheap, big pumpkins available this year 🙂
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It does my heart good to hear of your fun adventures in your new home. You sound gloriously happy and that is terrific. 🙂 We did not carve pumpkins, they are still out as full pumpkins. We did however string out some “cob webs” and have a couple of fake hayseed kids clinging to our gate. Time to get them down until next year I guess. It’s a good fall, if a whole lot warmer here. The kids did not have to wear coats and we had quite a long array of costumed gobblies. Now it’s on to Thanksgiving.
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I did so want to buy a scarecrow for the lawn, but I never did see a big enough, cute enough one. I may well take it upon myself to create one. We’ll see how things are next September, hm?
I have one big pumpkin and three baby ones left. The small ones I will use to make pie, but I’m not sure what I’ll do with the big one that Sassy didn’t want to carve…
I’m glad it does your heart good. I really am happy 😀
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I love northern falls, as I know you do. I’m glad you get to experience them again. Oh, squirrels. I’ve loved watching them my entire life. Around here they’re a bit out of control. Since I live in what used to be my grandmothers house, years ago she had an albino squirrel living in the big tree out front. She also used to feed them on the front porch. It got to where, if she didn’t feed them, one would scratch on the front door. He would damn near eat out of her hand. I wouldn’t suggest that, but try it sometime, with the door. They’re too funny.
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