Lighten up

I've always wanted a chandelier in the garden and I found one last summer for 50 cents at a garage sale. Pretty simple but the price was right so I put some green candles in it and enjoyed the whimsy of it the rest of the summer. And the squirrels didn't bother it so it was a huge success all around.

Now that I've put so many things away for the winter it ocurred to me that I could keep my chandelier up and put battery operated candles in it and I would be able to enjoy it every winter's eve when I came home from work. Since it's pitch black at 5:30PM. Here it is.

It hangs near all the birdfeeders which is the preferred gathering place for the neighborhood squirrels. Actually I might as well call them MY squirrels since they all congregate at my house. Hmm, I thought, maybe this isn't the best place for it. Just because they ignored green candles, wouldn't they think the lighted candles would be wonderful for illuminating a midnight snack? And shouldn't they go ahead and chew on the candles since they chew everything?


So I moved it up to the overhang of the patio roof. It will keep my skyrocket junipers company. And maybe the squirrels will leave it alone. Or maybe I should lighten up on the squirrels? I don't think so.

Fall on the front porch

This is what it looked like before the mums and ornamental kale started fading (well, before I got tired of watering the potted plants).

 

 

Nice pumpkins, huh? And I do like that crow.

 

 

Uh-oh, a pumpkin smasher on the loose? That also eats Indian corn?

 

Uh, no, just my usual nemesis.

Wicked, wicked ways

"A squirrel leaping from bough to bough, and making the wood but one wide tree for his pleasure, fills the eye not less than a lion, is beautiful, self-sufficing, and stands then and there for nature." - RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Not in my yard. These wicked little boogers irritate me no end. Fox squirrels are the largest North American tree squirrel and in my eyes, the most destructive. Why do they want to break my bird bath? I liked that birdbath. It had acanthus leaves on it and some other cool motifs. And they broke my favorite blue birdbath last summer.

Once they empty a feeder, they start chewing on the metal, glass, wood, or whatever it's made of. On this one they chewed the solder strips holding the panes together. What's up with that? My trusty roll of black duct tape bolstered the seams for awhile but the whole feeder is bent and chewed, metal and all, so I'm going to get rid of it. Besides, I need the duct tape to keep the passenger window in my car in place.
A friend sent me this big old goldfinch feeder for Christmas. Okay, it's not the most tasteful feeder I've owned, but it was quirky and bright and see how its stomach held the seed? Clever, huh? Well, first the squirrels disemboweled it.

Then they chewed its eyes out, and most of the face, with a few blows to the body and tail for good measure. I hung this feeder on a Monday and by Friday they'd done all this to it. I know that eating ornamental plants is common squirrel behavior, but what's with eating the garden ornaments? When I was a kid reading the Old Mother West Wind books by Thornton W. Burgess, I never noticed Happy Jack Squirrel and Chatterer the Red Squirrel acting like this. Come to think of it they didn't have bubonic plague either, which has been found in squirrels in Denver.

Well, I'd rather not think about that so here are couple of photos as requested by Zoey who wants to see just how scary the orange zinnias and the hot pink Zepherine Drouhin rose look next to each other.
A bit jarring, don't you think? I don't hate this, but it's not my favorite view. When I get tired of being unsettled each time I look at this, I'll move some purple and white containers in front of Zepherine instead. Or not. I am a lazy gardener when all is said and done. I wish the squirrels had as little energy as I do.

WHAT DEAD LIMBS?

These are actually "approach branches". The birds that come to my feeders prefer to scope things out first and bare branches are the perfect perch. The Silver Maple in the center is suffering from several years of drought and the bare limbs are a typical reaction. Yeah, I should get it trimmed, that'll be the first thing I do when I have an extra $400 for the tree man. The bare branches from the Honey Locust on the right are intentionally left on the tree, otherwise I'd need a skyhook about 15 feet long to hang the feeders. So no matter how it looks, it's a perfect set-up for our feathered friends. They can check out whether they have a clear shot at the feeder or if they have to wait till the squirrels are done gorging themselves. If the coast is clear the House finches and Black-capped Chickadees will perch on the sunflower seed feeder until the squirrel or a bunch of bullying Grackles dislodge them.

The peanut feeder is an old nesting shelf with a missing roof meant for the Robins but it's gotten more use as a hangout for the "big guys", mostly bluejays and magpies, than it ever did as a nursery The robins preferred the downspouts. Magpies, affectionately known to some as "scavengers in tuxedos", are making a comeback in the Rockies after their numbers were decimated by West Nile Virus a few years ago. There are those who don't like jays and magpies because of their nest-robbing tendencies but I subscribe to the "nature, red in tooth and claw" sentiment put forth by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. A far cry from the anthropomorphic "Old Mother West Wind" stories I devoured as a kid. But occasionally in the late evening I swear I see Reddy Fox slinking around the backyard heading for the Old Briar Patch, with Hooty the Owl eyeing him from an approach branch high above.