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Friday 25 May 2018

Squirrel, Sky, And Owl

My fat little squirrel has been back to the bird feeder, but that's not unexpected, given the bounty of accessible food it provides.

But at least this time I got a picture of the little blighter.


He or she fits nicely on the tray portion, don't you think? And that bit of fluff on the opposite side is the tip of his or her tail. I watched this critter eat and eat until I thought he/she might explode. Hasn't happened yet, but if it does, rest assured I'll blog about it.


 I've gotten some other pictures lately while on my evening walks.


This one might be better if you click on it to make it bigger. I caught two items of interest here; the jet in the upper right, and, much less obvious, the crow at the left, sitting on the top of a vertical branch.


Zooming in on that crow . . . He's not really impaled; it just looks that way.


 And one evening there was a beautiful sunset. I chased it eastward for about fifteen minutes -- just so you know, you can't out-walk the setting sun -- and this shot was the best of the lot:


 I finally managed to find a spot where the power lines and poles weren't in the way. That's one drawback to photographing scenery in an urban setting.



Sometimes the lines can be used for effect, though.


I call this one "Moon With Trail Light And Six Leaves" - ha ha


I love walking at dusk on a clear night. As the sky deepens to blue-black and the moon and stars start to show, it's such a peaceful and beautiful part of the day.


I have one more picture for you. Meet Mr. Owl.





He's a cookie jar, and when I was growing up, he belonged to my parents. A few years ago my mother gave him to me. I don't make cookies because I have no self-control, so I don't need Mr. Owl for his original purpose. However, hiding electronics cords is his new purpose in life, and he does a fantastic job. He sits on the kitchen counter and keeps my cords collected and dust-free. In a house with two messy humans and two shedding cats, that is quite an achievement.

*****

Wishing you a weekend with good eating, good skies, and good friends :)





39 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

What a wonderful use for Mr Owl. I may borrow/steal it from you. We have a plethora of those pesky cords about and I haven't yet found a satisfactory place to keep them.
I hope your weekend is full of joy and wonder.

dinthebeast said...

I love that color of blue right as dusk falls.
Here's a squirrel hanging onto a twirl-a-squirrel for more than two hilarious minutes, so I'm not sure they can be kept away from the birdseed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgDa_cpgHWs

-Doug in Oakland

LL Cool Joe said...

Did you count the leaves because I'm sure there are more, maybe 7?

I have a glass pot where I store all my leads for the phone, ipad, camera and ipod. Now I want an Owl cookie jar called Mr Owl because mine's boring, and yours is fun and it will give me something to blog about apart from the Royal wedding which I didn't even watch.

River said...

The squirrel is cute, but I LOVE the owl cookie jar! Using him to store electronics cords is a great idea. I have mine in an old biscuit tin.

baili said...

haha squirrels are always fun to observe ,i really hope she won't explode ,so cute indeed!

absolutely joy to look at your photos dear Jenny,quite artistically captured !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

crow seems the part of branch as crowy flower lol!
aeroplane is reminding me my small city khairpur where i used to observe such planes in peaceful skyas here in islamabad though we are living on third floor of the building but traffic makes noise yet view is charming !

what a SOOTHING sunset !!!!!!!!!!!!!!thank you for the spectacular view my friend !

Loved your naughty owl gifted by mom !!! looks fabulous and glad it works for you :)
Hugs!

Marie Smith said...

Your sunset photo is spectacular! Great repurpose of the owl too.

only slightly confused said...

Pesky squirrels

37paddington said...

I love evening walks, but somehow only with company. lovely photos.

Red said...

A good walk always provides photo opportunities. Working outside on the evening shift gives you the sunset progression day after day.

Steve Reed said...

I like Mr. Owl! I wonder if he's valuable? Some people pay a lot of money for vintage cookie jars. Not that I'm suggesting you sell him.

jenny_o said...

I stole/borrowed the idea from the internet myself, EC :) This has been a great solution for my cords.

jenny_o said...

They're tenacious animals for sure, but I feel sorry for them - they're hungry like everyone else :)

jenny_o said...

I estimated, Joey! ha ha! I think you're right :)

You always find cool stuff to blog about. I had no idea Mr. Owl would be as popular a topic as he has turned out to be. You just never know!

jenny_o said...

There's another good idea for cords, River!

jenny_o said...

A crowy flower - I like that description!

A third floor view sounds good to me. It's always nice to have a different perspective on life from time to time.

Thanks you for your lovely compliments, and hugs back, baili!

jenny_o said...

I love sunsets but it's hard to photograph them and have the colours true, at least that's what I find with a point and shoot camera :)

jenny_o said...

But I enjoyed the show, so there is SOME redemptive value!

jenny_o said...

I'm never too far from home, or else I'd want company, too!

jenny_o said...

Yes, you're right!

jenny_o said...

I hadn't thought of that. I'll tuck that idea away in case I ever decide to let him go. I saw an awesome frog cookie jar at the thrift store - if I hadn't already had my owl I would've bought it!

Joanne Noragon said...

"Under the power lines" is such a challenge. I would love a photoshop that photoshopped just power lines. In camera, yeah! Lovely sunset.

e said...

I love your Mr. Owl, and the squirrels. Good weather I don't have and it is expected to worsen and possibly lead to flooding in some areas that are already saturated, but good friends and good eats, without a doubt. Happy weekend to you.

Martha said...

That cookie jar is adorable! How amazing that it has survived for so long. And your images are beautiful. I love the sky shot the best! Perhaps the squirrel is a 'she' and eating for two. Or three. Or four :) 'Tis the season for that, after all!

Mr. Shife said...

Love the pictures, jenny_o. Thanks for sharing. I like Mr. Owl. He's a keeper for sure.

Janie Junebug said...

It's a miracle that Franklin and Penelope have yet to kill a squirrel. Maybe they don't bother because Florida squirrels are quite scrawny.

Love,
Janie

jenny_o said...

Wouldn't that be a great feature? Somehow I don't notice the lines in real life, but when I look at photos they stand out.

jenny_o said...

I hope you're not in one of the possible zones for flooding, e. Glad you'll have good friends and good eats, though!

jenny_o said...

I was thinking the same about the squirrel, Martha. He/she is very plump compared to other squirrels I've seen :)

jenny_o said...

Mr. Owl isn't going anywhere anytime soon, Mr. S. :D

jenny_o said...

Ours usually are, too. This one is either getting more food than normal or may be about to have a litter of little squirrels . . .

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

My Retired Man gets very upset when he sees the squirrels eating from the bird feeder. These poor rodents are way down the pecking order in his mind.

Your pictures are lovely and I like the idea of putting the cords in the cookie jar. Mine is usually filled with cookies, or half full or empty depending on the time of day.

Your pictures are clever and lovely. I especially like Moon With Trail Light and Six Leaves.

jenny_o said...

Everybody has to eat, right? :)

I wish my cookie jar was filled with cookies right now. But it's probably for the best that it is not! Thank you for your kind compliments, Arleen.

dinthebeast said...

I've been known to feed them when they are around, despite my father's stern warning against feeding wild animals.
All I can really say is don't feed them cashew butter or you'll never get rid of them...

-Doug in Oakland

jenny_o said...

Never fear; if there's cashew butter around I'll be feeding myself :D

I feel there may be a good story behind your comment on that . . .

Diane Henders said...

Mr. Owl is so cute! We've never had a cookie jar - cookies at our house have to go into a giant plastic container because first there are dozens of them (and they won't all fit in a cute cookie jar) and then there are none (and the plastic container goes back into the cupboard to wait for the next caloric free-for-all). Maybe I'd be smarter to stop baking cookies and start storing cords... ;-)

jenny_o said...

"Giant plastic container" . . . "dozens" of cookies" . . . m-m-mmm . . . you're making my mouth water, Diane!! To be honest, I can't remember that cookie jar being used for cookies more than one or twice in my mother's kitchen. She didn't bake very much except for special meals (Christmas, etc.). But the cookie jar was a gift and she kept it on the counter. This was Before Cords :D

dinthebeast said...

You're right. When I was warehouse manager for a natural foods distributor, we got some samples, maybe Arrowhead Mills? of a few different kinds of nut butter, and my boss told me to take some home before they expired.
The almond butter was heavenly, and didn't last past the first sitting, but Briana took some of the cashew butter outside where she lured the squirrels up to her with it, and left a little on the jar lid for them to eat.
Later that day I heard a loud banging sound by the door, went to see what it was, and found a squirrel clinging to the security door about halfway up, and jerking back and forth hard enough to make the metal door ring like a cymbal.
It was just a fluffy, little squirrel, but I still found it a little frightening that it was making all of that noise, and acting so bold all of the sudden.

-Doug in Oakland

jenny_o said...

LOL! You made my day with that story. What a brazen little creature!! I'm thinking I'll be extra careful to heed your warning :)

Diane Stringam Tolley said...

You have the cutest little squirrel! I know some people see them as pests, but I love them. Their chittering at me when I invade THEIR back yard. I love your two examples of flight, your sunset and moon pics and especially your owl! I love owls!