My squirrels are deadbeats

I have harvested a forest full of tiny oak trees this year and I blame the squirrels: They're laying down on the job, man. 

There have been studies that suggest these furry rodents can't remember where they bury more than half of their acorns, and others that dispute that finding, but it's clear that it is THEIR job to collect and eat the acorns that fall from the oak tree in my front yard. And if they can't keep up, the chipmunks are the next line of defense against me having a forest instead of the lone sentinel.

The Captain is off to Dark Lord weekend, so I started my day in the yard, planting bulbs that might be too dried out to flourish. Getting them into the ground required a lot of weed- and more tiny oak tree removal than I find acceptable.

But how to harness the little rats? I just don't know. 

In other news, we're finally addressing some home improvement needs that have gone ignored too long: front door painting/revarnishing and screen repair; kitchen and bathroom ceiling repair and painting and some plumbing and electrical work. It's been a steady stream of contractors. It's required our kitchen to be packed up, which doesn't bother me, of course. I'm the queen of take-out.

But it's also prompted me to get out the Goo-Gone to address kitchen grime that's been allowed to take hold on a few things that don't get much attention Jeff did the top of the refrigerator, and I don't ever want to see what he scraped off of there. It's enough to remind me why we've left the ceiling painting project go so long. Next to moving, home improvement projects that require deep cleaning might be on my "do not like" list. I have squirrels to train, man!

I'm also hoping for more time in the yard, which is on the cusp of breaking out into color scheme two of the season. We've been purple and pink for a while. The lilies and daisies are threatening to break out now.

Thanks to Alison Becker and her petunia sale for some bright spots among the greenery. The hummingbirds have yet to fully embrace the feeders, but they're visiting the (non-invasive) honeysuckle out back, and I might have saved the hydrangeas. time will tell.

We had Alison Reed for a long weekend last week thanks to Navy Lynch's wedding. I was Ali's date to the reception, and we had a great time. Good planning on Navy's part meant Ali was here for Mothers' Day, too.