My Back Yard

The blue jays in “The blue jay vs. the squirrels,” an essay in The Christian Science Monitor, likes corn on the cob.

That’s not true for our blue jays. They focus on peanuts and will peck on birdseed.

Frozen solid. That’s been the status of our unheated bird bath all week. So I’m topping off our heated bird bath at least a couple times a day.

We’ve had more customers than usual at the heated bird bath. Liquid water is at a premium during this cold snap.

I’m sure the miscreant who stole my suet cage is among the drinkers. That’s okay. I know the little tree rat wasn’t tormenting me on purpose.

By the way, our local Home Depot was sold out of suet cages when Iggy visited this week. Maybe there has been a rash of thefts.

My suet cage is missing, along with the bungee that helped secure it to a shepherd’s hook.

The culprit has a fluffy tail. I’m sure of it.

Squirrels had ignored the suet over the summer and most of the fall. They left it to the woodpeckers and chickadees. But since our cold snap started, I’ve seen squirrels feeding on suet.

Usually suet cage thieves abandon the empty containers nearby. It’s almost as if they know that I’ll refill the cage, if I can find it. I took a quick look under the rhododendrons. No luck.

Note to Iggy: Put suet cage on the Home Depot shopping list, if it doesn’t turn up soon.

I sure hope that squirrels aren’t on the menu for foxes.

A red fox trotted through our back yard at least twice this morning. Spotted once by Iggy, and then by me.

Four-foot-tall squirrels abound in Olean, NY, as I learned from “New squirrel unveiled outside banquet center.”

But they are statues, not living beings.

I’ve discovered two new-to-me squirrel blogs:
* Squirrel Chatter
* Squirrels squirrels squirrels

Freddie’s been hanging around our yard after a lengthy absence. Boy, am I glad to see her.

Freddie is glad to see me, too. Or, rather, she is glad that I have become a well-trained nut dispenser.

Some squirrels have it good.

Diamond Frost euphorbia adorned my container garden this year.

Its delicate white flowers lightened up the heaviness of my New Guinea impatiens.

Plus, it’s hardier than impatiens. So it’s still blooming now that my impatiens have been felled by frost.

Too bad it’s an annual, not a perennial. But I will definitely look for it again next spring.

“What rituals make you happier?”

Tal Ben-Shahar asks this question in Happier, his New York Times bestseller.

Some answers for me:
* Giving Iggy a smooch
* Bicycling with Iggy
* Feeding and watching my backyard squirrels and birds
* Looking at flowers or vegetables from my garden
* Writing my weekly gratitude diary entry
* Doing my quarterly goals review with my buddy
* Eating the first Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup

What else might work?

I used to get an incredible boost out of yoga when I took a class at work. But it’s hard to discipline myself to do it on my own.

What works for you?