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Sun. April 1, 2007
An exciting weekend around the house (update 1)
We started off with Saturday and a heaping shovel full of weeds. It's become a yearly tradition since we removed the grass from a couple strips on the south side of our house. Today we took to again cleaning the area up so everything mostly Sarah lovingly planted there has a chance to thrive this year. It's amazing how leaving a spot like this for the winter will allow so many pesky weeds to pop up. We both started at opposite ends and I cut Sarah and break early on and let her off the hook for the day. I spent all afternoon out there but didn't mind it at all since the outcome is so gratifying: take something ugly and make it look good (kinda' gives me the same feeling as ironing a wrinkly shirt). No pesticides or chemicals necessary here, just good ol' fashioned hard work. I got the dirty finger nails to prove it, too! ;)
Sunday was a way different bag though just as proud from a home owner sense. We've had a squirrel in the little spot above our second story to the peak of our roof for a month or so now. We thought it was fat -- turned out it was preggers. One of her babies made it down the space between the slanted ceiling and roof and into the crawl space above our kitchen. We heard the little thing at breakfast and turned on one of our embedded kitchen lights and saw it's little silhouette. We caught this one and rented a ladder to make sure mama didn't have access to that same spot again. I covered it up with wire mesh and we even reunited captured baby with mom. Unfortunately, there's at least one more still up there so we're trying to lure it down to the same space we caught the first one. If not, we'll be un-doing some of the work I did high up on that ladder.
Anyway, how was your weekend? Ours only half turned out as expected! Oh, well. There's always next weekend...
Update - Mom wants in (2007-04-02 @ 7:12am)
We're going to have to un-do the screen I put up. Our attempts to get
the other baby into an area we have access to haven't worked and we
can't leave the poor thing to die up there. Mama squirrel built a nest
elsewhere but still wants in to get baby. The plan now is to let her in
and, if we're lucky, she'll take that little one to their new nest.
Otherwise, we'll let them live there 'til it gets too hot that they
leave on their own. Then we'll seal it up again. More to come...
Comments (11) | To Top
4/2/2007 @ 8:32am
How cute is she?! I think your sister can relate to this one from her experience with some Scottish squirrels! Your side yard looks mighty nice too. Mom
by Kathy Freitas
4/2/2007 @ 8:58am
Thanks Mom. Yea, despite being a bit pesky, that little squirrel was mighty cute.
Thanks for the compliment! We're seeing some great growth on plants from last and the previous year and we have big plans for a bunch of the other grassy areas around our yard.
by KevinFreitas
4/2/2007 @ 9:28am
Wow. You make the squirrels in the attic adventure sound much more cute and fun than is my experience.
Speaking of yard projects, I was poking about in your archives and read your old bamboo post. How's it going? Is it all filled in now? We are planning to put some up ourselves this year, but I don't know how patient I can be!
by ZestyJenny
4/2/2007 @ 7:51pm
Squirrel. Really cute squirrel. I am overpowered by cuteness, and might possibly die from overload now (quite honestly.)
by Anna
4/3/2007 @ 9:13am
How did you manage to catch that thing? Squirrels are fast..
by AP
4/3/2007 @ 10:40am
The little one was pretty scared. It was pretty confined in the space in our side attic and just wasn't that interested in running. I actually had the cat cage nearby and scooped him quickly up and into it. All with gloves on, of course. No rabies shots for me, thank you very much!
by KevinFreitas
4/3/2007 @ 11:30am
There seems to be a history of squirrel issues in our family. Besides the afore mentioned squirrels in our attic here in Scotland (they were there for 6 months before we convinced the landlord, that yes, indeed, they were eating all the wires and that was why our lights didn't work!), I do recall an incident in Oklahoma where the dog chased a squirrel into the house and not even the thickest gloves kept Dad out of the emergency room for a rabies shot when he tried to catch it. I believe I lost my prized cactus in that tussle...Mom, how good is my memory on this?
by Toni, KF's sis in Scotland
4/4/2007 @ 8:00am
KF, have you looked into having a company pull up your old turf? We need to do the same thing here and I've heard renting a sodcutter may be the way to go. Only problem is they are too big and heavy for standard vehicles - rent for one of these things usually includes a delivery truck charge. If you have fences or any tight spaces to negotiate, I doubt this would be a good option. I would love to split the rental (and use) of one of these with someone, but I don't know if it would be feasible to move from house to house without a crane. Anyone on N 36th looking to rip up their yard?!
by AP
4/4/2007 @ 8:29am
AP: I'm not good with heavy machinery. ;) I'm still getting used to our weed whacker. For the lawn I'm really looking to have a pro tear everything up since they'll do that and haul it away. I can do some thatching here and there and won't have a problem laying down new turf but want a pro otherwise. Of course, my mind may change once I actually get an estimate. ;)
I'll keep you posted...
by KevinFreitas
4/4/2007 @ 8:36am
Yes, Toni, the cactus plant and the rabies are all part of the Oklahoma squirrel story! Kevin is just carrying on a family tradition, apparently.
by Kathy Freitas
4/4/2007 @ 8:49am
Got some cute shots of two little ones poking their noses out from their penthouse suite (aka the space at the peak of our roof) this morning. I'll post those with an update tonight.
by KevinFreitas