| Nutty |
[Sep. 16th, 2011|07:43 pm]
rejectomorph
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Nut gathering went well today. There were fourteen walnuts on the ground. I'm not sure how many additional nuts the squirrels had already snagged, but the little beasts are visiting the yard every day now. I'd probably have more walnuts if I had a dog instead of feral cats guarding the yard. Cats are pretty much useless when it comes to running off squirrels. In fact, since my three feral kittens are all fairly grey, the squirrels probably mistake them for fellow squirrels with alopecia of the tail. Perhaps fear of contagion will deter some of them from gathering the walnuts.
We still have a few clouds hanging about, but they are thin and scattered, and do little to block the sunlight. The days have been cooler nevertheless, and the nights are getting downright chilly. Last night the feral kittens were sleeping in a heap again. For the last couple of months they'd been spreading out to stay cool. They probably don't remember the cold, wet spring into which they were born. The first big rainstorm of the year is going to come as quite a shock to them, and when the nights get very cold I wouldn't be surprised to find all of them trying to get into the house.
There is already a touch of autumn in the air by night, though the days remain summery. The migratory birds have not yet begun to depart, and this afternoon there was a white butterfly visiting the few jasmine blossoms that remain. I hope the butterfly appreciated the flowers. They are expensive. The only reason there are still few blooming is because I irrigate that section of the hedge daily. I can partly justify the expense because water there also feeds the walnut tree. Still, I'm not looking forward to this month's water bill. I fear that those walnuts will turn out to have been expensive, too. All the more reason to grab as many as I can before the squirrels get them. |
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