November, of course, is just flying by. I feel like I’m pretty well settled into the season, though. I’m getting used to grabbing a coat before I leave the house. I’m (pretty much) adjusting to the darkness. I’ve pulled out the flannel sheets and I’m making soup again. Going to bed earlier. That kind of thing.
I’m busy planning for Thanksgiving dinner. And thinking ahead to Christmas, even. Tom got the cabin all closed for winter. I finally got my closet sorted, and I’m starting to voluntarily put on socks once in a while. My garden is in good shape for the off-season, although I do still have bulbs to plant (once I remember where I put ’em). It’s all good.
But we do have . . . a bit of unwelcome excitement going on. I put this new flag out . . . and I guess the squirrels took it to heart. Because they appear to be, well . . . making themselves at home. As in . . . INSIDE. We can hear them (?) (might just be one?) scurrying about in the ceiling just above our entryway. And, yes. I am very creeped out.
Tom is On It, though. (It’s part of our household division of labor. I’m dealing with signing us up for Medicare. He gets all things . . . critter.)
Here at mid-month . . . things feel kinda settled. (Except for the squirrel thing, of course.)
And I’m good with that. (Except for the squirrel thing, of course.)
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How about YOU? What are you doing . . . at mid-month?
Oh help and bother! That rascally squirrel… good luck to Tom in his banishment of it! (and good luck to you in your sign ups!)
I was just thinking this morning that November is FLYING by too quickly!
I thought I hated having bats in the attic, but the squirrels were much more destructive. They chewed the baby clothes, my master’s thesis research, and John’s PhD stuff that we had stored up there and used them to make nests. Those nests produced baby squirrels. We spent a weekend cleaning everything out; now the only things up there are squirrel traps and I cheer every time I hear one snap. Good luck to Tom!
yeah, this month is just flying right along. Especially with Thanksgiving coming so early.
Squirrels: I’m betting it’s one of those little red squirrels. They are always into things. My brother had flying squirrels in his attic in Pennsylvania. They were coming from the tall oak trees he had around his house. I’ve never seen flying squirrels in Michigan. (They don’t really fly…just glide.) And my son had a critter removal service come for bats in the eaves of his house this past spring/summer. Bats are protected, so there is a whole process for that. Hope you get that resolved soon.
Critters in the house are just the WORST! Hope Tom can relocate your little squatter quickly.
As for November ……….Thanksgiving will just be the two (or should I say THREE) of us. But, Stephen will be here for a week or so at Christmas. I’m trying to work up my menu for that week.
And if VERA should happen to read this comment……………………………….STOP LAUGHING, YOU!!!! LOL
Oh dear. I do like your flag though. I have a dishtowel with a “hobo squirrel” on it which is too cute (check out Two Little Fruits – great stuff). On the other hand, I remember my brother-in-law having a squirrel trapped in a wall and it died. OMG – Horrible!! Best of luck to Tom. And yeah, November is flying by so fast!
First thing I’d do is take down that flag!! Or draw a red circle with a line through it so they know they aren’t welcome! IMO, squirrels are just rats with a better outfit. I hope Tom gets it evicted asap.
Good luck with the critter headache! I’m figuring out the Thanksgiving thing for the first time in years! We’re having dinner for 3 and doing something slightly different and think it is going to be super fun!
I’m with Marilyn on the squirrels – they enjoy the bark on our apricot tree and have pretty much destroyed it.
We will be at our son & daughter-in-law for Thanksgiving, but are sharing the cooking, so I have to make sure I pack my recipes with my sweaters. I’m desserts, so I’m happy. I also need to start communicating with a few people about Christmas. I love and well, don’t love, this time of year.
Oh my gosh, poor you. I had new mesh covers on my air bricks to deter unwelcome roof dwellers. I have settled into Autumn, lots of indoor crafting going on. Loving it.
Squirrels are AWFUL!! Many years ago there was a little soft spot where the trim met the sill on the attic window above the old sleeping porch & some birds moved in. That repair was not on the top of Rusty’s list, and the next year, squirrels decided that they wanted in. Ugh!! We were able to evict them (it wasn’t easy) and Rusty repaired the trim… and those little a**holes clawed their way back in right through it! He ended up covering that spot with some sheet metal for a couple of years to keep them out!!
Ooof I hate things in the house. I’ve never had a squirrel though–hope it/they are gone soon! I got my last 10 bulbs planted Sunday–tulips, in pots, hung up high, because the deer love them. They may all end up in pots inside the fenced vegetable garden, we’ll see.
Squirrels. Ugh. I used to think we had them but it turned out it was just moles, thank goodness. (But the scratching of moles can be REALLY loud!) Anyway, good luck to Tom and I hope he gets things cleared out soon. It’s looking like Thanksgiving for us is going to be just 3, Dale and Hannah and I. I’m hoping the first one without Jack isn’t too sad for all of us.
We used to get flying squirrels in the attic. The only way we knew — the attic is at the other end of the house from our bedroom — was when one would venture into the main house, only to be found by the cats. Smokey loves furry little animals, so he would try to save them, always unsuccessfully. Finally, I went to the hardware store and bought him a live trap. He kept them in an old gerbil cage, but it was too small. Internet searches led him to one like this (https://chowhoundpetsupplies.com/prevue-flight-bird-cage-for-small-to-medium-size-birds-sugar-gliders/). Flying squirrels are nocturnal like him, so it worked quite well. He mounted a small reed light over the cage and would sit on a stool and watch them play. We had up to seven at one time; one pair even had babies. But over the years, one by one they escaped the cage only to become cat fodder. The cage still sits in the *conservatory* (small room with window and three sides and a couple skylights). I wish he would trap some more!
(I promise no critter horror stories to up your anxiety.) You answered my question in your second paragraph: Yes, but have you broken down and worn socks? I laughed.
I have been there, done that with squirrels in the house. It’s probably a good thing that we replaced our roof when we did because the roofers found the hole where they’d been getting it and sealed it up. But we’ve also had pretty good luck using plug-in critter deterrents (they let out some sort of noise that only rodents can hear and it drives them away). Years ago we did have a particularly stupid squirrel who found his way into the ceiling of our dining room and decided to munch on some electric cords. We were annoyed because it knocked out our ceiling lights, but I think the electrocuted squirrel had it worse!
I’m sorry you’ve had to break down and wear socks (I know how much you hate it), but I hope at least they’ve been pretty hand-knit socks!
…”air” bricks?? …typo?? In my life, I’ve had a glancing experience with critters over the years – one bat in my childhood where my mom and grandmother ran around with scarves covering their hair (we kids were amused) and a broom to evict it (they were successful) and later on a dead opossum in the garbage can with a half dead-half alive litter which I bullied the Animal Protection League (or some such) to come out and dispose of (they didn’t want to) and thereby caused a neighborhood commotion which delighted my daughter immensely because what five-year-old doesn’t love feeling “important.” …. But, so far, no rats-in-a-better-outfit. (Fingers crossed.)..Oh, and a full grown, full-antlered deer (garden nuisance) which positively Glided its 800-pound self over our neighbor’s chain-link fence onto our new-fallen snow (and it wasn’t even Christmas), then magically just…disappeared.
Apparently my weight guesstimate was overly enthusiastic. 800 pounds is more in the Moose territory. We’re not that far north. But it was a BIG deer!
Your split of labor mirrors ours! We had squirrels in the attic two years ago and spent much time and money getting rid of them. (I still sometimes hear tiny patters above and Marc has now convinced me it really is just the heat … or my imagination.) So now “squirrel insurance” is something I take care of; it’s a small payment every December for a BIG peace of mind. good luck! (and yikes! we’ll be dealing with Marc’s MC enrollment next summer!!)
Medicare! So exciting. We’ve caught 9 mice just this week. Yuck. (They have a super highway in one kitchen drawer which hadn’t been used in years now because…) Hoping Tom makes quick work of that varmint!
Squirrels in the house sounds just awful – a big nuisance and mess not to mention the expense. As for Medicare, it takes a lot of patience and sorting out of information. We talked to an insurance broker as well as a state agency, SHIP (State Health Insurance Program.) Both were helpful.