Sunday, May 18, 2008

May in My Garden

The lilac is gorgeous...



The squirrel who took over the bird house had three babies. (Cute rats with bushy tails, aren't they?)



The bird house is destroyed, but it's fun seeing them there. For a few days their mother has been trying to convince them to climb down but they're reluctant. She comes up to them all the time, and they all get out, and she hugs them while they hug her, and she cleans them, and then she goes back down with a "Follow me!" that they're too scared to obey.



They look down with longing then climb back up to the safety of their little house...



The lilac is gorgeous. So is the sky...

18 comments:

SzélsőFa said...

great photos of squirrels!
We also have a squirrel or two, but s/he's just passing by. They are fun to watch.

Bernita said...

I love lilacs.

Pearl said...

You must have good seed. Squirrels seem mad for it. Happy belated blogging anniversary.

Lilacs are coming towards their peak here too.

Unknown said...

nice photos, our garden is in worse condition.

Sarah Hina said...

I love these photos, Vesper! The squirrels are too funny.

Our lilacs are reaching the end of their bloom. But they're beautiful while they last.

Anonymous said...

Oh my, that's a serious squirrel invasion!

Akasha Savage. said...

Hi Vesper, my lilac is in full bloom too. The colours are truly gorgeous, and I love the strong perfume that wafts from it.
Love the squirrels!
:)

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

SUch great photos! And yes, the lilac is definitely stunning!

Lisa said...

Lilacs are blooming in Denver too -- lots more than you might think. I'm always sad when I see them because I know they don't last long -- I should probably change my POV and enjoy them while I can :)

The squirrels? What can I say? Those are the cutest pictures I've seen in ages!

Anonymous said...

Great pictures!

Do your Lilacs still look this nice? Ours were flourishing but have now faded. I'm so sad :(

Paul

Vesper said...

Szelsofa, they're fun now and I even can't resist feeding them every now and then although I know that's a big mistake - I dread the moment when they'll start atacking my vegetable garden. :-)

Me too, Bernita.

Thank you, Pearl. I haven't fed them much this winter; the birdhouse just appealed to them.

Ropi, I discovered that no matter how much work we put in the garden, life has always a way and nature ultimately prevails... :-)

Thank you, Sarah. The lilacs' is one of my favourite fragrances. I would sit next to the lilac and just keep breathing it in. :-)

Jason, there's another baby squirell, from another family, so trusting that it climbed several times on my husband's leg. He could feel its tiny claws through his jeans. It never runs away when we approach it and it accepted peanuts from my daughters.

Akasha, yes, it's wonderful! It's spring and the renewal of everything...:-)

Thanks, Ello! I'm glad you liked the pictures. :-)

Lisa, I tend to be sad when I think of ephemere things, but I think we should do what you suggest, enjoy them while we can. :-)

Thanks, Paul! Yes, the lilac looks very nice. I took the pictures on Sunday. We had some heavy rain on Monday and the clusters of flowers had become very heavy, but they're OK.
Don't be sad, they'll be back next year. :-)

Chandni said...

Wow the squirrels in your part of the worls have busgy bushy tails! Ours in India are smaller and have three stripes of white running along their back upto their tails..there is a whole mythological story attached to the stripes (mostly everything in nature finds heavy reference in mythology in our great old epics).

Lovely lilac..i have never seen one in real life though.

Aine said...

Great squirrel pictures! I've never seen babies. Obviously they reproduce, as there is no shortage around here....

Mediterranean Views said...

Oh to have lilacs and their scent again! My grandmothers gardens in upsatae New York were full of them, my mother took shoots off them and planted them all around her house in Virginia, which on a few occasions I enjoyed on a Spring visit. Both houses have been sold and their gardners lost to this world, but my memories of them linger on and wish to be activiated by that heavenly lilac fragrance wafting in off the breeze.
It doesn't get cold enough in this mediterranean climate for them to grow, so I have other lavender color Spring flowers like the magnificent Jacaranda tree, but Oh to have lilacs and their scent again!
Too bad this fantastic high tech tool of internet doesn't include smells!
Amy

Unknown said...

Aaawww, so cute - reminds me of the babies we had in the tree in our back yard this summer!
That lilac of yours is just stunning - wish I could sniff it!

Taffiny said...

I always prefer my rats with bushy tails.

Well as they have destroyed the bird house, it is nice that they have appeased you with ongoing entertainment.

The last couple of years when I go to gardening centers I keep picking up a lilac plant and almost buy it but then end up leaving without it (basically because of Bob, he thinks I plant too much, and spend too much money on plants), now how I wish I had one. Oh well, next year.

Vesper said...

Chandni, are they similar to the chipmunks? I would very much like to know that story from mythology. :-)

Aine, I see many squirrel nests in the trees. They make them with leaves. Once I saw a mother squirrel carrying her babies, one by one, to a new nest.

Oh, Amy, I wish I could send you some lilac... Some things always stay with us no matter how many other more beautiful things we encounter...

Vanilla, I'm sending a virtual whiff of lilac your way... :-)

You should buy one, Taffiny. I'm under the impression that you have a big garden - I'm sure you'll find space and it's well worth it... :-)

Chandni said...

The story comes from the Ramayana (one of the the two great epics of India, the other being the Mahabharata). Lord Rama had to cross the sea to get to Ravana (his enemy who had captured Rama's wife, Sita). To help Rama cross the sea, a monkey army was building a bridge of pebbles. One day, a great monkey saw a little squirrel ferry tiny pebbles to the sea and made fun of him. Hurt, the squirrel explained that he too wanted to help Rama cross the sea and he was doing the best he could by contributing tiny pebbles. Angered, the great monkey flung the squirrel away and said that his help wasn't required. The squirrel went and fell in Lord Rama's hand. Rama said to the monkeys,"Do not make fun of the weak and the small. Your strength or what you do is not important. What matters is your love. This little squirrel has love in his heart." Saying that, Rama stroked the squirrel gently on his back, leaving an imprint of 3 white stripes. And since then squirrels have three stripes on their backs!

ps: that is why I was amazed to see your stripeless squirrels!