Oops, another squirrel blip

When I worked in a primary school we used to dread windy days, as the windier the weather the more hyper the children seemed to be: they would forget all the rules (especially the one about not running in corridors), were far more likely to fight, & it seemed to take twice the number of staff to keep them under control in the playground - a full-on gale would see the queue outside the headmaster's office almost as long as the lunch queue.

I think that for squirrels, it must be foggy weather which exerts the hyper effect. It was very foggy first thing, & it not only brought out their manic behaviour, but brought out the entire family together: at one time I counted five of them cavorting around (& actually managed to capture 3 in the viewfinder), but the general rushing-aboutness made it extremely difficult to focus; or so I thought. I stayed at the window for over half an hour doing my best David Bailey impression, pointing the lens this way & that, my shutter finger was working overtime, & I only stopped when the camera battery expired. Amazingly, far more of them turned out to be in focus than I'd expected, & for once I was spoilt for choice as to what should be today's blip. In the end I chose this one cos it's not a 'typical' squirrel pose; he looks almost as if he's having a bop, but in fact a split second later had raced up that fence in pursuit of his sibling - I have several photos of multiple grey blurs as they chased one another along the fence-down the tree-across the lawn-and back up the fence again.

Once the fog had lifted we had a beautifully warm sunny day, so I cracked the whip (well, metaphorically - but I was appropriately wearing my Stetson), & we now have two honeysuckles planted where they will eventually disguise the wonkiness of the trellis at the end of the garden. Well, that's the plan, anyway; they're both evergreens, one with pinky/purple flowers & the other with creamy/yellow ones, & each produces berries during different months; that should please the birds. Also planted were a few shade-loving perennials which we're hoping can compete with the ivy & general wildness (which we have no wish to tame) at the bottom of the garden, & they'll also add a splash of colour down there. By then I was getting too hot & needed to come in for a rest, so we still haven't got the annual seeds in, nor really made a start on any veg. Hubby did offer to carry on without my supervision, but I'm afraid I become a bit of a control freak where the garden is concerned: I can't do much in the way of physical stuff out there, so tend to compensate by 'having' to oversee everything new (though obviously not the boring stuff like mowing & weeding) - luckily hubby understands this, & naturally never complains when the whip-cracking stops!