The return of the prodigal chipppie

Imagine my surprise when I was enjoying tea on the deck this morning and suddenly heard the thunder patter of little feet.  Suddenly, a streak of striped reddish-brown ran past, headed for the peanut dish on the grill.   I had been wondering why I hadn't seen a single chippie since returning to New Jersey - fearing that the neighbor's cats might have gotten them all.  I hurried inside, grabbed a handful of peanuts and went back out on the deck to wait... Not 5 minutes later, the patter of feet again sounded and little Lemmy here ran right up to me, taking a peanut from my fingers.  Obviously she remembered me and knew that I was a reliable source of peanuts!  

Isn't it amazing that some people view chipmunks as pests?  I can't imagine every "exterminating" them, but some people do ... as for me, I just love having them around.  They are endlessly entertaining, ridiculously cute, and utterly adorable.  Okay, maybe I'm biased.  But just look at that face!

Thanks for the comments, hearts and stars on the little red critters yesterday - turns out that they are well known to many of you and pretty commonly disliked.  Seeing the condition of my lilies, I can understand why.  I did break down and spray the plants with some insecticide soap today - reluctantly.  At least the soap doesn't contain any harsh chemicals and it supposedly isn't harmful to pollinators.  

I was going to try some fancy editing today and put Lemmy on a solid black background --- but I finally abandoned the project in utter frustration.  As usual, PS Elements got the best of me - after quite a lot of muttering and cursing, I decided that the decking was a perfect background for Lemmy.  Hmph.

Two Extras today - Lemmy and the papa Wren, standing guard from the cherry tree

Cat wars are slowly  - very slowly - settling down.  Charlie has taken to sitting where he can make eye contact with Phoebe and apparently trying to put a hex on her.  They sit for what seems like hours, staring at each other with their big eyes, letting out an occasional hiss or growl.  This is better than the yowling and screeching that was going on up until recently, though.  And they seem to settle in pretty well at night - Phoebe on the bed and Charlie on the chair in our sitting room, in sight of the bed...  

Gloomy day today and thunderstorms forcast for tomorrow.  I am supposed to meet up with my walking/nature group tomorrow but I will play it by ear - no sense going out if its thundering.  

My niece texted me a picture of our newest grand-nephew yesterday morning - he's utterly adorable and I can't wait to meet him later this summer.  

TTFN, people...

Deb