Ravenous Camellia Monster, Yet Again

They're at it again -- the squirrels, devouring the flowers from our neighbor's pink camellia bush. We see this every spring. Among gardeners, this is apparently a well-known phenomenon. Camellias (along with tulips and crocuses) are among squirrels' favorite springtime snacks. I suppose there must be nectar inside the blossoms, or seeds, or something. Maybe they're just pleasantly crisp, like a colorful salad.

For some reason, the squirrels never attack our camellia, which has white blossoms. Maybe it doesn't taste as good?

Yesterday was pretty rainy, so I spent much of it inside. Dave and I got the plans for the rest of our week sorted out, and I read a chunk of "Almost Perfect," another YA novel that I've been curious about. It has commonly landed on recent banned book lists, because it's about a trans girl, but I'm finding it very mild in terms of content. And it's not a recent book -- it was published in 2009. I suppose just having a trans character is enough to be offensive to some (rigid and judgmental) people.

This may be the last we're going to see of this geranium. It's several years old and it was getting very leggy and gangly, so I pruned it several weeks ago. I cut it back pretty hard, leaving only one green sprout, and although that sprout is still alive I don't see it budding anywhere else. I'm not sure it's going to make it. I saved this sprig as an "insurance policy," thinking I could root it, but it's not growing roots, so -- yeah. I may have killed that plant.

And as long as this post is turning into a mishmash of unrelated pictures...

...here's an image you may have seen on Mr. Pudding's blog. It's supposedly me, Dave and Olga, rendered in the style of Grant Wood, with the aid of the Artificial Intelligence bots at Microsoft Image Creator. Dave and I were amused, even though it doesn't really look like us. Dave said, "I don't wear glasses!" He also has longer hair, and more of it. And why do we look so worried? Is it because our hands are weirdly fused together and we now face hours of surgery in order to no longer be conjoined?

I used to have a sweater vest like that, though.

Finally, for your auditory pleasure, here's a little video showing what it's like to sit out in the garden on a warm spring afternoon, with the birds singing and the dog twitching in the sun, and -- most audibly -- the ice cream truck inching its way around the neighborhood playing "O Sole Mio." It's a monotonous tune, but I like it, bringing a hint of carefree summer days to come.

I made this video on Sunday. Yesterday it was too rainy to sit outside, but I heard "O Sole Mio" making the rounds nonetheless. I'm surprised an ice cream truck can make a profit these days, considering the price of gas!