This photo may not be very clear. What I'm trying to show is two different squirrels simultaneously hanging upside down from two different bird feeders, one to the right in the sun and one to the left in the shade, way back by the garden shed. Believe it or not, we do also successfully feed birds, but our squirrels are ravenous.
Here are some close-ups:
Little monsters!
I know the question on the tip of all your tongues, though, is did my chicken-coop warmer arrive? Is the avocado tree still struggling in the icy grip of winter or is it toasty and tropical in its fabric shroud?
I am happy to report that the warmer is indeed here and seems to be functioning well. It arrived in a box marked entirely with Chinese characters, thus betraying its origins, but fortunately the directions inside were in English. There really aren't many directions. Plug in, turn on.
Here it is hanging from the tree, inside the shroud. It's basically just a miniature fan and a heating coil. Although this angle makes it look like the heater is nestled among the leaves, it's actually hanging about a foot below them. It emits a gentle heat -- the coil never glows. When I tested it yesterday evening, the temperature inside the shroud rose to about 20 degrees warmer than the outside air.
So I'd call that a success, as long as it doesn't burn the house down. (I'll unplug it before we go to work. I think the tree can survive with no extra heat through the day, when the exterior temperatures will creep above freezing.)
What a production, right?
Otherwise, yesterday was uneventful. I stayed inside and read about the Lusitania, and read blogs, and scanned some family photos that I retrieved from my stepmother's house. Here I am lighting birthday candles:
There are nine candles on that cake, but I look older than nine in the picture, don't I? Maybe it's not my cake. Why would I be lighting my own birthday candles? If the cake belonged to my younger brother or sister, I'd be 12, which seems more likely -- in fact I'm not sure construction on that house had even been finished by my ninth birthday. I do remember that shirt -- I think it was a hand-me-down from my stepbrother but I liked it, presaging my adult enthusiasm for shirts with colorful prints.
And now, winter break has come to an end. Off to work!
The squirrels are funny.
ReplyDeleteThe warmer heated the space to 20C? 20F would be very cold.
I saw that as 20⁰F warmer than the outside air
DeleteYes, GZ is correct. Outside air was around 30º F; inside the shroud it was about 50º F.
DeleteI love that look of intense concentration on your face as you light those candles.
ReplyDeleteThat would certainly be useful in my greenhouse...I wonder if there is a battery driven heater?!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful photo to have. The vintage details, too. Macramé plant hanger. Amber glass ashtray (filled with cigarette butts to perfect effect). And you’re adorable and so intense.
ReplyDeleteWho were those Chinese characters on the box? Cai Lun? Confucius? Mao Zedong? Empress Wu Zetian?
ReplyDeleteI'm about to head back to work today, too. The students won't be back until tomorrow, we have "professional development" today which just means sitting in meetings hearing the same old, same old stuff we're subjected to twice a year. For me, that's bookkeeper stuff that I know all about and haven't had any value from since my first year at this school. Ugh. Getting out of bed this morning was HARD. And Poppy is already pouting!
ReplyDeleteIndeed, why would you light your own birthday candles? Of course you would not, and so I guess it's not your cake. You cut a dashing figure as a twelve-year old in that snazzy shirt!
ReplyDeleteSquirrels want to eat, too, and as long as the birds get their share, that's fine.
That photo is domestic history -- back when people smoked, indoors even! Macrame plant hanger! Future archaeologists will probably ascribe some religious ritual to both. Especially the lighting of candles to some god.
ReplyDeleteWhen squirrels find food they do anything to get it! Never say die!!!
ReplyDeleteBack when I was on the farm, we often used heating lamps which were essentially just a halogen bulb, to keep piglets warm that were born in the midst of winter outside. They would spill some of their milk on their skin and the light would crisp it up and after awhile, they essentially felt like little armored pigs, perhaps what an armadillo feels like though I have never felt one. Eventually when they grew and were able to thermally stay warm without aid, the lamps were removed, their hair and skin would eventually be replaced and they were much more pleasant to the touch.
ReplyDeleteYou look so cute and so intense.
ReplyDeleteYou were a darling boy and now you are a darling man.
ReplyDeleteThe macrame plant hanger!
What a handy gadget the coop heater is.
My Mum used to rush out grabbing a broom on the way, to scare squirrels off her bird feeder, she hated the 'little blighters' as she called them. It was ironic then that the stone bird bath she and my Dad bought as an anniversary gift for themselves one year had lots of little squirrels depicted climbing the stand. Of course I HAD to point it out to her. :-)
ReplyDeleteYay for the avocado! And I miss seeing squirrels do their gymnastics.
ReplyDeleteBack to work for me too! I'm glad the heater works but I agree with your unplugging it during the day. That seems to me to be the smart thing to do. Can you imagine trying to eat while hanging upside down? Those squirrels are quite the acrobats.
ReplyDeleteBack to work- hmmm I do not like the sound of that! Retirement can not come soon enough. You look nine years old in that photo, to me you look nine years old. anyway. Happy Birthday! in the way back machine. Dennis put a hole in a pie tin and turned it upside down on the feeder - Squirrels can not enjoy their day long snack anymore.
ReplyDeleteYep, today is really the first day of the new year, the first Monday when the holidays are truly over and we must all get back to work and our regular routine.
ReplyDeleteYou covering the avocado is like me trying to protect the ever bigger ponytail palm which is in the ground or the night blooming cereus in a pot which I usually bring in for the long term. So far I haven't had to try and cover it this winter (though I did the cereus twice, unnecessarily I'm sure). Or bring anything in besides a few small pots that went right back outside. Might have to get that little heater.
Squirrels are always ravenous, perhaps because they're constantly in motion and have to climb trees (and poles). Come to think of it, I've never seen a squirrel resting. I remember the back to work in January as particularly brutal.
ReplyDeleteWe won't worry about the details but you were concentrating on lighting the candles.
ReplyDeleteLove that photo! What a great pic. I want to read the Lusitania book too -- Larson is one of my favorite writers. And well done on the avocado! Fingers are crossed it's a hit!
ReplyDeleteThat photo is great with all its detail. I don't know if you look old enough to be 12, but I suppose it would have been odd, in most families, for you to light the candles on your own cake. I don't know if my birthday cakes would have had candles. When I became an older teen, I asked my mom for chocolate pie on my birthday and she obliged.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Love the photograph too… what a pampered avocado tree. I hope it rewards you with a lot of fruit.
ReplyDeleteQuite a few squirrels are seen in the garden here, I enjoy watching their antics but I know they are not everyone's favourite.
ReplyDeleteHappy back to work :)
All the best Jan
Squirrels are definitely gymnasts, and they can empty a feeder pronto.
ReplyDeleteThe heater looks like it is doing a great job.
The squirrels are so cute and ravenous before they go to hibernation mode. Do squirrels hibernate? I'm glad the chicken coop heater arrived and the directions are easy to follow. Plug in turn on, hah!
ReplyDeleteReferring back to the previous post, I googled how to grow avocado trees and learned that a grafted tree will produce fruit in 3-5 years, while one grown from seed from a store bought avocado may take much longer, 7-10 years and may not produce good fruit , possibly not produce fruit at all. For fruit production it is recommended to grow two types to pollinate each other. Also if grown in pots, avocados hate wet feet so don't over water.
ReplyDeleteSo good luck with your tree and I hope it does eventually fruit 🤞🤞