How long does it take a blonde to outsmart a squirrel?

For about 2 1/2 months I have been doing battle with a pesky squirrel. It has been an exercise in frustration because I would guess that I should be smarter than the squirrel, but he is proving to be a worthy opponent. It started around mid-September when I heard scurrying feet in my attic. Seeing the critter outside I knew that he was trying to move in on my personal space and that was totally not something I was going to put up with.

My first move was to try to fix the problem myself. I had some chicken wire and I figured out where he was getting in. There was a small hole at a juncture of two roof lines. The angle was such that I couldn't get into the space to nail a small piece of wood over the hole. I decided that the chicken wire would do. I rolled it up tight and wedged it into the spot. Seems I shut him in because within a couple of days my chicken wire was pushed out and away. The squirrel just figured that I had put in a door for him and upgraded his living quarters.

Cussing and hauling out the long extension ladder yet again I climbed up and wedged the wire in, figuring that this time I had it nice and tight. This time I also decided to call in the pros and had an exterminator come out. I explained to him where the hole was but he climbed on the roof and then came down and proceeded to tell me that I had vents on the roof with no screens and since I had 13 vents, it would cost around $30/vent to get screens for them plus another 200 and some dollars to trap the squirrel. This squirrel was beginning to look like a small mink coat! I was seriously considering my husband's offer to shoot him. I figured that the jail time my husband would serve for discharging a firearm in the city limits would be worth getting rid of the squirrel.

Instead I called the building inspector and asked him about the likelihood of my vents having been installed without screens. In a nutshell he said there were probably screens on the vents and the only way to tell was to go into the attic. Since I had wedged in the chicken wire so tightly I hadn't heard the pitter patter of little feet for a while now, so I knew the squirrel had vacated his living quarters. I was feeling pretty proud of myself about the chicken wire tactic and figured I had nipped the problem in the bud. But just to be sure I braved a trip to the attic and crawled through knee-high insulation and wedged between trusses to assess the vents. Yup the building inspector was right...all vents had screens. I did decide to check out the hole that was chicken wired shut and found that it would require the flexibility of an acrobatic circus performer. Besides I had the chicken wire in so tight that there was no way the squirrel could move it.

That is until we returned home from our Thanksgiving travels. The squirrel must be on steroids. He had pulled my chicken wire out of its wedged tight spot and thrown it on the ground. Once again he was lulling in insulated comfort. This just wouldn't do. I spent this morning stewing and obsessing about it. In the midst of all this my husband shouted, "The squirrel is outside in the tree." Grabbing a small board, nails, hammer, the extension ladder, flashlight, gloves, mask and bicycle helmet I ventured into the attic. In case you are wondering the helmet was to protect my head from nails and board bumps because I don't have a hard hat. I worked my way over to the hole and reassessed...Yup there was no way I was going to be able to get into that tight spot and cover the hole. I figured that calling the fire department to unwedge me would probably not be a good thing. We were going to have to tackle the hole from the outside. Unfortunately my husband thought that he heard the critter running around in the attic again. I hoped he was mistaken and we wouldn't be shutting him in. My husband did a great job of measuring the space and cutting a triangle shaped board that we could wedge between the two roof lines and seal off the space. It worked perfectly!

That is until we heard the pitter patter of feet again. This time the pitter patter was a frantic circling above our heads as the squirrel realized his exit had been sealed. I fretted and stewed, but by this time my husband was sacked out in front of the TV watching a football game and he couldn't care less about a squirrel going nuts in our attic.

There was only one thing to do: grab the hammer and the extension ladder. Back out to the roof. This time to move the board. I got it out, climbed down the ladder and stepped back to watch for the squirrel to exit. It was a waiting game and a cold one. Wait! That's him. We were eye to eye. He saw the urge to kill in my face and didn't wait. He turned and dashed over the top of the roof. I scrambled up the ladder to wedge the block of wood back in. Drats! I can't get it to fit. I had to dislodge my husband from his recliner and ball game to come back out and get it into place. He grumbled the whole while, but it was worth it because maybe...just maybe I finally outsmarted the stupid squirrel! Mom

It's been 45 years

since President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. I was at home making bread when I heard the report over the radio. Its funny how vivid your memory is when something like that happens. The television was full of the news for days. Then we watched as Ruby shot Oswald, the news was on going. What a time in history!! I can remember the day Franklin Roosevelt died, I was in grade school and the elevator operator told me about it. ( Yes in those days you had ladies or men that manned the elevator, none of that automatic stuff for us. ) History books today contain the events we lived through. When I was in school, history seemed eons from what was happening or so I thought. I just remember dates and places we had to learn. Now I can relate to the depression, WWII, Roosevelt's death, Kennedy's assassination, Nixon's oust from office, Ford being shot, Korean and Viet Nam conflicts, and the more current events. It has been interesting living history instead of reading about it. Grandmother

Bring It On!

Those are the words my husband blurted when his staff challenged that they would swamp him with food donations. It all started during the local food drive that the office was collecting food items for. My husband offered to match the total donations for one day can for can. Naturally some of his staff couldn't resist quips like "I have a trunk full of items and I think I will donate them all.
Well when faced with a challenge like that quite naturally the first words my husband would utter were "bring it on". Well bring it on they did. In one day after all was said and done the staff had donated 369 food items. 369 cans and boxes of food didn't fill up the truck...thank goodness for that, but it still amounted to a heck of a lot of food. Even though it was all done in the spirit of competition, the highlight is that the food centers around the area will have that much more to distribute to those who are facing extreme hardships and won't be sitting down to a table groaning from the weight of a Thanksgiving feast. It doesn't hurt to remember that we don't need to stuff ourselves and that if we just get what we need for a meal and not go overboard, then there will be plenty left over to help out those who are struggling. Mom

I am taking a moment

of silence to get ready for the passing of TV's rabbit ears and outside antennas. In February of 2009 all TV goes digital. This means that if you use rabbit ears or outside antennas your TV will be black, no picture at all and you will have to invest in a converter box.

My folks got their first TV in March of 1954 complete with rabbit ears. We only had one station to watch and at times metal hangers hung from them to get a clearer picture, sometimes a sheet of aluminum foil hanging from them did the job. There were times when one person watched the picture and shouted to another person, "a little to the left, no back to the right, try it again". In later years an outside antenna was placed on the roof, which made it more difficult for two people to get a good picture, another person was called in to relay messages to the rooftop adjuster. It seemed that when there was a ball game on, the TV became blurry and out of focus.

We lived on a ranch in Montana so there was no cable but satellite dishes became popular for these remote areas. I wonder if you will find rabbit ears and antennas in the antique stores soon. Grandmother

More on BPA

You might remember that I wrote about BPA, bisphenol A, in plastics in an earlier post. I havejust read another article about BPA and phthalates in November's Good Housekeeping and think that a revisit on the topic is prudent. Phthalates are added to make plastics soft...think chewy toys for babies. The interesting thing about these chemicals is that the FDA insists that the levels present in plastics are not high enough to present a danger to people. The author of the Good Housekeeping article, Florence Williams, cites Steven Hentges, executive director of the American Chemistry Council's Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group as saying that an average adult would have to consume more than 500 pounds of canned foods and beverages every day just to reach the safety standards set in the US.

But what is especially poignant about the article is the effect that BPA and phtalates have on developing fetuses. What isn't understood is at what time of gestational development these chemicals could have the most damaging effect on the fetus and how much is too much for a fetus?

Studies looking at BPA and phthalates are seeing links to low sperm counts and other reproductive abnormalities, early puberty, cancer and obesity and diabetes.

When we look at the amount of plastics used today, it is pervasive from cereal in plastic bags, to cans lined with plastic to cheese wrapped in plastic to vinyl and acrylics. The appearance of plastic came about after WWII and in fact a lobby group was organized called the Society for Plastic Industries. From that point the production and use of plastics snowballed and now we find ourselves wondering how we are going to escape this massive plastic bubble. Mom

Veteran's Day 2008

This day is when we take time to remember the members of our armed services who served in the wars and conflicts this country was involved with. When I was in school we had a minute of silence at 11:00 o'clock to remember people we knew. Flags flew in the streets, banks, government offices, city offices were closed but we had school. Sometimes there were parades and since our school was on the main street of our town we got excused to watch people celebrating. 1944 and 1945 were especially memorable since WWII was over and several soldiers had come home and marched in the parade. I read in the paper this morning that a 90 year old woman was riding with a contingent of WWII veterans in New York's parade this year. The woman was the nurse that appeared on Life magazine that depicted a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on V-J Day in 1945. I wish Edith Shain the best as she celebrates Veteran's Day 2008. Grandmother

Ode to Leaves

Leaf so lovely and light,
making days ever bright.

Gaily coloring the yards,
while trees stand like stoic guards.

Millions and millions of leaves,
oh, time to roll up my sleeves.

How can a thing so lovely and light,
turn into such a chore?
My muscles complained all night,
And tomorrow on the ground will be even more leaves galore!
Mom

Election Night

We ventured out to be among the sea of people in Grant Park. I was a little hesitant as police were in riot gear, prepared for the worst. And there were some frightening predictions of what might happen. But in the end, there was no need to be worried.

We began our night at the Berghoff, a more than 100-year-old German restaurant and bar. For me, this was one of the best parts of the night because of the camaraderie. The guy at the table next to us predicted a Nixonian landslide like in 1972 and every time Obama won a state the place erupted in cheers.

Around 9 p.m., we headed over to Grant Park, picking up tee-shirts along the way. Everywhere you turned there were people. But instead of being chaotic, there was just excitement in the air.

In comparison to the first election I participated in (Bush vs. Kerry) where most people were apathetic, this was extraordinary. People were politically engaged, something I haven't witnessed as an adult. And it wasn't just because it was a landmark election. It was because people cared and were passionate about change. All of this made for an electric climate in Grant Park as everyone waited in anticipation. As we stood in the middle of Jackson Street with jumbotrons all around, CNN made the announcement that changed history--Obama won. And everyone started screaming, clapping and jumping around. There was such excitement. It was incredible that I saw history happen right in front of me surrounded by the beautiful buildings of Chicago all lit especially for the occasion.

Needless to say I proudly wore my t-shirt the next day, which said "Chicago's In the House"! Daughter.

Look what Grandma did!!!!

I am set for the cold weather!!! These EASY lounge pants were made in one afternoon using warm flannel. I got the pattern from my grandaughter-in-law. They are real cozy and comfortable. I will be set for winter reading and watching TV. It will be a while before I can make use of them since we are having Indian Summer now. Sewing fingers Grandmother