Early Morning Squirrel on the Back Deck Feeder, Mars, PA – January, 2019
Lessons from a Squirrel.
It pays to be nimble.
You can get what you want if you just stretch
your body and mind a little more than you think you can.
The early bird may get the worm,
but the early squirrel gets the birdseed.
Cheers & Warm Winter Hugs,
Jodi
Pine Squirrel in the Spring Snow – Mars, PA – April 7, 2018
If you
can’t stop
thinking
about it,
Don’t stop
working
for it.
This little cutie is an American Red (Pine) Squirrel that hangs out in our back yard with the birds and other bigger squirrels (and chipmunks and turkey and deer and Charlie of course). These little squirrels only stand about 6 inches tall, being just a bit bigger than a chipmunk, and weigh about a half of a pound (200-250 g).
Saturday morning, we awoke to another Spring snow with two or three inches on the deck railing. This little bugger was not giving up on his quest to get to the (ahem) “bird” feeder for breakfast. I caught him burrowing full force through the snow that was taller than him when on all fours, but he was determined…. and he got there.
He reminded me not to give up and not to stop working on what we want and where we want to go.
Thanks little buddy!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Daily Stretches.
Stretch your muscles
to move about with ease.
Stretch your eyes open wide
to see the beauty in this world.
Stretch your mind
to explore new experiences.
Stretch your wallet
to give to those in need.
Stretch your heart
to give more love.
Stretch your imagination
to create art or music or beautiful words.
Stretch your arms open
to embrace in a hug.
Stretch!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Earl the Squirrel Watercolor 8×10 140lb Arches Cold Press
On the edge of the forest lived a squirrel named Earl.
He had a sister, whose name was Pearl.
The two of them loved to dance and twirl,
especially when visiting their cousin, Cheryl.
They sometimes ate ice cream cones of chocolate and vanilla swirl
that were tipped on the top with a frosty curl.
But more often they caught an acorn or berry that was hurled
on a branch or the trunk of a tree that was burled.
Their tails were fluffy but they kept them at a furl
in case they would have to run and scutter and whirl.
Which was often the case when a dog named Merle
chased them back to the edge of their world.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
This is one of a series of fun animal watercolor paintings and rhymes I am pursuing.
See the others:
A Rare Hare with Flare
A Duck Named Chuck
A Fawn at Dawn
Rooty the Rooster
A Precocious Pink Pig
Hal the Colorful Cow
A Mouse named Klaus
Pam the Lamb
An Otterly Awesome Otter
The background blue on this painting was done using my new Rembrandt Series 3 Artist Quality Cerulean Blue Watercolor Paint I WON for FREE from Charlie at Doodlewash for #WorldWatercolorMonth. Thanks Charlie! I’ll be trying more of the wonderful colors soon.
Earl the Squirrel was inspired by my loyal TheCreativeLifeinBetween.com blog-following friends, Ellen and Benjamin.
What is better than a warm apple dumpling with a scoop of vanilla ice cream?
How about an old-fashioned peach dumpling with ice cream and peach brandy in the caramel sauce?!?!
O M G are these amazing!
Hubby loves peach pie, and I had some peaches getting very ripe on the kitchen counter Father’s Day morning.
So I decided to make him this special treat of flaky pie crust wrapped around sweet juicy fresh peaches stuffed with brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and vanilla and drizzled with a creamy, caramely, brandy infused sauce.
Is that Merv a lucky guy or what??!!
It was a great weekend, beginning with my boss winning Entrepreneur of the Year Friday evening at a gala I was so fortunate to attend with him and some of our colleagues and friends, and ending with having the kids over for Father’s Day.
Our oldest son, Jake, grilled an amazing pork tenderloin he marinated in fresh herbs and lemon, and he also brought over his homemade macaroni salad (one of hubby’s faves). Our daughter-in-law, Colleen, brought hubby more goodies – homemade apricot turnovers and homemade cinnamon swirl bread. He’ll be set for a while! And this is all after being treated out to breakfast at one of his favorite spots with our youngest son, Nick.
Unfortunately, I ended up getting some kind of nasty “crud.” It started Friday evening at the gala when my voice started going and my throat got scratchy and sore. I woke up Saturday morning with my right eye sealed shut, coughing up a storm, and absolutely no voice. I tried to take it easy, and we had to cancel Saturday evening dinner plans with friends.
I’m still feeling pretty punk, but oh well – still bucked up and prepared this yummy treat and enjoyed visiting with the family and playing Cranium and laughing way too much! Did you ever try to do a humdinger challenge with no voice?! Thank goodness whistling worked!
But back to these amazing peach dumplings…
I am the queen of improvising in recipes and had not had a chance to go to the grocery store this weekend feeling like I did, so when the recipe I found (at A Flock in the City) called for heavy cream in the sauce and I had none in the refrigerator, I decided to try substituting vanilla ice cream. Where there is a will there is a way! And I’m not sure I’d do it any other way after this!! I made a few other tweaks – using my own standby pie crust recipe, blanching and peeling the skin from the peaches, leaving out the nutmeg, and adjusting a few quantities of sugar and butter, but I really liked this recipe I found.
Hubby loved them, so I’m glad I made this treat for him. I also got him a new bird feeder – a Squirrel Buster (thanks for the recommendation Jo) and an Oriole feeder, so the birds are sure having a good time.
The squirrel however….. well – just watch this video (thanks Nick for allowing me to share!)
Sauce
Directions
Hope you all had a nice weekend celebrating Fathers and families.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the little grey squirrel that visited our deck
Hello little Squirrel…
are you a boy or are you a girl?
I love the way your fluffy tail
has such a happy curl.
We thought you were so cute
the first day you gave the bird feeders a whirl.
It was fun to watch you leap and jump
and prance and dance and twirl.
But you were a bit of a piggy…
eating more than your fair share.
So we had to give a shout
that gave you a little scare.
I sure hope that your feet – that are a little biggy
withstood that leap and kept you springy
from the tromps and claps and shouts
of that old meany Papa Bear McKinney.
Have fun climbing trees and running about,
but please watch out – – -don’t take the route
that causes us… to chew you out.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 