Mrs. Spot’s New Neighbors

Mrs. Spot was telling me the other day that she has new neighbors. A pair of newly wed nuthatches bought a pent house hollow in the oak tree near her burrow. The nuthatches want to have a big family. Mr. Nuthatch is an investor advisor and Mrs. Nuthatch is a lawyer at a big Boston law firm. (This explains how they can afford the 5,000 seed per month mortgage!) She plans on working from home during the nesting season. This house is really grand. It has this huge front entrance. It is big enough for five chipmunks to walk in side by side. Inside it has cathedral ceilings. (I can just imagine how many seeds I could store in such a cavernous space …) Oh, well a chipmunk can always dream.

Where does your food come from?

I was surprised to learn that the majority of chipmunks don’t know where their seeds come from. This is according to a recent national survey. When asked where their seeds come from: 50% answered from bird feeders (okay, technically true …), 25% food replicators (a bunch of Trekkies!), 15% from the supermarket, 9% from sunflower plants, 1% claimed to be meat eaters (they’re on the paleo diet) and one respondent spent an hour discussing whether it was important to know our food source or not (must have been our resident philosopher – Vinnie). I am pleased to report everyone who took the survey at the Woodpile answered the question correctly.

As you know I am a real connoisseur of sunflower seeds. I have a collection of seeds from across the globe. The latest edition to my collection is Guinness flavored sunflower seeds. I bought two packages to plant. The instructions are really easy. The challenge is not drinking the beer. And to stop my neighbors from drinking it, I labeled the bottles “squirrel liquid manure composting experiment – do not drink.” Yes, it is a bit crude but extremely effective. (It also helps when you get a surprise visit from the Customs agents, not that has ever happened to me). These seeds cost $20 apiece, I have to protect my investment. Each plant will yield hundreds of seeds which I can then sell for a huge profit.

Imported from Ireland (I might have circumvented customs)

 

The instructions seem easy. But make sure to read the warning. [Click to enlarge]

I thought I heard Bushy the Squirrel. The warning says to keep away from squirrels.

I wasn’t sure how many seeds to put in each bottle, so, I put the whole seed pack in.

Trying to submerge the seeds in the Guinness is harder than it looks.

I going to plant a backup bottle.

Celebrating Star Wars - May 4th

This past weekend was May 4^th – a big Star Wars holiday - “May the fourth be with you.” I organized a Star Wars themed event with a special guest star from one of the recent movies. You will never guess who! BB8. I decided to a do a reading of BB8’s autobiography. I invited my loyal fan club: Merry, the Tropiflys, and Spitfire. Oh, you haven’t met Spitfire yet. She is a dragonfly that lives on the Pond but prefers to hang out at the Woodpile.

Excellent the whole gang is here. Let me introduce our very special guest BB8

 I will be doing a reading of his autobiography “Rolling with BB8!”

I'm having some technical difficulties turning the page, Hold on a moment …

I was reading about the evil Kylo Ren. The Tropifly’s got really scared. One hid under the wings of Spitfire and the other ran to Merry for protection.

I shared my secret stash of very special sunflower seeds. It protects who ever eats them from all types of evil.

Did you hear something? It sounded like storm troopers invading the Woodpile … run for your lives … oh, its just Mom banging her boots to get the mud off.

Me scared? Never. I had the situation completely under control.

Here is a group photo with the gang, BB8 and his new book.

“Can I go for a ride?”

I got a photo of BB8 and me.

Mobile Home

I hope folks remember me, I am Sparky. Chippy is away on a business trip negotiating a distribution contract in Europe for Woodpile Sunflower Ale. We had a good crop of sunflowers last year, and we have 957 kegs of the stuff to unload. I have 500 shares in the brewery and I am anticipating a big dividend check. I thought I would check out the real estate market at the Woodpile. Why don’t you tag along while I look.

I have been renting a one room studio burrow for a while. It is a bit cramped. I heard there is a recently built place on the market. It is wood frame construction (rather than earth tunnel construction.) Supposedly this is the latest housing fad. It called a “mobile home.” I have no idea what this means. Maybe you do?

It is located in a nice neighborhood.

Lets take a closer look. Edible decorations, waterproof roof, and real wood construction. I was rather hoping for something with a view of the pond. All I can see is the Woodpile. There isn’t much seed storage space either. That’s strange … the entrance hole is a bit small for chipmunks. This “deal” is starting to smell like rotting seeds.

Hey, where did that real estate agent disappear to?

 I have a bad feeling something is sticky about this deal. I am washing my paws of it.

Good thing I didn’t buy that place. It was a “mobile” bird house.

And you had to hang it in a tree yourself!

Good news! I found this burrow with a great view of the pond.

It has five seed vaults and a Jacuzzi hot tub.