Wednesday whims and whines

This morning there was a squirrel hanging on the bird feeder, and I went out into the bitter cold to spray pepper all over it -- the feeder, not the squirrel -- again. The next time I looked, there were two squirrels on the feeder and a third one perched in the tree, waiting for a table. Clearly the pepper solution (bad pun) is no solution. Tom thinks the problem may be that it is so cold and the stuff froze, making the offensive smell less powerful. But since we are looking for something the keep squirrels away during the worst of winter, this method will not help. Back to the drawing board. On the other hand, it is supposed to get above freezing this weekend and start getting quite a bit warmer. We will see what effect that has on things.

Lee has suggested that I be an equal-opportunity-food-distributor and set up a station for the squirrels somewhere away from the bird feeder where I can provide the furry fiends with suitable nourishment. This was actually one of the suggestions I had seen online, and I will discuss it with Tom. The squirrels, of course, pick up tons of seeds on the ground that the birds scatter there, and even if they are denied immediate access to the feeder, they still get the gleanings. 

Leviticus 19:9-10 -- When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.

While I was figuring out how to make a YouTube recording and post that bit about reading out loud, Tom went to Home Depot and got a toilet fill valve to replace the one in my bathroom. He made fast work of it, having replaced the one in his bathroom a few months back. The house is nine years old and some things are beginning to show their age. (And I am not referring primarily to the occupants.)