The squirrels and I

The squirrels around here are huge this time of year...and a bit menacing. Our first year here I bought big corn stalks to adorn our front porch for fall. Every morning I looked out to see the stalks knocked down and the corn all over the porch. Like a fool, I set them back up each day, getting more and more angry about the ruin of my holiday decor. I learned my lesson...no more corn stalks. But the squirrels and I still have our issues. They dig in my planters, burying their hidden treasures of walnuts and seeds for winter, spraying dirt all over the porch. And as soon as I plant my bulbs for spring, I find them unearthed and torn apart. In spring I find the tulips and daffodils sprouting up in all sorts of interesting places...and not at all in the pretty rows I had imagined.

But as as annoying as the squirrels are, I kind of get them. They are diligent little creatures, not wasting a minute in the fall...they know the cold days of winter are coming...and they dont have a minute to waste. They, like me, are planners. I cant fault them for wanting to make sure they have enough food stocked away, or for enjoying fattening up on good food before a long winter sleep.

As soon as the leaves start to change, I get that itch to start stocking my pantry for winter. I start craving warm soups and stews, homemade broth, and crock pot meals that slow cook all day.

The fall harvest is about making the best of the last crops....spring is a long way away.....

But I have considered that my stocking up might be a little on the obsessive side....
We've got several whole chickens, twenty jars of beef and chicken stock, quarts and quarts of applesauce, about 50 lbs of beef, and as you can see, my overflow pantry is full.

Im pretty sure we could go all winter without going to the grocery at all.
The squirrels and I are ready to burrow in until spring......