Little Victories

Little Victories. That is the name of a book I read about 20 (?) years ago. It was about victories in the classroom. Well, the victories I want to share today involve entirely different subjects.

First I am winning the Squirrel Wars.

Mr. Squirrel is deciding that cayenne pepper is not for him.

We have the fattest, most plump little fellows living in the woods behind our house. They are accustomed to feasting regularly on the delicious sunflower seeds we put out to attract birds to our feeders. They are quite the little pigs, and nearly clean us out in 2 or 3 days! Determined to get them to eat the field corn we bought for them, I set out to learn how to keep them out of the bird feeders. From an internet search, I learned that squirrels don't like ground cayenne pepper! I just sprinkled it in the tray of each feeder and waited on the little devils to show up. Sure enough, one did, as the picture above shows him in all his fat, healthy little furriness.

After checking all the sides of both feeders, he scampered off to tell his friends and family, I hope. He skittered out anyway. I don't know if squirrels tell each other about the lousy food or not.

This tiny 1-oz. jar cost $3.69. Pricey, but if it saves me in the price of birdseed, then worth it. Now that I know it works, I will look for it in bulk to get a better price.

My second little victory is that I got out at 7:00 this morning and walked 2.5 miles! Ever since retiring, I have tried to discipline myself to establish a walking routine. I have walked with my friend Vickie for many years, but we are such wimps, and our schedules don't match up as well as they used to. Really, we don't try all that hard, most of the time. Discipline is something I lack, so I will have to really work on this to make it a habit. But for one day, I am celebrating a victory!

As I was finishing the walk, red-faced, hot, and huffing and puffing: a really huge woman drove by. It was startling just how big she was! It made me think that I was glad to have walked. I passed her later driving through the middle of town and she was eating fast food. Again, I was glad I had walked.

Now, I have not been victorious in getting to my sewing machine as much as I would like. I've been distracted by some committee work lately. That will come to an end tonight when we meet to make 165 cheese balls for charity! Whew, I sure will be glad when that is done!