The chipmunks are jumping up to get the low ones. The birds are getting at the higher ones. They are all very determined. It seems that I will need to think about netting to protect the raspberries if I want to eat any of them.

Other neighbors complain about deer, but I can see who is attacking my bushes, and it is not deer.

Emily is sick today and mrmoosie will be taking care of her all day.

I sprinkled some seeds in our front yard (between the sidewalk and the street, which is technically owned by the county).

It's a mixture (commercially put together) of annuals and perennials. I lost the package just a few minutes ago. The area between the sidewalk and the street looks salty and has small pebbles from all the snow removal. I doubt that this year will be good for that area. mrmoosie found some graphs that seem to show that this area gets tremendous amounts of snow every 7 years. It looks like an El Niño effect. So from that I would predict that the area between the sidewalk and the street gets dosed with pebbles and salt and sand and other debris on a seven-year cycle. Most years, there is very little need for plows here. So, if it grows this year, it should grow in the other years of the cycle.

Tomorrow I hope to get the last GS cookies out to their recipients.

It's not very easy to pack this snow; it's dry and powdery. It crushes down easier. Emily and I walked up the street and played with S. and her dad and a twelve-year-old and her dad. S. went in because her gloves got cold. Emily wanted to persist in trying to build a fort. It just didn't work because the snow would crush down every time. It took a long time to convince her to come home. So now we're a bit cold and trying to make hot chocolate. Well, actually the Virgo in the house is trying to clean up a spill before he will even try to make hot chocolate.

Tomorrow, mrmoosie is digging holes as part of Emily's school's various "green" projects. Emily and I are going to help, of course. On Wednesday, the classes are going to plant trees in the holes.

There are a ton of "green" projects at her school, such as "No-Waste Wednesdays" where the lunch room tries to minimize the waste by washing the aluminum heating/serving containers and collecting all other possible recyclables. There is a wildlife area in one of the courtyards, which is also an outdoor classroom. They had a native seed collection program in September and early October. I'm sure that some set of these are associated with the "Roots and Shoots" group at the school. Some are affiliated with the "Green Schools Initiative" that is run by the State of Maryland. Emily's school is in the second year of that initiative. They are going to continue with the ideas after the two-year program is over.

Yesterday, while 4 to 5 children were raking my front yard, there were shouts of "Mouse, mouse". I went over to check it out. It was a mole. Quite small, maybe 2 to 2.5 inches long, a little squished-looking, probably not even 0.5 inches at max distance from the ground and 1 inch wide. It wasn't "fat", but more widely splayed hips.

It had a little snout. It was dark brown in color with short dense fur. It stuck close to the ground and scurried to get away from the party of children examining it. It eventually got under the leaves that had not been raked yet and got away from the children.

Isn't he (or she) a beauty?

There are still some leaves to fall. The bulbs are all in the ground.

The compost is full of the innards of pumpkins.

The sheer number of events on Wednesday is excessive.

Emily is taking a bath, and I hope that the smell of turkey grease will be gone forever at that point. At least until Thanksgiving.

My sister pointed me to a website that is dedicated to using composting to reduce methane emissions from landfills.

I have finally had an idea for Emily's birthday (that does not involve cleaning up our house, which is important).

I received the wrong email in connection with my PTA committee. I am hoping for the right one on Monday, since it would be highly useful to know that information by Tuesday at 7:40am.

One of the ducks from the school courtyard was out in front today (9/18/09). The children were so enthusiastic about seeing him/her.

The media specialist/G&T coordinator was taking videos of the duck. Other ducks have been flying south for the winter and we hope that this one will start flying south also. This is one of the children from the mommy duck who laid eggs in the courtyard last spring.

The acorns are falling and birds are flying in my backyard.

I had a nightmare about compost last night. Oh boy.

And a slightly shorter way to Cantler's. Emily fed the ducks with crab gills she saved from dinner.

The totem pole has been left in a dangerous--ish state. One heavy limb is one-half sawed-through. I will have to finish that very, very soon. starstraf 's sweetie needs his own LJ id suggested a way to cut it quickly.