Another Chilly Day in Paradise, Squirrels are Busy, Putting a Name to Nature

Saturday, Feb. 11^th brought more clouds, but I’m doing my best to enjoy what is here before we leave this beautiful park. We slept in until 7:30 but that would be due to my staying up until 11 pm last night. I just didn’t feel tired probably from a lazy-type day.

Not much of a sunrise today

After a tea I dressed and went out for my morning walk and to the Lounge to add my few pieces to the puzzle. I’ve got to finish it before Monday! It is so quiet around here that when I heard children laughing, squealing and playing at the Family Centre playground, it took me by surprise. Oh yes, it is the weekend.

The path for this mornings walk

Pretty sites

Foot bridge between Sections

Surprise! another large boulder

I still am awed by this beautiful park as I walk around it daily. It was cool at 50F but it is easy to get lost in my own thoughts. Snapping pictures of the boulders and bridges have become an obsession, but what I see is what you get in this post.

Hungry guy munching an acorn

Digger

One interesting thing we’ve noticed since we arrived is all of the piles of fresh dirt.  Small piles between 5 – 10” in diameter and sometimes 5” in height with a hole in the middle. Hmm, what critter is doing that? Soon to discover that it is the squirrels burrowing into the ground to bury their acorns. The park is full of squirrels and freshly dug caverns.

Dirt hills housing acorns

I wonder how many nuts I'll find in here

There seemed to be some action at a fenced in area close to the Members Services building so I stopped to see what was going on. The area was gated and a number of people, teenagers included, were cleaning up the area and installing a chain link fence. When I asked what they were doing, I was informed that they were putting in a ball park. Two smaller fenced areas so I’ll have to wait and see what it looks like finished.

This tree has an unusual trunk base

I reached the Lounge and managed to make a big effort on my puzzle, I’m sure I can finish it or at least come really close with 2 or 3 more visits. The rain was coming in a faint misty drizzle when an hour later Bill beeped me on our radios. He and Clemson had come for a walk and were not far away from the building.

Clemson leads with his nose

We walked back together and could feel the damp chill of the day in our bones. Nice to get back inside our toasty Suite. I had some odd things to do, writing post cards and sweeping the floors since this was another dreary day.

Teasing of blue sky

I wanted to comment on some of the things I’ve mentioned before and couldn’t put a name to so first off. The blue/black bird I’ve seen especially on sunny days. They are busy around the park, flittering from tree to tree in plain sight. These are Stellar Jays and now I see the crown on their head.

The other thing I was curious about were the smaller trees with smooth red bark. Upon searching this, I found that they are called Pacific Madrone trees or better still “Strawberry Tree”. Once they bloomed, this tree is aptly named as well.

                                                                        

Strawberry tree blossoms visited by bees

The big trees that I have called Acorn Oak is actually a Coast Live Oak. The squirrels love this tree and its produce.

Coast Live Oak

Also, the large pine cones I’ve seen on the ground and on the branches, grow on Coulter Pine trees.

Coulter Pine

These cones are the largest of any pine cones in the United States. They can grow from 7.9” to 15.7” high with a weight of 4 to 11 lb.! That is crazy! It is recommended that anyone working under or around these trees should wear hardhats for obvious reasons. They have been nicknamed “widowmakers”.

Well, that is my lesson for today, I was curious so thought you might be too.  After our return home, we relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon. We have nowhere to be and are in no rush to get there.

I have leftover roast beef so instead of hot sandwiches I searched for a recipe that would use it up. Taking into account our likes and dislikes I will make up a batch of Cheapskate Stew. Seems to fit!

 I’ve also recently started receiving notices of free books on BookBub for my Kobo so getting myself involved in downloading some of those. Just have to remember how to do it!

Oh, and it has also been mentioned that some people are not able to post comments on my blog as of late. Puzzling, since I haven’t changed any settings for quite a while. I’ve made a change now so it would be interesting to see if anyone is having difficulty now. I don’t want to lose my commenters!

The rest of the day went according to the Lazy Woman’s Guide to Retirement. I watched some television, I made my stew and I did some soul searching. I’ve come to the conclusion that my search confirms I’ll be ready to leave the park on Monday and I’ll be ready for some desert heat.

Clemson and I took a short jaunt down the road, short because the air was cool for someone not dressed for it. It seemed warmer looking out from inside, especially when the sun finally burst through the clouds.

Ps, supper was good and our leftover roast beef is almost gone.

didn't turn out too badly
The dumplings were a nice touch

Life is actually quite wonderful and I look forward to what lies ahead tomorrow.

This is the clearest the sky has been all day
just in time for sunset

I hope you’ve had a great day. Thank you for following along today. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated.