Squirrel 1, Azalea 0

It’s been a very warm week. We’ve broken records and hit 9000°F. I’m sorry, it only feels like 9000° but it’s been 88°. Everything is blooming and it shouldn’t be. Not quite yet. We’re dropping down into the 30s again next week so I will likely be covering everything that’s starting to bloom that shouldn’t be. Sigh.

Speaking of blooming, the azaleas are in full bloom, and the squirrel teenagers are in full zoom. And I mean zoomies. The squirrels have been splooting – the term for what they do when they lie on their bellies to try to cool off – and they have been doing this:

Menace 2 Society

Sploot happens:

I brought out the ground level birdbaths and the hose, so now we have three functioning birdbaths/refreshing water sources. Yesterday, the mourning doves couldn’t figure out how to all get into the same birdbath at the same time, which is not surprising because mourning doves share one brain cell. They are beautiful birds, and they are very fast in flight, but they are afraid of me on foot, but not afraid of cars. They often walk to their destination, even though they have wings. And when they look at you, it gives you a feeling of the most beautiful creature with not much going on behind the scenes, if you know what I mean. Anyway, while the doves were trying to figure out how to all fit into the birdbath, a sparrow showed up. Sparrows are not shy, and it came in for a landing. The MoDo’s were not impressed. This was their reaction:

👁️👁️ 👁️👁️ 👁️👁️ 👁️👁️

It was really awkward. I, of course, recorded the whole thing and could not contain my laughter.

Sparrow: “HEY, YA’LL! 🤠” MoDo: “Darlene, is that a sparrow? Tell me that is not a sparrow sitting right there next to us?!“ 🧐

These are two couples (not seen: Daryl, who made an early exit after being pecked by Dave.) Doves mate for life, so tensions were already brewing between the two couples and the fact that they couldn’t figure out how to all fit into the birdbath without ruffling feathers. I mean that figuratively and literally. One of the doves got too close to the other dove and got pecked. This caused an indignant, awkward hop out of the birdbath as one couple *had* to leave. And then the sparrow showed up. It was utter chaos.

It’s Saturday morning as I’m writing this, and don’t for a second think that the birds and the squirrels don’t know that I’m already awake in here. I’ve been sleeping with the windows open, which is necessary because I don’t have air-conditioning at the moment and it has been very hot. I would also like to point out the trees are pollinating and all of the yellow stuff you see on your car is now in my nose and eyes when I wake in the morning. But the birds and the squirrels don’t care about any of that. They just know that I’m awake and that I should be refilling the fuel sources and the watering holes, and they will come knocking if I’m late.

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Hello, can you spare a morsel? Also, umm, i think maybe…you’re a little late…

p.s. still obsessed with the Bleeding Heart

animals · blogging · I love trees · Nature · Nature photography · non-fiction · Oak trees · Photography · spring · squirrels · Trees · Willow oak trees

William and the Squirrel

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William is as majestic as ever this year. He’s probably taller than last year, but I can’t tell because he’s so tall, so…I don’t know. I was snapping some photos of my bleeding heart plant and this little squirrel became spooked by me. She’s young and she’s wary, which is a good thing, because the Cooper’s Hawk is around quite frequently, as is the fox. In any case, when she saw me, she decided to seek William out for shelter. I have many times sought out William for shelter and I have communed with him to get grounded. For it is definitely so that his roots reach as far down as his canopy reaches to the sky. To touch a tree that is at least 100 years old and is likely sustaining most of the trees in the neighborhood through its root system, is nothing short of magical. When I am feeling especially anxious and my vertigo is especially bad, I will lean on William and I feel better, at least for that moment.

Have a great weekend everyone, and if you need grounding, touch a tree. Talk to a tree. Trust me, it works.

Oh, here’s the bleeding hearts. I had to cover them with a tent-like contraption for two nights straight because we had a freeze warning, but as you can see, it was worth it.

Eastern Redbud tree · Flowers · I love trees · Nature · Nature photography · Photography · spring · Trees

Blooms

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As it turns out, half of ERJ is alive and ready to bloom again. ERJ is my eastern redbud, and I have posted about him several times. I am curiously awaiting the blooms as well as the leaves. I am also curiously awaiting the outcome of this tree. But for now, we just enjoy what we have.

Also in bloom is my mother’s weeping cherry tree. I saw a squirrel getting up to mischief in those branches today and I was jealous. Can you imagine what it would be like to live in pink blossoms? Or even just a chance to play amongst them. Still jealous.

Here’s a little video of the two of them

The forsythia is also blooming, and insists it will not be outdone by these pink wonders in the front yard. This is the glorious display in the backyard.

On a rainy day, these blooms really stand out. Spring is brief, let’s enjoy it.

I forgot. I saw my first honeybee of the season the other day and yes, I chased her around the yard. And yes, she was annoyed with me. I would be remiss if I didn’t share her here.

bees · blog · blogging · Humor · non-fiction · squirrels · YouTube

My YouTube Channel

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Some of you may know I recently started creating videos for my YouTube channel. If you read my last post, you’ll see a video I posted to my YouTube channel that unfortunately was pilfered by someone else and that someone else got way more likes than I did. Sigh.

This made me very sad and I made private most of my videos for about a week and a half. Today I decided that I would not only continue posting videos, but I would make public the videos that I had made private.

I really like to share my love of animals, and if someone steals my content to make it theirs, well, isn’t that flattery? I’m not making money off of my channel, and I’m not posting videos to do that. I want to spread a little silly joy.

For instance, today I chased down a honeybee. It was very cold this morning and was not very warm this afternoon, but I found the first honeybee of the season gathering pollen in the Hyacinth. Poor girl. But so it begins. Approximately eight months of me chasing after bees, butterflies, and any other flying creature, quite frankly. I got it on video and I posted it. I also posted a squirrel video because the squirrels are so silly and make me laugh every day.

Maybe other people need to laugh every day too.

If you want to check out my YouTube channel, you are welcome to do so. There is no obligation.

Click here to go to my YouTube channel

Happy Sunday, everyone!

©️2026, itsamyisaid.com

Humor · Nature · spring · animals · squirrels · blogging

Ma’am Says Hey

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She’s doing very well and has babies again. If you see this video anywhere on the internets, it’s mine. I had that surprise this morning. I was watching a short on another platform, and the next short was this. Except it wasn’t from my account and it had thousands of likes. The good news is now Ma’am lives on the internets forever. I’m not going to talk about the bad news, because the good news is Ma’am now lives on forever. I hope everyone is doing well, and guess what?

WE MADE IT TO SPRING!

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Late Summer

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Hey everyone, it’s really hard to put into words how beautiful the wildflowers have been. And it’s almost a disservice to talk about them when they could be shown. Forgive me, I’ve left off the monarch butterfly and the hummingbird. I will need to make another video to showcase them.

I hope you enjoy this video and that wherever you are, you’re having a great weekend.

p.s. my categories selection isn’t working after some type of update, so if you never see this, I won’t be surprised. Thanks, WordPress.

bees · beetles · bugs · Eastern Redbud tree · fireflies · Flowers · hibiscus · I love trees · lightning bugs · Nature · Nature photography · Photography · squirrels · Summer · Trees

Around Here

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I’ve been taking photographs of flowers and trees and plants and bees…all spring and summer. Ma’am the squirrel makes an appearance in the video below. She’s got babies now and she stops by, but those babies take up a lot of her time. She’s fully healed, so it’s hard for me to tell if it’s her or not her. I ask all the squirrels if they are ma’am. I am pretty sure they think I am the strangest food lady ever.

Some sad news to report on ERJ (my eastern redbud tree, for those who are new here. He and William The First, my Willow Oak, are tied for favorite tree first place): I noticed he wasn’t doing well a couple months ago and had an arborist come look at him. He has borers. The arborist seemed to think ERJ would pull through, but I have serious doubts. I know my tree, and he doesn’t look well. His leaves are yellowing and dropping. He has tons of suckers and tons of seed pods. I feel like this is his last hurrah trying to create new generations. I have applied the insecticide three times now and I don’t think it’s working. You might remember ERJ from previous posts. I will be very sad to lose him, but at the end of this video, you will see I have another redbud in my backyard and its leaves are huge. I love the heart shape of the leaves. It’s truly my favorite type of tree. But don’t tell William.

I hope you enjoy this trip around my flowers, an (unnamed) eastern redbud, a lightning bug, a bumblebee and a squirrel.

Summer, and the livin’s easy

animals · blogging · Frogs · Humor · Nature · Nature photography · Summer

Prince Charming

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In case you’re wondering, he is still a frog

animals · blogging · Humor · Photography · spring · squirrels

Table For One

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You may not know this, but Ma’am has her own container of walnuts. No one else gets these walnuts but her. I keep it fully stocked. Yes, she is spoiled. She stopped by the café this morning and nicely requested a table for one, so I easily made the accommodations. Not even the starlings knew she was there for 40 minutes snacking, and the starlings know everything.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Table for one

animals · blogging · Humor · Nature photography · Photography · squirrels

Ma’am on Mother’s Day

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She doesn’t come around often, but she did visit on Sunday. She had a snack and a sploot. Splooting is when animals lie on their bellies to cool off on a hot day. Ma’am has perfected this.

Happy Wednesday, everyone. Sploot if you need to.