One of the things we love the most about our "new" house is the big deck out back and all the old trees around. We've encountered a new situation where we dress one way when we are at home, and then have to peel off a layer to go elsewhere. There are so many trees that it easily feels ten degrees cooler here than other places.
One of the downsides is that we have a large family of squirrels who feast on all the bounty of our backyard. We have an old hickory nut tree that shades the deck. It has large, round, green hickory nuts. Our deck is LITTERED with nuts. The squirrels are up in the tree, eating all the nuts and our deck becomes their crumb catcher. Which is kind of disgusting when you think about it. Also, while foraging the nuts, they drop them below, creating a large banging on the deck, chairs, table, etc. Seriously, one dropped into the little pond and it sounded like someone did a cannonball into it.
D cleans it off with the leaf blower, only to find the "crumbs" have returned within a few hours. It is so bad that I won't let the kids out and play back there for fear they will get BONKED on the head. Those nuts are hard and have to hurt when they are dropped from the top of that tree!
Oh yeah, and Molly eats the broken nuts and then throws up later. Joy joy!
