Tag Archives: woodchucks

Sliding squirrels, creamy shrimp and disgruntled chucks.

.

Our grey squirrels are determined fellows. As evidenced by the never give up attitude of this little guy during a recent rainy morning attempt at reaching the bird feeder.

.

.

Wet poles be slippery.

🤣

.

.

If you like shrimp?

Give this recipe a try.

.

.

.

In a large stainless steel skillet over medium heat, melt 1 Tbsp. butter. Pat shrimp dry; season all over with Old Bay.

Arrange shrimp in a single layer in skillet and cook, turning halfway through, until translucent, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a plate.

In same skillet over medium heat, melt remaining 1 Tbsp. butter. Add shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to soften, 2 to 3 minutes .

Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until garlic is fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add wine to deglaze skillet, scraping up any browned bits, and cook, stirring, until liquid is almost completely evaporated,

Stir in broth and bring to a boil over high heat.

Stir in orzo and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until orzo has absorbed most of the broth and is almost cooked through,

Add cream and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened and reduced,

Return shrimp to skillet along with any accumulated juices.

Stir in lemon zest and lemon juice; season with salt. Top with parsley.

.

My tweaks – I didn’t have vegetable broth but used low sodium chicken broth and it was lovely. I used salted butter, so I left off the salt at the end. And since my husband isn’t a spicy food lover, I ignored the red pepper flakes. There was plenty of flavor so I think that was overkill anyway.

Use large or jumbo shrimp. You won’t be disappointed.

Yum!

.

.

Mother Chuck is back and her runt from last year’s litter is still here.

.

.

Though not for lack of trying to kick him to the curb.

.

.

There are daily squabbles over food and squealing arguments over bolt holes.

.

.

Momma isn’t subtle, but Junior refuses to take the hint.

.

Random creatures.

.

Momma Chuck is back…

.

.

And enjoying some broccoli.

.

.

Early spring means red winged black birds, starlings and grackles.

.

.

Lots of them.

.

.

And they’re hungry. So hungry they devour the suet cake in less than an hour and strip three feeders in two. It’s a pricey time of year.

.

.

We have three or four skunks who visit every night but one little guy arrives early, oftentimes alongside the deer.

That does not however, mean he likes them.

(Please ignore the background noise. The husband was battling an angel food cake container)

.

.

Skunk -1.

Deer -0.

.

.

And then there’s Lord Dudley Mountcatten who waits patiently for his morning coffee.

.

.

He doesn’t actually drink it…

.

.

Just likes to lick the mug when the husband is finished.

Cats.

What can you do?

.

.

❤️

.

Impressive core work and the first chuck sighting.

.

Our gray squirrels are quite acrobatic and during a recent snow storm… when I brought in all the bird feeders except the one from which they have trouble stealing… this little guy went above and beyond for a snack.

I’m guessing he has six pack abs under that fur.

.

.

He fell quite a few times, but finally found a stable perch.

.

.

In other wildlife news, our first chuck of the season arrived.

.

.

In the middle of the storm with nothing to nibble but fallen seed.

.

.

Poor chuck.

.

.

I doubt that was the meal he dreamt about all winter.

.