An Obsession with Squirrels?

It is strange to say.... that yes, at present I am a bit obsessed.  I think I've been influenced by the autumn displays so many have in their posts across blogland.  As such, I've been further inspired to create little pockets of autumn in my own home. 

Photos inside my home do not take well.  I do try, but I don't have the right lighting to fully project these images on screen and they seem a little dull - but I shall endeavour to give you a flavour.

I found this lovely nut cracker at the Charity Shop recently.  I'm not sure anyone in our family are nut lovers but I couldn't leave him on the shelf.

In the same visit I brought this beauty home.  I LoVE him. 

He is of course a Sylvac ornament of our native Red Squirrel that only lives in parts of the UK now.  The Grey Squirrel was introduced to this country historically from North America and almost forced our native squirrel to extinction.  Although isolated to different parts of the UK - mainly the islands of Anglesey and Brownsea this type of squirrel has been successfully reintroduced and is thriving.  If you wish, you can find out more about the Red Squirrel here.

Many people will disagree with me on a conservation basis but I do enjoy seeing the mischievous Grey Squirrel in our woodlands. 

Of course I'd love to see red squirrels too but that is beyond my control.  Today, to get a burst of fresh air and interact a bit with nature we took ourselves down to a park close to the sea front, which is a typically Victorian recreational space; with paths, lawns, fountain and woodland.  You can imagine times before us when the rich people living in the gorgeous mansion houses surrounding the park, took in the sea air for medicinal purposes!!

There were amazing colours

And fabulous shapes formed from the trunks of this large tree:

We went to interact with the squirrels and for the children to beat their personal records for scooting the route around the park!! 

After energy was expended it was fascinating to watch the squirrels increase in trust as we sat patiently and offered them monkey nuts. 

The children were surrounded with 5-7 squirrels by the end of an hour.  This was the first time we'd done this since the children were toddlers and I was astonished by how enthralled they became. 

We merrily spent the morning watching the different squirrels and their reactions to us.  I was perched on a bench whilst the others were in the midst of the action on the floor!  One squirrel became incredibly trusting of little B...

Another would take the nuts off and bury them for a later snack!  The excitement in the children's faces was a joy to see.

I have to say I did leave this rather large squirrel on the shelf at the Charity Shop yesterday!! 

Hopefully that means I've got my fix of the squirrel type this year - I think he'd eaten a few too many nuts!

J9 x

I'm linking up with these fabulous parties
  A Favourite Thing
Pink Saturday
Weekly Top Shot