At War with Squirrels

It was bound to happen....just a matter of time...the squirrels finally discovered our tomato plants....SIGH...... It started innocently enough, last weekend I noticed a green tomato sitting on the railing of our deck, I questioned DH and he hadn't put it there. Went down to check and found it had moved, and not much of it left.....SQUIRRELS!

After some online research, it seemed there was an almost overwhelming list of things to try....

1. Dog/dog hair-obviously that didn't work

2. Dried coyote urine or something like that. Looks like white snow.

3. Sprinkling of cayenne pepper. Think the squirrels just thought it was added seasoning based on this photo. If you look closely you can see the cayenne on the deck railing.


4. By this time it was WAR....DH was on a mission. Before I knew it, the vinegar soaked rags came out. Our deck smelled like italian dressing.


We've also tried...5. moth balls, 6. coffee grounds (found a squirrel in the pot with the coffee grounds), but I knew DH had finally lost his mind when he started collecting shiny things. Evidently he read somewhere the squirrels are repelled by shiny things. Now our tomato plants look like a disco.

If you click to make bigger you'll see the hanging strands of foil, ribbon, and wind chimes. Somewhere in the trees I imagine the squirrels are having quite a chuckle at my husband's antics.

I have made a note to myself to not plant tomatoes next year and just buy them at the local farmer's market.

I must go.....I just heard him mumbling something about hanging the shiny Christmas ornaments on the plants!!!

First Tomato

DH harvested our first tomato of the season!

Actually we have been snacking on our grape tomatoes that have also started to ripen, but this is our first regular sized one. Many more to come if we can keep the birds/squirrels from enjoying too many of them! Off to gather some recipes since I have a feeling that all of a sudden we're going to have a BUNCH of ripe tomatoes.

Anyone have a favorite tomato friendly recipe?

Spray Pancake Batter?!?

A week or so ago at a knitting get together, Courtney mentioned the Batter Blaster and being a person who loves new things, just had to try it!

Rather than do a duplicate post, check out her experience using it. I tried it out myself this morning and LOVED it! The pancakes tasted great, the clean-up was a breeze, and it was fun making them!! I'd definitely buy this again. I probably would use traditional pancake batter from a mix if serving 4 or more people, but it's perfect for just DH and I.

I got to thinking that besides the Batter Blaster, I've tried a few other new (or new to me) products recently and thought I'd share my experiences.


My latest favorite beverage is water mixed in with a Crystal Light On The Go packet. I am especially fond of the ones with added caffeine. I find they are a nice alternative to coffee or diet soda and do like the little boost I get after drinking one. I've tried most of the flavors and haven't met one I didn't like.

I've shared my deep love of the Fleur De Sel Caramel H-D ice cream before; DH saw these in the store and surprised me with a box.

They are good...very good...but I still prefer the version in the pint container. I miss the little bits of chocolate and caramel. They are great for portion control though-it's hard to stop eating out of the pint container!

The one dud in today's product reviews would be the pudding "singles."

The taste is good, but by the time you add in the price of using your own milk (or buying a container at school) plus the fact you have to literally stir it for 5 minutes in order to get it to thicken up-it's just not worth the the time (for someone who's lucky to a get a 20 minute lunch) or money.