Squirrels in My Chimney

I have squirrels in my chimney. They've lived at the bottom of my living room chimney for multiple generations. If they tell stories around the campfire at night while toasting marshmallows, it will be about how a bright star showed them the way to a dark, tall tunnel with a perfect nesting cave at the very bottom, long, long ago. How long? In squirrel generations my haven goes back to the Neanderthal times. In my time frame, I'm sure I've had them since I've owned the house, so almost thirty years now.

There's something about roasting marshmallows and telling tales
around the campfire. I doubt the squirrels have ever done anything like
this, but if they did, they'd tell their origin stories across the flames
time after time. 

It's a tall chimney, but it needs pointing, cleaning and capping. I've never done that because I don't use the chimney. In fact, this half of the double chimney has never been used at all. We have used the other half in the past. It leads to a second fireplace in the den which we've used on and off through the years. But that also hasn't been used for quite a while - at least ten years at last count.

I took this picture in the fall to show the colors of my maple
tree in the lower back yard. But here's my chimney on the left.
Also, the picture window in the front is what I'm getting new
window treatments for, thus the measurements mentioned
later in this post. 

Why do I mention that I have squirrels in my chimney at all? Well, at this time of the year they have their babies. And those little buggers complain to Mom and Dad at night. Mom and Dad, being the food brigade, snarl back at the kidlings to "shut up, already and go back to sleep." But the babies don't care, because kids are always the center of their own universe. So they keep complaining, Mom and Dad keep telling them to shut up, and they wake me up.

I would certainly prefer that the squirrels lived somewhere other than my chimney. And
I'll get that chimney cleaned and capped within the next year because it's the
next thing on the home agenda. But right now I have effin' baby squirrels
waking me up and I'm really not very happy about it. 

I felt vindicated when my alarm went off this morning. Now, instead of them waking me up, my living room lights will awaken them shortly when they automatically turn on. Vindication! Until tonight when once again they will waken me with their back and forth. It's never a long period of time that they talk back and forth - only a few weeks in the year. But its annoying when it's happening within six feet of your head. *sigh* (Of course, they won't actually see the living room lights since they're in the chimney, but it's the principal of the thing - a bit of tit for tat.)

Hamernick's has done the carpeting for my family for as long as I've
lived up here. My sister-in-law used them twice, my father-in-law also
had them do his carpeting. I want something neutral that will have good pile
and be comfortable to walk on with bare feet. But at this point, anything will
be a major improvement! 

So my excitement for today will be Carl and Regina from Hamernick's Decorating who will be by the house early this afternoon to measure for carpeting and window treatments. I've been given this assignment - to have new carpet and a new drape across my picture window installed this year - and I'm taking it quite seriously (since I've wanted it done for years now). Getting my measurements will be step one. Getting carpet samples for DH to look at and walk on will be step two. One step at a time.... Enjoy your Wednesday. I'm off to Guppy it for the morning workout. Yippee!