The holly days, er … the holiday season has arrived.
Now, I’ll admit I’m a wee bit late reporting on a walk taken at the Gourdgeous Gourds Party since those gourds had their swan song a while ago.
There were perfectly rounded gourds paired with Chrysanthemums …
… or nestled near Sweet Alyssum.
I liked those bumpy gourds called “Knucklehead” or “Goosebumps” (a specialty pumpkin line known as “Superfreak” developed by Siegers Seed Co. right here in Holland, Michigan).
There were even odd-shaped gourds, some which reminded me of a muffin – perhaps I was hungry?
I photographed these gourds during a visit to the Taylor Conservatory and Botanical Gardens on Sunday, October 8th. It was nippy that early morning and, at 42F (5C), it was the first time I pulled on gloves and donned a hat. The wind was gusting to about 25 mph (40 km/h), all just a preview of the weather on the horizon. And, while the proverbial frost was not on the pumpkin(s) yet, it was still a shock to the system when temps flirted with the mid-80s mark just a few days before. I figured the pumpkins in harvest displays in the ‘hood were about to be pumpkin puree with those temps.
The flowers were flourishing on that bright and sunny morning, thanks in part to the volunteers who tend to them all Summer.
Flash forward a few weeks and the beautiful harvest display was whisked away to usher in the Gardens’ Conservatory décor, i.e. the tall Christmas tree, pine boughs nestled in pots and strung in festive loops with jaunty red bows, just in time for the tree lighting and Christmas singalong this past Saturday.
Yes, the Christmas season is here.
How did you fare with the Thanksgiving holiday fare?
With the official holiday season off and running, I hope you are not feeling weighted down like those rounded gourds pictured above. I know it is difficult to restrain yourself when presented with a steady stream of treats. Do you take one or two, or both treats – you must be polite to the hostess you know!
Decisions, decisions … “so do I want walnut pie or peanut pie … or both?”
“Hmm – I could put back this peanut and grab a walnut … or is that uncouth to do so? No one will notice I slobbered on the peanut, right?”
I’d even go out on a limb and say your face registered shock when you stood on the scales (“OMG, no way!”) …
… and you’ve worn sweatpants or stretchy pants with a little give to them ever since!
“Oh my – how did Linda know that? Whew – I thought it was just me!”
But, you’d better watch out, or you will be looking like the Jolly Old Elf himself, or maybe like Parker and his pals who are plumping up and looking very rounded these days. Of course, it isn’t just me feeding them. They’ve been foraging for months, scarfing down lots of peanuts, but also hiding them all around the Park, or up in their nests. They are roly-poly now, or to use more current internet lingo, they are “chonky” these days, but that is just the fat layer that helps insulate them, plus Mother Nature provides them thicker fur to get through those brutally cold Winter months.
So, Parker has an excuse for his usual boyish physique looking a little, ahem, should we be polite and just say “rounded” these days?
Fat-bottomed squirrels.
Now, I’m not here to fat-shame my furry pals, but here’s a few photos of them out and about and enjoying some walnuts, which were just as rounded as they were.
I’m just having a little mirth at their girth is all.
Stay GROUNDED not ROUNDED in the weeks ahead. 🙂
Once again I am joining Terri Webster Schrandt’s Sunday Stills Challenge: #Rounded.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
by the time your done with them Linda, those bottoms are going to be way bigger! They’ll need a extra push to get through the doorway!
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Parker and pals are waddling more than scampering these days Wayne. The Fox Squirrels always get the chunkiest … you’re right about a push through the doorway. :●)
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Great photos, Linda!
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Thank you Cherie – glad you liked them!
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I tried to write a comment from my phone earlier, but I couldn’t log in to WP. I love all the gourds and we get a lot of the knucklehead and goosebumps gourds here too Linda! I think they are cool-looking and I’m amazed at how many varieties and colors there are! Of course, your squirrel friends got their fat bottoms from all the goodies you gave them so they are ready for hibernation–if they actually do! They sure are cute little things! Great to see another Sunday Stills post, Linda!
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Terri, I tried to send a story I read about a Labradoodle who stole someone’s turkey to a fellow blogger who is blind and has a mischievous Labradoodle service dog … I couldn’t log onto WP either, even after plugging in my blog credentials. (Zena writes her own posts and has a special machine to read posts.) I tried searching on WP for her site and it was set up differently, so I’ll try another time. Sigh. I just remembered I forgot to tag #Rounded because WP had changed the categories and tags area since I last posted and I had difficulty there. As to the gourds, I remembered you showed us some bumpy gourds – very cool. I have only recently seen them and was surprised to learn the seeds are from our state. Those waddling squirrels are bulking up more every day. They are cutie pies … I hesitated to have another squirrel post on the heels of last week’s post, but they fit well into a “rounded” theme challenge. Now I’ll put my thinking cap on for the “Peace” theme next week.
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Beautifully written and photographed. I enjoy your captions!
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Thank you Anne – I am glad you enjoyed this post. It was a lot of fun to prepare and to put some words into the squirrels’ mouths. 🙂 [P.S. – I had to rescue you from SPAM and I haven’t got a clue why?]
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Beautiful photos.
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Thank you Raj – I am glad you enjoyed them. I am guessing you don’t have these brightly colored gourds in your country?
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Most welcome ,Linda 😊
No, here’s don’t have these brightly coloured gourds. Beautiful Swan gourd.
Have a good night 😴!
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I didn’t think you did Raj, but I thought I would ask. Ours are all gone now – we are having snow and freezing rain and some bitter cold weather.
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Nice you think about me & nice thought. You send me on email ✉️!
Thanks, Linda ☺️
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All round great post Linda. Fat bottomed Squirrels are quite engaging in their plumpness 😀🐿️😂
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Thanks Brian – yes, these fat bottomed squirrels are cute and roly-poly now, but will be waddling by Christmas. 🙂
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Mirth at their girth!
I liked the swan gourd best.
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I shouldn’t poke fun at them and they’re going to get even plumper in the next month or so – mirth at their girth for sure. 🙂 I like that swan gourd too Anne – if a gourd could be graceful, that one was.
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Interesting collection of gourds! And I love the chubby squirrel shots. 😀
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Debbie D. – I never started seeing the bumpy gourds until the past few years – they sure are unusual looking. The Botanical Gardens had two, tall, open-work metal holders filled with some very unique-looking gourds. I’m glad you liked the chubby squirrel shots. Believe it or not, the squirrels will get even plumper than these shots but I wanted to include their “rounded physique” for Terri’s Rounded Challenge.
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We have a modest pile of these colorful gourds on our front porch – representing the extent of our fall season decor. Pumpkins seemed so ordinary so we went with a few of the more exotic looks. Love the plump squirrels. The ones on our property are racing around as if they haven’t gained any weight but I’m sure if I give them a closer look…
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I have always liked the harvest displays in the neighborhood and now I like seeing these unique and colorful gourds better than ordinary pumpkins – sounds like you made a nice Fall display Dave. The squirrels are plump now, but in another month, they’ll be waddling around and cumbersome looking. Your squirrels are lucky they don’t have to deal with Winter so they’re more carefree. 🙂 We had three great days for the long holiday and yesterday had just a 1/2 inch of snow, but it was followed by freezing rain and now we have a real-feel of 15. Did your son drive or fly back to Colorado – hopefully he didn’t encounter a lot of snow.
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Your weather’s making national headlines, Linda – hope the “lake-effect” snow isn’t too inconvenient in your parts. It’s cold here too but nothing compared to Detroit or Colorado. Our son was in town in early November for the football game so he wasn’t close to having to deal with the holiday travel – thank goodness!
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Wow Dave, I didn’t know it made national headlines! That must be about the squall that came through here last night. I had just gone to bed and my weather alarm went off and the alert was for a snow squall that was moving quickly from downtown Detroit into the suburbs, which were all the cities near me and they named my city, which was unusual as they usually only name larger Downriver cities. This morning I went out to shovel and had almost two inches of snow from that squall and we had freezing rain Sunday night, so it is a sheet of ice on the sidewalks and driveway. It is 25 degrees with a real feel of 14 right now. That’s good that your son missed the holiday travel. We used to go to my grandmother’s house in Toronto in mid-November, when we celebrated her November 19th birthday and also Christmas at the same time. We only went back once at Christmas, just before she passed away and that was because we had good traveling weather. If the weather is too snowy, they close the 401 Highway that goes from Windsor to Toronto.
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The squirrels around here get a tuff of fur growing in their ear as the winter season comes. They don’t have it during the summer so I must be for weather protection! Beautiful gourds.
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Oh Kate, you have the cute red squirrels – we don’t have them here. I followed a blogger who walked in the woods and often posted pics of those red squirrels she saw. One year she found some owlets in a hole in a tree and had the cutest pictures as they grew up and Mom bringing them food. I liked her blog but she just dropped off the map. I really liked those gourds – so unique and colorful!
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I’ve had bloggers do that too and I miss them. I always wish that they would say they are not going to write anymore than just fall off! I followed a woman in her 80s. She was a fabulous writer with a lot of interesting experiences. She hasn’t written in 2 years and I often wonder if she died.
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It is likewise strange about Carolyn a/k/a “Trailwalker”. There are lots of WP blogs with a similar name. I hope I didn’t get unsubscribed somehow – that has happened with a few bloggers and I wonder if they’re on a blogging break or just quit posting. Her husband had a heart attack so she told us she would not be posting until he was well enough to go walking with her again. I have to find the area where I have followed bloggers and try to find her and the woman I mentioned last night. WP changed “following” to “subscribed” and in doing so I wonder if that is no longer a feature.
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I love all the squirrel poses and the perfect captions you added to some of them! The expressions on their faces are priceless and the body language so adorable. The gourds looked very nice positioned in various ways with the flowers. Those bumpy white gourds are very cool. We fed our deer the cut-up pumpkins from our porch on Thanksgiving. A large family of them ate and ate and ate. A couple of hours later they were all lying down in the woods behind us, grooming each other and digesting the feast.
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I’m glad you liked this post Barbara – it was a lot of fun putting it together. I had some photos of scarecrows from the Scarecrow Stroll, but only used the “gardener” as most of the scarecrows were more geared for Halloween. Those squirrels are just like a kid who sees candy. They are excited for the walnuts and their eyes get big – you know how Fred likes them. I can’t bowl the walnuts and take photos … I have to work on that. Those bumpy gourds are something new at the Gardens – they had small ones last year, but the white ones were very cool.
You gave your deer a nice treat and something to be thankful for. That sounds like so much fun having the deer so close by. I have been following a site on Facebook that features photos by amateur photographers (with long lenses) visiting the 13 Metroparks in Michigan. Most of the photos are from Kensington Metropark where Jocelyn Anderson goes every day. There are so many deer there and people are posting photos of majestic bucks or beautiful wide-eyed does. I’m really enjoying those photos, most which are birds.
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Nicely done. I like your squirrels and refuse to say anything derogatory about their backsides!
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Thank you Ally and the squirrels thank you for not laughing behind their backs, er backsides. 🙂
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I’ll worry when I start to see the squirrels wearing leggings and tunics to cover those ever-broadening backsides. Fortunately, I imagine all those extra lbs will melt away over the winter.
I love the gourds. I’ve seen some wonderful gourd art and have always admired the artist’s talent.
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Yes, they need to cover up for sure Janis as they have really plumped up. I have been to craft shows that feature birdhouses made from gourds – they are very unique looking and I’m sure most people use them as garden art rather than having nesting birds make a mess of them.
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You crack me up, Linda.🤣 Fat bottomed squirrels, indeed!
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Ha ha – well Eilene, they are well into “waddle” territory as I write this and they will be wider before year end. 🙂
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Your comments always crack me up Linda. Your outdoor family is lucky to have you! I love all the pictures!
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Thanks Diane! Glad to give you a smile. Those squirrels are getting rounder by the moment and by year-end they will be waddling even more. They were happy to pose for a photo because I shamelessly didn’t tell them that I was going to focus on their roly-poly selves. 🙂
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This is witty, Linda! That one is definitely a pumpkin muffin! I’ve never seen a white goosebump pumpkin. I wonder if they taste the same as the orange pumpkins we use for pie? The sweet squirrel with the brown gray and white tail sure is pretty! I hope you keep an eye on her!! No matter how rounded she gets I will name her G for gorgeous!!
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Thank you TD – I’m glad you liked this post I thought it looked like a pumpkin muffin too. I saw those goosebump pumpkins last year for the first time – they had a few small orange ones at the Gardens for their harvest display, but the white goosebump pumpkins are so unique. I Googled because I wondered, like you did; yes you can cook or bake with them, just like regular pumpkin and in fact they are sweeter. Those Eastern Gray squirrels sure are pretty. They stand up and you can see they have a completely white tummy and those white fur tufts on their ears – very cute. In Winter, I have taken pictures of the squirrels with their bushy tails up their backs and flipped over their heads, especially in extreme cold or if it’s started to snow.
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Haha cute squirrel pics! They are a little chunky aren’t they? I can related, lol. I’m glad you enjoyed your Thanksgiving, ours was back in mid October. Gourds are fascinating, I always enjoy seeing all the different shapes and colours.
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Glad you liked my cute squirrel pics Susan – they are chunky now and by year-end will be even wider and waddling around. Having Thanksgiving in October does not lend itself to being the constant food frenzy that it is here from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. I have never seen so many varieties of gourds as I saw that day – some are very unique.
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That was fun Linda and what great photos.
P.S. I saw muffins too. 🙂
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Thanks Ruth – glad you liked this post. I was fun putting it together. That’s good – I knew it was not just me. 🙂 P.S. – I was in bed last night and the weather alarm went off about the snow squall traveling from Downtown Detroit and moving Downriver. Dropped two inches of snow over top of all the ice from Sunday night’s freezing rain. Ugh for that.
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Fun post, Linda! I enjoyed all the gourd and squirrel photos that you shared, and of course, your wonderful humor. I switched my fall decorations to winter decorations today, though I was sad to see them go. I would leave autumn decorations up all year if it was up to me. 🙂
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Thank you Rebecca! I had some fun putting this together and taking those chunky squirrels’ photos at the Park as well. I like all the harvest decorations and a lot of people decorate beginning in early September. I hope people did their outside decorating over our beautiful holiday weekend as we had freezing rain Sunday, followed by a couple of inches of snow last night which sure doesn’t sound like the mild El Niño Winter they have been predicting for months.
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Crazy that it’s already that time of year. I hope your roads didn’t get too slick. I know that you are more equipped to handle that up north than we are in the south. Stay warm!
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This morning we had some freezing fog, but it was gone by about 10:00 a.m., but I got down to the Park today and the path was not only snow-covered but ice-covered from the freezing rain, so I walked on the grass. Later today it got to 52 degrees which is just crazy, given how cold it’s been all week and what I mentioned before. Now we have several rainy days on the way – I hope the freezing rain stays away. They don’t salt the minor roadway until they are done with the expressways and state highways.
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Well done, Linda! Such a fun and happy post. You hit a home run for the prompt. Woohoo! I chuckled out loud at the expressions of the squirrels and the captions you gave each photo. The one holding its chest reminded me of Red Foxx from Sanford and Son. Despite your challenging week, I hope creating this post made you smile! 🤗🥳
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Thanks Shelley! I did have a lot of fun putting this post together (especially after my challenging week). When Terri put “Rounded” as a category I knew right away I could use those gourds which I pushed to the side when I did the Halloween Frightful post and didn’t use the scarecrows and harvest decor at the Garden and I always know November means fat-bottomed squirrel pics (so I figured walnuts would bring me some rounded squirrels eated round walnuts). 🙂 Oh ya – I used to watch that show back in the day and Red Foxx would clutch his chest, look at the sky and say something like “this is the big one – here I come Elizabeth!” Often when his son (Lamont??) did something he didn’t like or that shocked him.
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As I read the post I could imagine you smiling at how it all came together!
LOL – yep, that’s what Red would say. We’ve caught a few reruns lately, still a classic show.
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You are funny – yes, this post was different. I generally write a draft of a post the same day I walk there and save it for when I have the photos and am ready to prepare the actual post. This time I had to start from scratch as I never wrote drafts for either and reconfigured the gourds/Scarecrow Stroll post and then did the rounded squirrels shoot to focus on squirrel butts, so different but fun to put together with the captions as well.
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I could tell as I read it that you were having fun! 😍🥰😅
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The “bumpy” pumpkins are very cool.
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Yes, aren’t they? I just started seeing them a couple of years ago. TD asked if you could eat them and I Googled and yes you can eat them, cook/bake with them and they’re sweeter than regular pumpkins.
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Those were great choices. I love botanical gardens. I NEVER wear denim to TG..haha. This year I wore a comfy cotton dress. Otherwise it would’ve been leggings. I’ve never seen that dark of a squirrel. Knuckleheads are some of my faves. My SIL’s family owns a pumpkin patch and some of the varieties are so cool.
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Those gourds were really unique Kirstin. I really enjoy going to this botanical garden. They have a lot of events here year-round and the Scarecrow Stroll had been the day before, so I took photos of the different scarecrows too. I didn’t include them as the post would be too long (even for me). 🙂 Denim has no “give” to it – not a good choice for Thanksgiving feast for sure. That’s cool about having a pumpkin patch in the family – you get a good choice for harvest and Halloween decor then. I was surprised to find that the seeds for these bumpy pumpkins came from right here in Holland, Michigan. Holland is famous for its annual tulip festival.
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Those fall shots look lovely on a sub-freezing night a month or two later!
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Thank you JP. It sure is difficult to believe just a few weeks ago we were enjoying the brilliant colors and now the trees are bare. My neighbor’s Magnolia bush is in bud for the third or fourth time this year; I’m surprised it didn’t erupt into bloom with our 63-degree, record-setting temps on Saturday!
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