Tea for Two-And the Bear Made Three

During the two years I have lived alone in these beautiful mountains, I have become famous, at least in my own mind, for my garden. Friends and neighbors send others by just to look at it.  I give everyone cuttings and little babies that are coming up in the wrong place or just requiring a thinning.  I even had a garden party just so more people could see it.  With all the deer, flowers are a rarity unless you are willing to think outside the box and work extra hard to have them. I am more than willing.  It has now become a haven for so many birds that at times I feel I am at the arboretum at the New Orleans Zoo. When I wake in the mornings, I start my coffee and while it hisses and steams out my first cup, I take a small bowl and load the feeders in the compact and overflowing garden area. Before I can fill a cup and sit on the porch to watch, the birds have arrived. I do have some manufactured feeders but most of my birds eat from antique china teacups attached to poles by organza ribbons and twine, small saucers and even shells.  Chipped Limoges and Racine Bavarian have found new life with the birds. The feeders attract the squirrels who chase away the birds so I have found by adding tiny and numerous feeding places the birds get equal billing. Soon after the birds arrive I notice the small chipmunk who has kept me entertained this summer.  He scurries down the wall behind my property and shimmies up the metal poles just like the squirrels.  Sometimes he jumps from fence post to post and moves along to get to feeders that are fairly high in the air.  If a squirrel jumps on with him, both will tumble to the ground but the chipmunk will shake off the fall and hurry back as quickly as the squirrels. He will even get to the top of a small table in the area and sit by a teacup and enjoy his breakfast. When I first noticed him, I placed small dishes on the ground just for him. A child's tea set with water and nuts, but now I know he is an acrobat and I enjoy his antics too much to help him out. This was all before he came face to face with Cha-Cha, my grand puppy who was visiting a week ago. Until then he had almost come to trust me enough to continue to graze even while I was in the garden.  Now he's not too sure.  And with good reason.  Cha is small but she is wiry and very determined.  Tonight though, he had more to worry about.  A small bear decided to climb the fence and go after the bird feeders.  Scared us both.  I'm sure within a few days he will forget the incident and be back to normal, but I won't.  Bears can really move when you are squirting them with a hose. There's a memory for a lifetime.