Playing, walking, dead squirrel

We have been spending lots of time outside in the backyard:

The big exciting news this week is that Linden started walking. She took her first wobbly steps on Tuesday, and has been practising lots and lots ever since.

The not so exciting news from this weekend is that a squirrel went up into a completely inaccessible crawlspace above our laundry room and died. We had actually been smelling it since Tuesday, and kept trying to find the source of the smell. Finally Friday night we figured it out – it wasn’t the washing machine, it wasn’t the litter box, it wasn’t the compost, and it wasn’t any other possible source. We had been hearing squirrels up there for a while but haven’t heard any lately. we finally put it together and suddenly the smell was much worse.

I had no idea what to do, but I asked a moms group that I am part of through a messenger chat, and I was told to call a company called “Critter Gitters.” Yes, that is what they are really called and yes, they got the dead squirrel out. Our laundry room is currently off-limits due to extensive squirrel excrement having fallen from the ceiling after they cut a hole in the ceiling to get at the dead squirrel. They will be coming back tomorrow to clean up.

I am so grateful that I have a community here even in isolation. Without that moms group I really wouldn’t have known what to do, but within about five minutes of explaining my situation I had a plan. And I can tell you, without a recommendation I never in 100 years would have called Critter Gitters. Because holy moly, that name!