Pinecone

I picked up this pinecone on one of our walks a couple of weeks ago, as I thought the shape of each of these (?)scales was so pretty--looks like carved wood--& I kept it in case I'd need it for a blip; turns out today I needed it. This is day 3 of dark and dreary, although no rain today....I hate days that look, all day long, like it's late evening because it's so dark! 
I had lunch with my friend today while Tom went to the dentist &  I came home to find my little squirrel waiting patiently for peanuts on the front porch, so of course I threw some out for him! It sure didn't take him long to get me trained, did it? Haha!