Happy Easter!

Easter has always been a festive holiday for my family.  The venue may be different, and the camaraderie may change faces, but the day is always guaranteed to be delightful as we recreate our Slovak traditions and enjoy the company at hand.

This is the first year where I found myself sitting alone in the church pew during Mass, (Marty plays guitar for the folk group and sits in a different spot when they sing), and I'll admit that I was a bit sad that the day would not follow suit to those of the past, but I soon realized that it was time to enjoy the moment at hand and not fret about what I might be missing.

I had made all of the traditional Easter foods that celebrate my Slovak Heritage, packing up the delectable delights in a basket for the annual food blessing at our church yesterday.  Our plan this year, was to drive to Stacey and Jeff's house, and prepare the meal so that when they arrived home from the hospital, we could enjoy our meal together.  

The day was certainly not disappointing.  We weren't in the door long when it was obvious that we were in for some real entertainment.

That's one curious piggy, for sure.  Luckily, I had already removed the contents. 

And Marty couldn't resist trying out his selfie stick

although I'm not sure that Wellie was so entertained by it!

But Wellie was excited to see that the Easter Bunny remembered him!

And that picture proves that the selfie stick might serve more than one purpose.

Particularly if you want to get down to the pig level for a prime shot!

Preparations were made

Food was set out

And a delicious meal was enjoyed by all of us.

It was truly a fabulous day and, as you can see, a tiring event for one little piggy.

But I would be remiss if I did not share some photos featuring our beautiful grand daughters with Mommy and Daddy earlier in the day.

Certainly the best Easter blessing that anyone could ask for.  

And we all hope that it won't be too much longer before they can finally come home and meet Wellie.

I suppose, though,  that we'll have to just wait and see how Wellie feels about that!  

The Missing Squirrel Blog

That title could be misconstrued.  This blog is not about a Missing Squirrel, although at times, I did question his or her whereabouts.  No.....this is an attempt to identify the fact that although I had plenty of Squirrel blogs whirling through my head, the winter has come and gone without any making it to print.  And, I know that some of my blog followers have been disappointed.  I apologize.

So, let me offer you a quick synopsis as we head into the first day of Spring.
As expected, sneaky DID show up in the fall.

And as I was enjoying my breakfast one Sunday morning, he peered through the window as if to dare me into challenging him.  

When he hopped on over to the bird feeder to raid it for food, I realized that there was no way I could avoid my slinky standby or the birds would never get a meal.

My husband was more than willing to brave the elements to ensure an adequate supply of food for the birds.

In the meantime, I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to unload a rather large quantity of nuts that I had recently stumbled upon.

How could Sneaky ask for anything better than that?  It was like a bowl full of nuts....free for the taking.

Wouldn't you be enticed by such an offer?  Well, apparently Sneaky felt otherwise.  Because days turned into weeks, and the nut stash never dwindled.

One of my friends suggested that I crack the nuts open for the squirrel.  I casually mentioned that I did NOT want to be a helicopter parent to Sneaky and that he could certainly figure out how to crack open a nut.  

He was a SQUIRREL for goodness sake!  

But as the month went by with no obvious interest, I found myself out on the back deck with a nutcracker in hand, breaking open some prime nutmeats for Sneaky.  It didn't seem right....but what was I to do?  It seemed a waste to just toss them.

It soon became obvious that my efforts were for naught.  Once again,  days went by without any interest.  I was beginning to wonder what had happened to Sneaky.  Was he Scared? Had he suddenly become Shy?

Was he Suspicious about the easy-to-get snack?

Had he become Side-lined by some sort of malady?  

Then, one day, after being out of town for a few days, I looked out on the back deck and saw this:

Obviously, Sneaky had struck!

But, how could I know that it was Sneaky and not some other nut hungry creature?  I immediately filled the feeder again, and waited to see just who showed up.

Once again, I peered out daily, and there was no sign of any nuts disappearing.  The days turned into weeks, and I found myself in the same dilemma as before , only this time I was NOT going outside to crack open any of the nuts.  

Then, much to my surprise, I spotted some activity on the back porch.

It was Sneaky!  And he was making his way up the pole to raid the nuts!

I watched him land on the rail and crack the nut

then take a quick look around to be sure no one was watching

as he scrambled along the railing and disappeared down below the deck.

Then he popped up under the feeder and started the process all over again. Up on one side, down on the opposite.  I wondered how he didn't get dizzy!  

It was quite obvious to me that Sneaky was Stashing those nuts somewhere under my deck.  Something tells me that I can expect quite the collection of nut trees sometime in the near future.

Of course, I can't be too certain that Sneaky safeguarded all of the nuts for himself as Red showed up a few times as well.

But little Red is tiny enough to climb the slinky as if they were a set of stairs, making it quite easy for him to raid the seeds.  

Luckily, Red is quite skittish, and one knock on the window sent him scattering along at quick speed, so I highly doubt he was involved with cleaning out the nuts.

Spring arrives tomorrow,  and it seems a shame to have missed out on Sneaky's adventures.  

I had the socks to remind me:

 and a furry friend as well

And, then there was the valentine from my special friend

Yep...it's obvious that Sneaky has some fans out there, and I suppose that you'll just have to wait until next winter to see more of his antics.

In the meantime, my free time (which is quite limited at the moment) will involve hunting down this creature:  the Evil Sparrow!

He has moved in and stolen the house right out from under the wings of this beautiful blue bird.

And, that does NOT make me happy!   

 If only a strategically placed slinky could solve this problem! 

I'll keep you posted. 

Birthday Fun

Last Saturday, we celebrated the birthday of our granddaughter who arrived four years ago, much to my husband's joy, on HIS birthday, making her  (as he would say)  the best birthday present ever.

And these two have had a special bond ever since.

What a fabulous day we had!

There was cake for the four year old

and a special one for Grandpa G as well

And it certainly was NOT disappointing, as you can see.

Then there were the presents.......... Can you feel the excitement in the air?

Big brother acted as photographer...how cute was that?

There was the classy, comfy robe

And the fairy costume from Gramma G

which resulted in wishes being granted

as well as some serious thought about those that couldn't be. 

Then there was a set of her own little twins

Who fit very comfortably into the new robe pockets

Now I ask, how clever was that? 

And just when we thought the fun couldn't be beat, it was time to open the present from Aunt Amy.

She pulled it out of the bag and exclaimed, "I GOT A CARROT!!"

Who'd have guessed that a giant carrot could bring such joy?

Well.....apparently Aunt Amy did!

It was definitely a hit.  But that wasn't the only great present from Amy.    She decided that she would give her father a selfie stick, which he wasted no time trying out.  

Something tells me that my life will never be the same!  

I suppose that we'll just have to wait and see.